Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Mount Melleray", Sean Ó Ríordáin embarks on a complex exploration of spirituality, inner conflict, and the tension between earthly desires and monastic discipline. Set in Mount Melleray, a Cistercian monastery in Ireland, the poem captures the narrator’s simultaneous attraction to and discomfort with the strict religious life represented by the monks. Through vivid imagery and introspective reflection, Ó Ríordáin conveys the deep ambivalence of a soul torn between secular impulses and the longing for spiritual purity. The poem’s use of repetition, sensory details, and shifts between reverence and doubt illustrate the speaker’s inner battle as he grapples with his own faith, desires, and sense of self.

The poem opens with the “snore-snortle of a storm” at Mount Melleray, an evocative image that personifies the natural world, as if the storm itself were a restless entity. This sensory detail sets a tone of turbulence, suggesting that the speaker’s internal state mirrors the external storm. The storm “brought back days of concupiscence / hanging over me like a disease,” immediately introducing the speaker’s struggles with desire. “Concupiscence”—a theological term for lust or carnal desires—evokes a sense of guilt, portraying desire as an affliction that burdens the speaker’s soul. This framing of desire as a sickness establishes a central conflict between bodily urges and spiritual aspirations, with Mount Melleray standing as a place where such struggles are confronted, albeit not always resolved.

The speaker reflects on the simplicity and dedication of the monks, who move “merrily” to Mass, their “sandals chanting psalms.” This line captures the harmony of their lives, each footstep like a prayer, suggesting a rhythm and purpose that contrasts sharply with the speaker’s own sense of restlessness. The “holy penury” and “silence” that “would have sufficed as balm for any soul” highlight the monks’ dedication to a life of minimalism and self-denial. Yet, for the speaker, this purity is something elusive, simultaneously fascinating and unattainable. The image of a “shapeless splash of sunlight” taking “the form of a monk” suggests a kind of divine transformation, as if the natural world itself participates in the monastery’s spirituality, adding to the atmosphere of sanctity that the speaker both admires and feels alienated from.

As the scene shifts to the evening, the speaker observes the monks at Compline, the final prayer service of the day, where “the lives of the saints were white as a sheet / while ours were beetle-black.” This stark contrast between the purity of the saints and the darkness of ordinary lives reflects the speaker’s feelings of unworthiness. The speaker’s “sweat on the rosary” and his “trousers… stuck to my knees” evoke physical discomfort and emphasize his distance from the spiritual cleanliness that the monks represent. The reverence he feels, coupled with his own self-consciousness, reflects a profound yearning to reach the spiritual level of the monks, even as he recognizes his own limitations.

A critical moment arises as the speaker stares at the monks with a “pitiless gaze,” comparing his scrutiny to how “the Jews must have stared at Lazarus… their eyes burning him through and through.” This reference to Lazarus, who was resurrected by Jesus, symbolizes rebirth and spiritual transformation, suggesting that the speaker sees the monks as figures reborn in faith. Yet, his gaze is “pitiless,” indicating a sense of bitterness or skepticism. The intense stare reveals a mixture of admiration and resentment, as if the speaker both envies and distrusts the purity he perceives in the monks, unsure if he can ever achieve—or even fully believe in—the kind of faith they embody.

The speaker’s internal monologue then shifts into a philosophical critique of monastic life, contemplating the toll it takes on the individual: “Death holds this place in his icy grip… He is the Abbot whom they obey.” Here, Death is portrayed as a dominating force, suggesting that the monks’ dedication to asceticism is akin to a slow, voluntary dying—a surrender of the self in the service of a higher ideal. The speaker critiques this self-denial as “an abuse of God’s protection,” as if such extreme rejection of worldly pleasures goes against the natural human inclination toward life and vitality. This rejection reflects a part of the speaker’s own struggle with faith, as he questions the sacrifices required by religious devotion and wonders whether such denial of self is truly virtuous or an overextension of religious dogma.

The poem then takes on a more self-critical tone as the speaker reflects on his own life, describing it as a “waste” filled with “sin, sloth, idleness.” The “wilderness years” left him with little more than “black nettles,” symbolizing the barren outcome of his lack of spiritual discipline. He contrasts this aimlessness with the “strictness, the clean lines, the depth” of the monastic life, finding a sense of beauty in its rigor even as he questions its value. This admission of his own failures reveals an underlying yearning for the clarity and discipline that the monks represent, suggesting that, despite his skepticism, he is drawn to the structured spirituality of monastic life.

In the final stanza, the “snore-snortle of a storm” returns, bookending the poem and reinforcing the speaker’s turbulent state of mind. The storm serves as a metaphor for his ongoing struggle, as he acknowledges the allure of both concupiscence and devotion. His “straw-rope of poetry” becomes his own fragile connection to Mount Melleray, a symbol of his attempt to bridge his secular existence with his spiritual aspirations. This “straw-rope” suggests that poetry, like the monks’ faith, offers a way of holding onto something larger than oneself, though it is delicate and easily broken.

Ultimately, "Mount Melleray" captures a complex, deeply human struggle with faith, discipline, and identity. The speaker’s journey through the monastery reflects an inner conflict between his own secular desires and the monastic ideals of purity and sacrifice. Through rich, sensory details and introspective reflection, Ó Ríordáin paints a portrait of a soul caught between two worlds—drawn to the beauty of faith and discipline, yet hesitant to fully surrender his individuality. The poem’s cyclical structure, returning to the storm, mirrors the speaker’s ongoing struggle, suggesting that true spiritual peace remains just out of reach, with the speaker forever grasping at the “straw-rope of poetry” as his personal means of grappling with life’s deeper questions.

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