Can we ever truly know anything for certain? Is there such a thing as absolute truth when the world is always in flux? According to John Ashbery's (1927-2017) long poem "Litany" (1979), the answer is a resounding no. "Litany" is written in a purposefully confusing and ambiguous structure to challenge readers to question their understanding of truth and reality.
As the poem twists and turns, never following one definite track, Ashbery argues that nothing is certain and that consciousness is learning to live within that uncertainty. Examining themes surrounding the passage of time, "Litany" critiques traditional definitions of its titular word and urges readers to question what they have been taught to repeat as truth.
John Ashbery's "Litany"
Ashbery's long poem "Litany" opens his eighth collection, As We Know (1979). "Litany" is famous for its orchestrated chaos and celebration of ambiguity: the poem features two columns of text that, according to the author's note, "are meant to be read as simultaneous but independent monologues." Ashbery famously performed a reading of "Litany" with James Tate, Ann Lauterbach, and Dara Weir for students at the New School's Ashbery Celebration, a three-day tribute to the then-79-year-old poet, in 2006.
Ashbery died at the age of 90 in 2017. His husband, David Kermani, was also his bibliographer.
Ashbery wrote "Litany" after hearing a performance of Elliot Carter's music on piano and violin. The two instruments were situated at opposite ends of the stage, making the performance more like a conversation between two distinct voices. Ashbery later credited this music as an inspiration for the two separate but simultaneous voices in "Litany."
Fig. 1 - "Litany" was influenced by the simultaneous playing of violin and piano.
"Litany" has been celebrated and criticized by those in the literary world. Because the two voices are supposed to be read simultaneously, a singular reader can't read the poem precisely as Ashbery intended. The two voices sometimes play off one another but more often veer off into unrelated musings. They also do not conform to the same structure as one another, as a stanza on one side usually has more lines than its counterpart. Readers are left cycling back and forth between the two columns, trying to make sense of two distinct, ambiguous texts.
Don't worry if you struggle to understand Ashbery's message in "Litany"! Ashbery's poetry is well-known for its obscurity and obliquity, straying from logical thinking into dream-like meditation. It is nearly impossible to derive a clear meaning from Ashbery's text, as he purposefully attempted to drive his readers away from tradition and into free thinking. Ashery's poetry is characterized by its fragmentation and abrupt shifts in tone, further adding to its complexity and ambiguity.
Ashbery's writing was greatly influenced by abstract expressionism, an art movement that developed in 1940s New York City and spread throughout the Western world. Abstract expression celebrates the freedom and spontaneity of nonrepresentational art, which allows artists to depict reality in completely free-flowing and unbounded ways.
The abnormal structure of "Litany" is characteristic of Ashbery's unique style of writing poetry. A postmodernist poet, Ashbery enjoyed toying with literary conventions to create unique, ambiguous poetry that pushed the boundaries of the acceptable. Ashbery was known for his propensity to write lines of poetry that twisted and turned into seemingly unrelated musings. His poetry is purposefully ambiguous and confusing. Ashbery was notorious for bringing meaning to the seemingly meaningless and forcing his readers to question everything they thought they knew about literature.
Postmodernism is a literary movement that arose in response to the Modernist movement in the mid-20th century. Postmodernism is characterized by metafiction, historical and political references, intertextuality, unrealistic plots, and unreliable narration.
"Litany" Definition
Why did Ashbery title his 70-page poem "Litany"? Traditionally, a litany is a series of petitions recited in a church or other formal setting. The clergyman leading the service would raise a petition and the congregation would reply similarly with a fixed response. Throughout the poem, Ashbery calls readers to question what they think they know and become suspicious of what they accept as truth. To this end, Ashbery may be critiquing how litanies have traditionally called people to repeat requests without thinking for themselves or questioning what they have been told.
Fig. 2 - The word "litany" has its roots in religious and formal ceremonies.
In literature, litany has developed into a poetic form of its own. In keeping with its original uses, litanies are often written as repetitive series that respond to themselves. Ashbery again toys with that definition as his "Litany" veers off into many different directions instead of reflecting on itself. Although the two columns sometimes echo one another, more often than not, the ideas do not repeat themselves, instead venturing into new ideas and unknowns.
In general, Ashbery rejects the traditional understanding of a litany and the idea that humans can ascertain ultimate truth and knowledge. Instead, he argues that consciousness is one endless struggle to draw conclusions in an ever-changing world. The meaning of "Litany" isn't to stumble upon the truth; it is to realize reality is slippery and elusive.
In an interview with New Yorker editor David Remnick, Ashbery once said,
I wanted the two columns to be presented together. It's written with the idea that one is hearing two different voices... I told the audience that the point of doing this was that there would be an awful lot that they would miss, and I intend that." 1
"Litany" Poem Examples
Although the poem "Litany" rejects mindless repetition, there are a few examples where the two speakers repeat similar ideas, as in a litany. But even these examples of repetition hint that trying to find absolute meaning is futile. One of the voices says,
These traumas
That sped us on our way
Are to be linked with the invisible damage
Resulting in the future
From too much direction,
Too many coils
Of remembrance, too much arbitration." (Part I)
Several pages later, the other voice echoes,
...Under
The intimate light of the lantern
One really felt rather than saw
The thin, terrifying edges between things
And their terrible cold breath.
And no one longed for the great generalities
These seemed to preclude." (Part I)
Both voices are haunted by the "traumas" and "terrifying edges" of trying to make sense of a senseless world. In the end, "too much direction" and "great generalities" are detrimental to the speakers and must be avoided. Generalities clamor to be heard, but they do more harm than good for the speakers. Ashbery implies it is better to live in uncertainty than to vainly and endlessly hunt for the illusion of certainty.
There are also times throughout the poem when the words themselves repeat and make it so the ideas of one voice seem to flow into the other. Consider the second stanza for each voice:
| Voice One | Voice Two |
| "Like having wine and cheese.The parents of the townPissing elegantly escape knowledge Once and for all. The Snapdragons consumed in a wind Of fire and rage far over The streets as they end." | "Over the whole town,Its scenery, whateverCould be happeningBehind tall hedgesOf dark, lissome knowledge." |
The second voice's first line ends with the word "town," which is quickly echoed in voice one's second line. This echoing allows the voices to connect in new ways and build off one another, even as the speakers continue on two very different paths. For example, the litany makes it sound like, put together, "the parents of the whole town piss elegantly behind tall hedges while the snapdragons are consumed in a wind of dark, lissome knowledge." The disparate yet interconnected voices allow the poem to twist and take on more shape as the two voices ebb and flow into one another.
Again, this cycle of connecting and disconnecting throughout "Litany" reflects the central message that there is no one universal truth and that trying to find it amidst a constantly changing world is futile and exhausting.
"Litany" Poem Analysis
"Litany" can be a complex poem to read—not because of the word choice, but because the relationship between the two speakers is unclear and exists in a state of flux. It is often uncertain if the two speakers are actually talking to one another or are entirely separate musings. Most of the poem reads as an orderless cacophony of ideas that flit from speaker to speaker.
The two voices often blend, creating one conjoined, interrelated series of ideas. Sometimes one speaker has more lines while the other trails off, leading to emphasized, solo lines. The occurrence of solo parts is also random, as both speakers have solos and neither voice overpowers the other.
Ashbery also creates a conversation between two distinct voices in his 1977 poem “Fantasia on ‘The Nut-Brown Maid.’” The speakers are labeled "He" and "She" and are much more differentiated than the speakers in "Litany."
The poem also exists in a state of limbo between reality and fantasy until it becomes impossible to know the difference between what's real and what's being used for poetic effect. For example, the first speaker opens by talking about
The simple things
Like having toast or
Going to church..." (Part I)
The first speaker's everyday, mundane imagery situates the stanza in the real world. It is not a world full of glamor or surplus but rather one of familiarity and humility. At the same time, the other speaker talks about the
...haze that casts
The milk of enchantment." (Part I)
In this very first stanza, the two contrasting realities are presented. But that doesn't mean the first speaker is firmly situated in the real world while the second veers into fantasy. Both contain fantastical and mundane elements, adding another layer of ambiguity to the text. Like the speakers' seemingly unstructured relationship, the ideas of the poem flow in waves from general to specific and from "real" to fantastical, once again reinforcing the notion that existence is defined by uncertainty.
"Litany" Theme
Aside from the overarching theme that nothing can be known for certain, the speakers in "Litany" contemplate the passage of time in all its forms—experience, history, and death. The passage of time is evident in the changing seasons:
All the barriers are loaded
With fruit and flowers
At the same time
The leaves stumble up to
Intercept the light one last time
Outnumbering the sheaves,
Even the ants on the anthill" (Part I)
The passage of time is also evident in human memories:
Hands where it took place
Moving over the nebulous
Keyboard: the heft
Now invisible, only the fragments
Of the echo are left
Intruding into the color,
How we remember them." (Part I)
Neither speaker attempts to fight back against time, for they view it as inevitable and unstoppable. The passage of time is the one thing both speakers repeatedly return to throughout the poem, as it is the world's only guarantee. One of the speakers says, "death is really an appetite for time," while the other states,
All life
Is a tale told to one in a dream
In tones never totally audible
Or understandable, and one wakes,
Wishing to hear more, asking
For more, but one wakes to death..." (Part I)
Litany - Key takeaways
- "Litany" was written by John Ashbery and published in 1979.
- It has a unique structure, with two columns of text meant to be read simultaneously.
- Unlike a traditional litany, Ashbery's "Litany" rejects repetition and the belief that things should stay the same.
- The complicated structure highlights Ashbery's challenge to rethink what we accept as the truth and reality.
- Another major theme in "Litany" is the passage of time, which is the only true constant in the world.
References
- "JOHN ASHBERY in conversation with DAVID REMNICK." Bennington Review. https://www.benningtonreview.org/john-ashbery.
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