Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"The Refinery" by Robert Pinsky is a provocative exploration of human advancement, specifically focusing on the industrial age and its relationship with the natural and mythic worlds. The poem begins by invoking "the old gods," creatures of ancient myths that awake from a "long black sleep" to traverse the universe in a train. They are drawn to Earth by "the strange sentences" humans have made, symbolizing language, culture, and technological innovation. Their destination is the Refinery, a monument to human ingenuity and exploitation of natural resources.

The poem's imagery is laden with contrasts, from the "desert of stars" to the "pollen-tinted/ Slurry of passion and lapsed/Intention." These juxtapositions articulate the complexity of human development. On the one hand, we have created languages, societies, and technologies that are sophisticated and intricate. On the other, these achievements often come at a price: the erosion of natural resources and an estrangement from the mythic or sacred.

The gods in the poem embody this disconnect. Their "train clicked and sighed/Through the gulfs of night between the planets," suggesting a discord with the celestial order. The gods have become dislocated, wandering through space-time in search of something lost or missing. When they arrive at the Refinery, they find a new form of ambrosia: chemicals like "Benzene, Naphthalene, Asphalt, Gasoline, Tar," which are "fractioned and cracked from unarticulated/Crude," perhaps referring to both the raw material and the unspoken cultural values or myths that shape our world.

The Refinery itself becomes a symbol of both brilliance and decay. It's described as an "impossible city of lights," a "castle of a person/Pronounced alive, the Corporation: a fictional/Lord real in law." Here, Pinsky is highlighting how industrial society has replaced natural and mythic relationships with legal fictions like corporations. We have built palaces not for gods but for abstract entities, lawful constructs with no regard for the sacred or natural world.

In their "greed," the gods drink up human culture - "Lovecries and memorized Chaucer, lines from movies/And songs hoarded in mortmain" - but this nourishment is an illusion. The poem concludes with a grim metaphor, likening humans to "aphids, or their bees," who have created "sweetness" for these gods while they slept. But this sweetness is not nectar; it's the product of exploitation, the refining of Earth's raw material into chemical pollutants, and the distillation of human culture into consumable, forgettable fragments.

Overall, "The Refinery" offers a cautionary tale about the costs of human progress. Pinsky examines how industrialization and corporate structures have not only alienated us from the natural world but have also corroded the myths and cultural wisdom that connect us to something larger than ourselves. The gods may have awoken, but what they find is a world refined almost beyond recognition, leaving us to wonder what has been lost in the process

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