Distillations: Tell Me a Story

A poem with a plot seems like a violation of some kind of natural law. The condensed design of poetry conveys the entirety of a moment at once. How can a poem build a narrative arc like that of fiction? The answer lies in the history of poetry itself. At one time, poetry’s mission was to convey a story in a way that was easy for bards to remember. As poetry has evolved, the idea of story has diminished but not entirely disappeared. Modern poetry has come far from its roots in the epics of Beowulf and the Odyssey, but the power to tell a story has not been lost.

An example of this can be found in Vol II, Issue 5 of Farrago’s Wainscot, which contains Joselle Vanderhooft’s retelling in poetry of the Bluebeard legend. The three poems: “The Birth of Bluebeard,” “Bluebeard Searches for a Bride,” and “Bluebeard’s Honeymoon” illustrate scenes from Bluebeard’s life in different ways.

The first poem, “The Birth of Bluebeard,” alternates between a vivid portrayal of Bluebeard’s birth: “the midwife pulled / a mess of limbs and womb, / a bolt of blue hair out upon the world.” and a portrayal of the narration in progress in parenthesis “(Strange entrance / said the storytellers, half-faced in firelight / pausing just enough / for the biographic pens to scratch.)” This technique contrasts the idea of Bluebeard as legend with the far from glamorous realities of “slime and soil and shit-.” The poet draws on the language of fairy tales with the line “In a town named Once Upon-a-Time.” The steady movement of time and the clear description of an event could take place in a fiction story. The interleaving of voices would scarcely cause notice. The use of a poem grants the freedom to let the language bloom such as in the final lines “…as the moon opens like a lily. / The locusts saw their violins, / the stars hang out like hooks.)”

“Bluebeard Searches for a Bride” continues the story without the parenthetical narration. It is eerie to watch Bluebeard select his bride, knowing what her fate will be: “He searches for the lean look of a bride / and if not, / a face that veils a gem-cut skull.” However, from the beginning, the need to resist is a temptation in itself:

…there is a kind of ember in him
that makes him beautiful
a forest on the edge of lightning.
So they must press closer
even as they run
as girls do.

In this poem, the terror of the legend of Bluebeard is mixed with the giddiness of the change from girl to woman: “Shadows giggle…/ They are so young, / large feet and too-soon breasts.”

The opening of the final poem, “Bluebeard’s Honeymoon,” marks a clear change in tone with word choices such as “submission,” “startled,” and “cinched” being used to describe dressing Bluebeard’s latest bride for her wedding. This continues in the second stanza with “lips bruised” and “red wine soured.” For Bluebeard, the new nuptials are a cause for weariness, rather than excitement. The phrase “as he has done so many times” repeats throughout the poem to refer to different actions-the marriage ceremony, the giving of the keys, and the consummation of the marriage. The combination of terror and ennui show that Bluebeard is just as trapped in this deadly pattern as his wives.

What is notable about all three of these poems is how they remake Bluebeard into not just a sympathetic character, but also into something beautiful. Although narrative structure is not the most recognizable characteristic of modern poetry, that does not mean that it has faded away completely. Poets still have stories to tell, and poetry can be an effective means to tell them.