Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Louis Zukofsky’s "A -- 18: An Unearthing" is an expansive meditation on mortality, love, memory, and the enduring power of art and thought. As with much of Zukofsky’s *A* sequence, the poem is characterized by a dense interweaving of personal reflections, historical and literary allusions, and philosophical inquiries, creating a text that is simultaneously intimate and universal. The poem’s complex structure resists easy interpretation, yet its core themes of love’s endurance and the tension between presence and absence emerge powerfully through Zukofsky’s characteristic blend of lyrical poignancy and intellectual rigor.

The opening lines introduce the poem’s central motif of love’s persistence beyond death: “if I say it now will it always be said.” This simple yet profound question encapsulates the tension between the ephemeral nature of speech and the permanence of written words. Zukofsky uses this reflection to frame his exploration of memory and mortality, as the speaker contemplates the possibility of enduring in the thoughts of a loved one even after death. The line “I always know / it is I who have died” situates the speaker in a paradoxical state of preemptive mourning, imagining a future absence while still alive. This interplay of presence and absence becomes a recurring theme, echoed in the speaker’s plea to their beloved: “don’t cry in that sense.”

The poem’s tone is deeply introspective, as the speaker wrestles with the selfishness of desiring their loved one to “merely live long” for the sake of sustaining their memory. This tension between selflessness and self-centeredness reflects the inherent contradictions of love, which seeks to preserve connection even in the face of inevitable separation. The speaker’s reflections blur the boundaries between life and death, presence and memory, creating a poignant meditation on the nature of human relationships.

Zukofsky enriches this personal meditation with a dense network of allusions, ranging from biblical references to Job (“iyyob”) to historical and cultural fragments. The mention of Job, a figure synonymous with suffering and endurance, underscores the poem’s existential concerns. The recurring motif of the sea, as in the description of a “Nipponese liner” and “a seeled fog of sunset,” evokes the vast, unknowable forces of time and mortality, against which human lives seem small and transient. The reference to “typee tattoo” introduces a note of cultural hybridity, linking the speaker’s reflections to broader themes of identity and history.

The poem’s title, "An Unearthing," suggests a process of excavation—both literal and metaphorical. This theme is reflected in the act of remembering and bringing past experiences and emotions to light, as well as in the recovery of cultural and historical fragments. The image of “Athene’s Parthenon pediment” and the lost leg found in the debris of the Acropolis serves as a metaphor for the fragmented nature of memory and history, where only partial traces of the past remain accessible.

Zukofsky’s characteristic intertextuality is evident throughout the poem, as he weaves in references to other writers and works, including e.e. cummings, Bach, and Swift. These allusions serve to situate the speaker’s personal reflections within a broader artistic and intellectual tradition, highlighting the role of art in preserving and transmitting human experience. The inclusion of these references also reinforces the poem’s theme of interconnectedness, as Zukofsky draws connections between disparate times, places, and voices.

The poem’s form mirrors its thematic concerns, with its fragmented structure and shifting registers reflecting the non-linear, associative nature of memory and thought. The use of enjambment and ellipses creates a sense of fluidity, as ideas and images flow into one another without clear boundaries. This formal experimentation aligns with Zukofsky’s Objectivist principles, emphasizing the materiality of language and the importance of precision and economy in poetic expression.

A striking aspect of "A -- 18: An Unearthing" is its ability to move seamlessly between the personal and the universal, the lyrical and the philosophical. The speaker’s intimate reflections on love and mortality are interwoven with broader meditations on history, art, and the human condition. This dual focus is exemplified in the juxtaposition of lines such as “I am here let the days live their lines” with the account of Vietnamese pilgrims visiting the pond of a miraculous fish, a story that underscores the resilience of faith and the persistence of hope in the face of violence and destruction.

The poem’s concluding lines return to the themes of love and memory, with the speaker reflecting on the transformative power of thought and creativity: “What if the song preserves us?” This question encapsulates the poem’s central concern with the ways in which art and memory can transcend the limitations of time and mortality. The image of the “song” as a vessel for preservation suggests that the act of creation—whether through poetry, music, or other forms of expression—offers a means of enduring beyond the confines of individual existence.

In "A -- 18: An Unearthing," Zukofsky achieves a masterful synthesis of personal emotion and intellectual inquiry, creating a poem that is as much an exploration of the self as it is a meditation on the human experience. Through its intricate layering of imagery, allusion, and form, the poem invites readers to engage with its themes on multiple levels, offering new insights with each reading. At its heart, it is a profound reflection on love’s ability to endure, even in the face of loss and impermanence.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...