Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Two Songs of Advent: 2," Yvor Winters presents a striking and vivid image of the coyote, a creature often associated with the wild, cunning, and the untamed forces of nature. The poem begins with the description of the coyote: "Coyote, on delicate mocking feet," immediately establishing the animal as a figure of both grace and trickery. The use of "delicate mocking feet" emphasizes the paradoxical nature of the coyote—its beauty and agility are juxtaposed with its elusive, mocking qualities, as though it is both part of the natural world and somehow outside of it, mocking the human desire for order and understanding.

The coyote is depicted as "hovering down the canyon, among the mountains," suggesting a fluid, almost supernatural movement through the landscape. The choice of "hovering" rather than walking or running evokes the sense that the coyote is not bound by the physical laws that govern the rest of the world, moving freely and untouchably through the vastness of the canyon and mountains. This description gives the coyote an ethereal, ghostly presence, as though it exists in a space between the material and the spiritual, between the living world and a realm of mystery.

"His voice running wild in the wind's valleys" continues to emphasize the untamed, wild nature of the coyote. Its voice is not just sound but something that "runs wild," suggesting that it is uncontrollable and chaotic, moving through the natural world like the wind itself. The "wind's valleys" are symbolic of spaces where echoes and calls can get lost or distorted, perhaps representing the way human thoughts or desires can be scattered or unclear in the face of nature's vastness and unpredictability. The coyote's voice becomes a force that disrupts, shaping the environment around it, just as the wild and untamed forces of the world shape human consciousness.

Finally, the imperative "Listen! listen! for I enter now your thought" shifts the focus from the external landscape to the internal world of the reader or listener. The coyote, in its wildness, now enters the realm of the mind, calling the reader to pay attention, to hear the message it brings. This command suggests that the coyote represents more than just a physical creature; it is a symbol of insight, revelation, or perhaps a disruptive force that challenges the way we think or perceive the world. By entering "your thought," the coyote transcends its physicality, becoming a metaphor for the untamed, chaotic elements of consciousness that break into the ordered, structured world of human thought.

In "Two Songs of Advent: 2," Winters uses the image of the coyote to evoke themes of wildness, disruption, and the intrusion of the untamed forces of nature into the human mind. The coyote's movement through the landscape and its voice in the wind suggest the presence of something uncontrollable and mysterious, while the final command to "listen" calls the reader to confront the unknown forces within themselves, prompting a deeper awareness or reflection. The poem, in this way, becomes an exploration of the balance between the human desire for order and the natural, chaotic forces that exist beyond our understanding.

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