Summary
Briggflatts by Basil Bunting is both a celebration of Northern England's landscape and a profound meditation on history, identity, and poetic creativity. Through its structure, imagery, and thematic exploration, the poem weaves personal experience with mythological elements, offering a nuanced "autobiography of feeling." Bunting's work reflects on the tension between adventure and the need for a stable home, ultimately illustrating the poet's journey of self-discovery and acceptance.
The Invocation and Awakening
The poem opens in the tradition of epic invocations, drawing on the spirit of the Yorkshire fields, embodied by a "sweet tenor bull," to herald the arrival of spring. This season of renewal and fertility is set against the soft melody of the river Rawthey. As the narrative unfolds, the poet's identity begins to take shape, initially revealed through impressions reminiscent of Anglo-Saxon ballads. These evoke the image of a young poet alongside a maid, resonating with the earth's sensual music. In establishing this initial setting, Bunting points to the central themes of time and memory, with Herbert Read noting the poem’s capacity to capture impressions that are "recovered and evaluated."
Temporal Shifts and Reflections
One of the poem’s key structural elements is its oscillation between "then" and "now," which embodies the poet’s meditative reflections on the passage of time. This is first illustrated by the figure of the rock mason, the maid’s father, who engraves words into stone. He symbolizes the permanence of art in contrast to the fleeting moments of youth. This juxtaposition foreshadows the decay of youthful passions, with the narrative hinting at a lost innocence and inevitable progression into the uncertainties of life.
Exploration and Exile
The poem progresses into its second section, where the poet, burdened with guilt, finds himself adrift in a society marked by moral decay. This leads him to seek solace at sea, a classic metaphor for new beginnings. The sea voyage, described with the cadence of Old English verse, transports him to timeless landscapes, including the evocative Italian peninsula. Nevertheless, the poet remains haunted by his past, confronting his own shortcomings through the allegory of Eric Bloodaxe, a legendary Norwegian king whose downfall mirrors the poet’s inner turmoil. This section is marked by introspection, as the poet questions the direction of his path amid the suspended summer season.
The "Dark Night" and Revelation
Section three, a "hell-canto," explores the archetypal "Dark Night of the Soul." Drawing inspiration from Alexander the Great's quest in Firdusi’s Shahnamah, Bunting crafts a vivid and unsettling dreamscape. This nightmare world gradually yields to the cleansing beauty of nature, suggesting redemption and harmony. The imagery of sycamore seeds and swirling dust encapsulates a renewal of spirit, offering the poet a transformative vision.
Reconciliation with the Past
The fourth section, originally labeled "Autumn," signifies the poet's maturation and acceptance of his roots, drawing on tales from Welsh poets Aneurin and Taliesin. The return to familiar landscapes prompts a poignant reflection on lost love, with the poet expressing a newfound appreciation for his native ground through tangible, earthy imagery. Yet, even as he acknowledges the value of his origins, the poet still grapples with internal obstacles that hinder complete contentment.
Winter Reflections and Poetic Insight
In the final section, set against a winter landscape, the poet finds beauty in the starkness, discovering deeper satisfactions beyond youthful passions. Eric Mottram identifies this section as a celebration of the particularities of life, from music to natural scenery. Here, Bunting unites past and present, acknowledging the enduring presence of those he has known and loved. The poet accepts the inevitable wanderings of life, affirming that his poetic journey must continue....
(This entire section contains 680 words.)
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He acknowledges the weight of his insights, ready to return to the Quaker meeting place, Briggflatts, to share his poetic legacy.
In Bunting's words, "My autobiography is Briggflatts," the poem serves as an open-ended reflection on existence, offering consolation through art while steadfastly exploring life's unanswerable questions. The closing coda encapsulates this search, leaving readers with the enduring mystery of life's direction and purpose: "Who,/ swinging his axe/ to fell kings, guesses/ where we go?"
Style and Technique
Poetry and music share an intrinsic connection that British poet Basil Bunting masterfully explored in his work. Renowned for his belief in the sonic essence of poetry, Bunting asserted that "Poetry, like music, is to be heard. It deals in sound." His celebrated poem, Briggflatts, exemplifies this philosophy through its intricate fusion of language and musicality, providing a compelling demonstration of how musical principles can be intricately woven into poetic form.
The Musical Foundation of Briggflatts
Bunting’s profound appreciation for music is evident in the very structure of Briggflatts. Before composing the poem, he drew inspiration from the structure of the sonata, a form he had analyzed during his time as a music critic for publications like Outlook and the Musical Times. His choice to utilize sonatas by Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti further illustrates this musical connection. By incorporating Scarlatti’s pieces before and after each section of the poem, Bunting aimed to establish a specific musical mood that would enhance the reader's experience, further intertwining the arts of poetry and music.
Language as Sound
The poem's sonic depth extends beyond its structural elements. Bunting's careful attention to language itself reflects his "exceptionally tender care for its acoustic values," as noted by poet Donald Davie. He insisted that Briggflatts should ideally be read in the dialect of Northumbria, ensuring the precision of sound he envisioned was achieved. This attention to detail is evident in the poem's epigraph, “The spuggies are fledged,” which requires a specific pronunciation to maintain its intended sound and meaning.
Musical Techniques in Poetic Form
Bunting's dexterous application of musical techniques to his poetry manifests in several ways. Part 1 of Briggflatts features twelve thirteen-line stanzas, each balanced with meticulous care. Part 2 builds an intense rhythmic pressure through repetitive quatrains, while Part 3's ninety-five lines offer dense, compressed detail of Alexander's ascent. The personal narrative turn in Part 4 and the evocative winter landscape in Part 5 reveal Bunting’s ability to blend word-sound with word-meaning seamlessly.
Interwoven Voices and Themes
The poem’s richness lies in its ability to integrate diverse subgenres. By establishing a "Rawthey’s madrigal" style at the outset, Bunting crafts a tapestry of lyrical love poetry, elegies, laments, and satirical critiques, all interspersed with vivid descriptive passages. This complex web of sounds and themes showcases Bunting’s skill in unifying seemingly disparate elements into a cohesive whole. Charles Tomlinson, a poet and literary theorist, describes this intricate sound network as "rich rhyming and chiming," echoing critiques by nineteenth-century English art critic John Ruskin.
Narrative Coherence Through Sound
Underlying the complex soundscape of the poem is Bunting's narrative consciousness, which ties the form to its thematic core. This evolving melody, which the poet skillfully varies and reinvents, provides the essential coherence that binds the poem's many parts. It is through this narrative thread that Bunting's exploration of historical relevance, personal reflection, and musical innovation coalesces into a unified artistic expression, engaging readers and listeners alike with its rhythmic and thematic depth.
