Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "On Opening" by Mark Wunderlich, the poem reflects on the transient nature of life, the inevitable encroachment of death, and the delicate balance between light and darkness, presence and absence. Through a series of vivid, haunting images, the speaker grapples with the contradictions of existence—where beauty and decay, warmth and coldness, and life and death are inextricably bound together.

The poem begins with an observation of the changing season: "Look at it, the season's shifting." This opening line suggests a transition, not just in the natural world but in the speaker’s own internal landscape. The "slice of window" acts as both a literal and metaphorical frame, providing the speaker with a limited perspective on the world outside. The image of the "fires smoldering on the hillside" and the "smoke rising up in feeble questions" evokes a sense of fading warmth and vitality, where the fires are no longer strong, and the smoke seems to dissipate into uncertainty. This visual image of fire, traditionally a symbol of life, energy, and transformation, is presented here in a weakened, diminished state, setting the tone for the poem’s reflections on fragility and the passage of time.

The "dark house in the distance" with its "tinny light" that "ignites" offers a sharp contrast to the natural world. The light, small and "tinny," is described as something that comes "too close, like an enemy / or ice." This suggests a discomfort with light—something that, in its brightness or proximity, can become invasive, cold, or threatening. The description of light as "like an enemy" implies a tension between the warmth it provides and the harm it can cause when it overwhelms. Similarly, ice, another cold and impersonal force, becomes a metaphor for the sharp, distant quality of life and death.

The poem shifts from the natural world to the domestic space, where "outside the wind sings the way a door sings on opening." This comparison evokes the image of a door as both an entry and an exit, symbolizing the threshold between the external world and the interior, between life and death. The "hammer tap in the next room" is likened to a heartbeat, suggesting that the actions occurring in the house—whether mundane or significant—are as rhythmic and inevitable as life itself. The tap is described as "sealing in the blood then giving in," which could refer to the act of life and death being in constant flux: blood is contained within the body, but it also seeks release, similar to the inevitability of death.

The speaker then contemplates the body’s capacity for self-dissolution: "I must tell you how willingly the body will empty itself of itself." This line poignantly touches on the fragility of the body and the inevitability of its decline, suggesting that death is something the body is predisposed to accept, even "willingly." The reference to cancer "coiling in a distant cell" and the image of "blue veins" moving "to a quieter place" further evokes the slow, silent process of the body’s disintegration. The body is described as moving toward a "quieter place," indicating both the gradual physical decay and the peaceful stillness associated with death.

As the poem transitions to the night, it describes "the night's single white sheet" that "stretches out wrinkleless, chilled," a stark image of purity, emptiness, and coldness. The snow fields are said to be "hoarding / their empty white bowls," symbolizing an accumulation of silence and void. The image of the snow, with its "empty white bowls," is both serene and haunting—emptiness in its purest form, yet it is also a space of potential, of something waiting to be filled or understood.

The final lines, "Listen to that whispering! / It is the lungs casting in and out — a spidery black spot clings to pink," bring the poem back to the body, focusing on the quiet, almost imperceptible movements of life. The "whispering" of the lungs suggests the fragile, fleeting nature of breath, and the "spidery black spot" clinging to the pink suggests a growing illness or a mark of decay. The contrast between the "spidery black spot" and the "pink" of the lungs evokes the intrusion of death into the life-giving process of breathing, the quiet and inevitable progression of physical decline.

“On Opening” is a meditation on the frailty of life, the inevitability of death, and the delicate balance between presence and absence. Through its rich, haunting imagery, the poem captures the tension between the fleeting vitality of life and the cold certainty of mortality. The speaker reflects on how both the external world and the internal experience are shaped by forces of decay, vulnerability, and quiet resignation. Whether in the imagery of the smoldering fires, the tinny light, the opening door, or the "spidery black spot" on the lungs, the poem explores the ways in which life and death coexist in constant tension, each always in the shadow of the other.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...