Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"After Three Photographs Of Brassai," a poem by Norman Dubie, is an intricate and darkly evocative piece that delves into the gritty realities of life, juxtaposing scenes of everyday struggle with images of medical examination and death. The poem, inspired by the photographs of Brassaï—who famously captured the night life of Paris in the early 20th century—interweaves narrative and visual imagery to create a tableau that is both vivid and haunting.

The poem begins with a "whore" moving a basin of green antiseptic water from the towels to a clean white shelf, a simple action laden with the undertones of cleanliness versus contamination. The presence of the Russian sailor resting against the wall, "smelling / Of tobacco," introduces a character seemingly detached yet intrinsically part of the scene, suggesting the convergence of diverse lives within shared spaces.

Dubie’s imagery in describing the mirror—"The tall narrow mirror has little dark flecks / Within it like the black sinks of a smoky surgical theater"—serves as a visual metaphor that connects the sordid reality of the whore's life with the clinical, dissected view of human existence. This mirror reflects not just the whore but a broader, more invasive examination of humanity.

The scene escalates to a grim tableau where the whore is envisioned in a hypothetical future, "on a table where / Two students in white gowns are struggling to open her." This transition from a living subject to an object of clinical scrutiny is jarring. The "ribs cracking back, the pink gill-like trench" not only graphically details an autopsy but also symbolically represents the invasive and dehumanizing ways in which society can dissect and expose individuals, particularly those in vulnerable positions.

Dubie uses the reaction of a student vomiting to highlight the visceral impact of such a stark confrontation with reality. The reaction is a disruption in the clinical detachment, a human response to an otherwise mechanically described procedure, which ends with the mundane cleanup by a charwoman in a yellow bonnet.

The poem then loops back to the whore, now alive again, moving the green water. This cyclical narrative structure suggests a relentless repetition of life’s grim patterns. The imagery of the banker "smelling of jasmine" and dressing himself contrasts with the raw and visceral descriptions earlier, illustrating societal divides and personal disconnections. The whore’s physical posture and painful actions—straightening her shoulders, singing to forget—convey her internal suffering and her attempts at coping with her harsh reality.

The poem closes on an eerily isolating note with the reader, positioned in the "upper- / Most balcony," dropping a pencil to hear if it strikes the floor, an act that echoes the earlier fall—both literal and metaphorical—of the characters within the poem. This action, waiting for the sound of impact, serves as a powerful metaphor for the anticipation of inevitable outcomes, reflecting the bleak, often unnoticed falls that individuals in society experience.

Dubie’s poem, with its looping narrative and deep, often stark imagery, captures the essence of Brassaï’s photographic work while offering a profound commentary on the human condition, vulnerability, and the impersonal gaze that society often casts on those living on the margins.

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