Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Michael Ondaatje’s "King Kong Meets Wallace Stevens" is an imaginative and layered juxtaposition of two seemingly disparate figures: the literary titan Wallace Stevens and the cinematic icon King Kong. Through a playful yet probing exploration of their symbolic and physical presences, the poem examines themes of identity, creation, and the tension between art and industry. By placing these two figures in parallel, Ondaatje interrogates their shared struggles and divergent contexts, drawing attention to their respective representations of the human condition.

The poem opens with the suggestion to "Take two photographs— / Wallace Stevens and King Kong," immediately inviting the reader to compare and contrast the two subjects. The act of juxtaposing these images, one of a poet and the other of a fictional cinematic beast, underscores the dissonance between intellectual artistry and primal, cinematic spectacle. Ondaatje humorously acknowledges his own act of consumption—"Is it significant that I eat bananas as I write this?"—which subtly aligns the speaker with Kong’s animalistic instincts and raises questions about the relationship between creator and subject.

Wallace Stevens is described in terms that evoke both the businessman and the artist: "portly, benign, a white brush cut striped tie." His exterior appears mundane, rooted in the image of a conventional professional. However, Ondaatje complicates this portrayal by focusing on "the dark thick hands, the naked brain the thought in him." This duality emphasizes the tension within Stevens’ persona—the outwardly unassuming insurance executive juxtaposed with the powerful intellect and creative force beneath the surface. The "dark thick hands" suggest physicality and labor, hinting at the intensity of Stevens’ poetic process, while the "naked brain" signals vulnerability and raw thought.

In contrast, King Kong is portrayed as a figure of dislocation and exploitation: "staggering / lost in New York streets again a spawn of annoyed cars at his toes." Kong’s predicament reflects the chaos and alienation of modernity, a creature out of place and overwhelmed by an environment not his own. The phrase "The mind is nowhere" emphasizes Kong’s dehumanization, reducing him to a physical spectacle controlled by external forces. His "plastic, electric" fingers further suggest artificiality, underscoring his commodification as a product of cinema, "at the call of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer."

Despite their apparent differences, Stevens and Kong share a thematic overlap in their relationship to chaos and control. Stevens is depicted as "thinking chaos is thinking fences," a line that encapsulates his poetic engagement with the tension between disorder and structure. In his art, Stevens wrestles with the boundaries of form and thought, seeking to impose meaning while grappling with the complexity of existence. This inner struggle is mirrored in Kong’s physical entrapment and the "chaos" of his urban surroundings, though Kong lacks the agency of intellectual articulation.

The poem delves into Stevens’ inner turmoil, describing "the seeds of fresh pain his exorcising, / the bellow of locked blood." This imagery evokes a sense of creative and existential struggle, where Stevens channels his internal conflicts into poetic expression. The "locked blood" suggests a force restrained yet potent, much like Kong’s physical power constrained by the industrialized world. The poet’s hands, described as "drain[ing] from his jacket, pose in the murderer’s shadow," add a darker, almost violent undertone to Stevens’ creative process, likening it to an act of destruction or transformation.

Ondaatje’s portrayal of both figures invites reflection on the nature of identity and the forces that shape it. Stevens, the intellectual, grapples with the chaos of thought and the constraints of societal expectations, while Kong, the primal force, is manipulated by cinematic and cultural machinery. Both are, in their own ways, trapped—Stevens by his internal contradictions and Kong by his external exploitation.

The poem’s fragmented structure and layered imagery mirror its thematic exploration of duality and tension. By alternating between the two figures, Ondaatje creates a dynamic interplay that challenges readers to consider their symbolic significance both individually and in relation to one another. Stevens represents the introspective, intellectual engagement with chaos, while Kong embodies the visceral, externalized spectacle of the same force.

"King Kong Meets Wallace Stevens" is a meditation on the intersection of art, identity, and the human condition. Ondaatje’s juxtaposition of Stevens and Kong reveals their shared struggles with chaos and control, despite their vastly different contexts. Through its vivid imagery and imaginative framing, the poem explores how individuals navigate the tensions between creativity and commodification, intellect and instinct, self-expression and societal expectation. Ultimately, Ondaatje’s work invites readers to consider the ways in which these forces shape both our understanding of art and our place within the modern world.

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