Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

David Wagoner’s "Makers of Rain" is a profound meditation on the interplay between human ambition, fragility, and the enduring mysteries of nature and history. Set atop the Pyramid of the Magician in Uxmal, the poem juxtaposes the awe-inspiring legacy of the ancient Maya with the vulnerability of modern travelers attempting to reconcile their presence in a landscape rich with cultural and cosmic significance.

The poem opens with the speaker and their companion seated atop the pyramid, gazing down at the remnants of a civilization once deeply intertwined with its environment and spirituality. Their vantage point affords them a sweeping view of Uxmal’s ruins—the ball-court, iguanas basking in fractured stonework, and jaguar statues. The imagery here captures both the grandeur of the ancient site and its slow erosion by time, emphasizing the impermanence of even the most monumental human endeavors. The “cracked fretwork” and “broken phallus” evoke the collapse of structures once imbued with power and purpose, while the rows of Chacmuls, with their iconic upturned noses, suggest the enduring presence of the gods of rain and fertility.

The tone shifts as the speaker reflects on their precarious position—both physical and existential. Perched at the top of the pyramid, they confront the sheer steps leading down and the metaphysical weight of the rain gods’ gaze. The historical setting amplifies the travelers’ sense of insignificance; unlike the ancient priests who ruled the quadrangle below and communed with the divine, they feel like intruders, out of place in a landscape of sacred relics. This awareness of their outsider status underscores the central theme: humanity’s tenuous relationship with the forces of nature and the divine.

The speaker’s acknowledgment of their limitations—“We are masters of nothing we survey”—serves as a pivotal moment. While the Mayan priests once commanded rituals to summon rain, the modern travelers can only observe the ruins, their agency reduced to a symbolic act of balance: “balancing / Our love against the weight of evidence.” The evidence of a collapsed side of the pyramid mirrors their internal fragility, as they grapple with the impermanence of human achievements and relationships. The line deftly intertwines the physical ruins with the emotional terrain of the travelers, suggesting that love itself, like ancient stonework, is vulnerable to collapse yet remains a source of meaning and connection.

The poem reaches its emotional apex when the speaker contemplates the Magician’s rituals. The image of the Magician—“chanting with his arms outstretched / Over a dying city”—resonates as a symbol of human defiance and hope in the face of mortality. By identifying with the Magician, the travelers claim a spiritual lineage, imagining that they too can reach for the clouds and summon change. However, their belief in magic is tempered by fear, underscoring the duality of human aspiration: the yearning for transcendence tempered by the awareness of failure and loss.

The final lines reveal the travelers’ attempt to engage with the ancient ritual of rainmaking. As “priest and priestess of ourselves,” they do not command nature but instead embody its fragility. Their act of weeping—“we weep to show it how”—becomes a poignant gesture of solidarity with the rain gods and the natural world. This vulnerability transforms their tears into both a plea and an offering, symbolizing a shared understanding of cycles—of drought and rain, decay and renewal. The act of weeping not only bridges the gap between the past and present but also connects the human and the cosmic, acknowledging the interdependence of all life.

“Makers of Rain” explores the human need to find meaning and agency in the face of overwhelming forces. Through its vivid depiction of Uxmal’s ruins and the travelers’ introspection, the poem captures the tension between awe and humility, hope and despair. By positioning the modern individuals as both inheritors and spectators of ancient rituals, Wagoner invites readers to reflect on their own place in the natural and historical continuum. Ultimately, the poem suggests that while we may never master the elements or fully understand the mysteries of the past, our acts of love, belief, and vulnerability imbue our existence with significance.

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