Innocence is Bliss? Embracing Wisdom in Stephen Dunn’s “Elegy for My Innocence”

"Elegy for My Innocence" by Stephen Dunn

You always stumbled in,
came out smelling
not quite like a rose.

Your most repeated gesture:
the blush.
You didn't know how to hide.

I do not miss you, but experience
is the guest
who only knows how to stay.

You, at least, were built to go,
which is why you can be loved.
I remember everything you craved.

Interesting, how you were diminished
by whatever you got. Sex,
knowledge, you kept going up in flames.

Each year you became
a little more dangerous,
eyes wide, the same poor reflexes

for pain. I last saw you
in Texas, 1963. No need by then
for a goodbye. Yet I've heard

that at the end of a long passage,
a lifetime, something like you exists,
terrifying and desirable,

and that no one who hasn't sinned
ever arrives. Innocence,
we could be such friends

if that were so. I'd start out now
if I didn't know
the lies told in your name.

In Stephen Dunn’s poem “Elegy for My Innocence,” the speaker addresses his/her Innocence as a person, personifying and explaining their waning relationship. After the turbulent atmosphere of the 1960s in which the Civil Rights movement took violent turns and Lee Harvey Oswald publicly assassinated the young President Kennedy in Texas, the speaker realizes Inno-cence has completely vanished from his/her life. However, the speaker, although feeling nostal-gic over his/her lost innocence, also feels proud of the experience he/she has gained, and there-fore accepts Innocence’s absence. The speaker understands that Innocence never could have stayed in his/her life, admitting, “You…were built to go” (10). The confession evokes a defeatist tone, asserting that everyone’s innocence will disappear at some point, despite one’s efforts to preserve it. The speaker alludes to these useless efforts in lamenting, “we could be such friends/ …if I didn’t know/ the lies told in your name” (27, 29-30). Ironically, because so many indi-viduals have lied to themselves about their painful experiences in an attempt to maintain their blamelessness, the speaker feels that they have corrupted the entire concept of ‘innocence.’ Yet the speaker has wisely learned to embrace his/her sensitive memories, as indirectly characterized when he/she states, “I do not miss you… experience/ …only knows how to stay” (7, 9). He/she reflects upon his/her new insight with pride, knowing “that no one who hasn’t sinned” has had to sacrifice their virtue for wisdom (25). Through this confidence, Dunn urges those afraid of losing their innocence to instead welcome new experiences in order to gain more knowledge over time.