What first struck me about Ross Gay’s ‘To the fig tree on 9th and Christian’ was the fact that there is physically no actual fig tree on the corner of 9th and Christian street in Philadelphia. The second, was that the entire, sprawling poem is all one sentence. Possibly the longest sentence I’ve ever read while also being split into lines of only roughly 4 words each. This lead me to wondering about two questions. The first being, what is the fig tree that Gay speaks about then? And the second being, why on earth is this entire poem a sentence long. These are my possible answers.
The fig tree emerges as an observation that the speaker is having while walking through Philly. It seems as though it is possibly a figment of his imagination (no pun intended) as he says in the opening lines of the poem that he is “tumbling through the city in my mind.” With the idea that the tree is totally imagined then we can assume it stands as more of a symbol than anything else. I see it most strongly as a symbol of community. There are palpable examples of appreciation as well as disregard for the tree throughout the poem. The first mention of the tree is of a woman sweeping beneath it. She cleans up the sidewalk so to prevent an injury of some old man walking and slipping on a fig that had fallen on the ground. The speaker supposedly asks the woman about the fig tree to which she replies, overwhelmed, to “take / as much as / you can / help me.” (Gay, American Poetry Review) The speaker could only take so many as he only had one mouth, two arms, and no bag so the woman wept, feeling as though she could not keep up with the tree, something that somehow became her responsibility. This elicited a response from the community. The poem turns vibrant as all these new people and experiences enter under the tree, taking its fruit. The poem almost explodes in this moment of unity on the street corner. The speaker then reflects on the tree in its history and its geographic comfort zone. Through this the tree no longer is a symbol of community, but an even richer symbol of an immigrant community, more specifically the Italian immigrant community that set roots in Philadelphia on the corner of Christian and 9th street.
That intersection is the start of the Italian market, lining the streets are artisanal shops run by old Italian families as well as bustling open-air markets. This tree is the ultimate symbol of a migrant community as it is a foreigner itself. Yet, it is able to thrive in this new place and provide for its new home. The most striking lines in the poem to me is “this is true / we are feeding each other / from a tree / on the corner of Christian and 9th / strangers maybe / never again.” (Gay, American Poetry Review) It’s the final few lines of the poem and finally the end to the sentence. This struck me, as in it I think I find the answers to the two questions I posed toward at the beginning. The tree encapsulates the immigrant story; overflowing with bounty and promise, while still underappreciated and demonized in the case of the clumsy old man. It allows readers to see the permanence of these communities, and those that work to uphold them and their traditions. It provides for the city around it as well. The fig tree feeds all these people that flock to it, just as the Italian market does for the people of Philadelphia. Its where you go for authenticity and family, as well as quality and craftsmanship. Speaking from personal experience, the cheese and pasta is other worldly, and the olive oil just might make you a better person. But joking aside and structurally speaking, just like the sentence, the community is extensive and sustained. It’s the center of Italian heritage in Philadelphia spanning 10 city blocks beginning in the mid to late 1880s and continuing as one of the largest and longest running open air markets in the U.S.
It is unsurprising that Gay chose this community to be represented in his work. This community sits directly in the midst of one of Americas oldest cities. Philadelphia exists as this microchasm of its larger American context, in its connection to the founding of the country and the establishment of strong communities of migrants. Gay seeks to express that, much like the sentence and the tree, these communities are ongoing and will continue to bring people together by way of nourishment – of the soul and of the belly.
Here is the website for the Italian market. The history of the place it really interesting on the “About” tab.
https://www.italianmarketphilly.org
Me in awe of all the pasta in a shop at the Italian Market
Great reading of these two fascinating elements: the phantom fig tree and the extended, unpunctuated sprawl of this poem. I like your justification for there not being an actual fig tree-how it serves as more of a metaphor for community, care, and generosity. Perhaps there if a fig tree in the neighborhood after all? I’d be curious…. In any case, I like how you also connect this to the syntax of the poem. While there seem to be pauses where a sentence might end, you’re right that there is no punctuation really making that clear (or grammatical). I like how you suggests that this strategy mirrors the coming together of the people, their close contact, how it is hard to differentiate one from another, just as we can’t always discern where once sentence might start and another begin here. Great reading!
Your reading of this poem was very different from mine, which I attribute to your knowledge of Philadelphia. It is so interesting to learn that this fig tree is just a figment of the speaker’s imagination. I have a bad habit of taking such small details in poems like a fig tree to be facts, but your knowledge of the immigrants that live in this community brings to mind that this imaginary fig tree is actually so much more; it is a representation of a group of people who have uprooted from their native soil and replanted themselves into a new home. Without your insider information, I would not have seen that the fig tree could symbolize a gathering place like the Italian market you describe. Looking at this poem as a commentary on the positive effects of cultural diversity as you did in this close reading solidifies Gay’s connection and diversions from Whitman. It emphasizes the modernity in Gay’s voice while echoing Whitman’s sentiment of the Complexities of growing America.
There is a fig tree! It is not right at the corner, but it is in between 9th and 10th on Christian. Creative license here!