Air and Angels: A Commentary

 Air and Angels

Air and Angels is a difficult poem. It is true that the poem is about man and woman relationship, yet images and language used by the poet is only remotely related to man and woman relationship. The difficulty starts with the title of the poem. Both air and angel stand for something more involved and baffling especially when we try to relate them with the substance of the poem. From the context it appears that one of them stands for male and the other stands for female; who stands for who is not very clear. Structurally the poem is more like a monologue as only of the character speaks, but it is different from a monologue as the narrator is talking to the other character in the poem who is a silent listener. Only thing clear is that one of them is purer as compared to the other. Let us see the text of the poem first, and afterwards we will try to understand this poem.

The poem starts with the narrator stating that he loved his beloved two or three times before he actually came to know her face and name. First of all, what does the narrator mean when he says that he loved his beloved two or three times? Does it mean he has had sex with her? Does it mean something less harmful like he enjoyed her company two or three times prior to this point in their relationship? Although, not clear, it can be implied that the narrator talks about sex.

Perhaps more baffling is the fact how someone can love someone two or three times without knowing her name and face. It can be explained in many ways, but, given the context of purity and impurity, it can be implied that the narrator had relationship with two or three other women before he came to the present one. This explanation is further strengthened by the lines which follow where the narrator talks about some voice and shapeless flame. If we accept that from angels the narrator means female sex, this interpretation becomes stronger and more reliable.

Before reaching his present female partner, he did not see some lovely glorious. What may this mean? Does it mean that there were other beautiful women who were eager to establish relationship with the narrator, but he did not pay attention to them? Or does it mean that he did not care for the physical beauty when he tied love knot with her? Both of these interpretations are possible and both fall within the whole context of the argument.

After settling matters related to past, now the narrator turns to the present and he talks about soul and body. Soul finds it manifestations and achieves all its possibilities only through body—soul needs body to exist. Love being an offspring of the soul needs body too—love cannot be subtler than the soul and cannot show its possibilities and manifestation without having some body to live. Earlier, we have interpreted love a second word for sex—at least, in the context of this poem. And now when, the narrator has the body of his beloved, he showers his kisses on her lips, brows and eyes.

The second part of this poem is not easy to explain as well. The narrator starts off with images from marine world. In order to keep love in a balanced state like the ships are balanced by ballasts otherwise they sink with all their precious things, the narrator felt that he had put extra weight in the small warship of his love. Now, what does this mean? Does it mean that balancing things in love make love a tiresome game or something else? These lines start making sense when studied with the lines which follow and which tell that the narrator cannot make love with hair of his beloved as it is impossible because they are too many. So, there should be some fitter thing to make love. What he wants to say is that his love needs the body of his beloved for fulfilment—nothing less nothing more. Here he touches the theme of physical and spiritual. Throughout this poem the arguments have been built to prove that spiritual is manifested through physical—without physical spiritual cannot exist. Through spiritual represented by angels and physical represented by air are separate things, common men and women know spiritual only through physical like angels who need air to communicate with men below on the earth.

After describing relationship between air and angels, the narrator now touches the theme of purity and impurity. Angels are pure beings, air, on the other hand has impurities, yet men and women come to see faces and wings of angels in the air. What does it mean? Does it mean that there are purities in impurities? Now to explain this we will have to go back to the traditionally accepted dimensions of man and woman relationship. Men can fall, but women cannot—men are like air, and women are like angels—air has impurities and angels do not, but both live in harmony. Though this situation is contradictory, it is established practice and it will be so in times to come as well.

In whatever way, you explain this poem you feel that you have left out many things. It is very hard to join all broken threads as there are many in this poem. The poet has said everything implicitly. Readers need to use all the intelligence and imagination they have knot and jot broken threads. However, there are many things which are very much clear. The first thing is that the poem is about man and woman relationship. The second thing is that spiritual love shows through physical love. All other things about this poem are mysteries which everyone explains according to his or her own personal experience.