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Joshua Jerome
Ryan Gallagher
Advanced Placement Literature
10 December 2010

Often I Am Permitted to Return to a Meadow Explication

In the poem Often I Am Permitted to return to a meadow the author, Robert Duncan juxtaposes

reality and a dream world, to create assonance through the idea that the speaker is able to inhabit both

worlds. Duncan proposes the idea that though he, the speaker, is not of one of the worlds, nor is it

necessarily even his, this only serves to make it more personal to him. This can be inferred in how

Duncan goes about arraigning his poem in three, then two, and back to three line stanzas, which is

representative of the fluctuation between the two. From the very beginning of the poem, Duncan present

this idea in how he makes the title the opening line of the poem. The line, “Often I am permitted” is very

humbling, yet inviting, which give the reader the impression that the speaker of the poem is allowed into

this alternate world. In addition to this, the imagery of a meadow only serves to further accentuate the

above assertion. A meadow is often associated with flourishing, and plentiful life, in addition to the

abundance of space and freedom. The idea of endless freedom that Duncan presents allows for the reader

to infer that the speaker is in fact comfortable with their surroundings. Even more interesting, is the idea

that this is not the speaker’s first visit to this world, but rather a habitual visitation which is implied

through Duncan’s use of the word “returned” in the first line. Yet again, the reader is able to infer that this

is a place in which the speaker is seemingly comfortable, and welcomed as a result of the constant

visitations to this place. The same sentiments of closeness and familiarity are echoed in the next line of

the poem when Duncan states how the speaker is able to return to the place “as if it were a scene made-up

by the mind.” Essentially, what Duncan is getting at it the idea that the speaker of the poem is so in tune

with this world that it is almost as though it was a product of their innermost being, and yet Duncan

maintains it is ultimately a creation “that is not mine, but is a made place/ that is mine.” The play on

words with the rhyming of mind and mine serves to add to the vagueness of the afore mentioned meadow,

and the unsure nature of this place that he is constantly referencing, too the point where one even begins
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to question its existence. This point is highlighted when Duncan makes mention of how “it is so near to

my heart” which reinforces the idea that it is a place that is very near and dear to the speaker of the poem.

Another reoccurring theme found throughout the poem is the longevity and supremacy of the

meadow that is constantly being referenced. This is seen in how Duncan describes “an eternal pasture

folded in all thought/ so that there is a hall therein/” Once again, Duncan presents the idea of this place

through the imagery of a pasture, which is synonymous with abundance of space, freedom, and life;

through the reference to a pasture, Duncan is essentially expanding the idea of meadow that was

mentioned initially through this reiteration. Another interesting point to note is the infinite nature of

thought, in terms of the inability of human beings to trace its beginnings or end. Through the intertwining

of the idea of this endless pasture, and infinite thought, the reader not only sees the world as something

from within the speaker, but also as an additionally infinite entity. The idea of a “hall therein” also serves

a similar function in that a hall is significant as a result of its longitude. A bit of a mystical quality is

given to the place, as Duncan maintains “that is a made place, created by light/wherefrom the shadows

that are forms fall.” The mention of light is indicative of the illumination that this place provides for the

speaker, in addition to the power it has to expel the shadows, and darkness that are found elsewhere.

Duncan goes on to establish a sort of perfection in terms of how the meadow was structured when he says

“Wherefrom fall all architectures I am/I say are likenesses of the First Beloved/whose flowers are flames

lit to the Lady.” Contextually, it is known that architecture requires precise measurements even down to

the smallest aspects of a floor plan, and in regards to the meadow that the speaker is referencing, it is

almost as though Duncan is suggesting that the place is a result of marvelous manufacture, as everything

falls precisely into place. This idea matriculates throughout the stanza as Duncan makes an allusion to

love, but more importantly, the idea of the first love, which once experienced allows the individual to be

immersed deeply into a euphoric state, as they are led to believe that there is nothing better than that

newly discovered significant other, or object. This idea is continued as Duncan continues to describe how

“flowers are flames lit to the Lady;” essentially, the initial profession of love through the symbolic act of
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giving flowers serves to ignite the sentiments of passion and love that are experienced in a relationship,

just as the act of being permitted into this meadow serves to ignite that sense of freedom that the speaker

experiences.

As the poem continues, and eventually draws to a close, many of the earlier ideas are repeated in

order to establish that sense of constant visitation to the meadow that Duncan made mention of in the

beginning. This is evident when Duncan makes mention of the “field folded”, which denotes the original

falling back upon itself, or doubling up. Metaphorically, this signifies the beginning meeting the end,

virtually eliminating, or canceling out the two and highlighting the infinite nature of the place. This can

also be seen in how Duncan makes mention of the “children’s game of ring a round of roses.” It is as

though he is commenting on the familiarity of this place within the speaker, to the point where they are

even able to identify with from an early age. Duncan goes on to reuse the first line towards the en of the

second to last stanza, but diverts from the original when he adds it is “as if it were a given property of the

mind/ that certain bonds hold against chaos.” From this line, Duncan is asserting that this place that he

spoke of throughout the entirety of the poem is something that the speaker inherited from the very

beginning in order to cope with the harsh realities of the time. Duncan concludes the poem when he says

“that is a place of first permission, /everlasting omen of what is.” It is clear that though this

ending, Duncan is asserting that everything must in fact return from where it began, and the

meadow mentioned throughout the poem is merely just an example of a place where this holds

true.

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