EA Robinson’s “The Clerks”
The Clerks is a poem in sonnet form with many memorable lines. I think I enjoyed this Robinson piece more than any of the other of his poems that we read. It really reminded me of my dad’s friends and my uncles and their reminiscent ways.
Obviously autobiographical, this poem is most likely about the Gardiner days in Robinson’s life when he knew these now old clerks. The poet, it seems to me, makes himself seem older and wiser than he actually is at the time of writing his poems. The men he describes used to be young and fair, but now all they can do is wonder what could have been in their lives. This “shop-worn brotherhood” is all these men really seem to have, as Robinson seems to indicate. But even through the years, time has not changed who these men are in their soul, as shown by the line “and just as human as they ever were.”
Even at a young age, it is the poet’s ability to see the mundane nature of these men, and their ordinary yearnings and dreams. They think back to days when the women were hanging off both arms and times were good.
To me, in this context, “clerks” means someone who is involved in a commercial enterprise, but not a hugely successful business. I am not talking about massively rich business owners, I just envision small-time business owners when I think of this term in the parameters of the poem.
The first two stanzas lead up to the “Robinsonian twist” of the third stanza. The poet introduces the idea that we all get old and yearn to be young and virile again. Men have experience but lack the youth to capitalize on the knowledge they have amassed in their life’s progression:
“And you that ache so much to be sublime,
And you that feed yourselves with your descent,
What comes of all your visions and your fears?”
Robinson continues to hit on this point, more forcefully this time, pessimistically saying:
“Poets and kings are but the clerks of Time,
Tiering the same dull webs of discontent,
Clipping the same sad alnage of the years”
Robinson understands that even in the mediocrity of our common mortality we cling to our slivers of greatness. For in "dull webs of discontent" which form the fragile substance of our menial lives, we still insist on "tiering" ourselves against others. It is important for us to be ahead of someone else and still have to work to catch up to another person above. Coming in the next to last line, the word "tiering" has great ironic value. I mean, really how long can a tier survive as a web? It just gets higher and higher and less stable, eventually crashing back down to earth. It is then left to be rebuilt by men with similar motivations.
Obviously autobiographical, this poem is most likely about the Gardiner days in Robinson’s life when he knew these now old clerks. The poet, it seems to me, makes himself seem older and wiser than he actually is at the time of writing his poems. The men he describes used to be young and fair, but now all they can do is wonder what could have been in their lives. This “shop-worn brotherhood” is all these men really seem to have, as Robinson seems to indicate. But even through the years, time has not changed who these men are in their soul, as shown by the line “and just as human as they ever were.”
Even at a young age, it is the poet’s ability to see the mundane nature of these men, and their ordinary yearnings and dreams. They think back to days when the women were hanging off both arms and times were good.
To me, in this context, “clerks” means someone who is involved in a commercial enterprise, but not a hugely successful business. I am not talking about massively rich business owners, I just envision small-time business owners when I think of this term in the parameters of the poem.
The first two stanzas lead up to the “Robinsonian twist” of the third stanza. The poet introduces the idea that we all get old and yearn to be young and virile again. Men have experience but lack the youth to capitalize on the knowledge they have amassed in their life’s progression:
“And you that ache so much to be sublime,
And you that feed yourselves with your descent,
What comes of all your visions and your fears?”
Robinson continues to hit on this point, more forcefully this time, pessimistically saying:
“Poets and kings are but the clerks of Time,
Tiering the same dull webs of discontent,
Clipping the same sad alnage of the years”
Robinson understands that even in the mediocrity of our common mortality we cling to our slivers of greatness. For in "dull webs of discontent" which form the fragile substance of our menial lives, we still insist on "tiering" ourselves against others. It is important for us to be ahead of someone else and still have to work to catch up to another person above. Coming in the next to last line, the word "tiering" has great ironic value. I mean, really how long can a tier survive as a web? It just gets higher and higher and less stable, eventually crashing back down to earth. It is then left to be rebuilt by men with similar motivations.
posted by Brian at 6:37 a.m.
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