Name:
The attempt to define poetry--the reasons for writing it, the experience of reading it, the public's conception of it--is a frequent topic of poetry. The following six poems address this definitional issue.
WHILE READING
The attempt to define poetry--the reasons for writing it, the experience of reading it, the public's conception of it--is a frequent topic of poetry. The following six poems address this definitional issue.
WHILE READING
1. Identify serious elements, comic elements, and ironic elements in each of these poems (go through each poem and mark each section). You can do this through highlighting, underlining, or marginal notes.
2. Identify where these poems present a reader's perspective and where they present a writer's perspective. Again, label them clearly.
AFTER YOU READ
What rhetorical strategies do these poets adopt? Match the six poems with one of the following descriptions each (we will go over them in class... on Monday).
What rhetorical strategies do these poets adopt? Match the six poems with one of the following descriptions each (we will go over them in class... on Monday).
Poem | Rhetorical Strategy and Definition |
Fantasy | |
Psychoanalysis | |
Skepticism | |
Concession | |
Recusal | |
Observation |
1. How serious are the answers these authors give in their poems on poetry (write an overall, evaluative statement in complete sentences)?
a. "Poetry" by Marianne Moore (1887-1972)
b. "Autobiographia Literaria" by Frank O'Hara (1926-1966)
c. "Eating Poetry" by Mark Strand (born 1934)
d. "Summer" by Lucien Stryk (born 1924)
e. "Some People Like Poetry" by Wislawa Szymborska (Poland, born 1923)
f. "The New Poem" by Charles Wright (born 1935)
2. Which of these poems function rhetorically (not expecting a reply, for effect) as an apology for poetry? Explain.
Poetry
Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore
I, too, dislike it: there are things that are important beyond all
this fiddle.
Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one
discovers in
it after all, a place for the genuine.
Hands that can grasp, eyes
that can dilate, hair that can rise
if it must, these things are important not because a
high-sounding interpretation can be put upon them but because
they are
useful. When they become so derivative as to become
unintelligible,
the same thing may be said for all of us, that we
do not admire what
we cannot understand: the bat
holding on upside down or in quest of something to
eat, elephants pushing, a wild horse taking a roll, a tireless wolf
under
a tree, the immovable critic twitching his skin like a horse that
feels a
flea, the base-
ball fan, the statistician--
nor is it valid
to discriminate against 'business documents and
school-books'; all these phenomena are important. One must
make a distinction
however: when dragged into prominence by half poets, the
result is not poetry,
nor till the poets among us can be
'literalists of
the imagination'--above
insolence and triviality and can present
for inspection, 'imaginary gardens with real toads in them', shall
we have
it. In the meantime, if you demand on the one hand,
the raw material of poetry in
all its rawness and
that which is on the other hand
genuine, you are interested in poetry.
this fiddle.
Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one
discovers in
it after all, a place for the genuine.
Hands that can grasp, eyes
that can dilate, hair that can rise
if it must, these things are important not because a
high-sounding interpretation can be put upon them but because
they are
useful. When they become so derivative as to become
unintelligible,
the same thing may be said for all of us, that we
do not admire what
we cannot understand: the bat
holding on upside down or in quest of something to
eat, elephants pushing, a wild horse taking a roll, a tireless wolf
under
a tree, the immovable critic twitching his skin like a horse that
feels a
flea, the base-
ball fan, the statistician--
nor is it valid
to discriminate against 'business documents and
school-books'; all these phenomena are important. One must
make a distinction
however: when dragged into prominence by half poets, the
result is not poetry,
nor till the poets among us can be
'literalists of
the imagination'--above
insolence and triviality and can present
for inspection, 'imaginary gardens with real toads in them', shall
we have
it. In the meantime, if you demand on the one hand,
the raw material of poetry in
all its rawness and
that which is on the other hand
genuine, you are interested in poetry.
Autobiographia Literaria
Frank O’Hara
When I was a child
I played by myself in a
corner of the schoolyard
all alone.
I hated dolls and I
hated games, animals were
not friendly and birds
flew away.
If anyone was looking
for me I hid behind a
tree and cried out "I am
an orphan."
And here I am, the
center of all beauty!
writing these poems!
Imagine!
I played by myself in a
corner of the schoolyard
all alone.
I hated dolls and I
hated games, animals were
not friendly and birds
flew away.
If anyone was looking
for me I hid behind a
tree and cried out "I am
an orphan."
And here I am, the
center of all beauty!
writing these poems!
Imagine!
What does O'Hara seem to be saying about the formation of a poet? What kinds of people do you think become poets?
Eating Poetry
Mark Strand
I
Eating Poetry
Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.
The librarian does not believe what she sees.
Her eyes are sad
and she walks with her hands in her dress.
The poems are gone.
The light is dim.
The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.
Their eyeballs roll,
their blond legs burn like brush.
The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.
She does not understand.
When I get on my knees and lick her hand,
she screams.
I am a new man,
I snarl at her and bark,
I romp with joy in the bookish dark.
Mark Strand
I
Eating Poetry
Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.
The librarian does not believe what she sees.
Her eyes are sad
and she walks with her hands in her dress.
The poems are gone.
The light is dim.
The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.
Their eyeballs roll,
their blond legs burn like brush.
The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.
She does not understand.
When I get on my knees and lick her hand,
she screams.
I am a new man,
I snarl at her and bark,
I romp with joy in the bookish dark.
Explain how "Eating Poetry" is constructed around a controlling metaphor.
Explain how "Eating Poetry" contrasts two ways of enjoying poetry. Does Strand indicate a preference for one or the other?
Summer
Lucien Stryke
My neighbor frets about his lawn,
and he has reasons--
dandelions, crabgrass, a passing dog.
He scowls up at my maple, rake
clogged and trembling,
as its seeds spin down--
not angels, moths, but paratroopers
carried by the wind,
planting barricades along his eaves.
He's on the ladder now, scaring
the nibbling squirrels,
scattering starlings with his water hose.
Thank God his aim is bad
or he'd have drowned
or B-B gunned the lot. Now he
shakes a fist of seeds at me
where I sit poeming
my dandelions, crabgrass and passing dog.
I like my neighbor, in his way
he cares for me. Look what
I've given him-- something to feel superior to.
Some People Like Poetry
Wislawa Szymborska
Some people--
that is not everybody
Not even the majority but the minority.
Not counting the schools where one must,
and the poets themselves,
there will be perhaps two in a thousand.
Like--
but we also like chicken noodle soup,
we like compliments and the color blue,
we like our old scarves,
we like to have our own way,
we like to pet dogs.
Poetry--
but what is poetry.
More than one flimsy answer
has been given to that question.
And I don't know, and don't know, and I
cling to it as to a life line.
-translated by Walter Whipple
Explain the unique structure of "Some People Like Poetry" considering literal and figurative sections (you can begin by labeling them. parts are figurative).
**Literal: Taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory
**Figurative: Departing from a literal use of words; metaphorical (think back to the portrait poem… you were describing something without actually talking ABOUT that thing through making comparisons).
**Literal: Taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory
**Figurative: Departing from a literal use of words; metaphorical (think back to the portrait poem… you were describing something without actually talking ABOUT that thing through making comparisons).
The New Poem
Charles Wright
It will not resemble the sea.
It will not have dirt on its thick hands
It will not be part of the weather.
It will not reveal its name.
It will not have dreams you can count on.
It will not be photogenic.
It will not attend our sorrow.
It will not console our children.
It will not be able to help us.
Charles Wright
It will not resemble the sea.
It will not have dirt on its thick hands
It will not be part of the weather.
It will not reveal its name.
It will not have dreams you can count on.
It will not be photogenic.
It will not attend our sorrow.
It will not console our children.
It will not be able to help us.
Do you think Wright is presenting poetics (an actual attempt at expression) or mock-poetics (making fun of poetry) in "The New Poem"? Explain.
What things do you think people typically expect from poetry?
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