The Paper Nautilus

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1961

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Background

Authorial Context

Marianne Moore is “one of American literature’s foremost poets” (“Marianne Moore.” Poetry Foundation.), recognized for her work as a Modernist poet in the Naturalist movement. She was a leading literary figure of her time, running in the same social circles as William Carlos Williams, T. S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound, to name a few. “The Paper Nautilus” first became available to readers in the early 1940s, although it is unclear where. It was then published in 1967 in The Complete Poems of Marianne Moore, a controversial publication because Moore made decisions and changes to poems to which some readers reacted negatively.

Elizabeth Bishop, a close friend and pupil of Moore’s, gifted her a paper nautilus shell, which she credits as being the subject of the poem. Moore’s background in biology and histology, both of which require a curiosity for the natural world, give her an eye for observation from both a scientific and naturalistic perspective, utilizing “a style and theory of representation based on the accurate depiction of detail” (Oxford Languages). “The Paper Nautilus” does this with an intimacy that appeals to both a sense of emotion and persistence, exploring devotion and separation affectionately close and also from a distance.

Literary Context

Naturalism is a 19th-century movement that encompasses various disciplines. In literature, it rejects Romanticism in favor of realistic depictions of humankind and the environment, often using detachment and social critique through a scientific lens. Moore’s poetics aligns with Naturalism, and “The Paper Nautilus’’ deviates from traditional form poems that ascribe meaning to an animal religiously, even though the paper nautilus motif is found in older works such as Lord Byron’s “The Island,” or “The Chambered Nautilus” by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Moore’s ability to explore classical tropes through a modern lens is especially present in “The Paper Nautilus” due to her use of allusions and the “type of extreme realism” she utilizes when describing the attributes of the paper nautilus.

Moore’s contributions to literature didn’t end with poetry. Her prose writing covered topics such as visual arts, music, fashion, and sports, among many other topics. In fact, Moore wrote the liner notes to I Am The Greatest!, Muhammed Ali’s record. This shows Moore was not only revered in the literary world but as a prominent figure of American culture.