Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

James Ingram Merrill’s poem "Farewell Performance," the second of his "Two Poems for David Kalstone," is an elegiac meditation on the nature of art, loss, and the inevitable finality of death. The poem pays tribute to David Kalstone, Merrill’s friend and literary critic, exploring the ways in which art both consoles and confronts the harsh realities of life.

The poem opens with a declaration: "Art. It cures affliction." Merrill immediately establishes the idea that art serves as a balm, offering relief from the pains and sufferings of life. As the "lights go down" and the "Maestro lifts his wand," the audience is transported into a transformative experience, where the mundane is elevated into something pure and golden. This "sea change" that occurs within the audience is akin to an alchemical process, where the "common Lot" is transmuted into a "pure, brief gold." This metaphor suggests that art has the power to temporarily transcend the ordinary, providing moments of beauty and clarity in a world often filled with suffering.

However, this transcendence is fleeting. The audience’s "bravos" call the performers back for encores, a desperate attempt to prolong the experience and avoid facing "the fact that it’s over." This moment mirrors the human desire to resist the finality of death, to hold on to the essence of life and art even as they inevitably slip away.

Merrill then shifts to a personal reflection on Kalstone’s death. The line "You are gone" marks a poignant turn in the poem, moving from the collective experience of art to the individual experience of loss. Kalstone is described as having "caught like a cold their airy lust for essence," suggesting that he too was deeply affected by the pursuit of artistic purity and meaning. Now, however, he is reduced to "ten or twelve light handfuls" of ashes, a "mortal gravel / sifted through fingers." This image is stark and physical, contrasting sharply with the ethereal beauty of the earlier stanzas.

The act of scattering Kalstone’s ashes is depicted with a sense of ritual and reverence. Merrill and his companion, Peter, take a "neighbor’s dinghy" out to sea, where they release the ashes into the water. The ashes are described as a "gruel of selfhood / taking manlike shape for one last jeté on / ghostly - wait, ah! - point into darkness vanished." The use of ballet terminology ("jeté," "point") imbues the moment with a sense of grace and finality, as if Kalstone’s spirit is performing one last, ephemeral dance before disappearing into the void. The imagery of the "gruel of selfhood" suggests the dissolution of identity in death, the transformation of a person into something both less and more than human.

As the ashes are scattered, a gull’s wings "Clapped," a brief but vivid detail that punctuates the scene, perhaps symbolizing the fleeting nature of life and the abruptness of death. Merrill then reflects on the aftermath, where the "house lights" come up, revealing the scene in its full, unvarnished reality. The sun-warm hand that "cover[s]" Merrill’s wet one symbolizes comfort and connection, even in the face of loss. However, this comfort is tinged with the recognition that the performance—both of life and of art—has come to an end.

The poem concludes with a return to the audience, who have risen from their seats, "eager to hail" the performers, and even to "join the troupe" themselves. This desire to be part of the artistic process, to transcend the ordinary through creativity, is tempered by the realization that "their magic / self-destructs" up close. The performers, "Pale, dripping, with downcast eyes," have seen where the pursuit of artistic and existential purity has led Kalstone—to death. This acknowledgment of mortality undermines the magic of the performance, revealing the cost of such pursuits.

In "Farewell Performance," Merrill weaves together themes of art, loss, and mortality with a profound sense of both beauty and melancholy. The poem captures the paradox of art’s power to elevate and console, even as it ultimately cannot shield us from the finality of death. Through the metaphor of the farewell performance, Merrill offers a moving tribute to his friend, while also confronting the reader with the inescapable reality that all performances—like all lives—must eventually end.

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