Midsummer XXVII

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1984

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

Chain-Link Fence

The first item the speaker lists as being “quietly American” (Line 1) is a chain-link fence. It separates the beach from the ballpark. Later, the speaker references another fence, which blocks the vacationers from the “illegal immigrants” (Line 14). The speaker characterizes America as being defined by its tendency to divide nature from people, wealthy people from poorer people, and European-descended people from those who were born on “unlucky islands” (Line 14). A chain-link fence allows people to look through it from both sides. Though the fence divides people, it also allows them to see each other, to know what they are being divided from, and to envy what they cannot access. The speaker defines America and its fences as the cause of the island’s jealousy, class warfare, racism, and division.

Empire and Umpire

Baseball was invented in America and is strongly associated with—and symbolizes—American culture. It is a game of skill and clear winners and losers. An “umpire” (Line 4) determines who has broken or followed the rules; they determine who wins and loses. An “empire” (Line 4), which rhymes with “umpire” (Line 4) also governs the rules of a nation, determining who wins and who loses. The baseball field separated by the chain-link fence suggests that America, though on the island, is separate from it. They use the powers of their empire to dominate the landscape, political and social, and govern the island the way an umpire would call winners and losers of the game.

Cessna

The Cessna is an airplane that is distinctly American. The company was founded by a farmer from Kansas and was passed down to the original founder’s brother and nephews. The plane was used by Americans and Canadians during World War II. The speaker calls these Cessnas “eager” (Line 8) to fly as they are warmed by the tropical sun. The planes’ “sheds, the brown, functional hangar, / are like those of the Occupation in the last war” (Line 11). Specifying the planes as Cessnas marks them as emblems of American culture associated with World War II, making them symbols of American ingenuity, but also of violence and conflict.