Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Michael McClure’s "La Plus Blanche" is a radiant, almost devotional ode to Jean Harlow, the legendary Hollywood actress whose luminous beauty and ephemeral presence captivated the world. The poem operates as both an exaltation and an existential inquiry, positioning Harlow as an almost mythic figure whose physicality and aura transcend mere human allure. In McClure’s universe, she is not just a film star but an embodiment of love, energy, and strangeness—qualities that elevate her beyond mortality into something nearly divine.

From the opening line, McClure establishes an ecstatic tone: "JEAN HARLOW, YOU ARE IN BEAUTY ON DARK EARTH WITH WHITE FEET!" The contrast between dark earth and white feet immediately positions Harlow as an ethereal figure, luminous against the backdrop of the ordinary world. Her whiteness—both literal and symbolic—suggests an otherworldly purity or radiance, a presence untouched by the weight of existence. McClure’s use of capital letters amplifies the fervor of his address, reinforcing his sense of awe.

He then compares her to Michael slaying the dragon, invoking the archangel’s legendary triumph over darkness. This allusion frames Harlow as both a celestial warrior and a conqueror of something intangible—perhaps time, death, or the limitations of human form. Unlike the violent imagery of Saint Michael’s conquest, however, Harlow’s power is not in destruction but in grace: "To air you give magical sleekness." Here, she becomes an elemental force, not bound to earth but gliding through existence with a kind of supernatural fluidity. McClure’s admiration is so boundless that he imagines her being carried into Space on our shoulders, as if her essence belongs beyond the confines of this world, destined for the cosmos.

The poem’s central theme crystallizes in the assertion that Harlow "triumph[s] over all with warm legs and a smile of wistful anxiety that’s cover for the honesty spoken by your grace!" Her physicality is essential to her power—her warm legs, her smile—but it is not merely about sensuality. The wistful anxiety that hides honesty suggests a deeper, almost tragic complexity. McClure perceives in her an emotional vulnerability beneath the surface, a sincerity that elevates her beyond mere beauty into something profoundly felt. Harlow, in his vision, is not a manufactured image of Hollywood but a vessel of genuine human expression.

The idea of reciprocal admiration becomes another key theme: "Inner energy presses out to you in warmness — You return love. Love returned for admiration! Strangeness is returned by you for desire." Unlike the typical one-sided adoration of a movie star, McClure suggests that Harlow actively returns love, creating a feedback loop between herself and those who admire her. Her strangeness—something that sets her apart—is not just tolerated but transformed into grace, a rare ability to convert otherness into allure. This, for McClure, is her most transcendent quality: she does not simply possess beauty but actively reshapes and redefines it.

He then poses a rhetorical question: "How. Where but in the depth of Jean Harlow is such strangeness made into grace?" This interrogates the very nature of beauty and allure. Unlike conventional beauty, which is often understood as symmetry or perfection, Harlow’s is defined by strangeness. McClure is fascinated not by the surface-level appeal of her features but by the ineffable quality that makes her unforgettable. He contrasts her with other women: "How many women are more beautiful in shape and apparition! How few can / have / draw such love to them?" While other women may possess the external markers of beauty, few can elicit the same depth of admiration and emotional response. Harlow’s allure is totalizing—it is not just visual but spiritual, magnetic.

The culminating declaration—"For you are the whole creature of love!"—positions Harlow as something beyond mere human, an entity whose very being is synonymous with love itself. McClure then extends this metaphor into her physicality: "Your muscles are love muscles! Your nerves — Love nerves!" In this breathless litany, Harlow is not merely a recipient of adoration but a generator of love at the most fundamental, biological level. Her very existence pulses with it, making her a singular phenomenon.

Finally, McClure closes with a quiet, dreamlike reverence: "And your upturned comic eyes! Sleep dreams of you." The comic eyes suggest that even in her allure, there is humor, lightness, and playfulness—another layer to her multidimensional charm. And then, in the most delicate conclusion, he suggests that sleep itself dreams of her, as if even unconsciousness cannot help but conjure her image. She is not only an icon in waking life but an indelible presence in the dream world.

"La Plus Blanche" is both an exaltation and a meditation on beauty, desire, and the mysterious power of a singular figure to captivate the world. McClure does not merely describe Jean Harlow; he enacts his awe, turning admiration into poetic incantation. She is more than a woman—she is energy, love, and strangeness incarnate, a presence so radiant that even space, sleep, and history seem to bend toward her.

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