"Museum Piece" by Richard Wilbur

Richard Wilbur
      New York City, 1921. The United States was blessed with one of the undoubtedly best American poets of the century: Richard Wilbur. Richard grew up in NYC during the Jazz Age. Hs whole life practically revolved around literature seeing that both his dad and grandfather were both important editors. In college Wilbur enjoyed writing stories, editorials, and poems and showed great interest in journalism. After returning from World War II, his poetry was transformed. Wilbur wrote profoundly, sharing his life experiences and wisdom by stanza. Wilbur was recognized nationally for his literary achievements and earned the National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize, and was named the Poet Laureate.Wilbur also writes children's stories and is a celebrated text translator.
        
 "Museum Piece"

The good gray guardians of art
Patrol the halls on spongy shoes,
Impartially protective, though
Perhaps suspicious of Toulouse.

Here dozes one against the wall,
Disposed upon a funeral chair.
A Degas dancer pirouettes
Upon the parting of his hair.

See how she spins! The grace is there,
But strain as well is plain to see.
Degas loved the two together:
Beauty joined to energy.

Edgar Degas purchased once
A fine El Greco, which he kept
Against the wall beside his bed

     In this four stanza work, Wilbur criticizes society's compulsion to denigrate all forms of art by providing a scene in an art exhibit. I got the sense that Wilbur feels this way towards poetry as well, but didn't want to write about poetry because then the message becomes far too obvious. If Wilbur wrote of his disdain for the judgmental  platform in literature, critics and other audiences would have scoffed at him. The literary community would assume he just can't take criticism or that he's some liberal bookie who fears opinion. Wilbur uses the "good gray guards" to mock the critical society in art. He uses the alliteration to simplify and degrade their sophistication in a sense. He alludes to other artists such as Degas and El Greco to not only showcase his knowledge of the art world but also to illustrate an example.  Wilbur delivers his thesis in the last stanza, delivering the message that all artists have their own unique styles, therefore, they can not be categorized by medium, nor compared to one other.