Ashbery

I have a difficult time wrapping my mind around Ashbery’s poems. And, my research on him didn’t clear things up. “In the New Criterion, William Logan noted: "Few poets have so cleverly manipulated, or just plain tortured, our soiled desire for meaning. [Ashbery] reminds us that most poets who give us meaning don't know what they're talking about." (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=233)”. So, I guess the point is we aren’t supposed to be able to find the meaning in his poems. But, it’s so hard to resist isn’t it? I mean, are they literally just a clutter of words with no purpose? Or, maybe like Ginsberg the meanings are mainly known only to the poet or those close to him. But, even with this piece of info. about the poet, I still wanted to dig deeper and see what I could glean from these poems.

One analysis for “They Dream Only of America” on the website by Shoptaw states: “The romantic secrecy of the fugitive gay lovers is parallel here to the French Resistance (Martory fought in its ranks, after his escape to Algeria) waiting for America’s liberation. Though the term "gay liberation" had not yet been coined, this poem seems tow ait for its minting. The utopian "American dream" here fantasizes a time and a place where gay lovers could come out of their lilac cubes. (http://www.english.illinois.edu/Maps/poets/a_f/ashbery/dream.htm).

I think others (immigrants) dreaming of an escape in America could also relate to the poem. “To be lost among the 13 million pillars of grass…” I also liked the lines at the end: “There is nothing to do For our liberation; except wait in the horror of it.” It’s odd that one would desire liberation, then wait in horror of it. Unless, the liberation he’s talking about is death (??).

The poem “Street Musicians” was also interesting. I just don’t know what to make of it. I like the first line: “One died, and the soul was wrenched out/Of the other in life, who, walking the streets…” and “Glimpses of what the other was up to: Revelations at last. So they grew to hate and forget each other.” These lines in the first stanza seem to be talking about other person, removed from the narrator “they, the other.” I get the sense that these people are lovers grown apart, and then one dies. Interestingly, in the 2nd stanza the voice changes to “I, our.” I was wondering why he does this.