Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"A Man Meets a Woman in the Street" by Randall Jarrell is a poignant and intimate poem that captures the enduring power and complexity of love, commitment, and familiarity. Jarrell uses the setting, a simple walk behind a woman, as a framework to explore existential themes that transcend mere romantic inclination. In doing so, he engages with the profound and the mundane, and juxtaposes the excitement of novelty with the comfort of long-standing affection.

The poem opens with the image of a gingko tree, ancient and unchanging, much like the love between the speaker and his wife. The tree's timelessness is an apt metaphor for love that has endured, and also acts as a constant backdrop to a transient and ever-changing human condition. Jarrell describes the woman in terms of pure physical allure, saying, "Her hair's coarse gold / Is spun from the sunlight that it rides upon." But this allure is more than superficial; it's a tapestry of years of mutual experience and understanding. As the speaker walks behind her, he marvels at both her familiarity and the sense of discovery that she continues to elicit.

In a beautiful comparison, Jarrell evokes the ethological concept of "imprinting" as presented by Lorenz. Just as goslings imprint upon the first figure they see and follow it, the speaker has imprinted upon this woman, his wife. The imprinting is mutual, a joint experience of recognition and acceptance that extends into the many layers of their relationship. The speaker explores this concept further when he mentions that he once wished for something different but now realizes that he desires the same, an allusion to the life they've built together. This evokes the existential tension between freedom and commitment, between seeking novelty and finding comfort in the familiar.

This transformation of desire is crystallized in the poem's closing lines: "We can't tell our life / From our wish." For the speaker, life has fulfilled the initial wishes of love, connection, and companionship to such an extent that his reality and his dreams are indistinguishable. He begins the day not with a man's wish for difference but with the bird's wish for sameness, "the day of my life."

Jarrell weaves musical and literary references into the poem, mentioning Strauss and Proust, drawing our attention to the shared cultural tapestry that enriches our lives and relationships. These references serve as a nod to the mutually constructed worlds that lovers inhabit, the shared experiences that comprise a life together. Even when he talks about the quirks like disliking "Elektra" or starting out on Proust, it's with the understanding that these shared cultural references have formed a part of their shared life.

Finally, the reveal that the woman is his wife comes not as a twist but as a confirmation of all the themes the poem has been quietly asserting. It is a moment of profound understanding and recognition, a silent acknowledgment that the long-lasting love has not diminished the magic or the allure.

Jarrell masterfully explores the quiet profundity of love that has aged, matured, and endured in "A Man Meets a Woman in the Street." The poem serves as a tribute to relationships that have stood the test of time, where familiarity breeds not contempt but a deeper understanding and a more nuanced form of love.

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