Let Me Sing A Song For You…Hope You Like It
SONG
BY FRANK O’HARA
In my review and deep reading of Frank O’Hara’s poem SONG (stuck in traffic) I found myself reflecting on the man, his purpose for writing, and the critiques his poetry has received. O’ Hara seemed somewhat dismissive his poetry. He often playfully referred to his work as something that just happened, and that his poetry and its construction were not very heavily detailed oriented (Hartman 41). Ironically but apropos his poetry tended to be drawn from moments in life (primarily his life and surrounding events) (Hartman 40). This idea on his work sets forth the precursory ideas and thesis for the explication of this poem. SONG with its combination of simple, dense, and foreign language, image creation, stanza composition, and disconnected flow is a metaphor for the irregularities, monotony, pitfalls and awes of life. These extemporaneous tools of literary construction create a mood and setting that cast the feelings of the labored life, acceptance of the “real”, and promise of what could be.
O’Hara’s usage of uncomplicated language and nonchalant renderings of matter-o-fact statements in this poem connote three main ideas: 1. He was keenly observant of all the things afoot in his life 2. Awareness does not mean taking things so profoundly serious 3. Understated language doesn’t mean frivolity and no worth of the subject matter (his life). SONG illustrates that flowery language and complex text when mixed with the simple can deliver a profound message, and the on the fly poetry of SONG shows depth in the highest sense of staying in the moment.
SONG reflects a whimsical charm with deep revelation of affection via the usage of metaphor and straight talk to paint a picture of life, love, and the possibilities of both as they happen. The tone is deliberate, bright, lively, but brief. This tone in itself seems like a metaphor for O’hara’s life he died tragically at 40. O’Hara is purposeful of painting a picture to grab the audiences attention. This is to take the reader on a ride composed of literary snap shots. Each stanza creates a snapshot that feeds off the previous stanza. There is a connotation of “this is a day in the life of ________” and the blank of whose life is left up to reader to fill in.
The opening stanza is the set up of familiarity and accessibility to life’s general and daily grind:
I am stuck in traffic in a taxicab,
which is typical
and not just of modern life.
this movement into and recognition of the mundane is powerful as a statement and in its simplicity There is no sense of apology for blatantly pointing out the dreck of life, but there is a second stanza and metaphor usage that lets the readers know there is more to come from life and from the work.
In the second stanza, interesting metaphors are used and this application mirrors the happenings that can come about and provide surprises. These uses of vivid metaphors in juxtaposition to the straight talk of the first stanza also create the second snapshot in the movement of poem and the movement in “the day of life” thematic play. There is a heavier feeling in this stanza almost a mood change due to being stuck in traffic and being “stuck” in the routine (Perloff 787). The stanza also introduces the foreshadowing of deeper revelation of affection that will culminate in the last stanza. There is also a sense that these loving feelings that are being provoked in the mundanity of the day, and the life leaves the subject of the poem to feel like a foreigner though this is their life.
The mud clambers up the trellis of my nerves
must lovers of Eros end up with Venus
muss es sein? es muss nicht sein, I tell you
“The mud clambers up the trellis of my nerves” the images of mud being caked on the nerves of a person pulls the readers’ attention away from the actual idea of real life traffic slowing one down and creates the heart’s traffic being slowed down. Then there is the introduction of the images and questions of affection and gender attraction with “must lovers of Eros end up with Venus”. These questions also can slow down the traffic of ones’ affections and life. “Muss es sein? es muss nicht sein” German to English translation of this line is “must it be? it not must be” the use of a foreign language and the use of a question and then answer connotes movements and stops in the flow.
The third stanza simply begins with a disgruntled admission and moves forth, “how I hate disease, it's like worrying that comes true”. In this admission there is a move to change the status quo of life, but one must admit that they are stuck in it all. “And it simply must not be able to happen” is the final line of the stanza before the close of the poem. There is a feeling of let’s not worry about the bog of all that slows us down. This bog of mud and traffic slows down life and acceptance of this fact is key for further life exploration and to be prepared when things start moving again.
The final stanza and snapshot of the poem goes, in a world where you are possible my love, nothing can go wrong for us, tell me”. There is a push through the mundane, through the questions and fear that slows life down. This stanza also closes with no punctuation for there to be more revealed. This is the final example of the evolution and movement of the day and the life. Though done on the fly life and poetry can create beautiful images if one chooses to look at them. I believe this is the genius of SONG and O’Hara even if he were alive today to say nope that’s not what it meant at all I could always simply say, “Well that’s what I got from it when I read it in the back of a taxicab.”
Works Cited
Anne, Hartmann. "Confessional Counterpublics in Frank O'Hara and Allen Ginsberg." JSTOR. JSTOR. Web. 18 Aug. 2010. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25167541>.
Gooch, Brad. City Poet: The Life and Times of Frank O'Hara. New York: HarperPerennial, 1994. Print.
Perloff, Marjorie. "Frank O'Hara and the Aesthetics of Attention." Www.jstor.org. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/302703>.
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