Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

John Hollander's "Graven Image" is a complex meditation on symbols, their significance, and the search for meaning. The poem, shaped like a six-pointed star, intertwines reflections on religious and personal symbols, delving into themes of love, memory, and the divine.

The poem begins with an ethereal image: "A bit of an image a hint only a momentary finial like a barely-glimpsed porpoise possibly thrusting a dark shining horn through the distant water." This opening evokes the elusive nature of symbols, fleeting and barely perceived, yet powerful enough to plunge the observer "into the deeps of significance." The mention of "tall forms" standing for their maker and the vast, throbbing tides suggests the grandeur and mystery of creation and the cosmos.

The speaker expresses a longing for "rich dark icons ever denied us," indicating a deep craving for tangible symbols of the divine or the significant. This longing leads to an act of creation: "one day I drew upon the flat wet sand above the menace of foamy conquerings this hexagram." The hexagram, or six-pointed star, is a potent symbol, often associated with Judaism and the Star of David. By drawing it in the sand, the speaker engages in a temporary and fragile act of creation, vulnerable to the "menace of foamy conquerings."

The poem shifts to a memory: "far from the water of summer the sea I would gaze at the woven equilaterals on the synagogue wall at the New Year." Here, the speaker reflects on the hexagrams seen in the synagogue, their "members joined arms locked in legs all fondly wrought." These symbols, displayed on sacred walls, stand for unity and protection, and their permanence contrasts with the impermanence of the sand drawing.

Hollander delves deeper into the nature of these symbols: "a flat emblem almost a blank / But as a coupling of these identicals used so as to seem at war how much a sign of love." The juxtaposition of conflict and love within the symbol suggests a complex interplay of meanings, where even opposing forces can signify a deeper unity and affection.

The poem concludes with a return to the initial imagery and a reflection on love: "Even here though the image dives down into the wider part to vanish into meaning / Here too in my crude making the end the remembered part before darkness marks a point of love." The act of creating the symbol, whether in sand or in memory, becomes an expression of love, a moment of significance before it is engulfed by the vastness of time and oblivion.

Hollander's "Graven Image" is a rich and contemplative piece, exploring the power and fragility of symbols. Through its carefully crafted language and evocative imagery, the poem invites readers to reflect on the nature of meaning, the interplay of love and conflict, and the enduring human quest for connection with the divine. The shaped form of the poem enhances its thematic depth, mirroring the hexagram and reinforcing the idea that even fleeting creations can hold profound significance.

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