The Hidden Symbolism of Caravaggio
Caravaggio's Narcissus subtly structures the entire composition into the shape of an eye, visually embodying the very organ of the youth's fatal vice.
Poem by Jill Alexander Essbaum: An Analysis
Jill Alexander Essbaum's four-stanza poem moves inward from fruit and flower to an oyster and the human heart, revealing sexual symbolism that points toward love.
Here is a lovely short poem by the poet Jill Alexander Essbaum:
A clementine of inclement climate grows tart. A crocus too stoic to open won’t. Like an oyster that cloisters a spoil of pearls untouched, The heart that’s had enough stays shut.
In this poem, there are four stanzas that are each about a different object: a fruit, a flower, an animal, and the human heart. But specifically, it is about the conditions under which these objects fail or are unfruitful or unproductive.
For a clementine, if there is bad weather, it will be tart—not sweet as it should be. If a crocus, a flower, is too stoic, not energetic enough, its beauty will remain hidden when it ought to show its internal beauty. The oyster creates a pearl that is meant to be held, touched, and dangled, yet remains hidden. And the heart, the most productive of objects, which is meant to open to the world, stays closed when it has had enough.
Notice the direction. It goes down: from the tree to the ground with the flower, to the water, and then inside the heart. That downward direction is a progression into the most interior and hidden things. All of these things hide a great treasure: sweetness, beauty, and value.
The final stanza holds the meaning of the whole poem. The heart holds the greatest value, and if it has been worn over and calloused, it will close and forever hide its beauty and sweetness from the world.
The Hidden Layer
There is one more layer that we haven’t touched on yet. The poem is much like the Song of Songs: on the surface it is innocent, but it hides sexual symbolism.
The first stanza is an image of breasts, followed by two images of female genitalia: a flower and an oyster with a pearl. So the descent is both a heightening of sexual intimacy and a cooling. As you move toward the sexually central and literally interior images, the poet is saying that these things are closed off, unfruitful, literally untouched.
Notice that as we move down and into the body, the climax is not a sexual connection, but a connection of the heart. At the heart of the sexual self is not a body, but an open heart.
This is a biblical image. Jesus says we shall be like the angels—that our sexuality is a sign that will be consummated in love and an open heart. Sexuality is a guide into the depths of love. Just like in the Song of Songs, sexuality is a sign.