Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "By Cure of - Sulfa," Charles Olson weaves together fragments of images, place, and nostalgia to evoke a vivid, almost surreal portrait of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The poem’s dense and seemingly disjointed lines capture Olson’s characteristic style, blending historical references, personal reminiscences, and sensory details into an idiosyncratic portrayal of place. Gloucester emerges as more than a simple location; it becomes a focal point for memory, heritage, and local flavor, where everyday elements are imbued with symbolic weight.

The opening lines, "See where, gathered, the wharves / at the Sign of the Wheel crawled / the lobster—father!" invite readers to view Gloucester through the poet’s lens, one that highlights both the town’s rough maritime character and its almost mythological significance to Olson. The image of the lobster crawling at "the Sign of the Wheel" is both ordinary and emblematic, evoking Gloucester’s fishing industry while also carrying symbolic resonance. Lobsters, often found in traps along New England wharves, become an unexpected metaphor for paternal figures—perhaps drawing on the image of a father as a foundation of life in Gloucester, mirroring the steady, cyclical movement of the tides and fishing seasons.

Olson continues with a strange yet compelling sequence of images: "The red brick in the trap soaked / in gasoline over Oceanwood." The phrase "red brick in the trap" suggests something both literal and elusive. While it could evoke the brick buildings typical of coastal towns, the trap soaked in gasoline hints at a volatile or combustible aspect of life in Gloucester, where the harsh realities of industry mingle with a raw, unrefined beauty. Olson captures this roughness through the imagery of gasoline—a substance that suggests both energy and danger. The place-name "Oceanwood" further grounds the poem in a specific yet open-ended geography, evoking a sense of the elemental meeting of land and sea that defines Gloucester.

The line "the sign / of the Dog Hot—o schooner!" shifts to a more celebratory and exclamatory tone. The reference to a "Dog Hot" sign is ambiguous, yet it seems to draw upon the cultural fabric of Gloucester—a place where signs, symbols, and businesses reflect the character of a coastal town rich in idiosyncratic charm. Olson’s mention of a schooner, a type of sailing vessel, further situates the poem within the maritime world, connecting Gloucester’s past with its continuing legacy as a fishing and sailing hub. This line captures a sense of admiration and reverence for the schooner, a vessel that embodies freedom, resilience, and tradition.

The poem reaches its climax with the line "And the tercentenary the clam caught / you shall live conjunction of / father, son & sardine sandwich." Here, Olson layers personal history with Gloucester’s three-hundred-year heritage. The "tercentenary" marks a moment of commemoration, suggesting a celebration of Gloucester’s enduring identity. The image of the "clam caught" encapsulates both the literal act of fishing and a symbolic capture of time and memory. In blending "father, son & sardine sandwich," Olson merges generations and traditions, where a sardine sandwich becomes a humble symbol of connection between past and present. The sardine, an everyday food item, embodies the nourishment, culture, and heritage that bind Gloucester’s inhabitants across time.

Finally, Olson ends with a direct invocation of "o! Gloucester!" The exclamation suggests an affectionate, almost reverent relationship with the town. This line, stripped of additional imagery, is both a declaration and a salute, honoring Gloucester’s legacy, community, and its rough, enduring beauty. In "By Cure of - Sulfa," Olson presents Gloucester as a place steeped in history and character, where mundane details—lobsters, sardines, gasoline—are transformed into markers of identity and belonging. Through these seemingly disparate fragments, Olson constructs a poetic landscape that is as much about personal memory and place as it is about the universal connection between people and their roots.

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