As I write this, reading the passage aloud in the middle of the DUC, I feel as if I am only beginning to understand this passage in its entirety. It was a bit jarring for me how Mallarme jumps from the image of the chasm gliding "on a wing its own" to returning to the image of the ship. While I found this poem enjoyable, I also found that certain sections were somewhat hard to follow and read almost like a polished stream of consciousness piece, like a rant with connections only evident to he ranter. Meanwhile, I am the rantee, utterly rapt in the words but not really understanding what I'm supposed to be learning. However, I can see the connections between the Void and the Sea very clearly in this passage through the layout. The Chasm, the abstract image of chance, falls before steadying itself and becoming the more concrete ocean while still remaining of itself in the sail. The danger that chance presents is constantly visible in both the fall and the ship's fight through the waves.
I feel like my lack of ship and ship-related knowledge is somehow impeding me in reading this poem. Can anyone who has ever encountered a ship help me decipher some of the language in the last few lines? What is the span? Is that a ship part? Google isn't helping.
I really liked your interpretation and it also provided a lot of clarify from when I first read this passage. You mentioned how the steep falling of the text evoked a feeling of slipping, which I thought was really interesting. When I first read it, I saw the text form a “wing” which the phrase “on a wing its own” triggered this thought. That imagery made me think of seagulls and how they are present in the sky, soaring above the ocean. However, I can now see what you meant in regards to the ‘losing control’ and ‘slipping’ feeling that the lines elicit.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the last few lines, I was wondering the same thing. Like you, google isn’t helping in regards to the word ‘span.’ Maybe ‘span’ isn’t referring to a part of a ship but rather, the physical meaning of ‘span.’ Maybe like the span of your arm, wingspan, etc. And here, it’s talking about the span of the trough? Asides from the definition, I felt like it was very fitting for the trough to be situated at the bottom of the text. As dictionary.com provides, it is “a deep depression in the ocean floor having gently sloping sides.” The text being at the bottom of the text is representative of the ocean floor, as you pointed out.
Maybe you're looking too much into the whole "span" thing. Perhaps it just has to do with the length of something (i.e. a ship) and how it trots about water. I'd like to supplement your notion of this slipping and falling with a small hunch. I'm thinking that the way the text kind of spills out onto the rest of the page is an attempt to make it appear like unstable ocean waves, thereby complementing all the nautical terms. My only question for you, then is this: how do you think this sort of thing plays into the overarching theme of chance? Are the seas/boats/waves/whatever inherently unstable? Your analysis was thoughtful, and I feel like I could learn more from you regarding this passage.
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