Eating Poetry (Themes)

Themes

Realism Vs. Surrealism

The most obvious element of Mark Strand’s “Eating Poetry” — as well as much of his other work — is the surrealism that bombards and takes over the poem. As a twentieth-century artistic movement, surrealism is an attempt to express what the subconscious mind is thinking and how it works as opposed to the realities that we experience in the conscious mind. One way to grasp the nuances of what is “surreal” is to think about what dreams are like. Consider the fantastic imagery, the weird occurrences that could not happen in real life, and the ease with which they are accepted in the dream itself. We don’t often halt the action in a bizarre nightmare to say, “Wait a minute. This isn’t realistic.” Instead, we simply follow the lead of whatever strange events take place without any idea of the outcome.

The speaker in “Eating Poetry” is caught up in a dreamlike, abstract world, and his behavior, in turn, draws the librarian into the same unreal circumstances. The entire premise of the poem — the idea of digesting so much paper that the ink runs from his mouth — is a surreal one, and, just as in dreams, each character plays a strange role. A brief synopsis of this poem is evidence enough: a man sits in a library eating books, the librarian paces, the lights go out, dogs run up from the basement with their legs on fire, the librarian cries, the man turns into a dog and licks her hand, the librarian screams, the man growls and barks and romps in a very unlikely place — a library. We cannot discern an exact reason that the events unfold in this manner any more than we can come up with a definitive analysis of odd dreams. There may be many theories, but the main point is the disturbing, thought-provoking surreal experience itself. As editor for the Winter 1995-96 issue of Ploughshares, Strand said in the introduction in regard to his selection of poems that “I am not concerned with truth, nor with conventional notions of what is beautiful.” This sentiment is obvious in his own poems, which are usually neither “truthful” nor beautiful, but which intrigue the imagination and command attention just the same.

Dark Comedy

Sometimes we may become so distracted by the macabre and morbid imagery of a surreal work that we neglect to notice the humor in it. “Eating Poetry” presents such a deranged scenario that most people do not laugh while reading through it. On a second or third read, however, we may find some levity in picturing a fretful librarian keeping an eye on a patron shoving pages of a book into his mouth. We may also laugh at the notion of a grown man leaping and rolling about on the floor like a playful pup who has no regard for rules or protocol. On one level, the poem is actually a happy one, a clever metaphor for a true love of poetry. The speaker tells us from the outset that “There is no happiness like mine,” and, yet, we don’t tend to take his word for it. And this is where the comedy’s “darkness” comes in. Although we are told very matter-of-factly that the man is happy and although we might really laugh if we saw someone acting so bizarre in a public place, there is enough of a sense of uneasiness and horrific details to keep this from being a “light” poem. The undercurrent of distress and puzzlement prevents it from being truly funny, but there is still an undeniable jocular element in the work. Strand surely had his own poetry in mind when he commented in the Ploughshares introduction that “Sense, so long as it’s not too familiar, is a pleasure, but so is nonsense when shrewdly exploited.” “Eating Poetry” is a good example of nonsense, but it also demonstrates a clever manipulation of the folly into a delightful exercise for the mind.

Simple Language

The language a poet uses may not always be “thematic” by itself, but often a recurring style or word selection can present a certain motif. In “Eating Poetry,” the language is simple and precise, written (or spoken) in a very brief, controlled manner.

What makes this especially interesting in Strand’s poetry is that the simple language is juxtaposed against a complex, easily misinterpreted background of abnormal events. He describes these wild, uncanny circumstances with the conventional monotony of a recipe. And, yet, the poem is far from monotonous. The use of unpretentious words actually adds tension and absurdity to an already surreal situation. To state calmly such lines as, “I have been eating poetry,” “The poems are gone,” “I am a new man,” and “I snarl at her and bark” makes their meanings more eerie than if they were screamed or shouted as though by a madman. The speaker does not “sound” mad, but his actions tell a different story.

Topics for Further Study

• Explain your opinion on whether a poem with surrealistic imagery is more interesting or less interesting to read than a one with conventional images and scenarios.
• Write about a scene you have witnessed or an experience you have had that was bizarre and seemed both real and unreal at the same time.
• Explain some of the similarities and differences between surrealist writing and surrealist art, using examples from both genres to support your points.
• If you saw a man sitting in a library shoving pages from a book into his mouth, what would your reaction be and how do you think other people around him would react? In answering, consider such particulars as social expectations and current laws.