Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Charles Olson’s "Death of Europe (A Funeral Poem for Rainer M. Gerhardt)" is a lament for his friend Rainer M. Gerhardt, a young German poet and editor who symbolized, to Olson, both the legacy and the decay of European culture post-World War II. Through poetic remembrance, Olson mourns Gerhardt’s untimely death at 28 and reflects on their shared literary vision, the struggle of European intellectuals to rebuild in the wake of devastation, and the profound generational gaps left unhealed. The poem intertwines historical allusions, personal anguish, and mythological elements, positioning Gerhardt as a tragic figure in a modern wasteland.

Olson opens by mishearing another German man who, speaking of “Dionysius’ tongue,” unintentionally echoes the “dinosaur’s tongue.” This mistaken phrase captures the central tension between classical European legacy—represented by Dionysius, god of wine, revelry, and rebirth—and a cultural landscape that feels prehistoric, fossilized. To Olson, Gerhardt represented this tension; he was intellectually vigorous, yet burdened by the “immense labors” of reconstructing a society that seemed both monumental and collapsed. The dinosaur’s tongue suggests antiquity, a Europe trapped in the “ruins” of its own history, where young visionaries like Gerhardt rise “out of the ruins” yet cannot fully break free from the shadows of the past.

In dedicating this elegy to Gerhardt, Olson’s language vacillates between respect for Gerhardt’s intellectual contributions and a deep sense of loss and frustration. Olson’s anguish emerges as he recalls Gerhardt “trying to hold bay leaves on a cinder block,” a metaphor that underlines Gerhardt’s attempts to uphold the vestiges of European culture and ideals (symbolized by the bay leaves, associated with victory and intellectual achievement) in an environment that has been reduced to “cinder blocks” by war and ideological breakdown. The futility of Gerhardt’s task pains Olson, who mourns the loss not only of a friend but of an intellectual ally—a “first of Europe” with whom he could “have words.”

In the second section, Olson moves into self-reflection, grappling with his own efforts to honor Gerhardt’s memory by metaphorically planting his “ash.” He recalls being haunted by questions about Gerhardt, asking out loud, “Were your eyes brown, Rainer? ... Did you die of your head bursting like a land-mine?” Olson’s questions capture both literal and existential grief, expressing a search for understanding amid the senselessness of Gerhardt’s death and an unresolved feeling that he was “unplanted,” unable to fully root himself in life or literature. This section underscores Olson’s need to make Gerhardt’s memory tangible, attempting to “stake” a claim on his friend’s life, achievements, and death.

The third section of the poem extends the metaphor of blindness, suggesting that the tragedy of Gerhardt’s life—and of European intellectualism—is not due to inherent evil but to a “blindness” from creation itself. Olson invokes the image of moles, creatures that navigate in darkness, to highlight how European intellectuals, including Gerhardt, are “sightless” due to cultural and ideological forces beyond their control. In a poignant observation, Olson remarks that “we miss what we are given, what woman is, what your two sons looking out of a picture at me,” emphasizing the tragic irony that intellectuals often lose sight of the simple, essential aspects of life in their pursuit of truth and progress. Olson’s sorrow is compounded by his awareness that Gerhardt, as the “last poet of a civilization,” will never see his sons grow up, embodying the loss of continuity between generations.

In section four, Olson’s grief deepens as he reflects on the failures of their predecessors—particularly “our grandmothers,” who “did not tell us the proper tales.” Olson implicates past generations for failing to pass down the values or narratives that could have guided Gerhardt and his peers, leaving them “raw as our inventions.” He laments that Gerhardt’s life ended prematurely, as if he were merely clinging to the “horse’s tail” of European culture, struggling to stay connected to an era that no longer exists. By contrasting Gerhardt’s struggles with the image of “Sam Houston, not Ulysses,” Olson underlines the disparity between American and European heroism, suggesting that Gerhardt’s intellectualism was ill-equipped for the rough, pioneering spirit of the post-war world.

The final section brings the poem to a somber acceptance of Gerhardt’s death and the irreversible state of European culture. Olson acknowledges the futility of placing high expectations on fragile human bodies and lives, lamenting that “the body does bring us down.” He insists that Gerhardt’s “glory” lay in his awareness of the importance of mounting a defense of European intellectualism, even as that endeavor led to his ruin. This section reconciles Olson’s grief with his respect for Gerhardt’s achievements, suggesting that what Gerhardt left “is what we praise.” Olson’s final lines, addressed to Gerhardt, are a plea for rest, “O Rainer, rest in the false peace,” while urging the living to continue their attempts at progress in the face of inevitable obstacles.

"Death of Europe (A Funeral Poem for Rainer M. Gerhardt)" is an elegy that encapsulates Olson’s dual mourning: for his friend and for the cultural heritage Gerhardt represented. By weaving personal grief with historical reflection, Olson portrays Gerhardt as a figure who shouldered the impossible weight of European intellectualism in a world ravaged by war and ideological conflicts. Olson’s poetry acknowledges the profound losses of culture, continuity, and innocence, all while grappling with the challenge of maintaining intellectual and human connection amid such loss. Ultimately, Olson’s poem stands as a testament to the fragility of cultural inheritance and the enduring power of human memory and respect in the face of irrevocable change.

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