Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Jay Wright’s "Morning: Leaving Calle Gigantes" vividly portrays a moment of disarray, contemplation, and yearning, set against the backdrop of a bustling Guadalajara morning. The poem’s exploration of guilt, desire, and spiritual disconnection reveals a speaker caught between the pull of transcendence and the weight of earthly indulgence. Wright employs the rich imagery of the physical and spiritual worlds to underscore the tension between the sacred and the profane, as the speaker confronts his inner turmoil.

The poem begins with a striking description of the sunrise, likened to a "pink six o?clock grapefruit," a metaphor that captures the sharpness and freshness of the morning light. This vibrant image contrasts starkly with the speaker?s state, having spent the night "straggling with mariachis" and bearing the "stale and anxious" smell of alcohol and sleeplessness. The juxtaposition of the rejuvenating dawn with the speaker’s physical and emotional exhaustion sets the tone for the poem?s exploration of dualities.

As the speaker moves through the streets filled with "women humpbacked with babies," he observes the burden of daily life with a detached and almost voyeuristic gaze. The imagery of the church introduces the theme of spiritual tension. The "clamorous church" and "perfumed candles" evoke a sense of ritual and sanctity, yet the speaker’s description of "black-veiled women" groveling on their knees suggests a discomfort with the outward displays of devotion. This discomfort is heightened by the speaker’s irreverent fantasy of sending "six light and deadly notes" from a guitar up through the nave, an act that would disrupt the solemnity of the space.

The arrival of the "little girls, flying from the church like doves," marks a turning point in the poem. Their innocence and purity contrast sharply with the speaker’s internal chaos. The girls, with their "pink chasubles" and folded hands, become symbols of untouched grace, yet their silent presence unnerves the speaker. The repetition of their silence—"They do not speak"—amplifies the tension, as if their muteness challenges the speaker to confront his own inadequacies and failings.

The speaker’s fear of the girls’ innocence is palpable. Their calm, unwavering gaze seems to demand something of him—perhaps repentance or acknowledgment of his own corrupted state. The imagined scenarios that follow—tearing his shirt, screaming, and desecrating their innocence—reveal the depth of the speaker’s self-loathing and his struggle with destructive impulses. These fantasies are not literal but symbolic, reflecting the speaker’s fear of his own capacity to harm or defile what is pure.

The poem?s final lines, "No Jesus can teach them to flock like doves, / where I am waiting to stay my death with theirs," encapsulate the speaker’s existential crisis. The invocation of Jesus suggests a longing for redemption or guidance, but the assertion that even Jesus cannot intervene underscores the speaker?s sense of isolation. The image of doves, traditionally symbols of peace and the Holy Spirit, becomes laden with irony, as the speaker acknowledges his inability to align himself with their purity.

Wright masterfully intertwines the physical and spiritual realms throughout the poem. The gritty reality of the speaker?s physical state—his "wet and beer-laden" smell—grounds the narrative in the corporeal world, while the church and the girls represent the possibility of spiritual transcendence. Yet, the speaker remains trapped in the liminal space between these realms, unable to fully inhabit either. His longing to "stay [his] death with theirs" speaks to a desire for connection and salvation, even as he recognizes the barriers erected by his own failings.

"Morning: Leaving Calle Gigantes" is a poignant meditation on the complexities of guilt, desire, and redemption. Wright?s use of vivid imagery and nuanced symbolism invites readers to delve into the speaker’s psyche, grappling with questions of morality, spirituality, and the human condition. The poem’s refusal to offer easy resolutions mirrors the speaker’s own unresolved struggle, leaving us with a profound sense of the tension between aspiration and reality.

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