Plague by Robert Creeley
"Plague" by Robert Creeley is a poignant poem that explores themes of doubt, isolation, and the human condition through a lens of medical and emotional imagery. Structured in terse two-line units, the poem conveys a sense of urgency and interconnectedness, depicting a world transformed by disease—a "pestilence" that evokes feelings of despair and alienation. Creeley draws from personal experiences, particularly reflections on his father's medical career and memories of encountering marginalized individuals, such as lepers, which deepen the poem's emotional resonance.
The work captures the essence of existential solitude, illustrating how mental and physical afflictions can render individuals as societal outcasts, devoid of connection or empathy. However, amidst this bleak portrayal, Creeley also hints at a glimmer of hope, symbolized by "the faint sun," suggesting an innate human resilience and a longing for love and understanding. His concise language and rich imagery create an impactful exploration of self-awareness and the complexities of human relationships. "Plague" stands as a testament to Creeley's mastery of language, offering readers a profound reflection on suffering and the enduring search for solace and connection.
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Plague by Robert Creeley
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1990 (collected in Just in Time: Poems, 1984-1994, 2001)
Type of work: Poem
The Work
Although doubt and uncertainty are the climate of much of Creeley’s poetry, there is a hard-won hope based on the trials of experience that resists despair or cynicism. In “Plague,” a poem written in terse two-line units which are like semidiscrete couplets that lean into each other, the world is described in those times when it has become “a pestilence! a sullen, inexplicable contagion” for the poet. Creeley reaches back toward the medical imagery of his father’s life to form a figure for mental disorder, a figure which conveys the feeling of “a painful rush inward, isolate”—akin to a time in his own childhood when he saw “lonely lepers” he knew to be social pariahs “just down the street,/ back of shades drawn, closed doors.”
The closeness of the afflicted, the people damned by disease, reminds Creeley of how near to disaster all people are. In times of mental pressure or pain, the poet realizes, anyone may be similarly ravaged, forced to submit to a kind of universal aloneness in which the individual is transformed into an alien “them.” “No one talked to them, no one/ held them anymore,” he laments soberly. For a poet who was a master of the considered relationship, this complete absence of even the possibility of love is chilling to contemplate. However, as in an earlier poem in which Creeley called on the rain to inspire “decent happiness,” here he reaffirms the reaching, sympathizing impulse in the human spirit in a symbolic evocation of “the faint sun”:
again, we look for the faint sun,
A poem such as “Plague” shows how the pared-down, lean lines and the open interconnected images produce “movingly rich emotional testaments” that are impressive explorations of language and self-consciousness—the kind of poetry that Creeley made his own.
Bibliography
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Edelberg, Cynthia. Robert Creeley’s Poetry: A Critical Introduction. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1978.
Faas, Ekbert, and Maria Trombaco. Robert Creeley: A Biography. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 2001.
Ford, Arthur. Robert Creeley. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1978.
Foster, Edward Halsey. Understanding the Black Mountain Poets. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995.
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Terrell, Carroll, ed. Robert Creeley: The Poet’s Workshop. Orono, Maine: National Poetry Foundation, 1984.
Wilson, John, ed. Robert Creeley’s Life and Work: A Sense of Increment. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1987.