Love Song: I and Thou
by Alan Dugan
Nothing is plumb, level, or square:
the studs are bowed, the joists
are shaky by nature, no piece fits
any other piece without a gap
or pinch, and bent nails
dance all over the surfacing
like maggots. By Christ
I am no carpenter. I built
the roof for myself, the walls
for myself, the floors
for myself, and got
hung up in it myself. I
danced with a purple thumb
at this house-warming, drunk
with my prime whiskey: rage.
Oh I spat rage's nails
into the frame-up of my work:
it held. It settled plumb,
level, solid, square and true
for that great moment. Then
it screamed and went on through,
skewing as wrong the other way.
God damned it. This is hell,
but I planned it, I sawed it,
I nailed it, and I
will live in it until it kills me.
I can nail my left palm
to the left-hand crosspiece but
I can't do everything myself.
I need a hand to nail the right,
a help, a love, a you, a wife.
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Discussion Questions
- The speaker of the poem is building something, but what is it? Is it important for the reader to know this piece of information? Why or why not?
- The poem states that nothing is “plumb, level, or square” but becomes so after settling. This sounds like a contradiction in terms or a paradox. What is the poet attempting to illustrate here? What life experiences might you point to, to support your answer?
- The title of this poem indicates it is a love poem. Do you agree that this is a love poem? If you disagree, why? What is the poem saying that leads you to question the title? As a love poem, what about the content makes this an unusual love poem?
- The speaker of the poem invokes the name, Christ, mentions God and hell, and nails his left hand to a crosspiece, but needs the person to whom he is speaking to nail his right hand to the crosspiece. What do you make of this religious imagery in the poem? What does it say about loving relationships?
About Alan Dugan
Alan Dugan (1923 – 2003) was noted for his intelligent, unsentimental treatment of life's mundane nature. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Dugan attended Queens College and Olivet College, and served in the Air Force during World War II, ultimately earning his B.A. in English from Mexico City College. Even as Dugan captured the commonplace—birth, death, sex, work, money, drink, etc., he presented the human condition without wrapping it in joy or grief, without imbuing it with a sense of perdition or redemption. His words were merely life, death, and all the sordid moments in between. Dugan famously felt no desire to fit in, largely ignoring popular and critical approval. His first publication, General Prothalamion in Populous Times, was printed privately. Despite his stance, Dugan received a Pulitzer Prize, two National Book Awards, a Prix de Rome, and the Shelley Memorial Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts.
He taught at Connecticut College, Sarah Lawrence College, and the University of Colorado at Boulder. During his career, he also held various jobs in advertising, publishing, and as a medical-supply model maker. As a founding member of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Dugan's legacy and impact on Massachusetts poetry continues today.
Further information:
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