Juliet
Wilson's poem "The Lost Dances of Cranes" reflects on the changeover from endangered
species to the development of cities via construction cranes. In this poetic analysis, lines
from the poem will be in italics and commentary in regular print.
Wilson's poem "The Lost Dances of Cranes" reflects on the changeover from endangered
species to the development of cities via construction cranes. In this poetic analysis, lines
from the poem will be in italics and commentary in regular print.
"The Lost Dances of
Cranes"
Cranes"
From the very beginning, in the title, the poet
signals that the poem is about something from the past that is no longer available in the
present. The title is unified by some of the sounds of the words (consonance), such as the /s/
of "lost," "dances," and "cranes."
signals that the poem is about something from the past that is no longer available in the
present. The title is unified by some of the sounds of the words (consonance), such as the /s/
of "lost," "dances," and "cranes."
Your fields are empty now.
Part of the reason the whooping crane is on the verge of extinction comes from the
drastic reduction of wetlands due to the human desire to expand land on which things can be
built.
Only your ghosts dance
drastic reduction of wetlands due to the human desire to expand land on which things can be
built.
Only your ghosts dance
Dancing is part of the mating rituals of whooping cranes. Since so many
birds have been lost, they would be only memoriesghosts.
While cranes of another kind
Dance cities into
being.
The poet connects construction cranes to the birds, which makes
sense, since they resemble each other in lankiness. The dance here doesn't yield eggs and more
birds but, rather, the cities that are ironically destroying the birds.
All that remain of you are
A fading crackle
of your energy
And some grainy video
footage
By using the word "you," the poet personifies the birds.
The birds are fading quickly and the poet mentions what we have nowmemories and video. This
stanza sets up the next stanza with the specific things it
mentions.
That people in the new
cities
Will watch to marvel
At the
wonders the world
birds have been lost, they would be only memoriesghosts.
While cranes of another kind
Dance cities into
being.
The poet connects construction cranes to the birds, which makes
sense, since they resemble each other in lankiness. The dance here doesn't yield eggs and more
birds but, rather, the cities that are ironically destroying the birds.
All that remain of you are
A fading crackle
of your energy
And some grainy video
footage
By using the word "you," the poet personifies the birds.
The birds are fading quickly and the poet mentions what we have nowmemories and video. This
stanza sets up the next stanza with the specific things it
mentions.
That people in the new
cities
Will watch to marvel
At the
wonders the world
This stanza captures an essentialof modern
living: we who live in cities think that we are getting the "real thing" by watching
nature videos. In fact, a video is a worse than poor substitute for the actual birds. It is
worse because it fools us into thinking that we are fully appreciating the natural beauty of our
world through nature documentaries.
living: we who live in cities think that we are getting the "real thing" by watching
nature videos. In fact, a video is a worse than poor substitute for the actual birds. It is
worse because it fools us into thinking that we are fully appreciating the natural beauty of our
world through nature documentaries.
A poem like
this implicitly challenges its readers to do something besides watching television about the
losses of the natural world.
this implicitly challenges its readers to do something besides watching television about the
losses of the natural world.
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