Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Donald Justice?s "Grandfathers" is a brief but evocative meditation on aging, memory, and the mysterious, almost mythical presence of the older generation. Through its imagery, tone, and structure, the poem captures the enigmatic quality of grandfathers, presenting them as figures both tangible and spectral, rooted in the decaying rural landscape and imbued with an air of divine detachment.

The poem opens with a question, “Why will they never sleep, / The old ones, the grandfathers?” This rhetorical inquiry immediately establishes the poet’s curiosity and perhaps frustration with the inscrutability of the elderly. The refusal or inability to sleep hints at a restlessness that transcends the physical. It suggests a deeper existential unease or the burden of memory, experience, and age. By referring to them collectively as “the old ones,” Justice aligns them with a broader, almost archetypal identity, as though they belong to a timeless order rather than being merely individuals.

The imagery of “ruined porches” situates the grandfathers in a specific, decaying rural setting. These porches, described as "ruined," mirror the physical and possibly emotional decline of the figures who occupy them. Yet the grandfathers are also enduring presences, as the poem states, “They might have sat there forever.” This paradox of decay and permanence evokes a sense of their rootedness in a fading world, as well as their detachment from the rhythms of time and society. The choice of dusk as the temporal setting reinforces the themes of endings and transitions, a liminal time that mirrors their stage in life.

Justice?s description of the grandfathers as “peevish discredited gods” lends the poem a mythic dimension. This phrase suggests that they once held power or authority, perhaps as heads of families or embodiments of tradition, but have since been diminished, reduced to irrelevant figures in a modern world that no longer reveres them. Yet, the reference to gods, even discredited ones, imbues them with an aura of mystery and power. They retain a symbolic significance, even as their direct influence has waned. The gods of old, though forgotten or diminished, still inspire awe and unease, much like these aging men whose presence lingers in the rural backwaters.

The poem’s shift to the perspective of a “traveller” introduces an outsider’s gaze, suggesting how these grandfathers might appear to those passing through. The interaction is brief and cryptic: the grandfathers “fix / You maybe with a cold / Eye of a snake or a bird.” This comparison to animals with piercing gazes conveys a primal, predatory intensity, as if they are creatures of instinct rather than reason. The “cold eye” implies detachment, judgment, or even a kind of disdain for the transience and superficiality of those who wander past. It is as though the grandfathers possess a wisdom or knowledge that they refuse to share, leaving the traveller unsettled and excluded.

The poem concludes with the image of “black, oracular / Head-shakes or head-nods.” These gestures, devoid of explicit meaning, reinforce the grandfathers’ enigmatic nature. The term “oracular” suggests that their gestures carry profound significance, akin to cryptic utterances of ancient prophets. Yet the ambiguity of their head movements leaves the observer grappling with uncertainty, as if the grandfathers? silence is itself a kind of answer. Justice does not offer resolution but instead heightens the sense of mystery surrounding these figures, emphasizing their role as keepers of an inaccessible truth.

Structurally, the poem’s compact form and tight quatrains mirror the restrained, self-contained lives of the grandfathers. The sparseness of the language and the sharp, controlled imagery reflect the economy of their movements and expressions. Justice’s diction—words like “hawking,” “spitting,” and “ruined”—captures the physical realities of aging, while phrases such as “peevish discredited gods” and “oracular head-shakes” elevate the poem into the realm of myth and metaphor.

"Grandfathers" is a poignant reflection on the intersections of age, time, and memory. Through vivid imagery and subtle shifts in tone, Justice portrays the grandfathers as both ordinary and extraordinary, rooted in the physical decay of the world yet possessing an ineffable connection to something larger and unknowable. The poem invites readers to consider the weight of age and experience, the quiet power of those who endure, and the ways in which the past remains present, even in its apparent obsolescence.

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