Christian Morgenstern - BIM BAM BUM poem

Heavy emphasis on the images is one of the great things symbolist poetry brought back to the spotlight in the latter half of XIX century. After years of being buried in the verbosity of romantic poetry, symbolism cut the fat and tried to get straight to the point. 

Despite that, symbolist approach managed to overstay its welcome and become a passe by the time XX century rolled in. Part of the problem was plain and simple misuse of images, they became nothing more than a mere garnish of the text, an outlet for the flowery language, the one used for furbishing instead of actually serving a thematic or narrative purpose in the text.

But it wasn't necessary a bad thing. Case in point - BIM BAM BUM.

BIMB BAM BUM is a poem by German poet Christian Morgenstern. It was first released in 1905 in a collection of tongue-in-cheek poems titled "Galgenlieder" (Gallows songs). It is short symbol-heavy poem that predates later developments of nonsense verse and Dada poetry. 

The poem ties together disparate splashes of images into a tight narrative knot peppered with occasional bursts of onomatopoeia. In a way, Bim Bam Bum is a textbook example of the symbolist poem done right - it compresses the narrative into distinct images with minimal connective tissue, gradually rolls itself out and lets the thematic undertones play on the perception of the reader without calling much attention to themselves.   

On the other hand, BIM BAM BUM is a fine showcase of how one can subvert the pretentiousness of the symbolist lyricism by constructing a poem that keeps the straight (and somewhat constipated) face while subtly going off the rails (right into "ad absurdum land") and tumbling upon itself in a prolonged tap dance routine capped with the pronounced dry clap in the end.

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BIM BAM BUM predates the way Dada functioned a decade later. Morgenstern's writing style was a great influence on the original Dada group. In fact, he was one of the trailblazers of that particular detached and disengaged style that was fully realized by the Dada movement from 1916 onwards - he set the blueprint the others had fully developed. 

In case of BIM BAM BUM, the details are all there, but the thing still serves the fancy. Above anything else, this poem is an exercise in realizing possibilities. The seething contempt for the environment that spawned it is not there yet but you can feel it in the air and it already smells funny.

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On the surface, BIM BAM BUM is like one of those vacuous image-heavy poems of Paul Valery. It is applie the most generic symbolist approach imaginable. 

The poem replicates epic heightened feels and overly relies on the archetypal imagery to get its message through. 

Usually, the result of such approach is a nonplus nondescript slapdash of the cliches bound by a bunch of words that sound great together. But BIM BAM BUM manages to transcend that by not really trying to succeed. It remains in an awkward meandering state. 

In other words, the poem is literally thrown together. The images seemingly fit together, but they go with one another like a square peg into a round hole. Something just refuses to click. 

However, this aspect is smoothened by the verbosity of the sentences they are placed in. So the images kinda fit together well, but don't really gel into anything comprehensible or even cohesive. 

On top of that you get string of comments that punctuate the narrative and ultimately deliver the finishing blow - "probably, it was going wrong all along. " with the sacramental "Oh, whatever..." thunderously rolling between the ears of the reader. 

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In terms of structure, BIM BAM BUM operates on a twofold scheme. 

First you get an image sequence that describes a specific action rolling out. Then the action is accentuated with a snarky comment in the second line. It belatedly adds a bit more nuance to the preceding images thus creating constant back and forth reconsidering of what was actually stated in the first line. 

The thing with these comments is that they ultimately undermine the poem's narrative. They expose the pointlessness of the very thing happening and by proxy the poem itself. It is astounding if you think about it.

Here's how it works. The poem is happening through an act of reading. It is causing some sort of impact, but it doesn't really result in anything particular except for the initial fact of a perceptive impact. 

In the end it all adds up to nothing but mental fuss of adding up the emerging information for no specific reason. Because this poem is basically a verbal indulgence. However, once it gets to the head - things change. The text evaporates and turns into bits and pieces that casually roll in and out in different combinations and permutations.