Rosenberg’s ‘The Wasps Nest’ is a poem that on a literal basis tells the tale of a pair of wasps building their nest in a persons mailbox and the struggle of that person about whether to destroy the nest. Yet Rosenberg uses the idea of the nest as a microcosm of the human reality to explore the fragility of our existence in a world where we think ourselves masters of all that we survey. Rosenberg uses a sharp sense of contrast to crate a struggled tone within the poem. This is intended to examine Rosenberg’s juxtaposition of strength and weakness, his strong sense of setting and powerful onomatopoeic description in the body of this essay.
Rosenberg’s key technique is his use of contrast between strength and weakness to expose our inherent fragilities. This contrast is tellingly revealed when he talks of “the fragile cradles of love”, a metaphor which sums up the entirely of Rosenberg’s poem. There is a sense of strength in the image conveyed through the word “cradle”- it brings to the reader’s mind an idea of castles and physical strength that the walls and stone bring.
Yet this “cradle” is “fragile” – a word more commonly used to describe a glass object than stone, but which highlights that within this bastion of strength, where people appear to be in control of their own destiny, they are instead at their weakest. This idea is reinforced as Rosenberg is describing the idea of “love”- something that man should be in control of, because it is their emotion and often the bedrock of our lives, yet which every reader knows is just as fickle and unpredictable as anything else, something over which am has no control. This idea of weakness within apparent strength is the fundamental theme of the poem, which is a contrast highlight of the conflict between these two positions.
Indeed, Rosenberg creates this conflict when he establishes the wasps nest as a microcosm for the human world. His initial description of the wasps as “aerial tigers” gives them a sense of power and almost invulnerability. It is a vivid metaphor as the “tiger” is a powerful predator that to the reader exudes strength: it is something that seems invincible within its own world. And, perhaps, the wasps, too, are invulnerable within their world of insects: yet Rosenberg reminds the reader that this being of strength can be destroyed easily outside of its reality.
The poet states, quite emotionless, that “one blow could crush them”. The idea of the wasps strength is shattered; the sheer finality of the word “crush” gives a sense of utter annihilation to the reader- a feeling of the intense vulnerability of the wasps. This is highlighted further by the fact that all it would take is a “single blow”- such a small effort that the fragility of the wasps seems almost visible. Rosenberg has created a scenario whereby the interaction between strength and weakness seems obvious; a being may rule supreme within its own reality, but that does not grant it infinite invulnerability.
This juxtaposition is also evident in the sense of location within the poem, a key tool that Rosenberg uses to develop his theme. The first location is a “metal hold”, which seems like a place of strength, simply because of the fact it is made of metal, something which seems impervious to harm. But this setting of strength becomes one of weakness; the nest is built of “paper and mud”. Within the reader’s world, these are fundamentally fragile; both mud and paper seem so easily manipulated. The strength of the “metal hold” is reduced; what seems so solid is actually “insubstantial”- something which barely exists. It is a reminder through place of the conflict between strength and weakness.
It is also an idea that becomes more explicit when Rosenberg talks of it as the wasps “home”. A “home” has an implicit idea of strength; it is a place where, the reader fells, that inhabitant is the master of their own universe, because it is a “home”. The word has an intangible power; yet it is a quality tempered, because it is built from “paper and mud”. The wasps may be the master of its domain; but to us, its domain is fundamentally weak.
