#4 I Speak of the City

Octavio Paz’s poem “I Speak of the City” is a beautiful illustration of an unnamed city. I think he keeps it that way because it’s meant to be personal and familiar, the way two friends would talk about their hometown. He intertwines language of objective description, specific experiences, and pure abstract poetry as if the three were naturally inseparable, fused in essence, a three-in-one trinity of its own. He paints more than just pictures of a city, but evokes participation, bringing the reader to feel its life beyond cold, static cognitive images of its elements. I think that’s the appeal of this poem, as well as its power (and purpose). It brings us into the moment, to feel like we understand it and are a part of it and share in its significance, as opposed to observing it from the outside. That feeling of estrangement and dislocation from the living moment is what Paz touches on in his speech titled “In Search of the Present.” The “present” lives; it embodies the presence of reality—not reality in its technical sense, but referring to the place where significance and life flow. To be found in the present is to feel a part of that place, to feel alive and significant. Paz takes us there, into its city.