BOO KS
311
There is no question of strained or unfocused imagery here. Imagery
is virtually absent from this verse, which is mostly pure statement
sweetened with qualified sentimentality. There is no need to force an
occasion as in "Encounter" because poetry of this kind seems
in
its
modesty to prefer having no occasion at all. Mr. Field writes verses
the way some boys skip rope:
Chopin is such a great composer
I can even write poetry while his music
is
on the radio
Which
is
unusual for me.
He makes my fingers nimble like ballerinas on the keys.
He says, L et's go to town slambang on the whole goddam
machine.
I love you Chopin in spite of the million fingers
Of little girls with long bobbing curls
Practicing your notes through daylight hours
But mostly three to five after school.
There are two basic insights that Mr. Field makes repeatedly.
The first is that one doesn't have to be a hero to possess the tragic
vision of life. This is from "Nausea":
It wasn't just the drink but the drink helped:
Suddenly he was aware he had been nauseous all his life
And all the food he hadn't wanted yet had eaten
Brought him now to the point of gagging.
A good puke was what he needed, a month of puking out
A lifetime of indigestibles
...
Beyond the quotidian misery there is a recurrent perception of
sweetness which (thank God!) he usually associates with animals:
I am sure that donkeys know what life should be
But, alas, they do not own their own bodies;
And if they had their own way, I am sure
That they would sit in a field of flowers
Kissing each other, and maybe
They would even invite us to join them.
This pastoral note, especially when it is associated with the New
