Wilderness Gothic (Poem Summary)

Poem Summary

Lines 1 – 7

In the opening stanza, Purdy introduces the narrator who stands on the shore of Roblin Lake, which happens to be near the home of the poet. This implies that Purdy is the one who observes, just two shores away, a crew of workingmen “sheathing the church spire with new metal.” Upon closer inspection, Purdy notices a lone man who “hangs in the sky over there from a piece of rope.” The man is clearly taking a chance with his life to fix the spire because he is “working his way up along the spire until there’s nothing left to nail on.” The spire is also described as “God’s belly-scratcher,” implying that while the man is dedicated to his work, there’s a sense that in the grand scheme of things, the act may just be a minor, inconsequential job.

Lines 8 – 15

In the following lines, Purdy ponders the workman’s motivation for his work. He hypothesizes that it is the man’s faith that drives him. However, because the work is so dangerous, the man’s faith “reaches beyond: touches intangibles, wrestles with Jacob.” The mention of Jacob refers to the Book of Genesis in which Jacob has a vision of a stairway that leads to heaven and later builds a pillar in the place which he believes is the gate to heaven. Jacob’s experience leads him to believe that God manifests himself and his purpose in times of hardship. Thus, Purdy believes that the man working on the church is not only doing God’s work but also thinks his faith in God will protect him from harm. As the man “pounds hard in the blue cave of the sky, [he] contends heroically with difficult problems of gravity, sky navigation and mythopoeia.” This last word, mythopoeia, means creating a myth. This suggests that the man hanging in the sky might see his work in mythic terms and its value in mythic proportions, which could lead to a struggle with maintaining his humility to avoid an act of hubris that is a sin in God’s eyes. If the man hopes to reach heaven’s gate through his acts of good will, he must remember that acts alone do not guarantee entry to heaven. Ultimately, it’s the man’s faith that will redeem him in God’s eyes.

The next lines confirm the man’s commitment, saying that in addition to contending with the above issues (gravity, mythopoeia), he isn’t being paid for his work. Rather, the man is volunteering his time and labor to the church and to God. Purdy refers to the man’s labor as a “non-union job” without tangible benefits such as health insurance. This comment is a testament to the sacrifice one makes to God in doing his work; however, it also implies that the compensation is intangible, and, therefore, it has the potential to be more spiritually rewarding.

Lines 16 – 20

The second stanza moves away from the lone man working on the church. It abandons the shores of Roblin Lake and expands out into the world. Purdy mentions the fields and the woodlots that line the environment and how “death is yodelling quiet” throughout the land. The mention of death silently hovering around the man alludes to the fact that death is a common occurrence; in fact, it has taken the lives of three young birds that were crushed “in the sub-surface of the new county highway.” These deaths confirm the idea that death is a necessary part of life, even when great risk is not being taken. In addition, the act of progress, shown in the creation of a new highway, can often result in the sacrifice of innocent victims.

Lines 21 – 24

The beginning of the third stanza makes a transition from the present time to the past. Purdy states that the “picture is incomplete.” He delves into a “Durer landscape,” making a reference to the artist Albrecht Durer, who created religious woodcuts in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Durer landscape adds another dimension to the poem, putting it into a context that involves the myth of Icarus. Icarus and his father, Daedalus, tried to climb to great heights using wings made with feathers and wax to gain their freedom. However, Icarus ignored his father’s advice to watch how high he flew. Icarus got too close to the sun, which melted his wings and resulted in his fall and death. Daedalus was devastated as he watched his son’s demise, which is reflected in the line, “gothic ancestors peer from medieval sky, dour faces trapped.” The dour face is that of Daedalus, who must helplessly watch his only son die because of his noble vice.

Lines 25 – 31

As the fourth stanza continues, Purdy mentions “work-sodden wives groping inside their flesh for what keeps moving and changing and flashing,” and “a two-headed calf born in the barn.” These images have religious overtones and hark back to pioneer times, implying that the history of Purdy’s landscape must be acknowledged to understand the present. The poem seems to say that, despite the agony and pain that accompanies life, it keeps moving in an unforgiving fashion. Purdy questions the reason behind agony, asking if it is a sign of “fire and brimstone?” He then answers his own question by saying that these acts are, instead, just signs of “an age and a faith moving into transition.”

Lines 32 – 37

The poem comes to a close by returning to the present and engaging the reader in some suspenseful action. Coming back to the man working on the church, Purdy sets up the ending by saying “deep woods shiver and water drops hang pendant, double-yolked eggs and the house creaks a little — something is about to happen.” The foreshadowing is clear and alludes to the calm before the storm, as if Purdy is anticipating a tragedy. With the myth of Icarus resonating throughout the poem, Purdy believes that the workingman with the capacity to rise above the earth will eventually return to the earth, just as Icarus did. The final line “perhaps he will fall,” confirms the theory, yet it’s also an affirmation because with death the man’s life and work will not be just a fleeting moment in time, but it will become a part of history and speak to and inspire future generations.