The Paper Nautilus

“The Paper Nautilus” by Marianne Moore is a modern-day ode written in free verse. The poem is about a paper nautilus, a small arthropod or octopus with the ability to create a paper-like shell to hold her incubating eggs. The humans in the poem are fallible, while the paper nautilus grounds the poem in concrete details and observations. Through intense observation of the paper nautilus as she watches over her eggs, the speaker takes the reader on an intimate tour of the incubation and hatching, the attachment and separation, and the devotion and freedom. Like other Naturalist writers who focused on animal or nature poems to express or observe greater truths, Moore in this poem also explores maternal instinct and devotion, as well as the process of creation and art.

The poem does not follow a typical or strict rhyme scheme, but it does adhere to a form of five stanzas at seven lines each, and a mostly consistent syllabic pattern in each stanza. Some of Moore’s diction choices provide juxtaposition, adding to the tension in the poem; for example, the paper nautilus shell is so essential to the survival of her offspring, but its “thin glass,” a “perishable / souvenir” (Lines 7 & 8-9) of a shell, means that it is vulnerable. This creates both an atmosphere of constant danger as well as an opportunity for the paper nautilus to completely devote herself to her offspring as only she knows how. The poem’s lyric moments, like “devil- / fish, her glass ram’ shorn-cradled freight” (Lines 18-19), are juxtaposed with its more static syllabic lines of description, like “eats until the eggs are hatched” (Line 15).

The first stanza compares the humans and the paper nautilus, and the shell is introduced as having an unadulterated purpose, which sets the nautilus apart from humans by asking two rhetorical questions that are not meant to be answered in the poem:

For authorities whose hopes

are shaped by mercenaries?

Writers entrapped by

tea time fame and by

commuter’s comforts? (Lines 1-5)

These questions center the attention onto the paper nautilus, which sets the tone: The speakers presents readers with something more than simply a description of an animal—it’s something comparatively superior.

In the second stanza, the paper nautilus guards the shell and her eggs, despite her hunger. Moore uses intriguing images in Stanza 3, describing the paper nautilus as a “devil- / fish” (Line 18) or ray, and Hercules, a Greek mythological figure. Breaking the line at the word devilfish is a severe enjambment, making the word devil stand out alone. The devil and Hercules are references to supernatural human-like beings with powers, emphasizing the paper nautilus’ super abilities in human-like terms.

The first three stanzas also give glimpses of a recurring theme of writing, where the words “paper” in paper nautilus and descriptions of “white…smooth…surface” (Lines 10-11) all evoke the process of writing on a blank page. The poem incubates on a page, like the eggs in the shell. The crab that defeats Hercules in the original legend appears in the fourth stanza, but here, unlike Hercules, the shell is freed as the eggs are freed. The paper nautilus succeeds in her task, even if it also means she is now separated from that which she was so devoted to. Stanza 5 ends on another Greek mythology reference, with the speaker comparing the shell and the Parthenon horse to each other as a “fortress” of “love” (Lines 34, 35).

Even though the paper nautilus is in an unforgiving position, her maternal instincts are doted on in this poem. The speaker evinces adoration for the paper nautilus, as well as the adoration the paper nautilus has for her offspring. Despite the dangers the paper nautilus and her eggs are up against, despite the fragility of the shell, the poem responds with “hope” (Lines 1, 9), “loyal[ty]” (Line 22), being “free” and “freed” (Line 26), “love” (Line 33), and “strong […] trust” (Line 35). Ultimately, the poem is about nature’s ability to create and destroy, and how being devoted to the process of creation, to writing, observing and recognition, is worth the challenge.