The Dark Houses-Crec'o of a Poet
Donald Hall Examines the Human Condition in His New Book

By NELSON S. 110
THE DARK HOUSES. By Donald
Hall. Viking Press, 1958. $3.
A8 THE SECOND published vol-
ume of poetry by Donald Hall,
who is now Assistant Professor of
English at this University, The
Dark Houses is a surprisingly uni-
fied book.
Such a total kind of unity rare-
ly occurs in the works of the mod-
ern poets even though such vol-
umes are unified by the poet's per-
sonality. Theirs is not the same
kind of exploration of idea from
many views and directions, the
reason being partially that the
majority of the modern poets have
not been able to establish a per-
vasive system of ethics, or values
rather, from which they could
draw and around which, they cen-
ter.
This centering is a personal
thing, the ultimate result of a cer-
tain way of life, requiring both
courage and a particular temper
of mind. The poetry of this vol-
ume is the demonstration.
THE RATHER slim volume is di-
vided into two sections which
are inextricably bound together
yet are opposites of each other.
The first part contains the poems
rejecting a materialistic way of
life and its resulting paucity of
inner space. The second deals
with men themselves, and is the
depiction of the human condition
in humanistic terms. It is the first
division which prepares the way
for the second.
The poem which begins the book
and from which the title comes,
is a criticism of people who live
without personal inner freedom,
without greater love than for the
material and status quo.
For example, "the cars as long
as hayricks," and the "trips to
Rome" become symbols of mater-
ial affluence and against this,
there is the juxtaposition of the
idea that this is a form of dying.
The "dark houses harden into
sleep."
At one point in the poem, after
describing; the life of the people
he speaks of, he steps out of his
role as poet to make a bold, blunt
statement that "this love is jail,
the other sets us free." Although
it seems out of place and is not
particularly a fine line, we can
pass over it with little notice par-
ticularly considering the sincerity
of the poem and the poet.
WHILE THE VIEWS are becom-
ing quite safe in poetry, none-
the-less, he is one of very few in
the recent generation of poets
who is sincerely interested in deal-
ing with problems of this sort in
poetry.
His forceful statement of his
position is unusual among the
poets of his decade and s uch
frankness has become somewhat
pass6 and at times embarassing to
the present generation of rather
blase and sophisticated readers.
To doubt that Mr. Hall believes this
kind of concern with values and
with the forceful and blunt com-
munication of them is the func-
tion of poetry is to assume that he
is not aware of what he does. Such
an assumption is not justified in
view of his awareness of the prob-
lems of poetry. Therefore, it seems
clear that the didactic nature of
the poetry is deliberate, and with-
in this purpose he is quite suc-
cessful.
HOWEVER, there is a school of
thought which accepts the dic-
tum that "poetry should not mean
but be," to quote one.of its well
known exponents,
The difficulty is that some
things, the things which lie in
the imaginative world cannot al-
ways be communicated by point-

Nelson Howe graduated from
the University in 1957 receiving
a BA in English. He is now
working toward a BS in design.

WE
under discussion but it applies to of depth and complexity. Most of
the work of the whole volume. the poetry must be savored, tasted,
and finally digested quite com-
ANOTHER POEM from this sec- pletely to become clear but it is
tion which is more consistent that grows on one, a
but less interesting in its tech- porof sufficient complexity to
nique is "The Foundatson f become even more exciting and
American Industry" which begins: vital on the third reading than it
In the Ford plant was on the second.
at Ypsilanti Like all good poetry, it is some-
men named for their thing to return to and to find what
fathers work at steel, was seen once grow, something
It is a criticism of another as- that was not discovered at all sud-
pert of the modern concern for denly appear clearly.
the 'common good' and the 'stan-
dard of living' and it goes on to GAINST the powerful first sec
deal with an America of assembly tion of rejection these is a
line "here generators m o e larger group of poems dealing with
- quickly on belts, a thousand an l
hour," where men "go home to
their Fords . . . or watch TV and
work toward payday."
When they xalk home
they walk on sidewalks
marked W
P A 38
their old men made
them, and they walk on
their fathers.
While neither of the poems cited
are the best in the volume, they
do show a marked trend toward
the more textured and complex
kind of poetry.
This poem just quoted is one of
the most straight-forward and di-
rect of them all and certainly one
of the more powerful ones in terms
of initial impact, due in part to
its simplicity and in part to the
almost epigramatic ending. It is
.. and they walk on their fathers. true that the issue is one of our
age but the method of handling
less image or sheer sound. Even a satisfying solution to the poem it is new and refreshing.
this exponent has not accepted his and detracts considerably from
own statement at face value. what is essentially a very fine WHILE MR. HALL still uses his
The fact of the matterseems to work rapier sharp wit in this vol- Donald Hall
be that poems do mean and the ' ume, he tempers it carefully to
problem for the critic and the If we look again, we find there the poem and theme and when he that community of things mes
reader becomes a problem of de- is a reason. Because Mr. Hall so does slip the metaphorical dag-thadncomm o
'triigteln ewe o-violently rejects the materialism hold in common,
termining the line between non- ienyrjetth marals ger in, it is without a smile. It was well put by James Miller
poetic preaching and p o e t i c which characterizes so much of These poems of wit are not so
preaching. this country's population and so much in evidence as they were in when he pointed out that the arts
One reason this particular poem thoroughly inhibits the growth of his earlier Exiles and Marriages. imply that the artist or poet says,
is not entirely satisfying seems to other values, he suffers a slight While he perceives more than "here I am-and there you are--
be that the poem is primarily ob- and forgivable lapsus linguae only what appears to the eye, he tem- somewhere out there. Here is
jective description and in the very because he has felt that his posi- pers it with a sly and almost un- something we both know-really
middle, naked and alone, there is tion is important. seen wink. It is true that not all -for we are both human, we have
one bald moral statement, a moral As he says in a later poem, of the poems are marked by this both loved, have both seen death,
judgement. Until then, the poet "wastage of life will create the but it does apply to most of them. we have both cried, and laughed,
stands behind his description and implication of death which means However, the general tone has and here is what I know of these
after this he slips back behind that you must tell your love while become more serious and more things. Here is our life together
description to end the poem. The you reveal your hate." This is not subtle and at the same time, the as human beings."
sudden step out of context is not only the justification of the poem balance has shifted to a poetry See HALL, page 9

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