Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Charles Olson?s "West Gloucester" captures a vivid moment of encounter between humanity and nature, presenting the intricate interplay between observation, empathy, and the inexorable forces of life and death. The poem revolves around the star-nosed mole ("Condylura cristata"), a small and unique mammal distinguished by its extraordinary, flower-like nasal appendage, and uses this encounter as a lens to explore vulnerability, beauty, and the human impulse to intervene.

The poem opens with a detailed and almost clinical description of the mole, placing it on Atlantic Street in West Gloucester, disoriented and seemingly injured. Olson’s eye for specificity is evident in his meticulous attention to the mole’s physicality and behavior: "spinning on its star-wheel nose...fighting all the time, with its fore-paws at the lovely mushroom growth of its nose." The star-nosed mole, a creature often unseen and unfamiliar, becomes a focal point of the poem?s meditative gaze, allowing Olson to explore not just the animal itself but also its symbolic resonance.

The mole?s distinctive nose, likened to "snow-ball flake pink flesh of a gentian," is rendered as an object of both fascination and fragility. Olson?s imagery imbues the creature with a strange, almost otherworldly beauty, elevating it beyond mere zoological observation. Yet, this beauty is juxtaposed with the mole?s distress, as it struggles "as though it would get rid of its own pink appendage." This tension between the mole?s extraordinary form and its apparent suffering forms the emotional core of the poem, reflecting Olson?s broader concerns with the vulnerabilities inherent in both nature and human existence.

Olson?s intervention, using "an oar out of the back seat of the station wagon" to remove the mole from the road, is presented with a mix of practicality and reverence. His actions are driven by a desire to restore the mole to its natural habitat—"all the marshes of Walker?s Creek"—and to alleviate its distress. Yet, the poet?s language conveys an awareness of the limits of human understanding and agency. He speculates about the mole’s disorientation—"if that was what was wrong with the little thing"—acknowledging that his interpretation of its plight may be incomplete or insufficient.

The poem’s setting, West Gloucester and the marshes of Walker?s Creek, serves as more than a mere backdrop. Olson connects the mole?s plight to the broader landscape, drawing attention to the natural gradient from marsh to creek to Ipswich Bay and, ultimately, to the Atlantic Ocean. This progression mirrors the mole?s own journey—real or imagined—away from the "dizzying highway" and back into the embrace of nature. Olson’s evocation of the landscape underscores the interconnectedness of all life, situating the mole?s individual struggle within the larger rhythms of the natural world.

Olson’s tone throughout the poem oscillates between tenderness and detachment. He describes the mole as "the loveliest animal I believe I ever did see in such a quandary," revealing a deep sense of admiration and empathy. At the same time, his decision to intervene is portrayed as pragmatic rather than sentimental, emphasizing the coexistence of human compassion and the indifference of the natural world.

The poem concludes with a sense of unresolved ambiguity. The mole’s fate remains uncertain—it is "all into the grass, all away from the dizzying highway," but whether it survives or thrives is left to the reader’s imagination. This lack of closure reflects Olson’s broader poetic ethos, which resists neat resolutions and embraces the complexity of existence. The star-nosed mole, with its delicate beauty and existential struggle, becomes a microcosm of the larger forces at play in the natural and human worlds.

In "West Gloucester," Olson transforms a fleeting roadside encounter into a meditation on beauty, vulnerability, and the limits of human intervention. The poem’s vivid imagery, nuanced tone, and attention to detail invite readers to contemplate their own relationship with the natural world and the ethical dilemmas inherent in acts of care and observation. Ultimately, the poem resonates as both a celebration of life’s peculiar wonders and a poignant acknowledgment of its fragility.

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