Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Ode to Jackson Pollock", Michael Thomas McClure explores the raw intensity, suffering, and transcendence of the creative process as embodied by the painter Jackson Pollock. Through a vibrant and visceral portrayal of Pollock’s approach to art, McClure captures both the torment and exhilaration of creation, using fragmented, kinetic language that mirrors Pollock’s own wild and freeform style. This poem is both an homage to Pollock’s legacy and a meditation on the act of creation itself, where art becomes a means of survival, expression, and self-destruction.

The poem opens with a depiction of Pollock in action, “Hand swinging the loops of paint — splashes — drips,” and introduces the central image of Pollock’s characteristic style: dripping and splattering paint onto canvas. McClure’s use of action verbs—“swinging,” “splashes,” “drips”—captures the frenetic energy of Pollock’s technique. The colors mentioned—“lavender, duende black, blue and red”—invoke a mixture of beauty and darkness, reflecting the emotional weight and complexity of Pollock’s work. The mention of “duende,” a Spanish term denoting a deep, almost spiritual emotion, signals that Pollock’s art taps into a primal, soulful intensity. McClure’s portrayal of Pollock’s technique thus becomes a metaphor for the emotional turmoil underlying the creative process.

McClure shifts to address Pollock directly, stating, “Jackson Pollock my sorrow is selfish.” This admission of selfishness hints at the poet’s personal connection to Pollock’s work, suggesting that McClure sees his own struggles and emotions mirrored in Pollock’s art. “I won’t meet you here. / I see your crossings of paint!” Here, McClure seems to acknowledge the impossibility of truly connecting with Pollock, as if the artist exists on a different plane, one accessible only through his art. Pollock’s “crossings of paint” symbolize the intersections of pain, ambition, and struggle, all expressed through the language of abstraction. For McClure, these crossings represent a journey through “gestures” that embody both despair and the artist’s relentless pursuit of meaning.

The poem moves into a reflection on the universal nature of these gestures: “We are all lost in the cloud of our gestures — / — the smoke we make with our arms.” Here, McClure suggests that human beings, like Pollock, use action and expression to navigate the emptiness and confusion of existence. This “cloud” of gestures, akin to the swirling paint in Pollock’s work, represents the collective effort to make sense of life’s chaos. In this state of “lovelessness” and “sorrow,” the poet finds a kinship with Pollock, seeing both of their works as attempts to give form to suffering. McClure’s line, “We make their postures with our stance,” underscores the performative aspect of this struggle, as if artists must wear their pain and let it shape them in order to create.

McClure’s imagery grows increasingly dark and visceral as he describes Pollock’s art as “the lean black she-wolves on altars of color.” This image likens the artist’s work to a predatory creature, primal and wild, yet made sacred by its place on an “altar.” The wolves represent both the savagery of creative impulse and the vulnerability Pollock exposes in his art. By painting his anguish, Pollock creates a “singing testimony,” a record of his internal strife that resonates with a raw, almost musical quality. McClure captures this duality, noting that Pollock’s work contains “gouges, corruptions, wrinkles, held loose in the net of our feelings and hues.” The imperfections within the art are not flaws but integral parts of its beauty, each “corruption” a trace of human struggle preserved in paint.

The poem continues to delve into Pollock’s relationship with beauty and ambition, acknowledging that the artist was “Held [himself] in animal suffering.” For McClure, Pollock’s art is both a reflection of ambition and a way of giving shape to his pain. Pollock’s “history” becomes a “history of Pain,” a tangible testament to the cost of creation. McClure’s statement, “We give in to the lie of beauty in the step of creating,” suggests that beauty in art is often a construct, a façade that conceals the messiness of the creative process. Yet, this “lie” also serves a purpose, providing a space for artists to “make lies to live in.” Art, then, becomes both an escape and a survival mechanism, a way of channeling intense emotions into something structured and meaningful.

McClure shifts his focus to Pollock’s method, noting how he “Caught on to the method of making / each motion your speech, your love, your rack.” Here, he emphasizes that for Pollock, every brushstroke, every splatter, is an expression of something deeply personal. This “method” is both a discipline and a compulsion, an all-encompassing dedication that consumes the artist. The line “Like making money makes the body move” suggests that for Pollock, creating was as vital as survival, a force that propelled him to act. In this sense, Pollock’s art is not merely a visual experience but a testament to “animal action and freedom,” a physical manifestation of his desire for liberation through expression.

In the poem’s closing lines, McClure paints Pollock as a visionary figure, a “heroic — huge — burning with your feelings.” The artist’s work is described as a journey toward self-realization and legacy, where his “lean wolf beloved” represents both the ferocity of his drive and the “Guardians of the Secret”—a reference to one of Pollock’s works that suggests his commitment to capturing profound, often painful truths. Pollock’s canvases become spaces where he “spread[s] in clouds of color,” blending raw experience with artistic grace. His work is both “free of innocence” and “containing all,” encompassing the totality of human experience without the need for purity or perfection.

McClure’s direct address to Pollock—“Pollock do you hear me?”—is both a call and a reverence, as the poet seeks connection with the artist’s spirit. Pollock’s “beloved,” described as a figure “hovering always before him,” represents the unattainable ideal or muse, a force that drives creation but remains forever out of reach. In Pollock’s quest to capture her “face and shoulders,” he confronts his own limitations, piecing together a “perfect figure” from fragmented forms. This act of assembling “the lovely shape of chaos” symbolizes the artist’s lifelong pursuit to find order within disorder, beauty within turmoil.

In "Ode to Jackson Pollock", McClure honors Pollock’s artistic legacy while meditating on the universal challenges of the creative process. Through Pollock’s intense, chaotic method, McClure sees a reflection of his own artistic struggles and aspirations. The poem captures the paradox of art as both an act of self-destruction and self-realization, a way to “press experience through yourself onto the canvas.” For McClure, Pollock’s legacy endures not only in his paintings but in the “grace and glory” he achieved through raw expression. Ultimately, the poem affirms that art, however chaotic or painful, provides a means of communion, an immortal bridge between the artist’s inner world and the universal experience of the human condition.

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