Poem Scansion Breakdown
But just two lines....
Today I want to break down Frank O’Hara’s famous poem “Steps.” This is a bite-sized editorial to introduce ideas rather than to deep dive. Some poets will balk at the idea of a scansion breakdown of a free verse poem. Hold my beer. We will largely just focus on the first two lines of the poem.
First, read the poem:
_______________________________________________________________
How funny you are today New York
like Ginger Rogers in Swingtime
and St. Bridget’s steeple leaning a little to the left
here I have just jumped out of a bed full of V-days
(I got tired of D-days) and blue you there still
accepts me foolish and free
all I want is a room up there
and you in it
and even the traffic halt so thick is a way
for people to rub up against each other
and when their surgical appliances lock
they stay together
for the rest of the day (what a day)
I go by to check a slide and I say
that painting’s not so blue
where’s Lana Turner
she’s out eating
and Garbo’s backstage at the Met
everyone’s taking their coat off
so they can show a rib-cage to the rib-watchers
and the park’s full of dancers with their tights and shoes
in little bags
who are often mistaken for worker-outers at the West Side Y
why not
the Pittsburgh Pirates shout because they won
and in a sense we’re all winning
we’re alive
the apartment was vacated by a gay couple
who moved to the country for fun
they moved a day too soon
even the stabbings are helping the population explosion
though in the wrong country
and all those liars have left the UN
the Seagram Building’s no longer rivalled in interest
not that we need liquor (we just like it)
and the little box is out on the sidewalk
next to the delicatessen
so the old man can sit on it and drink beer
and get knocked off it by his wife later in the day
while the sun is still shining
oh god it’s wonderful
to get out of bed
and drink too much coffee
and smoke too many cigarettes
and love you so much
_______________________________________________
This is a ragtime rush of New York’s daily moments. He uses informal metrical palindromes and end-stops with similar syllables to achieve his own feel.
Lines 1 and 2 are:
“How funny you are today, New York / like Ginger Rogers in Swingtime.” New York and swingtime are unrelated yet also metrical cousins because of their syllabic cadence.
Notice how the stresses match the subject topic (something O’Hara is wildly famous for, and good at doing).
“How funny you are today, New York”
You could mark it:
/ = stressed
x = unstressed
/x /x x x x / / /
A rising accumulation of emphasis that breaks for the proper nouns.
“like Ginger Rogers in Swingtime”
Approximate stresses:
x GIN | ger RO | gers in | SWINGtime
x / x / x x /
The rhythm becomes lighter and more dance-like, which is fitting given the reference. You can do this for the entirety of the poem, and it’s good practice! See how the stresses validate or cause friction with the topic of the line.
On a topical note, he can utilize current events and celebrity names easily, without falling into the trap that some poets fall into, which is writing reactionary or political poetry that will not stand the test of time. Part of the reason why I like this poem is that my parents made me watch black-and-white movies growing up, so I feel a kinship in knowing the names and faces of the celebrities he mentions. That isn’t the case for all readers, and I recognize that.
He gives us a slice-of-life diorama that seems to almost keep going even after the poem ends. The hurried caffeine and nicotine-infused rush in the end 5 lines - not only makes sense with his free-verse narrative of a day in New York, but it also lends a lens to the rest of the poem. A sort of frenetic energy that pervades the attitude of the author’s day. That could only be accomplished through this particular form and freedom. He embodies his mood through the poems' enjambment and lack of capitalization in lines.
It’s almost as if the speaker is fumbling, stuttering, and rushing to speak through their own heightened and golden retriever-like mood. It is yet another example of how narrative free verse poetry can beckon readers to remember when they themselves have occupied similar spaces. Frenzied rushes of love and appetite that usually come on the heels of life stages that include less-than-healthy sleep schedules. O’Hara shamelessly includes the qualifiers “too much” and “too many” in a recognition that this rush isn’t healthy at all, but frankly, it’s all that he has currently in front of him. He is willing to live the free-spirit manifesto bare-chestedly, in full clarity of what others think of it.