Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

John Ashbery's "World's End" is a poignant meditation on existence, the passage of time, and the nature of memory and anticipation. This poem, like much of Ashbery's work, weaves together the mundane with the profound, the personal with the universal, creating a tapestry of thought that invites reflection on the complexities of life and the human condition.

The opening lines, "Sometimes it's more time than we care to be, with the others. Sometimes it's interesting," capture a fundamental ambivalence towards social interaction and the passage of time. This ambivalence reflects the fluctuating nature of human relationships and our varying capacity for engagement, suggesting that our experience of time itself is deeply subjective and influenced by our connections with others.

The assertion "I can only tell you how to stop things happening" introduces a theme of control—or the lack thereof—over the events of our lives. This statement, paradoxical in its claim of knowledge limited to prevention, hints at the desire for stability and predictability in a world characterized by change and uncertainty.

"Life is legendary. Were very bullish on life," the poem continues, juxtaposing an acknowledgment of life's mythical, larger-than-life aspects with a colloquial expression of optimism. The comparison of life to a market in which one might be "bullish" introduces a sense of life as something to be invested in, subject to fluctuations in value and perception. The observation that "Dogs and other lives convince us life is dog-cheap" further complicates this view, presenting life as both invaluable and common, precious and undervalued.

The future and the past are personified in strikingly visual terms: "The future is a ghost. The past, it says here, is an automated mannikin." These images evoke the intangibility of what is yet to come and the mechanical, perhaps deterministic nature of what has been. The future as a "ghost" suggests its elusiveness and the shadow it casts over the present, while the past as an "automated mannikin" implies a lifeless, predetermined course of events, devoid of the spontaneity and agency that characterize lived experience.

"Not death, one of his plenipotentiaries," subtly shifts the focus to the intermediaries of death, the aspects of life and experience that prefigure or represent mortality without embodying it directly. This line invites contemplation of the ways in which life is permeated by reminders of its finitude.

"Sea in my regards, this life is lit / with all the sleep it can absorb," these lines play on the phrase "send in my regards," transforming it into a more introspective reflection on the relationship between life and rest, between consciousness and the unconscious. Life is depicted as saturated with sleep, suggesting a desire for escape or respite from its demands.

The poem closes with a return to the simple, personal desire "to shuffle a lot" and the hope of someday buying cherries and greeting old friends. This ending grounds the poem's broader philosophical reflections in the tangible, everyday acts that define our existence, highlighting the importance of small pleasures and connections in the face of life's uncertainties and the inexorable passage of time.

"World's End" is an exploration of the paradoxes of human existence, marked by Ashbery's characteristic blend of wit, melancholy, and insight. Through its layered imagery and thoughtful musings, the poem invites readers to ponder the ways in which we navigate the landscapes of memory, anticipation, and the everyday moments that make up the fabric of life.

POEM TEXT: https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1994-02-28/flipbook/088/

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