Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Richard Wilbur’s "Games Two" is a contemplative exploration of language, its limitations, and its potential to connect with a deeper reality. Using metaphors of flight, direction, and pilgrimage, Wilbur delves into the nature of words as both tools of expression and imperfect vessels, destined to fall short of fully encapsulating the truths they seek to name. The poem oscillates between the constraints of language and the possibilities of transcending those constraints through silence and creation.

The opening stanza establishes the metaphor of migration, likening the movement of birds flying “squadroned South” to the way words travel “East.” The birds’ flight suggests purpose and direction, yet the parallel drawn with language hints at a more complex journey. The “hollow mouth” through which words emerge emphasizes both their physicality and their potential emptiness, suggesting that spoken or written language often carries a gap between intention and meaning. Words, like birds, seem to be driven by instinct and necessity, yet their destination remains elusive.

As the poem progresses, Wilbur reflects on the transient and fragmented nature of words: “When written down / As here, they file / In broken bands awhile.” This imagery of words forming “broken bands” mirrors the fleeting cohesion of birds in flight, underscoring the impermanence and disjointedness of language. The assertion that “never noun / Found what it named” confronts the fundamental inadequacy of words to fully capture or define reality. Language, for all its utility, remains a “lame” and “lost” medium, burning with the desire to reach its metaphorical East—a place of ultimate meaning—but perpetually failing to arrive.

The poem’s middle section introduces the concept of return, as words “must turn / Back where they came / From, back to their old / Capital.” This “capital” represents the origin of language, perhaps suggesting a primal silence or a foundational unity from which words diverge. Despite their limitations, words are not dismissed entirely. Wilbur’s imagery of pilgrims “fallen” yet beholding “the desired city” evokes a sense of striving and yearning. Language, though flawed, carries the aspiration to connect with something greater, to approach a transcendent truth even as it falters.

Silence emerges as a redemptive force in the latter half of the poem. “Silence will take pity / On words,” Wilbur writes, presenting silence not as an absence but as a space of potential. The “pauses where words must wait” are likened to gates, thresholds beyond which lies a realm of creation “in morning sun.” This imagery suggests that silence, rather than words, holds the key to a deeper unity with the world. Beyond the confines of language lies a place “where word with world is one / And nothing dies.” This conclusion envisions a state of harmony and permanence, where the distinctions and failures of language dissolve into a seamless connection with existence.

Structurally, the poem’s short, irregular stanzas and frequent enjambment mimic the fragmented nature of language itself, while the consistent rhyme scheme ties the stanzas together, reflecting the tension between disconnection and unity. The oscillation between statements of limitation and moments of transcendence mirrors the ebb and flow of language’s capabilities, drawing readers into the poem’s meditative rhythm.

At its core, "Games Two" is a reflection on the paradox of language: its necessity as a tool for understanding and communication, and its inability to fully encapsulate the truths it seeks to convey. Wilbur’s metaphors of flight, pilgrimage, and silence highlight the tension between striving and surrender, suggesting that true connection lies not in the perfection of words but in the spaces they create for something beyond. The poem ultimately celebrates the interplay of language and silence as a pathway to creation and unity, inviting readers to consider the transformative power of both expression and its absence.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...