"The Wisdom of Old Jelly Roll" Analysis

"The Wisdom of Old Jelly Roll"

How all men wrongly death to dignify

Conspire, I tell. Parson, poetaster, pimp,

Each acts or acquiesces. They prettify,

Dress up, deodorize, embellish, primp,

And make a show of Nothing. Ah, but met-

aphysics laughs: she touches, tastes, and smells

-Hence knows- the diamond holes that make a net.

Silence resettled testifies to bells.

“Nothing” depends on “Thing,” which is or was:

So death makes life or makes life’s worth, a worth

Beyond all highfalutin’ woes or shows

To publish and confess. “Cry at the birth,

Rejoice at the death,” old Jelly Roll said,

Being on whisky, ragtime, chicken, and the scriptures fed.

Smith, A. J. M. “The Wisdom of Old Jelly Roll.” 1978. Kingston: Department of English, Queen’s University, 2008.

A.J. Smith’s satirical poem, "The Wisdom of Old Jelly Roll," can be interpreted in two ways: it can be viewed as a poem discussing human relationships with life and death, or it can be viewed as a meta-poetic poem that talks about what writers should be writing about. Smith introduces the main thesis of this poem when Old Jelly Roll states, “Cry at birth, rejoice at death.” In other words, celebrate life at death instead of celebrating a life that has not yet lived, or celebrate life in writing above anything else. Looking at Smith’s language play, objects of attack, and purpose behind his satire, allows further understanding of the complex meaning behind "The Wisdom of Old Jelly Roll."

Language play is a prominent feature in satire. Using phrases that mean the opposite of what you are arguing allows mockery to come into play, with the help of overstatements, understatements, and paradoxes. "The Wisdom of Old Jelly Roll" has multiple paradoxes that reinforce the main thesis, “Cry at birth, rejoice at death.” The most prominent paradox Smith depicts is “’Nothing’ depends on ‘Thing.’” In other words, one cannot have nothing without a thing; one cannot lose something without ownership of that thing. Therefore, death depends on life, you cannot have death without life, and you cannot have life without death. These ideas depend on one another and reinforce the thesis of the poem.

A satire includes object of attacks that are both individual and institutional. Smith is attacking individuals using inversion of conventions and values; something important made trivial, and something trivial made important. By using hyperbole, repetition, and lists, Smith shows the repetitive occurrence of embellishment and how that repetition becomes more trivial the more it reoccurs. To ‘dress up’ can bring importance to individuals, but here that is made trivial as it shows nothing about the value of life and experiences they have lived.

Institutionally, it is clear that Smith is attacking poets who do not write in celebration of life or experiences. Smith writes “poetaster, pimp, each acts or acquiesces.” The poetaster is someone who writes inferior poetry, poetry with little depiction of the value of life. As well, the poetaster can either act or acquiesces, accept something reluctantly, but without protest. These poetasters write what comes to mind with little criticism of the realistic representations they are providing in their literature. They provide no thought on the values and experiences of life. In relation to the main thesis of this poem, “Cry at birth, rejoice at death,” poetry should celebrate life that is lived and the experiences from that life, instead of a life that has not yet experienced. It is clear with the understanding of the instructional attack on poetry that this is a meta-poem.

The purpose for satire is to bring social change that is beneficial to the world by inspiring the readers to act on desirable change, as well as revealing the authors attitude. Smith is fed up with the amount of poetry that depicts no importance of life’s experiences, only inferior poetry. Smith wants to change the way writers write, by engaging them to live, experience life, and to write about that. It's a similar idea to “Get the Poem Outdoors” by Raymond Souster, where writing should celebrate life rather than self-referential topics such as self-pity. However, not only do writers need to “walk the poem outside” and celebrate life as Souster states, but writers need to physically experience life and its effects, rather than projecting their imagination onto nature. Gwendolyn MacEwen’s “Dark Pines Underwater” is one example of projecting imagination, such as the “dark pines of your mind reach(ing) downward.” MacEwen represents the pond as a way to delve deeper into the unconscious mind and become a dream state. In addition, Don McKay’s “Pond” also reinforces that writers should view things in real experience, demonstrated by focusing on the ecosystem within the pond: “plumbing of its ecosystems… It thickens up with spawn and algae.” Writers should focus on the reality of nature, not the projection of nature. Writing real experiences allows the writer to celebrate life and understand the values within it. Smith strives to encourage writers to depict the importance of life’s experience.

In conclusion, it is clear that this poem is a critique on writing. Through discovery of the institutional attack, the use of “Poetaster” indicates the attack on poets and poetic movements that write inferior poetry. Smith wants to create action in the world to make written works that show the true importance and values of life. To find the true importance and value of life, you must have experiences “being on whisky, ragtime, chicken, and the scriptures fed.” Smith finishes the poem with a list of things that may encourage experiences within life that will build valuable relationships with people, yourself, and the things around you.