Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

John Frederick Nims’ "Moses Descending" is a sharp, ironic meditation on the state of modern morality and intellectual hunger. The poem juxtaposes the ancient, weighty concept of divine revelation—embodied in Moses descending from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments—with the shallow, consumer-driven ethos of contemporary culture. Through wry humor and a biting critique of modern priorities, Nims suggests that the search for meaning has been drowned out by distractions, leaving us with a version of truth that is more marketable than transcendent.

The opening lines establish the tension between enduring, existential concerns and the ephemeral nature of current affairs. The "burning questions of our time" are likened to the burning of Troy, an allusion to the destruction of one of history’s great cities, immortalized in legend but ultimately reduced to ashes. The phrase "the ashes stay" suggests that while civilizations and crises come and go, what remains is not the urgency of the moment but the residue of what has been lost. Nims dismisses the preoccupations of contemporary society as transient, implying that they will soon be forgotten, much like the flames that once consumed Troy.

In contrast, the second stanza shifts to a deeper, more fundamental yearning—the "primal Why?" The poem argues that beyond fleeting concerns and scientific discoveries lies an elemental human hunger to understand the forces that govern existence. The parallelism in "What moves the star by night, the sun by day" evokes the grandeur of cosmic order, recalling the language of ancient philosophy and scripture. By suggesting that this question is "fiercer than any hunger in the breadlines," Nims asserts that intellectual and spiritual yearning surpass even material need. The phrase "To know! to know!" is repeated with an almost biblical fervor, reinforcing the idea that the search for truth is an urgent, almost desperate pursuit.

However, this lofty search is soon undercut by the satirical third stanza, where the poem shifts to the present world—a realm dominated not by philosophical inquiry but by superficial trends. Here, Nims catalogues the absurdities of contemporary culture: "glutes and cleavage haunted, / Horoscope, crystal, junk bonds, fads and trends." The assonance of "glutes and cleavage" emphasizes the fixation on physical appearance, while the list of diversions—horoscopes, financial speculation, and fleeting trends—suggests a world governed by shallow and irrational impulses. Instead of seeking the profound, society chases after transient amusements, reducing even religious doctrine to a commodity: "Gospel on T-shirts." The presence of "string bikinis flaunted / To 'make a statement'" points to the way even personal expression has been reduced to commercialized self-display, where any deeper meaning is lost amid the spectacle.

The final image of "Moses, lo! descends" delivers the poem’s central irony. Instead of bringing commandments chiseled in stone—symbols of divine law and moral order—this modern Moses carries "plastic tablets with gilt lettering." The choice of "plastic" underscores the cheap, mass-produced nature of contemporary values, a stark contrast to the weighty permanence of the original stone tablets. The "gilt lettering" evokes an imitation of grandeur, something flashy but ultimately hollow. The message inscribed upon these tablets—"Good is what feels good, people. Do your thing!"—reduces morality to a simplistic, hedonistic slogan, mocking the way ethical complexity has been replaced by self-indulgence.

Nims' satire in this closing line is particularly sharp, mimicking the language of pop psychology and self-help mantras that promote individual gratification as the highest good. The shift from Moses as a stern lawgiver to a peddler of feel-good platitudes captures the poem’s central concern: that in an age obsessed with comfort and convenience, the search for truth has been replaced by the pursuit of pleasure. The exclamation mark at the end further satirizes this shift, turning what should be a moment of revelation into something more akin to an advertisement or motivational slogan.

Overall, "Moses Descending" is a scathing commentary on modern society’s loss of intellectual and moral depth. The poem’s structure follows a trajectory from grand existential inquiry to an increasingly trivialized present, culminating in an absurd revision of religious history. Through vivid imagery and biting irony, Nims critiques a culture that has traded profound philosophical engagement for disposable pleasures and easy slogans. In doing so, he asks whether the hunger to know—the force that has driven human thought for centuries—can survive in a world that values convenience over contemplation.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...