Finding Atlantis: Journeys without Destination

One of my former professors at the University of Chicago, Oren Izenberg, once talked about the poetry of ease. We have a tendency in our depiction of poetry to forget poems which highlight a kind of rest, a view of the work which does not force us to act, but lets us remain as we are, content to float forward. Izenberg's point was to flesh out and attempt to defend ease as a genuine aspect of great poetry, and I will leave such a task to him, but the idea of idleness as a boon has remained with me, and I find it in two great meditations on the wayward journey: W.H. Auden's Atlantis and Joni Mitchell's Barangrill.


Atlantis may not seem like a poem with any sense of ease. The reader may be wracked by "gales of abnormal force", and must make a "terrible trek" through the wilds of the island to at last reach the fabled city. Indeed, even the rhyme scheme is not totally in sync - the first line slant rhymes with the fifth, for example - giving the entire poem a shaky quality. The quatrains don't quite fit together. But nonetheless, Auden does not frighten or bewilder us. The journey has a kind of lazy quality, where the reader must ramble from one set of circumstances to another, all the while knowing that he or she may never reach the intended destination.

Indeed we do not. Only a glimpse of Atlantis is seen before we are meant to say "Good-bye now, and put to sea." And in the end we are not blessed by a god of knowledge or salvation, but by the master of the roads, the patron god of travelers. Atlantis, in the end, is not the point, or if it is, it only provides us a moment of peace before we embark again upon the journey. But there is not sense of hopelessness about this poem. Instead there's a breezy quality, as if seeing Atlantis is just one more sight to see, that the dancing with the Thracians or the nights spent with the Corinthian tart play just as large a role in our salvation. The ease, then, of this poem is the ease of letting things take one as they may. We might have to make a terrible trek "through squalid woods and frozen tundras where all are soon lost," but nonetheless we must "stagger onward rejoicing." We may be set on getting to Atlantis, but we are happy enough to enjoy the detours. The end goal of the journey remains, but Auden gently reminds us that a certain perspective of travel - or enlightenment, really - changes the nature of the journey itself.

It seems to me that this kind of idleness exists in Barangrill as well. There are a number of structural similarities - the narration is to the listener, in the second person, and once again we have a ambiguous final destination - and these most likely account for the tonal resonance between the two pieces. The short description of Barangrill I found on wikepedia’s (which we all know to be the world’s most reputable source for information) page on For the Roses was a “sprightly rap which extols the uncomplicated virtues of a roadside truck stop.” It is somewhere on the way, presumably not intrinsic to the journey nor providing some unexpected impact. But the appeal of this truck stop and Mitchell’s passing encounters there carry the weight of the song, the destination in question only called out after at the end of each verse – and never replied to. The closest we get to knowing anything about Barangrill is that it is hopefully on the way to Folly, the presumed final destination. 


Symbolism of the names aside, Barangrill provides another example of the wayward encounters which Auden expounds in Atlantis. Indeed, Barangrill could be a missing stanza from the poem. Mitchell seems to share in Auden's suggestion that a sense of ease about the journey is the only way to move forward. The song is bright and "sprightly" as wikipedia says, though it also feels comfortable, it is a snug song to listen to. Although Mitchell can certainly have an ironic edge, I don't believe that the amiability of Barangrill is meant to ironically mask a darker meaning. It's meant to be an easygoing song - it may very well be the embodiment of easygoing-ness.


I don't mean to suggest that we can take platitudes from these works - something like "it's not the destination, but the journey" or other such nonsense. The point instead is to show how a certain perspective of ease can ultimately help the journey along, or make it broader and stranger than if one headed in a b-line towards one's final destination. Maybe Auden and Mitchell are just telling us to stop and smell the flowers, but that seems a bit reductive to the wild pagan dances of Atlantis or the waitresses talking about zombies of Barangrill.

Allegory and Irony in My Kinsman, Major Molineux

Hawthorne’s My Kinsman, Major Molineux, allegorizes the cultural rift between agrarian, country-based America and industrial, city-based America. Robin, the protagonist and a “country-boy” everyman, spends his first night in the city thwarted and laughed at by the various customs and people. But Hawthorne’s use of allegory is, as always, subtly ironic. While Robin’s night in the city creates a tale of the clash between the urban and rural that existed during the time of the story’s genesis, My Kinsman, Major Molineux undercuts this tale with its resolution, hinting that town and county are not so diametrically opposed after all.

Our introduction to Robin casts him in an allegorical light, portraying him as a representative of the rural life that existed during Hawthorne’ time,

He was a youth of barely eighteen years, evidently country-bred…upon his first visit to town. He was clad in a coarse grey coast, well worn, but in excellent repair…his stockings of blue yarn, were the incontrovertible handiwork of a mother or a sister; and on his head was a three-cornered hat, which in its better days had perhaps sheltered the graver brow of the lad’s father. (4)

Robin is ‘barely’ eighteen; he is on the brink of legal manhood, but the use of ‘barely’ instead of ‘just turned’ or ‘newly’ suggests that he is still holds youthful qualities such as naiveté. The word ‘barely’ gives the sense that Robin has not fully matured into adulthood. This already connotes the stereotype of a “country bumpkin,” someone less alive to the ways of the world as his city counterparts, and Hawthorne cements this connotation with “evidently country-bred;” it is obvious that Robin is out of place in the town. At least for now, Robin is depicted in the stereotypical role of a country youth in the city, a fish out of water.[1] As if giving proof of the stereotype, Robin’s clothes are described as part of an obviously rural lifestyle. His coat is “coarse,” and thus probably hand-made, but in “excellent repair,” owing to the rural, agrarian tradition of mending clothes and handing them down in the family[2]. His stockings are not made from a textile establishment, but hand-made as well. Textile mills certainly did not exist at the time the story takes place, but they did for Hawthorne’s readers, and knowing that something was hand-made has an anachronistic resonance. Because of the position of Hawthorne’s writing – knee deep in the industrial revolution – his contemporary readers would equate hand-made with rural and of an earlier time. Robin’s clothes suggest he is outdated, and this is most clearly seen in his hat. The hat itself has “seen better days,” and presumably belonged to Robin’s father, so in appearance it is probably ragged and does not fit Robin’s head very well. His father’s brow is called “graver,” probably in the sense of “more important,” thus Robin looks like a child dressed in grown-ups’ clothes. Since the hat is old it is probably out of fashion, adding to the shabbiness of his looks. In these few lines Hawthorne gives us what we would expect from stereotypical country boy stepping into the city for the first time, someone who looks out of place in his own clothes as well as the urban environment around him.

While his clothes connote a country stereotype, descriptions of his equipment, name, and body connect Robin to nature. The cudgel represents another aspect of the allegorical conflict between urban and rural life. It is “formed of an oak sapling, and retaining a part of the hardened root…” (4). As opposed to a pistol or knife – man made weapons – Robin holds what can be called a “natural” weapon. The making of the cudgel has none of the complex physical processes that go into making more modern weapons like swords and guns, weapons common in cities. The cudgel itself is from the root of a tree, the part responsible for nourishment, connecting Robin with the natural process of growth. By carrying a piece of wood as his weapon – as an extension of the power of his arms - Robin ties his strength to the natural world. This connection with nature is furthered by the introduction of his name. The robin is a naturally occurring species in New England, thus Hawthorne connotes his protagonist with bird imagery, and nature. Furthermore, his “curly hair, well-shaped features, and bright, cheerful eyes were nature’s gifts” (4, italics mine). By depicting Robin’s body as something marked by nature, Hawthorne cements the connection between his protagonist and the natural world. Robin is not only a stereotypical country boy; he appears in the tale as a sort of avatar of nature, clearly out of place within the city.

This avatar quality is further strengthened by Robin’s encounters in the city, and the effects those encounters have. As the night progresses, he “seem(s) to feel more fatigue from his rambles since he crossed the ferry, than from his journey of several days on the other side” (8), as if the city itself is enervating. This enervation appears again in the last page of the story, where Robin’s “cheek (is) somewhat pale, and his eye not quite so lively as in the earlier part of the evening” (17). One can mark up such physical changes to the futility of his search for the Major, but considering how closely Robin is tied with nature imagery, it seems fair to say that the city itself saps his strength. Placing a natural figure in an urban context leads to the weakening of that figure, and Robin is no exception.

There is one more critical aspect of this urban versus rural allegory that must be put in place before considering how Hawthorne undermines the allegory. The reason Robin comes to the city at all is to acquire the patronage of Major Molineux. The narrator explains it as such,

The Major, having inherited riches, and acquired civil and military rank…had manifested much interest in Robin and an elder brother…(and) had thrown out hints respecting the future establishment of one of them in life. The elder brother was destined to succeed to the farm…it was therefore determined that Robin should profit by his kinsman’s generous intentions, especially as he had seemed to be rather the favorite, and was thought to possess other necessary endowments. (13)

Robin’s future is founded on both nepotism and patronage, things that were coming to an end by the time of the industrial revolution in America.[3] Robin’s reliance on these old customs is in direct conflict with the “mythos of equality” in America from the revolution onward. Hawthorne writes in a period where old symbols of patronage and nepotism, such as secret societies, have been publicly shamed.[4] Robin trades in outdated social conventions, just as he wears outdated clothes. That Robin should “profit by his kinsman’s generous intentions” and not his own hard work is something very “un-American,” especially in Hawthorne’s Jacksonian milieu. What may be rather common in a rural setting – indeed, without these customs young men would probably have no opportunity to make lives for themselves in an agricultural world – is sneered upon in the city. Robin comes to town expecting to be welcomed and rewarded, an assumption that shows just how in over his head he is.

But while Robin is clearly not the smartest lad – the use of “shrewd” as an adjective describing him is at least mildly ironic - we are not meant to laugh at him as the barber’s boys do. While he thinks very highly of the Major, there is not a sense in the book of Robin being arrogant. He makes mistakes, but they are due to a lack of understanding as opposed to a pretension on his part. If he were a comic figure the allegory would be backwards from the way it is in the story. It would be an allegory concerning how country-folk have pretensions about the city that are false and how they deserve comeuppance for such folly. But in My Kinsman, Major Molineux it is clearly the city that has a harmful influence – as discussed earlier – and is quite dangerous, as seen in Robin’s nightmare. Instead of a comic yokel, the reader is given a sympathetic country-boy who possesses all the stereotypes therein without losing his humanity. That in itself is evidence that the allegory of this tale is not meant to be taken at face value.

The nightmare also provides a place where the allegory is both strengthened and undermined at the same time. In a sense, it is the crown of the allegory – it is the last event Robin experiences before deciding to forsake the city, and it portrays the demise (at least in Robin’s imagination) of the Major. The nightmare shows Robin’s goals – embodied in the form of Major Molineux – tarred and feathered, destroyed by the city mob. From this alone, the allegory seems complete: city life, as represented by the procession, has destroyed Robin’s prospects, as represented by the Major. But instead of sounding a note of defeat in his dream, Robin joins his tormentors, taking part in the revelry, and laughing the loudest of anyone. This inclusion in the mob might suggest that Robin dreams that he has succumbed to city life, but Hawthorne’s description does not suggest a kind of subjugation by the mob. Robin, “sen(ds) forth a shout of laughter that echoed through the street; every man shook his sides, every man emptied his lungs, but Robin’s shout was the loudest there…the congregated mirth went roaring up the sky!” (17). Robin frolics best of all, not destroyed or subjugated by the city, but mastering it. Here the allegory goes awry, if urban and rural life were incompatible, Robin, who represents rural life, could not possess such a mastery of urban customs. While it is only a dream, this “dream mastery” suggests the possibility of acclimation, and it is just that possibility that the story ends with.

After the nightmare, when Robin decides to go home empty handed, it appears as if the tale provides a clear moral: agrarian country culture cannot survive in the face of the new, industrial, city centered culture. Robin, as a country-boy stereotype, an avatar of nature, and a proponent of old modes of economic ascendance, fails in his acclimation to the modernity of the city. But the story belies this conclusion with its final lines. The gentleman, who accompanies Robin at the end of his journey, upon hearing Robin’s resolve to head home, bids him to remain, “Some few days hence, if you continue to wish it, I will speed you on your journey. Or, if you prefer to remain with us, perhaps, as you are a shrewd youth, you may rise in the world, without the help of your kinsman, Major Molineux” (17). The gentleman does not offer Robin opportunity through nepotism, as Major Molineux has, but the chance to “rise in the world” by his own hand. He suggests that if Robin relinquishes his assumptions about how one can make one’s way in the world, he could do quite well. Thus the allegory changes from a simple tale of how the city corrupts and is impenetrable to country folk to a lesson on how one must change one’s assumptions in changing times.

The gentleman does not ask Robin to renounce every aspect of his countrified character, but to consider other ways of making a life for himself. This follows the remark he makes to Robin earlier, “May not one man have several voices, Robin, as well as two complexions?” (14). Several voices suggest several ways of speaking, which in turn suggests several ways of looking at the world. An understanding of this plethora of perspective seems embedded in the gentleman’s suggestion that Robin should stay. This plurality can avail Robin in his transition to city life, counseling that the inevitable clash between town and country – the clash this tale allegorizes – is not inevitable after all. This explains why Robin is able to laugh at the end of his nightmare. While it is a terrifying experience, he can also join the revelry, and indeed excel at it. Robin has already found this plurality of voice within his own dream life. When Robin comes to the town, he is deep in the old, usually agrarian, customs of inheritance and family ties. At first Robin naively believes that he has the power to acclimate to his new surroundings, noting to himself, “You will be wiser in time,” (5) as if it will only take a night for him to become accustomed to this new life. The gentleman’s proposition, that in time he may move up in the world, suggests that this presumption is not totally unfounded. By realizing that reliance on one’s family is not the only way to prosper, Robin perhaps might rise in the world. Thus the story suggests that urban, industrial life, and country, agrarian life are not incompatible – as long as one does not hold onto traditional assumptions of how the world works. Though, as always in Hawthorne, the tentative language – that “perhaps” Robin may rise – leaves such a conclusion tenuous.

---

[1] The country people stereotype predates Hawthorne’s writing, and thus would have been known to his readers - consider the distinctions between country and city people in works such as Pride and Prejudice, published twenty years before My Kinsman, Major Molineux, or in much of Dickens’ work which appeared in England contemporaneously.

[2] Obviously practices like this happened in cities as well, but remember we are currently dealing with stereotypes, not fact.

[3] It is true that nepotism lives on, but not without shady connotations. The point is that Robin is of a perspective where nepotism is the norm.

[4] Consider America’s reactions to the Masons in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.