Ethics
This poem serves as both a memoir and a contemplation on art, narrating a journey encapsulated in its title, “Ethics,” through a woman's life. It recounts her transition from youth to old age and illustrates the emergence of a mature morality that understands the interconnectedness of all things and embraces responsibility for the “real.” In the poem’s context, it describes moving from “half-hearted” and “half imagined” ideas to an ethical realm where elements are “almost one.”
At the beginning of the poem, the poet-speaker and her classmates have only a limited grasp, resulting in their “half-hearted” reactions. Philosophy instructors often employ a strategy of exposing students to varied moral theories and presenting scenarios that challenge these concepts. An ethics class might analyze the actions of individuals or groups using Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s philosophy of inherent goodness or contrast it with Thomas Hobbes’ view that human life is “short, brutish, and nasty.” They could also explore John Dewey’s “instrumentalism,” which posits that truth is a tool for problem-solving and evolves with the problems at hand. This type of moral relativism can be easily compared to Plato’s idealism, which sees virtue as linked with knowledge and happiness, ultimately rooted in an absolute good. “Every year,” this ethics instructor presents the same moral dilemma, likely aiming for a more sophisticated response from students.
However, as the poem progresses, it becomes evident that this outcome is improbable due to the apparent indifference of the young people, not only towards “pictures” and “old age,” but to the question itself. For reasons the poem does not criticize, the students' hearts and imaginations come to class incomplete. It requires the tangible, personal experience of aging and the contemplation of a “real” Rembrandt for the poem’s speaker, Pastan herself, to achieve an understanding of completeness that both includes and surpasses moral theories and systems. The repeated use of the word “real” in the latter part of the poem is deliberate, as “real” becomes a temporary opposite to “half.” The “real” signifies a complete and unified entity, merging thought and experience, mind and body. The implications of the final line suggest not that the “real” is beyond human responsibility, but that its “salvation” is beyond those who remain “restless on hard chairs.”
Art and Experience
Pastan's deep interest in art is evident throughout her body of work. The main theme in “Ethics” centers on evaluating the value of a piece of art compared to human life. This passion for the arts has significantly influenced her entire writing career. Ten years after “Ethics” was published, Pastan wrote an essay about a group of painters famous for their self-portraits, including Rembrandt, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Diego Velasquez, and Jan Vermeer. She mentioned, “This has been a year of looking at pictures for me,” indicating that her “obsession” with artists’ self-portraits mirrors her fascination with “writers writing about writing.”
Art forms—be it poetry, painting, music, sculpture, or dance—often draw attention to their creation process, materials, and how they are received by audiences. Pastan points to Picasso’s The Painter and His Model as a prime example of such aesthetic “self-reference,” where Picasso is depicted nearly as exposed as his model, focused intensely at his easel. Her poem “Ars Poetica” similarly highlights the poetry-writing process through a series of surprising metaphors. For Pastan, the Muse isn’t a mythical goddess from clichés; instead, it’s often “just / a moth.” Writing is a challenge where the warhorse “would rather be / head down, grazing,” and a poem should ultimately be presented as “a chair / on which you’ve draped a coat / that will...
(This entire section contains 743 words.)
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fit anyone.”
In contemporary poetry, many poets, including Pastan, have drawn inspiration from painters, sculptors, and musicians to delve into their own aesthetic depths and surfaces. Poets like Denise Levertov and William Carlos Williams honor painter Paul Cezanne, Langston Hughes pays tribute to jazz musician Charlie Parker, and Rainer Maria Rilke finds inspiration in the sculptor Rodin. Similarly, Pastan finds inspiration not only in her garden and kitchen but also in the emotional landscapes she encounters through the works of artists like Rembrandt, Rousseau, and Magritte. Her exploration of “woman / and painting and season” extends beyond “Ethics.”
As early as 1975, Pastan's poetry shows evidence of her engagement with art in “real” museums, as her work is filled with references to paintings. Masaccio’s fresco Expulsion from the Garden of Eden serves as a focal point for reflection and memory in her poem “Fresco.” Like “Ethics,” “Fresco” contrasts the knowledge gained in school with that acquired through life experiences. In both poems, a “real” artwork serves as the central pivot. In “Fresco,” Eve's loss of innocence leads to a painful realization that both good and evil, symbolized by Abel and Cain, will be nurtured by her.
Pastan's latest collection features a range of poems inspired by art, such as "Fresco," which mark a gentle yet clear shift from the familiar domestic themes of her previous work. Gustave Courbet's Still Life with Apples and Pomegranate stirs the poet's grief for her father. "Le Sens de la Nuit," inspired by a Magritte painting, explores the essence of night. The poems "Still Life" and "Nature Morte," titled after a particular painting style, lament the loss of both Eden and reality, which appear to be "cut off / at the stem or wrenched / from the earth." Her new collection, Carnival Evening, is named after a painting by Henri Rousseau.
Like Picasso, Pastan delves into artistic self-portraiture in "Woman Holding a Balance." While depicting a Vermeer painting, the poem captures the essence of Pastan’s own creative spirit:
It is really the mystery
of the ordinary
we’re looking at—the way
Vermeer has sanctified
the same light that enters
our own grimed windows
each morning, touching
a cheek, the fold
of a dress, a jewelry box
with perfect justice.
In another recent poem, "Lost Luggage," the familiar theme of "waiting for my life" is revisited, this time set in a museum, where the aging poet finds herself "in transit" between various landscapes. The poem ultimately reveals that the "real" self behind the "tourist" guise is "merely myself," and the art she seeks comfort in becomes a mysterious source of redemption:
… ghosts clothed in tempera
follow me everywhere,
as if art itself were a purpling shadow
whose territory I must step back into,
a place where I can hide myself
over and over again, where what is lost
may be found, though always
in another language and untranslatable.
Pastan’s poetry is fueled by the belief that the mundane often conceals remarkable aspects, and beneath the surface of the familiar lies an indescribable realm, where "earth’s most radiant elements burn / through the canvas."
Carpe Diem Theme
"Ethics" by Linda Pastan distills profound meaning into its brief verses, inviting readers to contemplate the carpe diem theme in an unconventional light. Unlike classic poems like Robert Herrick’s "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" or A. E. Housman’s "Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now," which urge an immediate embrace of life's fleeting moments, Pastan’s work offers a nuanced perspective that balances acceptance with critique.
The poem’s setting—a classroom filled with restless students—serves as a microcosm for broader life lessons. Despite their youthful energy, the students are oblivious to the rich tapestry of life’s experiences and the intricate cycles that define our existence. They are challenged with an ethical dilemma that holds little meaning for those yet untouched by the weight of mortality or the transcendent power of art. Within this scenario, Pastan cleverly juxtaposes the vibrant potential of youth against the sobering realities of age and the inevitable approach of death.
Through "Ethics," Pastan invites readers to reflect on the inherent value of wisdom gained over time, suggesting that the true essence of living is often revealed only through the lens of maturity. It is a call to understand and appreciate life’s complexities, urging a deeper, more contemplative approach to the present moment than is typically embraced in the traditional carpe diem narrative.
Acceptance of Death and Appreciation of Life
The speaker, confronted with the inevitability of her own mortality, finds herself surprisingly at peace, embracing the journey toward death rather than succumbing to despair. Through the lens of a Rembrandt painting, she perceives an affirmation of life itself. It's in the twilight of her years, as an old woman—or nearly so—that she has come to appreciate the profound connections between human existence, art, and the natural world. This appreciation eluded her in youth, which she now sees as a time of shallowness and superficiality.
The poem gently admonishes the young for their inability to grasp the depth and significance of great artworks or the wisdom that comes with age. The speaker implies that perhaps these treasures should not be squandered on those who cannot yet appreciate them. As the poem progresses, the reader is encouraged to understand that the true dichotomy is not merely academic; it lies between the vibrancy of spring and the maturity of fall, between the fleeting nature of youth and the enduring depth found in old age. It is in this later stage of life that one can finally tap into the more profound truths of existence, cultivating a richer appreciation for both life and art.
