BOOKS: Hart Crane White Buildings

Hart Crane is difficult, probably beyond comprehension, yet if you really work to understand his verse, dig, reread, analyze, there is the reward of satisfaction, a satisfaction for sticking with him long enough to figure his verse out. White Buildings contains many of Crane’s best lyrics, including his erotic masterpiece Voyages. When reading Crane one should not so much try to understand line by line, but instead concentrate on the entire effect of the poem. Th reader should remember Crane was constrained by the times and society he lived in so that there is often an underlying meaning to his work. His sexuality plays a big part in his work and that subtext often flows through his poems.There is a message there, a “golden nugget,” and it is discoverable. Be patient, try again. Because Crane was closeted, his language and his style is often obscure and covers his message. But his message is there, uncovering it is the reward. And Crane had a lot to say, a lot was going on inside, a lot that was painful and it found beautiful expression in his poetry. Crane’s influence on other poets is pervasive and as such Crane has become the poets poet. In “White Buildings,” Crane can become overt at times: “Fondle your shells and sticks,” for instance, as he refers to a lover, yet in the same sequence he introduces feminine imagery. There is something deeper in White Buildings more interior than is readily apparent. Crane succeeds largely because he communicates with the anonymous feelings of his audience. Whatever his sexuality his message is universal, love, pain, despair… Even though many of the themes in White Buildings are abstract and metaphysical, those abstracts and metaphysical aspects are felt by all of us on some level. Even though we may not be able to verbalize those inner feelings Crane does it for us. Crane’s poems are, to use an overused word, profound. So if you have the time, patience and inclination White Buildings is worth a read.