Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Brownie Hawkeye," Christopher Howell captures a fleeting yet profound moment in time, preserved within a photograph taken with a Brownie Hawkeye camera. The poem explores themes of memory, family bonds, and the complexities of legacy, using a fishing trip as the stage for an emotional meditation on the father-son relationship. Howell navigates between the past and present, imbuing this simple snapshot with layers of nostalgia, reverence, and introspection, inviting readers to examine how such moments shape and reveal the connections between identity, memory, and mortality.

The poem begins with the image of “the last columns of sunlight / holding up the roof,” a line that situates the scene in the waning light of day. This fading light serves as both a literal description and a metaphor for the passage of time, casting a golden hue over the memory and evoking a sense of something precious yet slipping away. Howell establishes the act of “standing proudly with the fish” as a ritual worth preserving, one that the mother captures with her camera, intending for the image to reside “in the attic shoebox,” a repository of family history. The phrase “dusky square-framed happy pittance / of 1955” implies that the photo is a humble piece of the past, an artifact of a time long gone but valued nonetheless.

The photograph itself becomes a symbolic heirloom, a “happy pittance” that encapsulates not just the fishing trip but the intangible qualities of a family moment frozen in time. Howell invites the reader to consider the emotional weight of such memories, preserved and stored away, awaiting rediscovery. The Brownie Hawkeye camera, a popular snapshot tool of the mid-20th century, signifies the ordinary act of preserving moments, yet it is through this very ordinariness that the moment gains a timeless significance. This connection to 1955, a specific year in the past, emphasizes the power of photographs to hold and transcend time, evoking a simultaneous feeling of nostalgia and loss.

In the image, Howell’s father is portrayed holding the fishing pole “like Poseidon lifting a trident,” an analogy that elevates the father to mythic status, a godlike figure triumphant over the “dark uncertainties” of the lake. This comparison to Poseidon suggests both mastery and dominion, portraying the father as a figure of strength and resilience. Through this imagery, Howell reveres his father’s skill and confidence, qualities that, to a child, may seem awe-inspiring and larger-than-life. The father’s expression, Howell notes, conveys pride and accomplishment, as if to say that, on this “tremendous day,” they have conquered nature’s depths and returned victorious.

The act of fishing here takes on metaphorical significance as a journey into the unknown—a descent into “dark uncertainties”—and a triumph over nature’s mysteries. The “glimmering alien life” they pull from the depths serves as both a symbol of the natural world’s beauty and mystery and as a trophy, a tangible reward for their venture. Howell’s choice of the word “alien” suggests that, though they are familiar with fishing, there is still something wondrous and strange about encountering the creature from beneath the water’s surface, something that reaffirms the unpredictable beauty of the world.

As Howell reflects on this memory, he describes the shore as “grey-yellow now,” signaling a shift from the vibrant, sunlit scene to the present’s faded reality. This shift in color palette mirrors Howell’s own introspective tone as he contemplates the photograph from a temporal distance. He sits “gazing, unable / in the vaguely silvered light to tell / if I look back at myself, / at my father beaming there, / or at the fish swinging dead / and beautiful between us.” These closing lines reveal the layers of ambiguity embedded in memory. Howell’s inability to distinguish between his own reflection, his father’s pride, and the fish suspended between them underscores the intertwining of life and death, self and other, in the memories we carry.

The poem’s final image of the “fish swinging dead / and beautiful between us” serves as a reminder of life’s impermanence and the fleeting nature of these shared moments. The fish, once a symbol of triumph and vitality, now appears lifeless, a haunting memento mori between father and son. Its beauty lies in its ephemerality, just as the photograph’s power lies in capturing a transient moment that can never be fully relived. The image invites the reader to contemplate the bittersweet nature of memory itself—how it both preserves and emphasizes the finality of the past.

"Brownie Hawkeye" ultimately speaks to the resonance of small, personal moments that reveal the bond between father and son, the fragile beauty of memory, and the inevitability of change. Howell’s careful layering of mythic imagery, sensory detail, and emotional introspection creates a poignant reflection on how such moments shape our understanding of self and family. Through the simple act of holding up a fish, Howell captures a complex web of emotions—pride, reverence, loss, and love—that continues to reverberate across time, reminding us of the deep significance of the memories we hold dear, even as they slip further into the past.

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