Milli mála - 2019, Blaðsíða 103

Milli mála 11/2019 103
GREGORY ALAN PHIPPS
The ribbons extend the continuity between the swans and balloons,
referring to decorative ribbons that dangle from balloons and also the
ribbons of black near a swan’s eyes. The second connection brings a
dash of foreboding to the scene. This morbid sign is carried forward
when the balloons and swans “struggle - some - for Breath -.” This
line marks a shift in the poem, with the speaker now emphasizing
the link between the balloons, the swans, and women performing on
a stage. The small struggle for breath is like a concession to physical
needs, an indication that the performers are not separate from their
surroundings, after all. This transition is completed with the intro-
duction of the crowd in the next line. Jessee states that the crowd
either misunderstands the performance or really does want to see
some bloodshed (17), but it is important to note how the initial reac-
tion of the crowd is framed: “And yet the Crowd applaud, below -”
(my emphasis). This line could mean that the crowd claps even
though the performers are dying, but it could also mean that the
crowd actually appreciates their surrender to physical needs. In the
latter reading, the next line is not, as Jessee states, a disbelieving
question (surely the crowd would not encore death—or would they?)
but a description of the events unfolding. “They would not encore,”
meaning, even though the crowd applauds, the performers do not
give an encore. The isolated word (“- Death -”) therefore functions as
a blunt explanation for this failure. So too, this word also binds
together mortality and the failure of an encore, emphasizing that
death is the one event that will involve no curtain call or aftermath.
This interlinked sequence introduces the events of the final two stan-
zas.
The focus of the poem narrows further in the fourth stanza. The
multiple performers are reduced to a single “Gilded Creature” and the
language becomes more direct in its allusions to theatrical and bod-
ily performance:
The Gilded Creature strains - and spins -
Trips frantic in a Tree -
Tears open her imperial Veins -
And tumbles in the Sea -