LIFE CYCLE OF A COMMON MAN

By Howard Nemerov

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: HOWARD NEMEROVo Born on February 29, 1920 in New York, New York, Howard Nemerov displayed an early interest in the arts. o He graduated from the Society for Ethical Culture's Fieldstone School in 1937 and went on to study at Harvard, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1941.o Throughout World War II, he served as a pilot in the Royal Canadian unit of the U. S. Army Air Force.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: HOWARD NEMEROVo He married in 1944, and after the war, having earned the rank of first lieutenant, returned to New York with his wife to complete his first book. o Nemerov was first hired to teach literature to World War II veterans at Hamilton College in New York.o His teaching career flourished, and he went on to teach at Bennington College, Brandeis University, and Washington University in St. Louis, where he was Distinguished Poet in Residence from 1969 until his death (July 5, 1991).

o He was twice Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, from 1963 to 1964 and again from 1988 to 1990.o For The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov (1977), he won the National Book Award for Poetry, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and Bollingen Prize.

NEMEROV’S WORKSoThe Image of the Law (1947) oThe Vacuum (1955) oThe Salt Garden (1955) oMirrors and Windows (1958) oThe Next Room of The Dream: Poems and Two Plays (1962) oThe Blue Swallows (1967) oThe Winter Lightning: Selected Poems (1968) oGnomes & Occasions: Poems (1973) University of Chicago Press

oThe Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov (1977) oSentences (1980) oInside the Onion (1984) oWar Stories: Poems about Long Ago and Now (1987) oTrying Conclusions: New and Selected Poems, 1961-1991 (1992) oGrace to be Said at the Supermarket

LIFE CYCLE OF A COMMON MAN Roughly figured, this man of moderate habits, This average consumer of the middle class, Consumed in the course of his average life span Just under half a million cigarettes, Four thousand fifths of gin and about A quarter as much vermouth; he drank Maybe a hundred thousand cups of coffee, And counting his parents’ share it cost Something like half a million dollars To put him through life. How many beasts Died to provide him with meat, belt and shoes Cannot be certainly said.

LIFE CYCLE OF A COMMON MAN But anyhow, It is in this way that a man travels through time, Leaving behind him a lengthening trail Of empty bottles and bones, of broken shoes, Frayed collars and worn out or outgrown Diapers and dinnerjackets, silk ties and slickers.

Given the energy and security thus achieved, He did . . . ? What? The usual things, of course, The eating, dreaming, drinking and begetting, And he worked for the money which was to pay For the eating, et cetera, which were necessary If he were to go on working for the money, et cetera,

LIFE CYCLE OF A COMMON MAN But chiefly he talked. As the bottles and bones Accumulated behind him, the words proceeded Steadily from the front of his face as he Advanced into the silence and made it verbal. Who can tally the tale of his words? A lifetime Would barely suffice for their repetition; If you merely printed all his commas the result Would be a very large volume, and the number of times He said “thank you” or “very little sugar, please,” Would stagger the imagination. There were also Witticisms, platitudes, and statements beginning “It seems to me” or “As I always say.”

LIFE CYCLE OF A COMMON MAN Consider the courage in all that, and behold the man Walking into deep silence, with the ectoplastic Cartoon’s balloon of speech proceeding Steadily out of the front of his face, the words Borne along on the breath which is his spirit Telling the numberless tale of his untold Word Which makes the world his apple, and forces him to eat.

ANALYSIS

Roughly figured, this man of moderate habits,

This average consumer of the middle class,

Consumed in the course of his average life span

Just under half a million cigarettes, Four thousand fifths of gin and about A quarter as much vermouth; he drank

Maybe a hundred thousand cups of coffee,

And counting his parents’ share it cost Something like half a million dollars To put him through life. How many beasts

Died to provide him with meat, belt and shoes

Cannot be certainly said.

The poem talks about what an average man, with a moderate amount of money, does with his life. An average man spends a large sum of money, referring to half a million dollars, all throughout his life (from birth until death). Vices constitute a large part in an average man’s consumption – cigarette and alcohol. An average man also kills many animals just to have food and clothes.

But anyhow, It is in this way that a man travels through time,

Leaving behind him a lengthening trail

Of empty bottles and bones, of broken shoes,

Frayed collars and worn out or outgrown

Diapers and dinnerjackets, silk ties and slickers.

Throughout a man’s life, he leaves behind a trail of trash from all of the things he consumed. Empty bottles may mean alcoholic beverages from the previous stanza or baby bottles from a man’s childhood. As he grows old, he leaves behind more remnants of things he used. The bones refer to the remains of man as he dies thus completing the life cycle of a man.

Given the energy and security thus achieved,

He did . . . ? What? The usual things, of course,

The eating, dreaming, drinking and begetting,

And he worked for the money which was to pay

For the eating, et cetera, which were necessary

If he were to go on working for the money, et cetera,

An average young man uses his energy and stability to fulfill his desires in life. A man has little worries in life which includes earning money to sustain his chosen lifestyle and continue fulfilling his desires. These desires are also his motivations to continue working in order to earn money.

But chiefly he talked. As the bottles and bones Accumulated behind him, the words proceeded Steadily from the front of his face as he Advanced into the silence and made it verbal. Who can tally the tale of his words? A lifetime Would barely suffice for their repetition; If you merely printed all his commas the result Would be a very large volume, and the number of times

He said “thank you” or “very little sugar, please,” Would stagger the imagination. There were also Witticisms, platitudes, and statements beginning “It seems to me” or “As I always say.”

Consider the courage in all that, and behold the man

Walking into deep silence, with the ectoplastic

Cartoon’s balloon of speech proceeding Steadily out of the front of his face, the words

Borne along on the breath which is his spirit

Telling the numberless tale of his untold Word

Which makes the world his apple, and forces him to eat.

THEME The “common man” is forced to live in this world and forced to consume its habits whether they be good, bad, productive, or unproductive. Once consumed, the remains are left only for others to follow its path in a cycle that will never end.