Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Promises: 8. Founding Fathers, Nineteenth-Century Style, Southeast U.S.," Robert Penn Warren reflects on the complex legacy of America’s founding generations, particularly those of the Southeast, who lived through the nation’s formative years. The poem delves into the mythologizing of these men and women, acknowledging both their virtues and their flaws, while also grappling with how their lives and actions resonate in the present. Warren explores themes of honor, mortality, and the burden of history, offering a nuanced perspective on those who shaped the early United States, both known and unknown.

The poem opens with a recognition of the human frailty of these historical figures: "They were human, they suffered, wore long black coat and gold watch chain." Despite their elevated status as the so-called "founding fathers," they are depicted as flesh-and-blood individuals who experienced pain, both physical and emotional. Warren introduces the idea that, despite the severe, stoic expressions seen in daguerreotypes and oil portraits, these men carried the weight of suffering that is not immediately visible to the modern eye. Their "merciless eyes" seem to disapprove of the perceived decline of contemporary times, but Warren suggests that their own lives were far from perfect.

Some of these figures, Warren notes, "composed declarations, remembering Jefferson's language," invoking the idealized image of patriotism. However, the poem undercuts this lofty vision by highlighting how many of these men were simply trying to align themselves with grand historical gestures. Posing like patriots with "left hand in crook of the spine," they modeled themselves on the revolutionaries who preceded them, even if their actions were less momentous. There is a sense that these figures, despite their ambitions, fell short of the ideals they emulated, sometimes reduced to "Achilles" figures in "tavern brawls" rather than on the battlefield.

Warren touches on the personal lives of these men, who, for all their public accomplishments, often failed to meet their private responsibilities. The image of wives being "dropped like old shirts in some corner of country" suggests the disposability of women in their lives, as well as the toll that personal ambition and expansion took on families. The "child-bride" weeping in shame the morning after her wedding highlights the gap between the romanticized notions of marriage and the harsh realities faced by women. These figures, so often celebrated for their public deeds, left behind personal wreckage that is rarely acknowledged in the historical narrative.

The poem moves through different types of men who made up the Southern aristocracy: those like Bowie at the Alamo, revered for their valor and patriotism, and others who remain nameless, their portraits lost to time, but who "trusted" in their own strength and God’s Word. There is an almost mythic quality to how they "wrestled the angel" or fought "the brute," engaging in struggles that were as much about personal glory as they were about survival. Yet, even these figures are presented with a sense of futility. The men who fought "all night, in sweat, groaned" ultimately succumbed to their mortality, leaving behind only their "old story" to pass through the dark land.

Warren offers a particular view of the Southern patriarchs who "prospered," owning land, slaves, and silver, but who still remembered the simplicity of their origins—"the owl call, the smell of burnt bear fat on dusk-air." This duality between the material wealth they amassed and the wildness they came from points to the contradiction at the heart of their lives: they sought to build civilization but were still tethered to the untamed land. Their struggles with money, women, and ambition often led to ruin, and they moved westward in search of new opportunities, like the man who went to Texas only to confirm that there was "nothing" there. Even their efforts at expansion and reinvention were met with failure, as the "black vomit" of disease claimed them, and they, like many others, died in obscurity.

One of the most striking elements of the poem is the way Warren confronts the fading legacy of these men. Even those who achieved some level of recognition are reduced to shadows: "Their voices come thin, like last cricket in frost-dark, in grass lost." The final lines express the futility of their struggles and their inability to offer wisdom for the present: "nothing to tell us for our complexity of choices." The modern world, with all its intricacies and moral dilemmas, seems far removed from the simpler, more brutal lives these men led. Yet, Warren insists that their lives had meaning, even if that meaning is difficult to reconcile with today’s values.

In the closing lines, Warren urges a kind of forgiveness for the "founding fathers" and their imperfections. He acknowledges that while they may have embodied both "defects" and "greatness," they are nonetheless part of the American lineage. "We are their children," he states, and we must come to terms with their legacy "in the light of humanness, and under the shadow of God's closing hand." This final image of God’s "closing hand" reinforces the inevitability of mortality and the passage of time, suggesting that all people, whether they are historical figures or ordinary individuals, must eventually face judgment for their actions.

In "Promises: 8. Founding Fathers, Nineteenth-Century Style, Southeast U.S.," Robert Penn Warren offers a deeply reflective and ambivalent portrait of the Southern patriarchs who shaped early American history. He acknowledges their courage and ambition but also highlights their flaws and the personal costs of their achievements. Through rich, evocative imagery, Warren explores the tension between myth and reality, urging readers to confront the complexities of history with both understanding and forgiveness. Ultimately, the poem suggests that while these figures may have shaped the past, it is up to the present generation to reckon with their legacy and make sense of the choices they left behind.

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