Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

John Frederick Nims’ "Julianne-Julienne" is a playful yet profound meditation on the tension between the spiritual and the sensual, the ascetic and the indulgent, the mystic and the material. Through the juxtaposition of Julian of Norwich, the medieval anchoress and Christian mystic, with julienne—the culinary term for thinly sliced vegetables—Nims wittily suggests the two fundamental paths of existence: devotion to higher, inscrutable truths or immersion in the tangible pleasures of the body. The poem, written in a tightly controlled sonnet form, maintains an air of levity while exploring a philosophical dilemma as old as human consciousness.

The opening lines establish the poem’s central contrast: "Julianne of Norwich, julienne of leeks, / Is that our range of options here below?" The invocation of Julian of Norwich immediately conjures her theological legacy—her visions of divine love and her famous assertion that "All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well." As a recluse who devoted herself entirely to contemplation and divine revelation, she embodies the extreme of spiritual commitment. The other option, "julienne of leeks," is its mundane, earthly counterpart—a reference to the pleasures of food, of finely prepared and seasoned nourishment. The humorous equivalency of a revered mystic with sliced vegetables sets the stage for the poem’s central irony: are these really the only two modes of human existence? Are we bound to either asceticism or indulgence, contemplation or consumption?

Nims heightens this duality by contrasting Julian’s divine visions—"To haunt the cloud where pure Enigma speaks / Words so occult they leave the night aglow?"—with an opulent scene of earthly delight: "Or to bonne-bouche it? Napery! Cuisine! / Diamonds on warm fingers by our own / Languid on stemware, tilted wine between / Blossomy kisses." The phrase "pure Enigma speaks" suggests the cryptic nature of mystical revelation, which defies rational understanding, casting an ethereal glow but remaining elusive. In opposition to this is the decadent tableau of material pleasure, filled with tactile details—"napery" (fine table linens), cuisine, luxurious jewelry, wine, and the intimate physicality of "blossomy kisses." The contrast is stark: one path leads to divine mystery, the other to sensory excess.

But instead of settling for this opposition, the poem’s volta—its rhetorical turning point—complicates the distinction. "How compare / Norwich and leeks? Soul, body?" The rhetorical question exposes the artificiality of the dichotomy. Rather than treating these as mutually exclusive categories, Nims suggests that they "in intimacy mingle." The phrase recalls the theological notion of the union of spirit and flesh, a recurring theme in both Christian mysticism and poetic tradition. The implication is that spirituality need not exclude the pleasures of the flesh, nor does indulgence necessarily preclude a deeper metaphysical engagement with existence.

The final lines personalize the meditation: "Yet the two / In others, their very plenitude's in you, / My Julianne-julienne." Addressing a beloved, the speaker locates in her the synthesis of these opposing forces. The playful repetition of "Julianne-julienne" fuses the two worlds together, suggesting that an individual can embody both the ecstatic and the corporeal, the ethereal and the earthly. The phrase "Your body's droll / Gala mélange!" elevates her physical presence to something both whimsical and celebratory. The phrase "What setting for a soul!" concludes the poem with a joyful affirmation: the body, with all its desires and sensations, is not merely a vessel but an appropriate, even wondrous, home for the soul.

Through its lighthearted tone and clever wordplay, "Julianne-Julienne" ultimately rejects the idea that one must choose between spiritual transcendence and physical pleasure. Instead, Nims embraces a vision of human experience that allows for both, recognizing that the divine and the sensual are not necessarily at odds but can exist in harmony. The poem celebrates the full spectrum of existence, suggesting that the sacred and the profane, the visionary and the tangible, are interwoven in the fabric of life.

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