Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

David Lehman’s "Magician" explores themes of illusion, identity, and disappearance through the lens of a mysterious, transient figure. The poem, written in free verse, follows the magician’s movements—both literal and metaphorical—as he oscillates between presence and absence. Lehman’s characteristic dry wit and philosophical undercurrents shape this portrait of a man who is both performer and fugitive, a figure who thrives on secrecy and reinvention.

The opening lines establish the magician’s paradoxical nature: "The magician was a soulful man, quick rather than deep." This contrast suggests that while he possesses emotional sensitivity, his talents lie in agility rather than introspection. The phrase "quick rather than deep" also hints at the nature of magic itself—based on skillful deception rather than profound truth. He creates illusions, not lasting transformations.

Lehman then introduces the idea that the magician "always gave you the feeling that he knew more / than he was letting on." This air of withheld knowledge is central to both stage magic and personal charisma. However, rather than exploiting his power, he resists the temptation to control his audience: "though he didn’t—he would rather absent himself / than play the poor man’s Mussolini." The invocation of Mussolini, a dictator known for performative authority, reinforces the magician’s decision to avoid dominance. He prefers disappearance over dictatorial control, slipping away rather than bending people to his will.

This tendency toward vanishing defines his existence: "So he took off, / not often but a lot, staying away just long enough to make / his reappearance go unremarked." His movements are strategic yet unmemorable—he orchestrates his own fading presence so that his returns are met with indifference rather than spectacle. This suggests a man not only escaping others but also testing the limits of his own identity.

His methods of reinvention are theatrical: "He spent months / preparing for each transition, switching identities / with wigs and false noses." The language evokes both espionage and performance, suggesting that his existence is one of constant disguise. Yet despite this meticulous preparation, his ultimate goal seems to be anonymity rather than attention.

The imagery then shifts to nature, where the magician and a dog walk into the woods, approaching a lake with a "No Swimming" sign. Lehman’s observation—"where a No Swimming sign means you can be pretty sure / people are swimming"—injects a wry irony, reinforcing the idea that rules are often ignored, just as the magician evades societal expectations. The act of walking into the woods further emphasizes his retreat from human connection into a realm where he can dissolve into obscurity.

In the final stanza, the magician’s mind becomes a space of repetition and uncertainty: "Old conversations replayed themselves / in his mind. Every third sentence began ‘To be honest / with you,’ suggesting a general rule of falsehood." This revelation adds a layer of existential doubt—if truth must be constantly asserted, then dishonesty is the default. The magician, a master of illusion, is surrounded not only by his own deception but by the inherent duplicity of language and memory.

Lehman then closes the poem with an enigmatic metaphor: "The past was a hotel. The room was empty. The door / was open. He stepped in the door. There was no door." The hotel symbolizes a transient space, a temporary dwelling that holds echoes of past selves. The emptiness of the room suggests the void left by his continuous self-erasure. The recursive imagery of the door—open, stepped through, nonexistent—mirrors the magician’s own vanishing act. He attempts to enter a past that no longer exists, only to find that his own sense of reality dissolves upon approach.

"Magician" presents a figure who is at once elusive and haunted, a man dedicated to reinvention yet trapped in an endless cycle of disappearance. Lehman’s language, fluid and subtly ironic, mirrors the subject’s shifting identity, emphasizing the tension between illusion and truth, presence and absence. The poem does not offer resolution—like a magic trick, it leaves us questioning what was real and what was merely sleight of hand.

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