Marginalia by Richard Wilbur

text with critical appreciation

 

Things concentrate at the edges; the pond-surface

Is bourne to fish and man and it is spread

In textile scum and damask light, on which

The lily-pads are set; and there are also

   Inlaid ruddy twigs, becalmed pine-leaves,

   Air-baubles, and the chain mail of froth.

 

Descending into sleep (as when the night-lift

Falls past a brilliant floor), we glimpse a sublime

Décor and hear, perhaps, a complete music,

But this evades us, as in the night meadows

   The crickets’ million round song dies away

   From all advances, rising in every distance.

 

Our riches are centrifugal; men compose

Daily, unwittingly, their final dreams,

And those are our own voices whose remote

Consummate chorus rides on the whirlpool's rim,

   Past which we flog our sails, toward which we drift,

   Plying our trades, in hopes of a good drowning.

  

Marginalia by Richard Wilbur

 

It is important to note before reading “Marginalia” by Richard Wilbur, what exactly the title means. The word “Marginalia” is contemporarily defined as “marginal notes,” or ideas that are sketched out to the side of the main point. This definition is expanded in this piece to include all “Things” that live on the “edges” of life, the refuse and baubles that define who we are. 

The poem is only twelve lines long, divided into two sestets, sets of six lines. The lines do not have end rhymes of any type, meaning the poem was written in free verse. You can read the full poem here.

 

Turning and turning in the widening gyre,

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. W.B Yeats

 

Summary of Marginalia 

 

 

“Marginalia” by Richard Wilbur is concerned with the parts of life that exist at the edge of our consciousness and how we are, everyday, affected by them. 

The poem begins with the speaker stating the simple fact that

“Things concentrate at the edges.”

 He uses a pond to illustrate his point. Around the edges of the pond one can find beautiful things, such as “damask light” and also disheartening, “textile scum.” All parts of life wash up here and can be analyzed to see a fuller picture of one’s life.  

In the second stanza Wilbur’s speaker compare the edges of life and their importance to human lives. The second stanza  details how one is able to glimpse the edges while asleep, but how they slip away once conscious.  Just like cricket sounds in a field, the edge is intangible. When it is gone one will notice even if it is not at the forefront of everyday’s thoughts. 

 

Analysis of Marginalia 

First Stanza

Things concentrate at the edges; the pond-surface

Is bourne to fish and man and it is spread

In textile scum and damask light, on which

The lily-pads are set; and there are also

   Inlaid ruddy twigs, becalmed pine-leaves,

   Air-baubles, and the chain mail of froth

The speaker of this piece begins the poem by stating the main theme on which the poem will speak, the concentration of “things” around “the edges.” The poet’s narrator gives a poignant example of this phenomenon, the grouping of “Things” on the surface of a pond. 

Before describing what the surface of the pond looks like, the speaker reminds the reader that all things

 

are “Bourne” from ponds. The world in it’s entirely came from the fertile breeding ground that is the surface of a pond. All that one knows owes it’s existence to the conglomeration of factors that spurned on evolution. “Fish” and “man” spread out from their original home and in their place, on the surface, one can find a variety of things washed to the edges. 

There is “textile scum” and beautiful reflected, “damask light.” The word “damask” refers to a type of shimmering fabric, the pattern of which is replicated by the water. The speaker wants to make clear in this line that there are both things to be admired in the dregs of pond water and things one might wish weren’t there, such as pollution from textile mills. 

On top of both of these features, “textile scum and damask light,” sit “lily-pads.” These lovely, durable, plants are existing on the edge of all things, in amongst the good and the bad. This is an image of perseverance and strength that is representative of mankind and the situations that we are able to survive. 

Around the edges of the pond’s surface one can also fin, “ruddy twigs” and “becalmed pine-leaves,” these items, from the surrounding woods have fallen into the pond, and been pushed out to the edges. There they have become stuck, “becalmed,” in the edges. Perhaps stuck in mud or reeds. 

The final line of this stanza describes two more final items existing at the edge of life, “Air-baubles, and the chain mail of froth. These last features of the pond solidify it’s image as being made up of a jumble of different natural and un-natural items. The phrase, “Air-baubles” refers to the bubbles of air that collect along the edge of water. Wilbur’s choice to use the word “bauble” instead of “bubble” reinforces the notion that anything not central to life is worthless. Additionally the poet has mentioned “froth” that builds up and unifies into something that resembles “chain mail.” The years and years of build up has created a protective barrier. 

This first stanza is meant to display to the reader that while the “edge” of a pond, or of life itself, may initially seem like the least important part, it can hold many of the most important features of our world. 

 

Second Stanza

Descending into sleep (as when the night-lift

Falls past a brilliant floor), we glimpse a sublime

Décor and hear, perhaps, a complete music,

But this evades us, as in the night meadows

   The crickets’ million round song dies away

   From all advances, rising in every distance.

 

In the second stanza of this piece Wilbur’s speaker discusses the importance of “Things” at the edges of our lives and their direct impact on us. 

The stanza begins with the speaker describing the experience of falling asleep and how one is lifted, metaphorically and mentally, off the floor and into the night. This transition brings one out of their main life, and into one on their periphery. In this new state of being one can “glimpse [the] sublime,” or the awe inspiring grandeur of life. Particularly in this case, the sublime “Decor.” This once more references life on the exterior. One is able to see things, and be amazed by them, that normally would go unnoticed while awake. 

It is while asleep that one can hear “a complete music.” One is able to see all of their life, not just the central parts around which a day revolves. They can comprehend all the instruments in a song, and hear their individual parts rather than just the main melody.

While one might see these things while sleeping, in the day “this evades us.” The commotion and chaos of normal waking life make it almost impossible to see what goes on at the “edges” of one’s existence. 

 The speaker finishes up the poem by comparing the fleeting vision of the “edges” to that of the sound of crickets in a meadow at night. One is surrounded on all sides by this sound but unable to see it. Additionally, it can disappear in an instant without warning. 

This sudden lack of “edges” would be a shock, suddenly there is something missing that was never even spoken about before. 

 Marginalia by Richard Wilbur

“Marginalia” is a great philosophizing piece of poetry in which the poet has weaved some deep and strong messages. “Marginalia” is the margin of life and after reading this poem I was asking myself a question that isn’t it true that all human efforts are striving towards his end?

Man is mortal but the great conquerors, monarchs and kings of world had all lived a life with a notion of “immortality”. The poet has given us an example of a pond in which fish and man both exert a pressure towards its edges. Our riches are centrifugal. No matter how much we tried but sometimes we have to leave the center.

 

Introduction and Theme 

The poem is philosopising an important reality of life and puts forward his statement which is scientifically true that all forces of life are centrifugal (i.e. tending away from centralisation, as of authority). The force of life is pressurerised to the borders or poetically speaking, to the margins of life. Because our energies and qualities lie in the center of life, we cannot utilize them in the best possible manner. Our dreams, visions, desires do lie in the center, but it is a reality of life that their achievements are centrifugal. The reality of life is developing or progressing from the center outwards.

We have our dreams, desires, myths (concepts) and visions of a standard life, but we cannot materialize our dreams because the force of life is centrifugal and all our dreams lie in the center of our mind.

The basic idea of the poem is that things concentrate at the edges … all other details seem to present of a cinematic presentation of the idea. The poet gives an example of pond, then of sleep and finally concludes that our sleep takes us away from the world of reality to the world of imagination which is replete(complete) with all sorts of desires,

but we cannot perform during sleep to get our desires. The end of our journey is death and our energies are expanding towards this goal.

Ignorance is sin.

A Critique of Marginalia 
Introduction 
Things concentrate at the edges; the pond-surface

Is bourne to fish and man

Things concentrate at the edges is the basic message of the poem. The poet brings round this point to his readers in a graphic manner using the example of water pond and sleep both of which are examples common enough for an average mind to understand. But the philosophical point, which the poet makes, is unique and seldom (rare) touched upon by the poets. This is a typical quality of modern poets especially Americans who  always tend to choose striking topics for their poems. Marginalia tends to present the reality that things exert their pressures to the edges and this is amply proven by the men and fish along with other botanical life in the water which are driven by the centrifugal force to the edges rather than staying in the center (centripetal). Sleep also takes us from the conscious world to the unconscious world, which is an example of centrifugal force in life.
“The poem has imaginative quality along with realistic touches. There seems to be a clash between imagination and reality”. It is a fact that center is important for the generation of products and results, but all its energies are pressured to the edges, so for the existence of life, life must pace(route,growth) along with time and naturally progress ahead for better and standard life. 

Self awareness leads to progress

The progress and advancement of life lie in the coping(A finishing) with the rim of whirlpool rather than enjoying its center.

Actions speaks louder than words

 Development of thaught/images

An Attack on the traditional concept of Nucleus Wilbur is not simply a poet, but a philosopher who attacks the traditional concept of central significance of nucleus. Traditionally people have upheld the importance of center and nucleus. That is why Theodore Roethke hails(to cheer , welcome) Wilbur in the followings words;

“Not a graceful mind - that's a mistake - but a mind of grace, an altogether different and higher thing."

Scientists have discovered that the death of nucleus is the death of whole cell. They have believed in the centripetal forces rather than the centrifugal ones, but Wilbur challenges and says: 

Things concentrate at the edges;

What he means is that complexity, richness, beauty and ugliness of the world exists not at its center but at its boundaries. It is the boundaries, which have held the center tight. Though the center is an emissary of light, knowledge and development yet our riches are centrifugal in the words of Wilbur. So the most important area for progress is not the center but the edges, which are ever expanding, evolutionary and revolutionary.

The Limits of Man and Animal 

He uses a number of images to drive home his idea. He uses zoological and botanical imagery very common in modern American poetry introduced by the advancement of science. Wilbur says,

The pond-surface 
Is  bourne to fish and man

He uses the image of pond, its surface and edges. Edges serve as the ultimate bounderies separating the world of the fish from that of human beings – the world of land differed from the waterly world. It is not the centeral water of the pond which defines the limits of man and the fish. Their limites are symbolised by the borders – the edge of the pond.

Not only this zoological, but also the botanical life such as slime, moss, impure vegetation or décor, music or pattered light, in other words all the beauties and ugliness all concentrate at the edges as ascertained by Wilbur in the following lines:

In textile scum and damask light, on which

The lily-pads are set; and there are also

Inlaid ruddy twigs, becalmed pine-leaves,

Air-baubles, and the chain mail of froth

Dreams Vs. Reality

The poem nicely presents the theme of dream and reality, knowledge and ignorance, sleep and every day life, fact and imagination and the opposite forces: 

Descending into sleep (as when the night-lift

Falls past a brilliant floor), we glimpse a sublime

Décor and hear, perhaps, a complete music,

But this evades us, as in the night meadows

The crickets' million roundsong dies away

The poet supports a state of mind which is concious and unconcious at the same time, half-way between sleep and AWAKEness, imagination and reality. Again these points assertain that the deeper we go in sleep, or higher we ascent to imagination we will find the reality at the edges not in the center. Music heard becomes appealing, the more we head towards the farthest bounderies of the song and hear that a chorus is singing for us.

Complexity and High End of Life 

As Marginalia is a thought-provoking poem, the poet marginalizes and philosophizes life. According to the poet, life is an ocean, which ends in a whirlpool. All our qualities are centrifugal and cannot stay in the center; they must have an outlet towards the borders for sustenance.

Our riches are centrifugal; men compose

Daily, unwittingly, their final dreams,

And those are our own voices whose remote

Consummate chorus rides on the whirlpool's rim,

Past which we flog our sails, toward which we

drift, 

Plying our trades, in hopes of a good drowning.              

Whatever We do, whatever our professional skills, interests and hobbies are, life finally moves towards the whirlpool of death. Each human being in life has a tiny boat, which is set on sail on the ocean of life. E very one is using his particular skills plies his boat. He weaves a web of his future dreams and desires. These visions and dreams are out human experiences. The goals and targets are set for us and they call us for a deceptive center. We drown while moving towards the unknown region of death.

Style, Imagery and Technique 

Wilbur’s style is modern and perfect. The sentences are short, the poem runs like an essay giving an introduction, presenting and developing an argument and concluding the presented material with a final message. Wilbur has touched upon a scientific topic and reinforced it with natural imagery. The scenic imagery of water pond and the things grown upon them has been fully exploited not only for the aesthetic pleasure for a romantic mind, but also supporting the main argument presented. The image of sleep is superbly presented to give the poem a dream-like quality and further enhance the point discussed earlier. Doubtlessly, Wilbur technically proves himself a perfect craftsman in this poem. Technically, the poem is a masterpiece of English literature.

Conclusion 

Marginalia is a state of mind catalyzed the social changes and hybrid cultures. Though we are awake and asleep which are the two contrary states of human mind, but the best ends can be achieves in hypnotic states. Life is going on and its force which is centrifugal will continue drawing things at its edges, but until and unless exploited properly, our riches will only remain dreams and visions and we cannot materialize them. In society, every  thing is in motion and the best resources lie at the edges. The glory of man is to lift himself up to the standard and achieve that Sublime and Décor that Wilbur speaks of. Though the margins are at the highest point, yet diligent and constant state of mind can achieve that unattainable target.

 

 

Marginalia: points to remember
1: The poem is an important reality of centralization in life.
2: The poet’s statement is scientifically true that all forces of life are centrifugal.
3: The poet gives an example of pond, then of sleep to express his views.
4: The poet concludes that our sleep takes us away from the world of reality to the world of imagination.
5: The basic idea of the poem is that things concentrate at the edges.
6: Our dreams, visions, desires do lie in the center, but it is a reality of life that their achievements are centrifugal.
7: We have our dreams, desires, myths and visions of a standard life, but we cannot materialize our dreams because the force of life is centrifugal and all our dreams lie in the center of our mind.
8: The glory of man is to lift himself up to the standard and achieve his goal though the margins are at the highest point but a constant state of mind can achieve that unattainable target.
9: The reality of life is developing or progressing from the center outwards.
10: The end of our journey is death and our energies are expanding towards this goal

Some points

Poem marginalia

In this poem, the poet has two forces

(Centrifugal force) 1

(Centripetal force) 2

Has set the boundaries of human beings, things, and dreams

The poet says that everything has a centripetal force but she wants to move away from her center with the help of another centrifugal force.

But everything, man, the limits of dreams are determined by destiny and no one can fight their destiny, so things and human beings should stay within their fixed limits, that is, their centripetal force, not to deviate from it. Should

To prove his point, the poet cites ponds, fish, wild bushes

We can take this poem with reference to life and death, creative thoughts, conscious and unconscious states, real and imaginary world

Main theme in simple words

 

In this poem, the poet refers to "fish" and "man"

The centripetal force of the fish is to stay underwater but it tries to reach the shores with the help of centrifugal force but it will die if it comes out of its center ie water.

In the same way, the center of man is to live on the basis of water and not to wash his hands of life by staying under water

Like a fish can't live without water

Similarly, humans cannot survive underwater

Leaving the center is death

In the same way our dreams, desires, thoughts are at the center of our brain, consciousness, flying out like some palm leaves, like some bubbles

Want to come out with the help of (centrifugal force) want to be reality

We also strive to fulfill these desires but again a new desire diverts us from our original purpose like a sigh lost in a beautiful dream wakes us up like the sound of crows at night distracts us. Pulls to the side

Not all desires, dreams, thoughts are to be fulfilled but some are to keep us alive as we cannot live without water. But they can't survive underwater

Because we can't fight luck

And our desires go back to our centripetal force, and we are dizzy at this sudden change