Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Howard Nemerov’s poem "Two Girls" captures a fleeting, dream-like vision from the past, exploring themes of memory, loss, and the passage of time. The poem vividly evokes a moment of beauty and mystery, encapsulating the transient nature of youthful innocence and the inevitable march towards adulthood.

The poem begins with the speaker recounting a dream in which he revisits a scene from years past: "I saw again in a dream the other night / Something I saw in daylight years ago." This repetition of the image in both dream and memory underscores its significance to the speaker. The setting—a "path in the rainy woods"—is described with a "shaft of light," suggesting a moment of clarity or revelation amidst the shadows.

As the two girls walk through the interplay of "shadow" and "dazzle," they symbolize the fleeting nature of youth and beauty, moving between light and dark, visibility and obscurity. Their journey through the woods represents the transition from innocence to experience, a common motif in literature that Nemerov handles with delicate imagery. The speaker's loss of sight of them "in gloom embowering beyond the glade" highlights the ephemeral quality of this moment; it is as if the girls are enveloped by the natural world, becoming part of the mystery of the woods.

The poem then shifts to a reflection on the impermanence of this vision: "The bright oblivion that belongs to day / Covered their steps, nothing of them remained." Daylight, often associated with clarity and reality, here serves to erase the memory, emphasizing the fleeting nature of the moment. Yet, in the darkness of the dream, the girls reappear, "brought forth again / To the rainy glitter and the silver light." This cyclical nature of memory, where the darkness allows the past to resurface, speaks to the persistence of certain images in our subconscious.

Nemerov contrasts the girls' ephemeral presence with the enduring elements of the natural world: "The ancient leaves that had not fallen then." The juxtaposition of the transient human figures against the timeless backdrop of nature underscores the tension between the permanence of the natural world and the fleeting nature of human experience.

The poem concludes with a poignant reflection on the future of the girls: "Two girls, going forever out of sight, / Talking of lovers, maybe, and of love: / Not that blind life they'd be the mothers of." Their conversation about love and lovers situates them in a moment of innocence and possibility, untainted by the realities of life they will inevitably face. The phrase "blind life they'd be the mothers of" suggests a future where the clarity of their youthful dreams and conversations will be overshadowed by the practicalities and challenges of adulthood and motherhood.

"Two Girls" by Howard Nemerov is a lyrical meditation on memory and the passage of time. Through its vivid imagery and reflective tone, the poem captures a fleeting moment of beauty and innocence, set against the backdrop of a timeless natural world. Nemerov's exploration of the transient nature of human experience, contrasted with the enduring qualities of the natural world, invites readers to reflect on the persistence of memory and the inevitable transitions that define our lives.

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