In the poem “Desire” by Molly Peacock, the author displays the uncontrollability of desire through imagery of aromatic incense. It can be assumed, since the poem’s title is “Desire,” that Peacock is describing the attributes of desire. In the lines, “It is the blind instinct for life unruled, / visceral frankincense and animal myrrh,” the author points out desire’s instinct-like behavior by comparing it to incense. Instinct is a feeling or action unguided by rational thought. Similarly, the path that the smoke from incense takes is completely unpredictable, and doesn’t flow straight up, or in any orderly fashion. This unpredictability is also supported in the lines, “It is…without the details of time’s experienced part- / fit-into-part-fit-into-part,” by emphasizing that desire does not follow the strict routine of time, and can do whatever it pleases. By saying desire is similar to “visceral frankincense and animal myrrh,” the author not only displays the pleasant feeling of desire by comparing it to the sweet aroma of incense, but also the uncontrollable nature of desire, like the smoke of incense.
Peacock also characterizes desire as an animal, or a pet to show how it can see past intellectual thought to reach the human’s simplest feelings of want. In the lines “It is…like a pet who knows you and nudges your knee with its snout,” the author compares desire to a familiar pet. From the action of “[nudging] your knee with its snout,” it seems to be using its nose to tell its owner something. Dogs, as an example, have a very good sense of smell; they’re able to detect many objects, actions, and even feelings before a human can. Perhaps the detection of feelings grows stronger the closer the pet is to its owner. The poem hints that desire is like a pet, though it acts off of instinct; it knows what the owner wants, even if, through rational thought, the owner disagrees. The author plays with the idea of listening to the human instinct without rational intervention, something that a pet is able to sense through. Even in the first line, “It doesn’t speak and it isn’t schooled, / like a small foetal animal with wettened fur,” it’s clear that desire is like an animal, not limited by complex thoughts, and makes decisions based purely off of survival instinct (e.g. a baby animal freezing with wet fur would do the first thing needed to survive) In the last lines, “[It’s] the drive for what is real, / deeper than the brain’s detail: the drive to feel,” Peacock really emphasizes the meaning of desire: something humans feel that’s not controlled by rational thought. From using examples of desire being like an animal, the author further conveys the ability of desire to know what its human really wants without rational intervention.
