[528] A Renewal

Guest poem submitted by Vikram Doctor, <vikdoc@>:

Having used every subterfuge
To shake you, lies, fatigue, or even that of passion,
Now I see no way but a clean break.
I add that I am willing to bear the guilt.

You nod assent. Autumn turns windy, huge,
A clear vase of dry leaves vibrating on and on.
We sit, watching. When I next speak
Love buries itself in me, up to the hilt.

	-- James Merrill

A short, sad and lovely poem that perfectly illustrates the inexplicable
complications of emotional bonds. Anyone who has ever been in a relationship
must have felt like this at sometime. And 'up to the hilt' perfectly captures
both the depths and the pain.

Merrill is best known for his longer poems, particularly the sequence
collectively known as 'The Changing Light At Sandover', but he could also
produce small gems like these.

Vikram.

From: sandi_ordinario@

Comments on Poem #528, James Merrill's A Renewal

This short poem is very precise and powerful in
describing end_of_love and its attendant pain.

It expresses the poet's inability to awaken the
same feelings or emotions in his erstwhile object 
of affection for he cannot "...shake you (with)
lies, fatigue, or even that of passion."

Now he has to give up (clean break) but since
unrequited love may be regarded as error, the poet
is "...willing to bear the (total) guilt."

He gets assent from the other person who had not
responded to his past overtures in kind, and suddenly
his autumnal season turns "windy, huge" or is 
described by him to be "a clear vase of dry leaves"
which is without beauty (flowers) and without life.

The next time he speaks, the once appealing, inspiring
love has now become a sword that stabs him in the heart 
or soul "up to the hilt."

This poem can be renamed an Ode to Pain Resulting from 
Love's Death. I still wonder about the appropriateness
of the title "A Renewal" though?

Sandi

From: "octavio r. gonzalez" <octavio@>

Despite the speaker's reservations ("Having used every subterfuge
To shake you, lies, fatigue, or even that of passion"),
'A Renewal' seems more to me like a celebration of
romantic companionship after love (passionate eros) fades.
The climax of the poem happens when the speaker's dread
of losing his love, as he observes Time passing before his
eyes:

(...) Autumn turns windy, huge,
A clear vase of dry leaves vibrating on and on.
We sit, watching.

Next we see the speaker return to a deeper sense of his love.
The title refers to this renewal of -- if not passion, then a
renewal of the speaker's active engagement in creating his
romantic relationship. The passage of time is key: it means
that the speaker's newfound love for his companion is not the
uncomplicated love of youth, less innocent, yet powerful nonetheless

(...)
Love buries itself in me, up to the hilt


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