Another Simic Poem

"Memories of the Future" also is from That Little Something.  It portray images that Simic frequently uses: war and death. Charles Simic uses juxtapositions and opposites to make a contrast that burns an image into the readers mind.  The feelings that Simic produces come from real experience, making his work that much more meaningful.  This essay describes this poem a little deeper.

Charles Simic’s “Memories of the Future”: The Inherent Destructiveness of Humanity

                “Memories of the Future” is one of the most poignant poems in Charles Simic’s nineteenth collection of poetry, That Little Something (2008).  The poem, like all of the poems in this latest collection, fits onto one small page.  The poem consists of four stanzas, each of which has four unrhymed lines.  Simic, a modernist, rarely rhymes.  He creates the notion that the poem speaks for itself, and the structure is less important.  One structural tendency that Simic does exhibit, however, is equal lines in each stanza.  This is true for most of his work.  “Memories of the Future” makes ordinary things seem strange by describing them with extremes and moroseness.  The poem sheds light on the fine line between superficial happiness and deep disturbance in everyday life.  Simic describes humanity as having inherent good qualities and also inherently destructive qualities.

                The title of the poem implies that events in the past have the power to, and in fact do, manipulate the future of life for the individual as well as a population.  Also Simic notes that the past is unchangeable.  The first line is a complete sentence, and its bluntness emphasizes the meaning of it.  “There are one or two murderers in any crowd.”  This is followed by another one line sentence, “They do not suspect their destinies yet.”  The short statements help emphasize the depth of the meaning by appearing as if nothing more than what needs to be said is said.  This is a technique that Simic uses in the majority of his poetry.  He lets short lines and stanzas promote thought in the reader while still writing something profound.  The words in the first two lines, and in the rest of the poem, are not extraordinary, but the notion that people one encounters on a daily basis are capable of an extreme act such as murder is extraordinarily emotional.  The first stanza is concluded by Simic suggesting that wars are a means of humanity expressing its destructiveness.  He appeals to the reader’s emotional side again by using the imagery of a woman pushing a baby carriage being killed. 

                The second four-lined stanza starts by describing the pervasiveness that this destructiveness has on the world around humanity as well.  (“The animals in the zoo don’t hide their worry.”)  They are “listening to something we can’t hear yet.”  The thing that humanity cannot hear is death, as Simic describes the sound as the hammering of coffin makers hard at work.  The use of the auditory connection to death is a focal point in this stanza.  Death is silent.  Simic compares silence and loudness to emphasize what is yet to come.  It is also important to note that the coffin makers are already at work.  This foreshadowing is another technique that Simic uses to describe the state of humanity.   This imagery of death and war stem from Simic’s background and his prior experiences of war and death.  Simic grew up during World War II in a panicking and war-ridden Europe.  Once again, Simic uses these short lines to make a powerful image in the reader’s mind.

                One of Charles Simic’s main strategies to create such powerful emotion in his poetry is his use of contradictions.  The third stanza has a delight to it.  (“The strawberries are in season/And so are the spring radishes.”)  There are further emotions of love and playful cheer in the following two lines.  This is a juxtaposition to the first two stanzas that primarily deal with death.  But the ultimate fate of the harvest is to be destroyed by nature.  Simic understands the strange interplay between ordinary life and extremes and also between reality and imagination (unh.edu).  Growing seasons and love are everyday aspects of life.  Simic points out that death is as apparent as associations with normal everyday life, because death is also apparent in everyday life. 

                The imagery of goodness that will eventually die is again counterpointed by the final stanza.  The first two lines, “Old fellow bending over the curb to vomit,/ Betake thee to thy own place of torment,” exemplifies the human tendency to destroy oneself.  The image of an alcoholic, addicted to the thing that punishes him, is in direct correlation with Simic’s idea that humanity cannot help but destroy itself by death, as in war or murder.  Another contradictory comparison, this time in metaphorical form, follows this: “The sky at sunset is red with grilling coals.”  The “torment” and “coals” allude to death and suffering.  The style that Simic uses in this final stanza takes on a religious feel.  The traditional language (Betake thee to thy own…) and the burning imagery work together to form a looming hellish atmosphere. 

                “Memories of the Future” describes how everyday life and extremes of life interact.  There is inherent joy, but there is also a human tendency to kill and destroy.  Simic’s sparse use of structural conformities allows the poem to speak to the reader transparently.  He contradicts sinister and pleasant imagery and language closely to reflect that death and life are connected intimately as well.

"University of New Hampshire - Department of English - Jan. 27, 2009, Charles Simic Reads in Portsmouth." Home | University of New Hampshire.  Web. 16 Feb. 2011.