Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The poem I adopted was Trumbull Stickney’s “Be Still. The Hanging Gardens Were a Dream.” A Poetry Foundation article I read called, “Trumbull Stickney,” discussed how Trumbull died at 30 and showed promise in his poetic craft but never fully came into his own distinct style before his death. This point in different words came up multiple times in the short biographical note and I was taken aback because that seemed somewhat cruel to say about his work.

I wasn’t able to read a lot of his work beyond the poem I was studying and had never heard of him prior to this activity, but I found the poem and him as a person to be rather interesting. Especially after reading a poetry analysis by AllPoetry which explained the poem as portraying “the ephemerality of human existence and the futility of yearning for the past” considering Trumbull’s denouncing places and people of Western legends, the repeated “Be still” that they think is an urge for the reader to accept their own hopeless fate, and contemporary 19th century disillusionment and skepticism.

Admittedly on my first few reads of the poem before finding this analysis, I was somewhat lost trying to understand it. I picked it because I loved the beautiful language and references to places I’ve heard of in history and mythology classes, specifically the Hanging Gardens themselves which I understood as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the 7 Wonders of the World and, I always thought, a somewhat romantic story of Nebuchadnezzar having them made for his homesick wife. Beyond the solid images I had of those classic references, the confusing syntax, and abstract approach left me with only a vague impression.

Both the analysis and the biographical note stated that classical allusions were common for Trumbull, he seemed very taken with them throughout his career and I noticed the poem itself was at least somewhat adhering to Iambic pentameter, not classical in a Greek or Roman stance, but a classic meter for western poetry, so I saw that as a parallel too. The Poetry Foundation said this fixation of his could’ve come along because his parents were a college professor and the descendent of a governor, both well off financially and educationally. It felt like an unspoken argument was that from his access to good schooling and travel, he adopted the infatuation with the classics as a starting point for his poetic career. Unfortunately, I can’t for the life of me figure out when “Be Still: The Hanging Gardens Were a Dream” was published, but considering he was earliest published while in college, graduated in 1895, and died in 1904, in theory, it really couldn’t have been that long before the end of his life.

I  think his poem could be viewed as prophetic of his own premature end and stifled poetic career or even a commentary on a failed love considering the Poetry Foundation also references an affair he had from 1896-1899. For the death prophecy, I’m arguing that the visions he references as dreams, fleeting but beautiful while they last (The Hanging Gardens, Troy, Scamander Stream, Provence and Troubadour, Venice) could also refer to his aspirations as a poet wanting to create something comparable to legendary European cities, accomplishments, and myths (lines 1,4 5-6). The word Troubadour in particular caught my eye because I recognized it from a music appreciation class I took last semester, they were essentially lyric poets and singers from medieval France (line 5). He calls their existence lies and I wonder if it’s out of frustration for his own struggle to find his distinct poetic voice, or if it could be interpreted as prophecizing that he would never reach that ideal status. In lines 9, “Thou foolish thing, thou canst not wake” and 10 the “foolish thing” could mean his own resistance to waking up from the dream of what could’ve been despite knowing it’s impossible to achieve for himself. “Thy brain is plagued” in line 12 could also be talking about the strain his creative endeavors put on himself.

On the other hand with the affair theory, as I said, The Hanging Garden presumably referencing Babylon’s could be viewed as a catalyst of love which Trumbull denounces (line 1). He also talks of roses kissing Semiramis’ lashes, roses and kisses being romantic notions while Semiramis herself was known for being a wife and queen with legends explicating her relationships, and depictions as a very beautiful woman (lines 2-3). Troubadours were known for singing love songs in particular, which may explain the mention of them if we take this interpretation (line 5). Attention to describing hair, eyes, and sunsets in lines 6-7 also reminds me of romantic works. Trumbull talks of “tears [unable to] wedge thy soldered lids apart” which may be referring to the aftermath of his failed affair, while in the previous line, the “foolish thing” may be his own reluctance to let go of the relationship (lines 9-10). Instead, he says the tears assault his heart, the organ associated with love, as well as his brain, which would provide the motivation for the poem as an outlet for the pain his heartbreak causes him (lines 11-12). He may be calling himself “Blind with the light of life thou ’ldst not forsake,” for wanting to keep living in the fantasy of their love. While the “Error loves and nourishes thy soul” line may be playing with the word loves as a double entendre, the error being the affair, and his nourished soul possibly refers to the experience fueling his poetry (lines 13-14).

Knowing the time the poem was written or published and more context on his affair would make it a lot easier to tell which interpretation may be more applicable, but I think either are fun and feasible possibilities.

Works Cited

“Be Still: The Hanging Gardens Were a Dream by Trumbull Stickney.” All Poetry, All Poetry, allpoetry.com/Be-Still:-The-Hanging-Gardens-were-a-Dream. Accessed 21 Apr. 2024. 

Pryor, JJ. Hanging Gardens of Babylon. 26 Jan. 2023. Threw the Looking Glass, TLG, threwthelookingglass.com/hanging-gardens-of-babylon/. Accessed 21 Apr. 2024. 

Stickney, Trumbull. “Be Still. the Hanging Gardens Were a Dream By… | Poetry Foundation.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45238/be-still-the-hanging-gardens-were-a-dream. Accessed 21 Apr. 2024. 

“Trumbull Stickney.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/trumbull-stickney. Accessed 21 Apr. 2024.