Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Charles Olson’s "Hustings" is a poem written in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s election, addressed to Leroi Jones (later Amiri Baraka), that delves into the tensions of national identity, global politics, and the poet’s personal reflections on the state of the world. It juxtaposes the public optimism surrounding a new president with a personal skepticism about progress, democracy, and the direction of humanity, oscillating between local minutiae and expansive philosophical concerns.

The poem opens with a pointed critique of the narrative of progress, framed by the global political climate of the 1960s. Olson immediately situates the poem in a contentious geopolitical context, mentioning Cuba’s desire for autonomy in producing sugar, the Soviet Union’s potential contamination of the moon, and China’s hostility toward the United States. These references reflect a world in flux, where Cold War anxieties and postcolonial struggles dominate the horizon. Olson’s acknowledgment of these events, interwoven with the recent election, underscores a disillusionment with the promises of progress and a distrust of the structures that uphold power.

Leroi Jones, who stands as the addressee and a fellow poet-critic, embodies a radical rejection of the nation’s hypocrisy. Olson aligns with Jones’s critique, explicitly stating, “I do too,” rejecting the lies of the nation-state. Yet Olson’s rebellion is nuanced and personal; instead of engaging with grand acts of protest or public disavowal, he retreats to the local and mundane. His world shrinks to the West End of Gloucester’s main street, where small-town interactions with familiar figures—the cop, Joe at Tally’s, the girl at the Waiting Station—create an intimate, almost claustrophobic counterpoint to the global concerns introduced earlier.

These everyday encounters are tinged with irony and vulnerability. Olson’s scarf and hat clash, his wife rejects a public kiss, and his attempts at connection are tinged with self-deprecation. The personal diminishment contrasts starkly with the inflated rhetoric of the political sphere. His interactions become a microcosm of his broader unease: the limitations of personal agency within a nation increasingly defined by its machinery of progress, conformity, and global dominance.

Olson’s tone sharpens as he reflects on the new president, whose campaign promises embody the optimism of a forward-looking America. Yet Olson’s disillusionment pierces through the veneer of hope, as he notes the “pasty-face of young girls and boys” and his own physical impulses, rendered absurd by the hollow ideals of the time. The body and its raw, unmediated desires—embodied by his reaction to “woman’s behind”—stand in stark contrast to the sanitized promises of democracy and progress. The juxtaposition critiques the disconnect between the corporeal, messy realities of human existence and the abstract ideals imposed by political rhetoric.

Olson’s lament extends beyond America, acknowledging France’s loss of its essence and the homogenization of youth culture, symbolized by the ubiquity of wristwatches. The wristwatch, an emblem of synchronization and control, becomes a metonym for the global standardization of identity and time, reducing individuality to mechanized uniformity. Olson’s skepticism of progress crystallizes in his assertion that “it isn’t the moon which is in danger, it’s the singleness of the sun.” The metaphor underscores his concern that humanity’s essence—its capacity for unity and singularity—is at risk of being diluted by ideological binaries and technological advancements.

The poem’s epistolary form allows Olson to oscillate between the personal and the universal. His address to Jones is not only a dialogue but also a plea for solidarity amidst the chaos. Olson’s voice is at once resolute and searching, grappling with the implications of necessity and invention. The closing lines, with their urgency and vulnerability, encapsulate his struggle to reconcile a fractured world. By naming himself and his address—“Charles Olson / 28 Fort Square / Gloucester Massachusetts / in the world”—he reasserts his individuality and rootedness while gesturing toward a broader human connection.

The final plea, “Please come immediately / There is no need to worry / We shall all eat / All is here,” offers a tenuous hope. The repetition of “all” suggests abundance, even as it acknowledges the precariousness of existence. Olson’s insistence that “all is here” serves as a reminder of the immediacy of life, urging a reclamation of presence in the face of systemic alienation.

"Hustings" is a meditation on the intersections of personal and political existence, where local specificity collides with global concerns. Through its fragmented narrative and shifting tones, Olson critiques the mechanisms of progress while asserting the need for grounded, authentic connection. His plea to Jones is ultimately a plea to all: to resist the erasure of individuality and to find meaning in the immediacy of human experience amidst the abstractions of modernity.

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