Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

John Frederick Nims’ "Porno People" is a brief but layered poem that intertwines the sacred and the profane, blending high poetic tradition with modern cultural critique. Drawing its opening line from Dante’s Paradiso—“O love, that moves the sun and the other stars”—the poem immediately invokes a cosmic, divine force, yet swiftly subverts this grandeur by applying it to those who operate in the shadows of society’s morality. Nims constructs a contrast between transcendent love and the more base, clandestine desires of the “porno people,” ultimately questioning how love manifests in a world that often distorts its purpose.

The first two lines establish the poem’s ironic premise. The invocation of Dante’s final terzina from the Divine Comedy suggests a sublime, all-encompassing love—the divine force that structures the universe. Yet, the "porno people" are not drawn toward divine radiance but instead toward their "hooded avatars," a phrase that connotes anonymity, disguise, and the concealment of identity. The term “avatars” carries multiple implications: in a digital age, it suggests online personas and pornography’s virtual economy, but in a broader sense, it hints at the Hindu concept of incarnations, further complicating the tension between the sacred and the profane.

Nims deepens this contrast in the next lines: “Your luminous noon they flee, to hug your shade, / Haunting dim ferneries or the louche arcade.” The “luminous noon” represents truth, exposure, and purity, aligning with divine illumination. However, rather than embracing love in its full light, the porno people prefer darkness, “hugging” the shade rather than confronting the naked reality of intimacy. The verb "hug" is significant—it paradoxically suggests warmth and affection while simultaneously reinforcing the idea of clinging to concealment. The choice of “dim ferneries” as a location evokes images of enclosed, steamy, overgrown spaces—places where illicit activities thrive in secrecy. The “louche arcade” further enhances this imagery, suggesting a seedy, morally ambiguous space where pleasure and commerce intertwine.

The final couplet delivers a sharp critique laced with biblical allusion: “Squirmy in church, they know not what they do, / Going down, though not on knees, to worship you.” The phrase “Squirmy in church” suggests discomfort, guilt, or a dissonance between public piety and private indulgence. It recalls the tension between moral expectation and human desire, implying that these individuals feel the weight of their actions in spaces that demand virtue. The line “they know not what they do” is a direct echo of Christ’s words from the cross (“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”), repurposed here with an ironic twist: whereas Christ’s plea called for mercy upon the ignorant, Nims applies it to those whose ignorance may be willful or self-indulgent.

The closing phrase, “Going down, though not on knees, to worship you,” is an unmistakable double entendre, blending religious reverence with a sexualized euphemism. The implication is that these porno people enact a form of worship, but instead of spiritual devotion, their adoration is rooted in carnal pursuits. The poem ends on this pointed, irreverent note, leaving the reader to consider whether their actions are merely indulgent or, in some way, still tied to the divine force that Dante saw as governing the cosmos.

Structurally, "Porno People" is tightly controlled, adhering to a six-line format that enhances its epigrammatic quality. The rhymed couplets give the poem a crisp, almost aphoristic rhythm, lending weight to its moral and philosophical contrasts. The diction oscillates between high and low registers, balancing the loftiness of Dante and biblical references with the gritty reality of "louche arcades" and double meanings. This interplay of registers underscores the poem’s thematic tension between sacred love and profane desire.

Ultimately, Nims presents a provocative meditation on love in all its contradictions. Rather than dismissing the porno people outright, he situates them within the same cosmic force that moves the stars, suggesting that even in their pursuit of shadowed pleasures, they remain tethered to love’s gravitational pull. The poem does not offer easy moralizing; instead, it highlights the ironies of human desire, where the search for love can sometimes lead away from its truest form.

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