Volume 10 47

Poem Summary.

Lines 1-12:
The first stanza of “Black Zodiac” introduces
us to the importance of memory. Memories, in fact,

are compared to “the masters,” but who the mas-

ters are is not certain. Given the title and the fact

that they are “Darkened by time,” perhaps there is

a celestial reference, as in the figures that represent

the 12 constellations in our solar system and which

are best viewed at night. But whether these mas-

ters are considered in a religious sense or in the

form of master poets or master philosophers, the

connotation of the word itself is basically the same.

Both memories and masters are at once elusive and

yet very real. They “mix / and mismatch,” the way

our recollections often do and, on one hand, are

“like air in its clear nothingness.” Since Wright is

known to compose many of his poems while sit-

ting in his own back yard, the reference to lawn

furniture is not uncommon. In fact, it brings the re-

alness to memories and masters, giving them hu-

man characteristics as they “settle about our lawn

furniture” and “ruffle our hair.” Line 6 reveals the

overall theme of this opening stanza, asking a

rhetorical question about memories and masters for

which there is no answer: “How can they be so dark

and so clear at the same time?” Here, the word

“clear” can be interpreted in two different ways.

Set against the idea of entities that are “dark,” the

word “clear” may indicate that their reason or

meaning is still very evident in spite of the fact that

they are difficult to grasp and are so elusive. But

“clear” may also imply transparency or invisibil-

ity, indicating no evident meaning or reason at all.

The second half of the first stanza brings na-

ture and landscape into the poem in a more imme-

diate sense. Wright details leaves, trees, wind, flies,

heat, and sky, and the heat is apparently oppres-

sive. The poet’s description of the scene makes it

Black Zodiac

Media

Adaptations

• In 1991, fellow poet J.D. McClatchy inter-
  viewed Charles Wright for the Modern Poetry
  Association’s “Poets in Person” series. Al-
  though Wright has done several published in-
  terviews, they were rarely recorded. Students
  may inquire about this tape by contacting the
  MPA in Chicago.