This Is The Impossible

Or at least it is how this feels, because poetry is beautiful, but at times so difficult to understand. Though, in Charles Olson’s case, it’s not possible to understand any of his poems completely, because it seems as though he does not even understand them. Since the poems are the ones writing themselves. The writer is just a puppet being controlled by the poem. So of course it’s not completely possible to understand them, but there are parts in his poems that seem possible. Like, for example, this stanza:

“this

is the abstract, this

is the cold doing, this

is the impossible” (5).

This stanza alone is its own entity in a larger entity which is the poem In Cold Hell, in Thicket. It’s so strong on its own, and can have so many different meaning. So many that is has been haunting me. I have been writing this one stanza all over my walls, my papers, and even my arms. Questioning what is “this.” Is “this” life, hell, living in America at the time, love or an infinite amount of other things? This is probably why these three lines are so strong and haunting, because they have an INFINITE amount of meaning. But the thing is Olson did not write with a certain meaning in mind. Olson wrote it because the poem wanted it.

This little stanza follows all the rules he pointed out in his poetics. First,”the kinetics of the thing” (614). This stanza has a beat, a “breath.” The writer’s energy is being transferred to us because of the juxtaposing syllables of these lines. Second, “is the principle, the law which presides conspicuously over such composition, and, when obeyed, is the reason why a projective poem can come into being.” Which is still a confusing statement for me, but it is alluding to the poem’s control over everything. And how everything you add to a poem, like this stanza, is only a “an extension of content.” Thirdly, and lastly, “the process of the thing.” Which is saying that “one perception must immediately and directly lead to a further perception.” This is what that stanza is doing. It moves line from line in both a kinetic and musical way. Each line is a deeper perception into the line before. This stanza is the perfect example of all the stanza in In Cold Hell, in Thicket, because they all follow these three rules and they all feel somehow alive. Since just like a living being they have breath, heart, movement, and energy. All of these stanzas, lines, and poems by Olson remind me of a human. Always changing its mind, and filled of infinite of possibilities.