I think this poem portrays a man’s response to the passing of time with nostalgia and grief in coping with growing older and inevitably insignificant. In the poem, the narrator refers to his age as a beast that has experience in both the older and new centuries. The poem reads:
“A creature, as long as life persists/ Must bear its backbone and exist/ And a wave rolls and plays / Down invisible vertebrae/ Like a child’s soft cartilage/ The era of the infant earth / Life’s brainpan has been offered up / Like a sacrificial lamb”(56).
I think these lines of the poem may serve as a criticism of society in the 20th century. These lines show that the most recent century is born without any knowledge from the past, making it as pure as “a child’s soft cartilage.”
The poem also address blood springs from the throat of earthly things (56). The blood of life is not as fruitful as how the beast remembered the older century. For me, I feel that there is an air of nostalgia that Mandelstam addresses. If time continues to pass, and if age expands with the passing of years, there is a natural wave of human emotion like grief and longing. There is also a heightened sense of fragility and weakness involved with the “building blood from earthly things.”(56).
As the poem continues in its descriptions of the beast and temporality, Mandelstam brings about an air of renewal and hope. He writes, “And once again the buds will swell/ And nature will explode in green/ But your spinal cord is snapped / My wonderful but sorry age” (56). He emphasizes the rebirth of a new century while also acknowledging that the body will not be able to keep up with the changes brought by a new age. Nonetheless, he remains in awe of life’s eternal change. I believe that he is also saying that life is beautiful and ruthless. Although life has created humans, there is still the presence of apathy and indifference for death.
One aspect of this poem that intrigued me was the use of both the first and second person. The “I” and the “you” are both aging and experiencing the passage of time. I was not exactly sure who the “you” was, as there are only a few places in the poem where the “I” directly addresses the “you”. In one of the places where this address occurs, Mandelstam states, “And once again the buds will swell/And nature will explode in green,/But your spinal cord is snapped,/My wonderful but sorry age.” In this phrase, the “you” seems to have an end, while the “me” seems to continue along with the seasons. I am not quite sure what to make of this image, and I would love to hear other people’s ideas!
I agree that the use of first and second person gives the poem an added layer of complexity. I found that while the poem was mostly descriptive and visceral language, the use of “you” and “I” added a plot element to the poem. It allowed the poem to become more active, as an exchange between two individuals. I think it is very interesting the the poem starts with “My”, grounding the poem with the individual, and ends with “yours” expanding the poem to another individual. The transition from “my” to “yours” simulates a transition from the speaker of the poem to the individual they are addressing, creating a connection and sense of a relationship.
Eva and Evy, great catch on the pronouns, and great discussion! Mandelstam often uses pronouns in mysterious and evocative ways (see also, for instance, his poem “In Petersburg we’ll meet again”). In the case of “The Age,” the “you” clearly refers to the age, and so is not necessarily mysterious as such, but yes–it is extremely weird and suggestive to write this sort of brutal love-hate poem with the “age” (another translation would be “century”) as the addressee! 🙂
I think one of the images of the poem that really supports your idea here is that of the beast looking back at its tracks, “You look back, cruel and weak,/ Like a beast that once was agile,/ At the tracks left by your feet”. Mandelshtam’s image here evokes a motion within the now dilapidated beast. Although he is looking back at the past, he is paralyzed in the present. The beast is able to comprehend the history but at the consequence of being stuck in its current moment, breaking its back to try to reverse. If anything, this goes to show further Mandelshtam’s thoughts about history and time. To relive the past, to look and try to exist in our own history, is to prevent forward motion.
I think your comment about the poem criticizing 20th century society is very interesting, as I also felt the nostalgia that was being evoked by the poem. Yet, there is a tension, as you mention, between an attachment to the past as well as an amazement for the eternal change of life. But, as Brennan said, reliving the past is to prevent forward motion, so in order for life to move on, we must shed aspects of our history and past.
This was very interesting to me, since the negativity of age and reverence for transformation seem to be common themes in Mendalstam’s work. I see these things expressed in the very first poem of the Mendalstam collection, when the writing focuses on the image of Moscow, which is implied to be alive and aging (or at least in a state of transformation.)
Ethan, did you mean St. Petersburg, when you referred to the first poem I gave you? In this poem, Mandelstam uses Greek roots (to cast St. Petersburg in an ancient mold and place it in the context of ancient myth) and calls it Petropolis (“Peter’s city”).
This changing of seasons in the poem is quite striking. I also see this poem as a comment of the 20th century. Russian society was changing, and although the revolution was still on the horizon, I feel like there was an air of change. The body, although recognizing there will be a transformation, also recognizes it cannot contain this transformation. Mendalstam’s work here seems to hold that ideology as he focuses on eternal change and what it brings.
I think your analysis of Mandelstam’s “The Age” is very keen, particularly when picking up on the changing niceties of diction from beginning to end. The simile “like a child’s soft cartilage” is a powerful tool used to describe the cleanly nature of the new century. This optimism is continued, as you have noted, when he says buds will swell and there will be a green explosion. Great job on the analysis!
Shandiin, what a wonderful reading of this powerful poem–and excellent close attention to the details of its metaphors, which are at once chilling and pitiful!