Like many writers, John Ashbery's first ambition was to be an artist. He attended school to be a painter and spent years practicing his art before becoming a serious poet. This attention to art is evident in much of his work, as the title of his 1972 collection of poetry is Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. The book is a compilation of self-portraits, be they of the poet himself, or of characters he embodies. Ashbery carefully considers color, shape, and composition in each image he describes, especially in his poem “Worsening Situation.” This attention to art is just one way in which Ashbery distinguishes himself from other poets.
“Worsening Situation” begins with the speaker referencing a non-specified “he”: “Like a rainstorm, he said, the braided colors / Wash over me and are no help” (1-2). This ambiguous use of a pronoun leaves the door open for the reader to interpret who “he” really is. The speaker goes on to talk about “[t]his severed hand,” who is “ever / A stranger who walks beside [him]” (4, 6-7). In the first lines, the poet could be referring to words he got from another, or, more likely, he is writing the words of his hand.
Ashbery's imagery begins with the poem-the first line, references “a rainstorm” and “braided colors,” making his point with little explanation and visuals that capture the reader instantly (1-2). Ashbery embodies the concept of uselessness in the idea of the rainstorm and in the next visual: “one / At a feast who eats not, for he cannot choose / From among the smoking dishes” (2-3). The reader pictures a man sitting before tables and tables of food, entirely discontent for his inability to select a fare he favors. The hand Ashbery personifies “[s]tands for life” (5). This is the point at which the reader begins to piece together that the curse of the poem is the burden of being a writer. The mention of the hand points toward the act of writing, and the lines that follow demonstrate the alienation a writer faces due to the honesty he finds in pen and paper.
“[D]ark-hatted charlatans / On the outskirts of some rural fete, / The name you drop and never say is mine, mine!” The speaker here exhibits the paranoia that comes with honesty. The contrast of heavy paranoia and the lightness of a local festival is extreme; it shows the pure enjoyment a writer can make himself completely oblivious to in his self-involvement. In his suspicion of everyone around him, the speaker begins to point the finger: “Some day I'll claim to you how all used up / I am because of you” (11-12). These lines explain the writer's state of mind-he feels used and abused by the public. He writes for people, about people, then discovers that he gets criticized and ostracized for the art he creates.
The speaker mentions distractions from this state of discontent-“annual games,” “occasions / For white uniforms and a special language / Kept secret from the others”-but falls back into the darkness in which he dwelt before (15-17). He “can't seem to keep it from affecting [him], / Every day, all day” (19-20). The persistence of this distrust holds the writer, keeping him from day-to-day relaxation, “[r]eading until late at night, train rides / And romance” (21-22). Description and imagery are Ashbery's tools to describe the struggle of the writer in society and his general inability to ever really fit in.
The second stanza deals more directly with the opposition the writer faces from his audience. He tells the story of a man calling one day and leaving a message which says, “'You got the whole thing wrong / From start to finish'” (24-25). The writer now comes face-to-face with someone who openly disagrees with his statements of the world. He gives no response to the man's initial statement, but the message continues
“[T]here's still time To correct the situation, but you must act fast. See me at your earliest convenience. And please Tell no one of this. Much besides your life depends on it" (25-28)
Through statements like “you must act fast” and “[m]uch besides your life depends on it,” the caller is threatening the writer. This threat is a common reflection of society's reaction to anyone making a shocking, entirely honest statement. The public often can't handle the truth, so the writer doesn't seem surprised by the caller's response.
