Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Charles Olson's poem "Common Place" captures a moment of reflection and conversation between the speaker and his companions as they observe the rising full moon. The scene, while seemingly simple—a couple watching the moon and discussing its effects—is loaded with themes of perspective, natural cycles, human understanding, and timelessness, wrapped in Olson’s distinct voice that often meditates on the meeting of the ancient with the personal.

The poem opens with the image of the moon rising over a hill, its face marked by silhouetted trees, a common but striking natural sight. This moon, with “trees on her face,” blends the ordinary with a slight mystery, personifying the moon with a feminine pronoun that suggests mythic and natural connections. This personification sets up the moon as a powerful and almost sentient force, echoing the mythic associations humans have long attached to it.

The speaker’s conversation with Libby—a woman who, we later learn, is pregnant—introduces the theme of lunar influence on human life. Libby hopes to give birth on the night of the full moon, aligning her body’s natural rhythms with the lunar cycle. This is a traditional belief, rooted in the idea that the moon’s gravitational pull affects childbirth as it affects the tides. Olson’s reference to this belief ties back to folklore and to the timeless, almost mystical role the moon plays in human life, highlighting a connection between human experiences, especially of women and nature, and the celestial cycle.

This personal exchange with Libby, discussing whether she felt a strong urge to “clean house” or “sweep the floor,” symbolizes the nesting instinct often experienced before childbirth but also links to broader cultural associations between the moon and feminine energy, particularly regarding cycles and domesticity. Through this conversation, Olson suggests an archetypal pattern, one that moves beyond any single culture or time, joining women’s experiences to the moon's phases.

The poem then shifts to Con, who comments on the moon's speed in rising, a detail that prompts a philosophical response from the speaker. Con’s observation brings a note of innocence or wonder, which Olson counters with a scientific perspective, correcting her with the idea that it is “the earth is surprising how it turns.” This moment reveals Olson’s interest in contrasting ancient, folk understandings with modern, scientific explanations. However, he does not dismiss one for the other; rather, he acknowledges the power of both perspectives. Con’s preference for the “old-fashioned” way of seeing—that the moon is rising instead of the earth turning—expresses a longing for a simpler, more straightforward way of understanding the world, unburdened by scientific explanations that, while accurate, may dilute the sense of wonder.

Olson’s use of dialogue here is key to the poem's layered meaning. These conversational exchanges reveal not only differing viewpoints but also suggest how language and perspective shape reality. As they continue to observe, Olson reflects on the Native American perspectives, prompted by Con’s comment, “think of the Indian eyes have seen this same thing.” Here, Olson contrasts modern views with those of earlier peoples, implying that the Native Americans would have seen the moon with a purity of perception, unclouded by scientific jargon. Olson longs for a “durance of man,” a phrase suggesting endurance or timelessness in human experience, where knowledge doesn’t “take away” from wonder or diminish the mystery inherent in the natural world.

The poem closes with a rhetorical question—“doesn’t it? And meant to Indians too, along this hill?” This line seems to bring all the threads together, pointing toward an understanding of the universe that bridges both science and myth. For Olson, the moonrise becomes a shared human experience across cultures and epochs. The “more” he references encapsulates the totality of experience, uniting what we know and what remains mysterious.

The structure of "Common Place" is conversational, informal, almost like a journal entry capturing the ebb and flow of thoughts and exchanges. Olson’s style, marked by sparse punctuation and a relaxed syntax, allows the poem to drift naturally, mirroring the free association of thoughts under the expansive presence of the moon. The poem’s lack of strict structure and reliance on enjambment reflects Olson’s commitment to an organic form, one that accommodates the depth and fluidity of thought rather than constraining it.

In “Common Place,” Olson reflects on the human need to reconcile knowledge with wonder, suggesting that ancient and contemporary understandings of the world, mythic and scientific, can coexist. The moon, with its universal and timeless significance, becomes a mirror for humanity, symbolizing continuity across time and culture.

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