Hum (Themes)

Themes

Passage of Time

Lauterbach's repetition of the words "yesterday," "today," and "tomorrow" make the passage of time a major theme in "Hum." The puzzlelike framework in which the terms are placed underscores the sense of dislocation the narrator must be feeling. At various points, she states, "Tomorrow was yesterday" and "The towers are yesterday." The first statement implies that the day before had been a fateful "tomorrow" — a day whose events had been long in coming. Yesterday, also, the towers existed. Yesterday things were different and perhaps more hopeful. Furthermore, "The tears of today / will put out tomorrow." That is, the future that once existed for many — including those who perished in the September 11 terrorist attacks as well as their family and friends — has been replaced by grief. Also, the statement "Today is weather" is something of a neutral revision of the repeated statement "The days are beautiful." The sense of beauty has been replaced by the valueless term "weather." In effect, yesterday held hope, today holds only weeping, and tomorrow has been extinguished.

Air and Sky

Many of the narrator's words in "Hum" relate either directly or indirectly to the air and sky. The word "weather" itself appears seven times; also appearing multiple times are the words "rain," "sky," and "cloud." Lauterbach states directly that the weather is, variously, "other," "today," "the sound of weeping," "yesterday," and "nothing." The "towers" themselves indirectly reference air and sky; the World Trade Center's twin towers, at 110 stories each, were the tallest buildings in the world when they opened in 1973. They were an integral part of the New York skyline, visible from myriad locations both inside and outside Manhattan. Through the narrator's free association of ideas, the reader gets the sense that the towers were in fact part of the sky. The ominous sense of tragedy in "Hum" comes, in part, from the narrator's observations that sounds, ashes, and dust are all falling from the sky.

Beauty

"The days are beautiful" is one of the most enigmatic lines of "Hum," in addition to being its most frequent, appearing as both the first and last lines and seven other times in between. Its juxtaposition with the foreboding images of ashes, dust, and the sounds of everyone weeping create a stark discordance, which further results in a mood of a world off-kilter and out of synchronization. The narrator seems to be in a state of incomprehension, as if she cannot make sense of what is happening. Her insistence that "the days are beautiful," which is reinforced by her declaration "I know what days are," is upended by the sounds of weeping. The narrator herself is weeping "for the incidental," which, though unstated, might refer to the beautiful days; beauty is as fleeting and elusive as time in "Hum."

Disintegration

"Ashes" and "dust," by definition, conjure images of disintegration. The falling rain, the falling sound, and the statement that "the towers are yesterday" all further contribute to that theme. "The sky is dust" and "Here are the ashes," along with the narrator's concern with weeping, tears, and the loss of tomorrow, indicate that the disintegration is both physical and metaphorical.

Lamentation

A lamentation is a song or poem expressing sorrow over a loss, particularly the death of a loved one. Although Lauterbach does not directly address the loss of any one person, her choice of words and the concatenation of images lend to the eulogizing effects of the poem. The narrator mentions that she weeps and that "everyone will weep." She weeps, in particular, for the incidental, which, as defined in the poem, includes "things," "everyone," and "the towers."

The narrator's use of the words "ashes" and "dust" in the questions, "What is this dust?" and "What are these ashes?" indicate her incomprehension of the tragedy. Those familiar with the images of the World Trade Center's collapse will recognize Lauterbach's words as literal; the sky over Manhattan was indeed filled with ash and debris for days, as the rubble smoldered in the aftermath of the attacks. As a lamentation, the terms bring to mind the words of the Christian burial rite, as written in the Book of Common Prayer: "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." These words conjure images of solemn ceremony and the memorializing of the dead. Many of those who died in the World Trade Center literally became the dust and ashes that fell from the sky.

Topics For Further Study

• In the front matter of Hum, Lauterbach includes a quote from Shakespeare's play King Lear: "What, art mad? A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears" (act 4, scene 6). Go to a busy place and "look with your ears"; that is, close your eyes and listen to the surrounding sounds for at least ten minutes (or take a tape recorder and listen later). Did you hear anything that you might not have heard had your eyes been open? Write a short essay on what you "saw" when you were listening and relate your experience to Lauterbach's "Hum."
• If you did not know that "Hum" was about the tragedy of September 11, do you think you would have deduced as much? Using pictures from magazines and newspapers, assemble a collage based on the images Lauterbach evokes in her poem. Present your collage to the class and lead a discussion about the kinds of feelings your collage brings to mind, noting whether they are similar to or different from Lauterbach's themes in "Hum."
• Many of Lauterbach's poems are inspired by specific paintings or musical compositions. Pick one of your favorite songs or works of art and write a poem about it. Then write a companion essay on how your words were influenced by the subject you chose.
• Read other poems inspired by the terrorist attacks of September 11. Write an essay describing the images and language of these poems and compare and contrast them with Lauterbach's "Hum."
• Lauterbach gave a speech on February 12, 2003, at a symposium called "Poems Not Fit for the White House," which was organized to protest the cancellation of a White House poetry event because many of the guests opposed the war in Iraq and had written protest poems to present at the event. "Perhaps poets come to the fore at such times," Lauterbach said in her speech, which was reprinted in an article by Joshua Clover in the Village Voice, "because we already live at the margins, we represent a kind of powerless power, and maybe people become interested in this." Research news articles of this event and use them as the basis for a classroom debate. Prepare and deliver a short speech explaining whether or not you believe the poets were right to foster such controversy.