Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Charles Olson’s "Enniscorthy Suite" explores the cyclical interplay between life and death, nature and human experience, on the pastoral land of Enniscorthy. Divided into four sections—The Dry Lot, Lower Field, Bottom Land, and The Family Plot—the poem is a journey across different landscapes that represent stages of life, growth, decay, and memory. Each part evokes the enduring, almost mythic, quality of rural land as well as its deeply embedded history, filled with life yet overshadowed by mortality.

The first section, "The Dry Lot," opens with imagery of ceaseless natural forces: the wind in the trees, the “snap” of the woods, and a “distant sea” that brings to mind an endless horizon. The phrases “bob white” and “tzuz, eep eep eep” capture the vivid sounds of wildlife, making this pastoral scene alive yet grounded by the “red road” that leads down north, described as “lazy in the sun.” The recurring phrase, “this is the dry lot,” underscores a sense of barrenness or finality. Olson’s repetition of “green” juxtaposes the image of ongoing life—the renewal of the landscape—with the weariness that comes from continuity without change. This section sets up Enniscorthy as a place of both vibrancy and inevitability, suggesting that each year, life begins “anew” with an enduring, even wearisome cycle of regeneration.

In "Lower Field," Olson sharpens the imagery of life by introducing livestock—the sheep with “black leggings” and “black face”—who lie motionless in the shade, almost as though they are camouflaged or positioned in “ambush.” The field becomes a theater of life and death, with crows flying overhead in a noisy “convocation,” filling the sky with their “squawk,” which Olson compares to a “sty.” Here, life in its primal form intrudes; the crows are creatures of decay, and the sheep, though alive, have a military air about them, evoking mortality in their stillness. Olson’s phrase, “A bee is deceived,” captures nature’s inevitable missteps as the bee mistakes a rotting stump for honeycomb, emphasizing how even life’s simple processes are tinged with decay and illusion. In contrast to the busyness below, the sun presides over all, impartial and untouched, a timeless observer to the scene below.

"Bottom Land" shifts into a celebration of spring and renewal. Olson introduces “barley’s bent beards” and “oats stand[ing] green,” where each growing plant is a testament to spring’s vigor. The refrain, “Spring, it is,” emphasizes the unique sense of renewal and optimism that comes with the season, contrasting sharply with the earlier sections’ gravity. The barley, oats, and clover in bloom become symbols of fertility and love, emphasizing both individual growth and collective rebirth in nature. Olson’s tone here is jubilant, as the repeated exclamations—“Sing, springtime!”—underscore a fleeting sense of joy, a seasonal reprieve from the underlying cycle of life and death.

The poem’s final section, "The Family Plot," is a meditation on mortality and memory. Here, the landscape shifts again, this time to a somber reflection on burial and legacy. The phrase “burn the grass” suggests a ritualistic clearing or purging of the old, while “the grave / the sun stays green, the live alive” highlights the resilience of life even amidst reminders of death. As Olson “turn[s] the soil,” he connects the living to the dead, where both the “wind is young” and “the rain is red,” mixing the life-giving elements with imagery of blood and finality. The stone and tree, symbolic of permanence, stand as silent witnesses to lives once lived. Olson’s closing line—“Alive and alone at Enniscorthy”—encapsulates a paradox of existence: while life is vibrant, it is ultimately isolated, tethered to a land that endures beyond individual lives.

Throughout "Enniscorthy Suite," Olson captures the essence of Enniscorthy as both a specific locale and an emblem of life’s larger patterns. Each section addresses a different aspect of human connection to nature—whether it be vitality, death, renewal, or solitude. By invoking images of rural life and interweaving them with the metaphysical, Olson transforms Enniscorthy into a landscape of shared yet solitary experiences, where individuals, like the land, are “alive and alone.”

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