The Wellfleet Whale by Stanley Kunitz
"The Wellfleet Whale" by Stanley Kunitz is a poignant poem inspired by the real-life event of a whale beaching on the Massachusetts coast near Kunitz's home. The work begins with a journal entry that reveals Kunitz's deep emotional connection to the whale, emphasizing moments of recognition and empathy as he physically touches the creature and perceives its life. The poem is structured in five sections, each exploring different sensory experiences, starting with haunting sounds that evoke the whale's struggle and the eerie atmosphere surrounding the event. As Kunitz shifts focus to visual elements, he captures the imagery of the harbor and the contrasts between the whale's desperate plight and the indifference of seagulls overhead. The poem also reflects on themes of loneliness and mortality, portraying the whale's tragic journey and the sorrowful beauty of its demise. Concluding with a powerful apostrophe to the whale, Kunitz acknowledges its dignity and suffering, ultimately underscoring the impact of human actions on nature and the fragility of life. This work invites readers to contemplate the complex emotions tied to loss and the interconnectedness of all living beings.
On this Page
Subject Terms
The Wellfleet Whale by Stanley Kunitz
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1981 (collected in Next-to-Last Things: New Poems and Essays, 1985)
Type of work: Poem
The Work
“The Wellfleet Whale” grew out of the beaching of a whale on the Massachusetts coast near where Kunitz had a home. A journal entry that Kunitz made at the time of the incident precedes the poem. In this entry, the poet reveals his connection with the whale, the emotional tie that seems to bind the two. Kunitz put his hands on the whale’s flanks and “could feel the life inside him.” The whale opened its eye and, staring directly at Kunitz, sent a shudder of recognition between the two. Then the beached creature died, closing forever the eye that was to haunt Kunitz long afterward.
The poem is divided into five sections. The earliest of them concentrates on sounds, on the “eerie medley of clicks/ and hoots and trills.” The sounds are varied, some like “furniture being smashed/ or the creaking of a mossy door.” Yet all the sounds “melt into a liquid/ song with endless variations.” Kunitz then turns to the loneliness of the vast sea, the sea that the dying whale will never experience again. He uses words such as “disembodied” and “mournful” to recaputre the atmosphere of the scene as he relives it.
Whereas the poem’s first section is largely auditory, the second section is highly visual, but it still retains some of its auditory emphasis in phrases such as “the whisper of the tide.” Kunitz describes the harbor into which the hapless whale ventures, to certain death. Its dorsal fin clips “the diamonded surface,” of the harbor’s water. Kunitz’s use of specific language, employing such terms as “dorsal” and “diamonded surface,” builds the authenticity that characterizes this poem. The lazy drift of seagulls overhead contrasts with the whale’s struggle, and these seagulls reappear toward the end of the poem when they close in to peck at the moribund body of the whale, not yet dead but totally helpless.
Perhaps the most admirable lines of the poem come at the very end as an apostrophe. Speaking to the whale, the poet, in words reminiscent of the Beowulf poet, calls the whale “Master of the whale-roads” and then calls upon the gulls to spread their wings as cover. The whale has suffered having a tourist carve his initials on its hide and others cutting strips of flesh from its dying body. The whale, “disgraced and mortal,” is no more.
Bibliography
Busa, Chris. “Stanley Kunitz: The Art of Poetry XXIX.” The Paris Review 24 (Spring, 1982): 204-246.
A Celebration for Stanley Kunitz: On His Eightieth Birthday. Riverdale-on-the-Hudson, N.Y.: Sheep Meadow Press, 1986.
Hagstrum, Jean H. “The Poetry of Stanley Kunitz: An Introductory Essay.” In Poets in Progress, edited by Edward B. Hungerford. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1967.
Hénault, Marie. Stanley Kunitz. Boston: Twayne, 1980.
Kunitz, Stanley. Interview by Caroline Sutton. Publishers Weekly 228 (December 20, 1985): 67-68.
Kunitz, Stanley. “An Interview with Stanley Kunitz.” Interview by Cynthia Davis. Contemporary Literature 15 (Winter, 1974): 1-14.
Lundquist, Kent. “Stanley Kunitz.” In Encyclopedia of American Literature, edited by Steven R. Serafin. New York: Continuum Press, 1999.
Martin, Harry. “Warren and Kunitz: Poets in the American Grain.” The Washington Post Book World, September 30, 1979, 10.
Orr, Gregory. Stanley Kunitz: An Introduction to the Poetry. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985.
Ostroff, Anthony J., ed. The Contemporary Poet as Artist and Critic. Boston: Little, Brown, 1964.
Shaw, Robert B. “A Book of Changes.” The New York Times Book Review, July 22, 1979, 1, 20.