Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

James Merrill's "Valentine in Crayons" presents a rich tableau that intertwines themes of longing, failure, and the fragility of beauty. The poem's vivid imagery, coupled with its exploration of transformation and imperfection, evokes a sense of melancholic humor, as it reflects on the nature of human experience through the lens of a performance—a masque—where Sehnsucht (a German word often translated as "longing" or "yearning") takes on a new guise.

The poem opens with the image of Sehnsucht, who begins the masque cloaked in a "Nordic cowl," a symbol of coldness and perhaps stoic, distant yearning. This traditional, almost austere image is quickly abandoned for something more colorful and theatrical: "Milanese lozenges," a costume associated with the commedia dell'arte, which is characterized by its vibrant patterns and comedic characters. By transforming into the clown Fiasco, Sehnsucht becomes a figure of absurdity and failure—yet also one of humor and pathos.

Fiasco, as the name suggests, embodies the idea of failure or collapse, and the poem delights in this character's bumbling nature: "Butterfingers, stumblebum, / False feet in gum, bloom of the incomplete." These descriptions emphasize Fiasco's clumsiness and his inability to achieve perfection. The "bloom of the incomplete" suggests that there is a kind of beauty in his failures—a beauty that is transient and unfinished, but no less poignant for it.

The image of a vase that has "fallen to smithereens before having held / Queen Anne's lace or even the water for Queen Anne's lace" serves as a metaphor for unrealized potential. The vase, which should have been a vessel for beauty (represented by the delicate Queen Anne's lace), is shattered before it can fulfill its purpose. This destruction evokes a sense of pity, as the poem acknowledges the sadness of something beautiful being lost before it can even begin.

However, the poem quickly shifts from this moment of potential pathos to one of theatricality and artifice. The "pink past-master," likely a reference to Fiasco or another figure within the masque, "in a single sublime huff" disperses the remnants of the vase and its flowers, scattering "wan nosegays, white pollen on the floors / Of dressing-rooms." This act of dispersal, at once grand and dismissive, underscores the impermanence of beauty and the ease with which it can be destroyed or dismissed.

The final image of the poem—"turned to paste in water, / The moon face patted rigid as it dries"—captures the essence of Fiasco's character and the performance as a whole. The moon face, perhaps a mask or makeup applied to the character, is fixed in place, symbolizing the rigidity and finality of the masque's outcome. This face, once animated by the character's actions, now dries into a static, unchanging image, much like the faded memories of the performance itself.

"Valentine in Crayons" is a poem that meditates on the themes of longing, imperfection, and the transient nature of beauty. Through the figure of Fiasco, Merrill explores how human frailty and failure are not only inevitable but also integral to the experience of life. The poem's use of theatrical imagery and its shifting tones—from humor to pathos and back again—invite the reader to reflect on the ways in which we navigate our own incomplete, often flawed attempts at beauty and meaning. Merrill's language, rich with symbolism and layered meanings, ultimately suggests that even in our failures, there is a kind of grace, a recognition of the delicate balance between creation and destruction that defines the human condition.

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