"Ahead, starting from the far north , it wanders.
Its radish-strong gasoline fumes have probably been Locked into your sinuses while you were away. You will have to deliver it. The flowers exist on the edge of breath, loose, Having been laid there. One gives pause to the other, Or there will be a symmetry about their movements Through which each is also an individual. It is their collective blankness, however, That betrays a notion of a thing not to be destroyed. In this, how many facts we have fallen through And still the old facade glimmers there, A mirage, but permanent. We must first trick the idea Into being, then dismantle it, Scattering the pieces on the wind, So that the old joy, modest as cake, as wine and friendship Will stay with us at the last, backed by the night Whose ruse gave it our final meaning." In this poem, "Flowering Death" by John Ashbery, he is conveying to the reader a message that is discussing an idea. Ashbery discusses two elements of the idea: the spread of it and the dismantling of it. As he is doing this, he makes many comments about the way humans handle new ideas and how they impact people. This idea, represented by the flowers that Ashbery speaks of, starts "from the far north," spreads, with a great stench and carried by someone who had most likely visited the area.
1 Comment
Emma Claire
1/13/2017 07:06:12 am
I really like this poem. The idea of dismantling the idea is super interesting. Good analysis!
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March 2017
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