Contemporary Communication: Discoure and Form in the Poetry of James Merrill and John Ashbery

Abstract

Although James Merrill and John Ashbery approach poetry from very different stylistic angles, the themes that emerge from their work have numerous similarities. Each poet illustrates how classic form has evolved to fit into contemporary context in poems such as "Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape" and "To a Pocket Calculator," as well as commenting on this evolution in works such as "Watching the Dance," "Litany" and "The Songs We Know Best." After laying the groundwork of formal change, Merrill and Ashbery discuss how this stylistic evolution is mirrored in the day to day life of our fast-paced contemporary society. In poems such as "Eight Bits" and "Self-Portrait in Tyvek™ Windbreaker," James Merrill expresses disgust and skepticism with the state of society today, while John Ashbery addresses the need for rebirth in an oppressive landscape in "It Was Raining in the Capital." Both poets reveal their own feelings of insecurity and self-doubt in "Business Personals" and "Family Week at Oracle Ranch," poems that are simultaneously nostalgic for the past and optimistic about the future. Exploring these themes sheds new light on postmodernism's blending of high and low culture. The examination of each poet's work from a formal and contextual perspective is essential in understanding the need for preservation of both artistic and emotional values of the past in order to have a successful future.