Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Obsolescence" by John Ciardi delves into the generational shift in understanding and interacting with the concept of time, juxtaposed against the backdrop of technological advancement and personal reflection. Through the lens of a birthday gift—an Omni-Function Digital Synchro-Mesh alarm wristwatch—the poem explores the complexities of human relationships, the passage of time, and the inevitable march toward obsolescence faced by every generation.

The speaker begins with a candid reflection on his wife's gift, a state-of-the-art watch that symbolizes the cutting edge of technology. Despite the watch's impressive capabilities, including the ability to beep Caro nome, the speaker expresses a polite but detached appreciation for the gift. This detachment stems not from ingratitude but from a profound sense of disconnection with the linear, digital representation of time as offered by the watch. When his son expresses interest in the watch, the speaker readily passes it on, symbolizing a transfer of relevance and understanding from one generation to the next.

The speaker's admission of his own obsolescence is poignant and introspective. He describes his understanding of time as "Star time. Sun and moon time. Dark and lit as tides," a cyclical and natural perception that stands in stark contrast to the "linear blinks" through which his son comprehends time. This difference in perception is not merely technological but philosophical, reflecting a deeper divergence in how each generation relates to the world and its phenomena.

The poem suggests that the son, with his affinity for the digital watch, may be "inventing a new code of perception," a line that hints at the broader implications of technological advancements on human cognition and perception. The speaker, acknowledging his place in the march of time, opts not to engage with this new code, comparing himself to an old hound "rooted nose-to-the-ground," content in his ways and resigned to his eventual obsolescence.

Despite this resignation, there's a touch of admiration and perhaps a hint of envy in the speaker's reflection on the watch's capabilities and what it represents for his son's generation. The watch, with its myriad functions, symbolizes the vast potential for knowledge and control over one's environment—attributes that the speaker wistfully acknowledges but does not embrace for himself.

The closing lines of the poem extend the meditation on technological and existential progression to a cosmic scale. The speaker imagines the watch, or perhaps technology more broadly, as capable of engaging with the divine, of announcing "the next illusion" in a universe where even spiritual experiences are mediated by technology. This speculative leap serves to underscore the poem's exploration of the profound shifts in human understanding and experience wrought by technological advancement.

"Obsolescence" is a reflective and layered poem that navigates the personal and the universal, the tangible and the metaphysical. Ciardi crafts a narrative that is at once intimate and expansive, capturing the subtle tensions between tradition and innovation, the cyclical and the linear, and the deeply human struggle to find meaning in a rapidly changing world.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...