Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Donald Justice’s "Variation on Baudelaire?s La Servante au Grand Coeur" is a poignant meditation on memory, guilt, and the fragility of human connections. Adapting Baudelaire’s "La Servante au Grand Coeur," Justice creates a deeply personal and haunting narrative, reflecting on the figure of a clumsy yet kind-hearted servant whose life was marked by loneliness and the unthinking cruelty of others. Through evocative imagery and a contemplative tone, the poem explores themes of neglect, regret, and the weight of unacknowledged humanity.

The title signals Justice?s engagement with Baudelaire?s work, suggesting both homage and reinterpretation. While Baudelaire’s poem mourns a devoted servant who toiled selflessly for her employers, Justice’s version shifts focus to the narrator’s perspective, blending childhood memories with adult reflection. The title also underscores the poem?s dual purpose: it is a variation in form and voice, maintaining the essence of the original while reshaping its emotional contours.

The opening lines introduce Bertha, "that servant with the big heart but so clumsy," whose defining characteristics—her good intentions and her frequent mishaps—set the tone for the narrator?s ambivalence. The phrase "seized by a sudden whimsy" anthropomorphizes the objects she breaks, hinting at the chaotic energy she brings to her environment. Yet the ensuing "good cry" reveals her vulnerability and evokes a sense of pity. This blend of comedy and tragedy underscores Bertha?s human complexity, inviting readers to empathize with her struggles.

Justice vividly imagines Bertha’s private despair, picturing her retreating to her "cramped room (the size of a coffin)," where she "wail[s] into her pillow, terribly lonely." This image is both literal and symbolic, capturing the physical confines of her life and the emotional isolation she endures. The parenthetical phrase emphasizes the oppressive nature of her existence, while the contrast between her big heart and her small, stifling space heightens the pathos. The narrator?s assumption that "she needed us" to give her life meaning reveals a self-centered perspective, reflecting a failure to truly understand or value her.

The turn in the poem comes with the stark declaration: "Well, she has gone without us; she has gone / To cross the rivers of the underworld alone." The shift from reflection to finality emphasizes the irrevocability of death and the narrator’s realization of their neglect. The imagery of the underworld evokes classical myth, likening Bertha’s passage to that of Orpheus or Psyche. Yet she crosses "alone," without the guidance or companionship that might have eased her journey, highlighting the abandonment she suffered in life and now in death.

The seasonal setting of October mirrors the themes of mortality and decay. The whistling wind and blushing leaves evoke both the beauty and transience of life, while their "humble" fall to the ground recalls Bertha’s humility and subservience. The narrator’s acknowledgment of childhood cruelty—how they "teased and tortured" Bertha—adds a layer of guilt, complicating the tender nostalgia with regret. This emotional tension culminates in the haunting image of Bertha’s ghost shrinking "back into the wall," as she once did to let others pass, now vanishing "like smoke." The juxtaposition of the past and the spectral present suggests the inescapability of memory and the enduring impact of unkindness.

In the final stanza, the narrator confronts the failure to honor Bertha in death, lamenting the absence of flowers on her grave. The repetition of "too late" reinforces the sense of missed opportunities, both in life and in the symbolic act of remembrance. The description of Bertha as "too wan and hollow-eyed by now to see" emphasizes the physical toll of her life’s hardships, while the "worn-out flowers in their little vase" stand as a metaphor for her neglected humanity. The narrator’s remorse is palpable, but their actions remain insufficient, leaving the reader to grapple with the poem’s unresolved tension.

Justice’s use of form and language is integral to the poem’s effect. The conversational tone, marked by asides and self-reproach, creates an intimate connection between the narrator and the reader. The enjambment and irregular rhymes mimic the flow of memory, with its sudden shifts and lingering details. The imagery is precise yet suggestive, allowing the reader to feel the weight of Bertha’s presence and absence.

"Variation on Baudelaire?s La Servante au Grand Coeur" is a masterful exploration of the ways we fail to recognize and honor the humanity of those who serve us. Through the figure of Bertha, Justice confronts the fragility of human relationships and the enduring sting of regret. The poem’s elegiac tone, combined with its vivid imagery and emotional depth, invites readers to reflect on their own complicity in the neglect of others and the small acts of care that might redeem such failings.

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