Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Barbara Jordan?s "This Poem" is a meditation on poetic form, language, and memory, juxtaposing the organic and the structured, the wild and the cultivated. The poem explores how a poem takes shape—both in its physical structure and its metaphorical underpinnings—by likening it to natural processes and human interactions with the environment. Jordan?s language moves fluidly between images of growth, decay, and transformation, crafting a multi-layered reflection on the act of creation.

The poem begins with a directive: "Let the form be a garden in wild wilderness." This metaphor situates the poem in the tension between order and chaos, structure and freedom. A garden implies cultivation and deliberate design, while the "wild wilderness" suggests untamed growth and unpredictability. The juxtaposition mirrors the dual nature of poetry as both crafted and instinctive, a balance between control and spontaneity. The "hyacinth language" further emphasizes the beauty and intricacy of poetic expression, its "turning in wind" a testament to its adaptability and responsiveness to external forces.

Jordan invokes natural imagery to describe the labor of thought, likening it to a bee?s construction of a hive: "Build thought as a bee does, / one concern at a time." This analogy highlights the meticulousness of poetic composition, where each word or idea contributes to a larger, cohesive structure. The "hexagonal symmetry" of the bee?s hive becomes a metaphor for the inherent order within the seeming chaos of creativity, suggesting that even the most organic forms have an underlying architecture.

The imagery shifts to explore decay and renewal, as Jordan introduces the "derelict house" with its "cellarhole cracked by bracken and trees." Here, the remnants of human habitation—marked by ruins and cracks—are juxtaposed with signs of natural vitality, such as daffodils blooming "alongside the door." The contrast between the man-made and the organic underscores the transient nature of human endeavors and the resilience of the natural world. The presence of a "carrion beetle to bury the mouse" introduces a sense of cyclical life, where even death contributes to the ecosystem.

The poem’s latter half delves into memory and loss, moving from physical remnants to the intangible traces of what has been forgotten or hidden. The "skeletal memories of things that are gone" evoke both the fragility and persistence of memory, while the image of "antlers, deep in the pines" suggests something buried or obscured, waiting to be unearthed. This interplay between visibility and concealment mirrors the poet’s task of bringing hidden truths to light, of articulating the unspoken.

The poem concludes with a movement toward the ineffable: "a path to the edge of recorded time, / that stops at a place / where the language is lost." This closing image evokes the limits of expression, the point at which language falters in the face of vastness or profundity. The "edge of recorded time" suggests both a historical boundary and a personal one, where memory and experience slip beyond articulation. By acknowledging this loss, Jordan underscores the paradox of poetry: its simultaneous power and inadequacy in capturing the fullness of existence.

"This Poem" is a layered and evocative exploration of the poetic process, blending the natural and the constructed, the remembered and the forgotten. Jordan’s use of rich, dynamic imagery creates a landscape where thought and language take root, grow, decay, and transform, reflecting the ever-shifting nature of creativity. At its heart, the poem celebrates the resilience and beauty of the poetic act, even as it acknowledges its limitations, offering a poignant meditation on what it means to create amidst impermanence.

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