Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Wisteria Light" by Diane Di Prima is a vivid, dreamlike exploration of creation, memory, and the complex interplay between reality and imagination. This poem, with its rich imagery and fluid movement between the abstract and the concrete, weaves a tapestry of moments that challenge the boundaries of time and space. Through a series of seemingly disjointed images and actions, Di Prima captures the essence of a surreal, eternal landscape where the past and the future merge in the eternal present.

The opening lines, "In the early days of eternity when none of us was naked as yet, and a good thing too," immediately set the tone for a narrative that exists outside conventional timelines and realities. The mention of "the early days of eternity" suggests a timelessness, a beginning that is not a beginning in the traditional sense, and a state of innocence or unformed potential.

The decision to "plaster the back stairs" despite the stairs' lack of desire to be plastered introduces a theme of transformation and imposition, of making changes to the environment that are not inherently necessary or desired. This action, juxtaposed with the seemingly incongruous task of fitting a billiard table, highlights the absurdity and whimsy often found in dream logic or in the creative process itself.

The workmen dropping hammers and the narrator's partner vacuuming amid the unfinished work create a sense of domestic chaos and effort, a striving towards order or completion amidst the inherently messy and unpredictable nature of creation and living. The mention of a "greeting card" with "Franz Kline wiring" further blurs the lines between the everyday and the artistic, suggesting that art and life are interwoven in complex, sometimes incomprehensible ways.

The discussion about wisteria—desired for its ability to "mitigate the light in those canyons"—and the subsequent violent thought triggered by the practical observation that it "wouldn't grow there" reveals a tension between desire and reality, between the yearning for beauty and the harshness of the environment or situation. This moment underscores the poem's exploration of the conflict between the ideal and the real, between the visions we have for our lives or creations and the limitations we encounter.

The poem's closing images, involving the Vesperi Siciliani and Pagliacci sliding into slots of a microchip, suggest a melding of history, culture, and technology, a confluence that speaks to the layered complexity of modern existence. The king driving in circles in a tiny courtyard and the crow on a telephone pole serve as metaphors for entrapment and repetition, for the cycles and patterns that define human experience, even as we strive for transcendence or escape.

"Wisteria Light" is a meditation on the creative process, on the struggle to bring forth beauty and meaning in a world that is often resistant or indifferent to such efforts. Di Prima's use of surreal imagery and her navigation through various scenes and emotions reflect the multifaceted nature of existence, where every act of creation is a negotiation with the material, the imagined, and the remembered. The poem invites readers to consider their own relationships with the past, the present, and the act of making, suggesting that within the chaotic tapestry of life, there are moments of beauty and significance waiting to be uncovered.

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