The Sundays of Satin-Legs Smith: Clear Delirium

“Clear Delirium” as found in The Sundays of Satin-Legs Smith In Gwendolyn Brooks short poem “The Sundays of Satin-Legs Smith” the main character is presented in a third-person manner. As a reader, we have no way to tell what Smith is actually thinking or why he does certain things, but we must make judgements based on his actions. This type of lyric poetry shows Smith’s inner emotions and motivations. The narrator details Smith going through his Sunday routine. He wakes up, dresses, leaves his building, and does various activities in what seems like a normal day. Sundays are different for Smith, however, and are nothing like the rest of his week. Smith is experiencing a “clear delirium” and the poem portrays how he deals with it. Smith is manically depressed and his life thus far has left him beyond any sort of mental therapy. He uses his Sundays to put on a new persona named “Satin Legs” Smith and goes throughout his day doing things to make him forget his past all together. It is important to understand what the narrator means by a “clear delirium.”
In the most literal sense of the word, it means “sudden severe confusion and rapid changes in brain function that occur with physical or mental illness.” It is apparent our main character is suffering from some sort of mental illness. My interpretation is that Smith is suffering from a mild case of schizophrenia caused by severe depression. This case of “clear” delirium means that Smith is aware of his condition and purposely does something about it. The first three stanzas of the poem hold heavy evidence to make this claim. Smith wakes up and gets out of bed feeling different than he does other days. “And fine this morning. Definite. Reimbursed” (Brooks, 5). He feels not damaged, but definite. He has new energy and optimism, reimbursed. He meticulously plots out his Sunday plan in his head, focusing on making it eventful. Today will be different from the other days, and he finally rises in what the narrator calls a “clear delirium.” Smith has had a rough upbringing. This topic is brought up constantly throughout the poem. Today, however, he has had no upbringing. He has no past. He has no grudges, negative experiences, pain or fears. “He sheds, with his pajamas, shabby days./And hisdesertedness, his intricate fear, the/Postponed resents and the prim precautions” (9-11). Smith not only sheds his pajamas, but “sheds” his past and identity of Smith. He becomes “Satin-Legs” Smith, a man completely different from the man he actually is. Smith is a subject of his environment. Everything that has happened to him in his life up until this Sunday where the poem is told has shaped him into the person he is today. The fifth stanza juxtaposes Smith and “Satin-Legs” Smith quite nicely. The narrater asks the reader if they would deny him of certain bath enhancers, almost asking if they would be cruel enough to deny him such items after all he has been through. “Now, at his bath, would you deny him lavender/Or take away the power of his pine?/What smelly substitute, heady as wine,/Would you provide? life must be aromatic” (12-14). The second half of stanza five goes on to give evidence of the narrater’s claim of denying Smith his luxurious bath enhancements. This is where we get the first hint of Smith’s rough upbringing and shows why Smith has become a product of his environment. “But you forget, or did you ever know,/His heritage of cabbage and pigtails,/Old intimacy with alleys, garbage pails” (26-27). Growing up on a diet of cabbage and pigtails is quite the opposite of this luxurious afternoon “Satin-Legs” is making for himself. “Down in the deep (but always beautiful) South/Where roses blush their blithest (it is said)/And sweet magnolias put Chanel to shame” (29-31). I interpret this line as a sign Brooks wrote to show that even though Smith is trying to create this dream world for himself, he cannot escape his past entirely. These bath scents remind him of the native flowers of the South, and pull him back into delirium slightly. He quickly snaps out of it and continues on with his Sunday. “No! He has not a flower to his name” (32). This sense of “clear delirium” is in full effect at this point in the poem. Smith has jumped back and forth between characters and at this point has fully become “Satin-Legs” Smith. He now moves along the poem as a new person. “He sees and does not see the broken windows” (92). He obviously sees the broken environment around him, but also shrugs it off as Sundays are his days to not see things of that nature. Full “delirium.” This is not uncommon behavior for someone like Smith. Can you blame him? Everybody has a way of dealing with their problems, unfortunately some do it in a way that is healthier than others. “People are so in need, in need of help./People want so much that they do not know” (57-58). The narrater has stepped out of narrating completely and gives a worldly comment on how everyone has their problems and needs help, possibly sympathizing with Smith. This break in stanzas and repetition of the words “people” and “need” are used to add emphasis to these important lines. The first line in stanza 10 is worth heavy analysis. “These kneaded limbs receive the kiss of silk” (62). This is where the title comes from and seems like what the whole poem bases itself on. Smith has had a rough life and has been through a lot. As a reader we only see a few instances in the poem that give us a glimpse into his past, but it is apparent all was not well. This has left Smith with “kneaded limbs” or limbs that have constantly been worked or have had pressure on. They are broken and worn down. This Sunday (or all Sundays) has alleviated some of this pressure as all these routines give them the “kiss of silk,” a fine, soft fabric that is gentle and forgiving. Sundays are his escape. Is behavior like this healthy? Not particularly. The poem comes full circle with it’s first line “Inamoratas, with an approbation” (1) as “Satin-legs” meets his female counterpart for lunch, whom the reader is lead to believe is some sort of escort or call girl. She has it all: heels, fake Chinese fingernails, and multiple layers of lipstick. An imaginary Sunday would be nothing without a beautiful women to experience it with you, right? We’re also told that Smith takes her here every Sunday, which is just more evidence to show that she is either being payed for this or is getting some other form of compensation. In conclusion, this theme of “clear delirium” is very apparent in “The Sundays of Satin Legs Smith,” and continues to evolve and progress as the poem moves forward. We see our main character slowly “shed” his skin and past to create, from what he imagines, the perfect day. He does so by creating a new persona; he becomes someone he is not so he can forget his problems. With subtle hints at his past, Brooks leads readers to believe this type of behavior is due to a mental illness, most likely due to his troubled past.