On the Move

Youthful California motorcycle culture combines with existentialism to create a poem lauding the absolute human freedom to shape itself according to its own will and desires. Nothing is preformed or predestined: It is all up to what people can create for themselves. The primary requirement is to keep moving; one should never be content merely to stay still. The motorcyclists constantly on the move are therefore extended metaphors for a certain existential attitude about life. The original epigraph to the poem, not found in later editions, was “Man you gotta go,” which was taken from the 1953 film The Wild One, starring Marlon Brando. The epigraph is an expression of the rebellious, free-spirited motorcycle culture as Gunn found it in California.

In Stanza 1, the uncertainty and unpredictability of human life is contrasted with the instinctual life of birds—both individually and as a group. The blue jay in the bushes has a purpose known only to him, as does the group of swallows nesting in the trees. Birds know exactly where they are going; they have an instinctual purpose, so they always embody a kind of “poise” (Line 5). They offer a contrast to humans, for whom instincts are not enough.