Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Last Self-Portrait, As Rembrandt, For Instance," Eleanor Wilner employs vivid imagery and metaphoric language to convey a profound meditation on art, memory, and the passage of time. The poem, structured as a narrative reflection, juxtaposes the serene and meticulously ordered world of a Dutch interior with the chaotic and transformative forces of nature and personal revelation.

The setting is established through detailed description: "The three birds had sat on the table by the tall Dutch doors for all those years" evokes a sense of permanence and stillness, with the "manicured gravel sweep of gray leading to the blue, magnanimous curve of a calm and virtual sea." This carefully controlled environment, with its "varnished oils" and "lacquered black" wrought-iron dog, reflects the ordered, aesthetically pleasing world of the Dutch Golden Age, reminiscent of Rembrandt’s own milieu.

The use of light is a central motif, beginning with the tranquil imagery of sunlight: "A last beam caught the bright bead of an eye, it gleamed — a wing tip stirred, one bird stretched its leg." This light, symbolic of life and artistic inspiration, gradually becomes more dynamic as the poem progresses, illustrating a shift from static to kinetic energy. The calm scene is disrupted as "the surface of the lake began to stir, the wind was up," signifying the intrusion of the natural world into the controlled environment.

The figures on the wall, initially "so tranquil in varnished oils," come to life, shaking "off their trance," and the dog, previously a static piece of art, begins to bark. This transformation blurs the boundaries between the animate and inanimate, between art and life, suggesting a deeper, more tumultuous reality beneath the surface of ordered existence.

The climax of the poem occurs when the house itself succumbs to nature: "the ceiling stood open to the night, the newly risen moon shone through one ragged hole." This imagery of decay and exposure represents a return to a more primal state, unmediated by human artifice. The "pool of rain that had gathered on the pocked and pitted floor" further emphasizes the theme of nature reclaiming its place.

The final lines of the poem shift to a more personal, introspective focus. The narrator confronts a raw self-awareness, represented by the "pair of staring eyes and wild, disordered hair in the cracked mirror of the hall." This self-portrait is not the composed, dignified image of a master artist like Rembrandt but a fragmented and vulnerable reflection, underscoring the poem's theme of human frailty and the inexorable passage of time.

The match, which "flared in the derelict and darkened house," symbolizes a brief moment of clarity and illumination. However, the light quickly becomes "pure pain," indicating the harshness of self-revelation and the difficulty of confronting one's own mortality. The act of blowing out the match signifies a return to darkness, perhaps a metaphor for the acceptance of life's impermanence and the limits of human control.

Through its rich imagery and layered symbolism, "Last Self-Portrait, As Rembrandt, For Instance" offers a meditation on the interplay between art, nature, and the human condition. Wilner's poem reflects on the tension between the desire for permanence and the inevitability of change, ultimately suggesting that true understanding and acceptance lie in acknowledging the transient nature of existence.

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