The Good Life

While Tracy K. Smith’s poem is largely concerned with wealth and satisfaction on the surface, most of its subtle complications stem from its quieter fixation on memory. Before the explicit appearance of nostalgia, the poem introduces memory in its first simile of the “mysterious lover” (Line 2). The simile, describing the way “some people” (Line 1) discuss money, depicts a one-time lover who without announcing leaves and “never / C[omes] back” (Lines 2-3). While memory may not be an obvious topic of the simile, it is important to note that it depends on people speaking about this lover after the fact. In other words, the way some people discuss money is similar to the way they discuss the memory of a former lover. The central characteristic of this lover is that they permanently disappear, a characteristic which can only be applied to someone after the act of leaving has already taken place. The image functions only by understanding the “mysterious lover” (Line 2) through the lens of recollection. This also suggests that the “people” (Line 1) discussing money once had it and now lack it, and so any reflection on money by them will be characterized by memory.