Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Gloss," Charles Olson meditates on the evolution of language, selfhood, and masculinity, tracing a journey from innocence to experience that is marked by the inherent tension between societal expectations and individual authenticity. Olson's exploration is tinged with nostalgia for a time when language and self-expression seemed more organic and pure—qualities that have, in his view, faded in contemporary society, replaced by a more mechanistic and disconnected existence.

The poem begins with a sharp, almost ironic observation: "only the telephone men are spurred," suggesting that in modern times, it is not the poets or artists who are celebrated and empowered but rather those aligned with technology and communication infrastructure. The image of the telephone men, “prepared” and “spurred” with tools at their hips, contrasts sharply with an earlier era Olson recalls, when singers, symbolizing poets or artists, "issued from the hand of God." This imagery implies a divine, almost sacred origin of artistic expression, an art that was once instinctual and intimately connected to a "round" and nurturing world.

Olson reminisces about the early, unblemished stages of life and language, where words and stories flowed with "milk and honey," evoking biblical imagery of promised lands and purity. The innocence of these formative years is shattered as the speaker outlines the gradual, painful initiation into adulthood. At fourteen, youth is marked by the introduction of “syllables for grit, and yawning guilt”—language now serves not as a bridge to divine expression but as a vehicle for grappling with inner conflict and moral burden. The mention of “new-found aids” in the form of “teeth” hints at the process of maturation, where speech becomes not only a means of expression but also a tool of self-defense and assertion in an increasingly complex and demanding world.

As Olson continues to track the development of the self, he identifies the rejection of the “priest,” symbolizing the abandonment of religious or moral authority, while “the mother” still holds a residual place. The "glottal stop," a constriction in the vocal system, becomes a metaphor for the young adult’s stifled attempts at finding their own voice amid parental and societal pressures. At eighteen, the adolescent enters a new phase: “they discover story,” and attempt to assert themselves, “put out their certain hands,” reaching out to confront “the father” and grapple with inherited expectations. Olson frames this attempt at self-assertion as a violent and tumultuous encounter, comparing it to a “line-storm” that severs the lines of communication, the “caught-wire,” between the individual and society.

In the climactic reflection, Olson suggests that a pivotal realization must occur: "a man, if he is to be a man, must here stand clear." This assertion is both a call for individualism and a lamentation for the clarity lost in an overly complex world. Olson envisions a process of refinement and simplification, whereby the self must be “dissolved down to one abridgement.” This metaphor of distillation emphasizes the need for a man to strip away superfluous aspects of himself, embracing instead a unified, essential identity, one that is “lead, and useful for connections.” Yet Olson tempers this ideal by acknowledging that such self-actualization is no simple feat; it requires a constant struggle to maintain one's integrity—“vertebra, bone from the neck to the tip of his cock”—against the raw, abrasive nature of existence.

In "Gloss," Olson portrays the journey toward adulthood and authentic selfhood as fraught with disillusionment, conflict, and a struggle to retain one’s core amidst external pressures. His use of rich metaphors, from “milk and honey” to the “glottal stop” and the “line-storm,” conveys the complex shifts in language and perception that accompany maturity. Olson’s critique of modernity, which rewards the technical over the poetic, underscores his yearning for a time when language was visceral and profound, when art was an organic extension of life’s rhythms. Through this exploration, Olson calls for a return to a more genuine expression, one that is stripped of artifice and anchored in the visceral, unyielding reality of human existence.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...