Poetry.docx
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Poetry.docx
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Poetry
Poetry
I
INTRODUCTION
Poetry, form of literature,spokenorwritten,thatemphasizesrhythm,otherintricatepatternsofsoundandimagery,andthemanypossiblewaysthatwordscansuggestmeaning.TheworditselfderivesfromaGreekword,poesis,meaning“making”or“creating.”Whereasordinaryspeechandwriting,calledprose,areorganizedinsentencesandparagraphs,poetryinitssimplestdefinitionisorganizedinunitscalledlinesaswellasinsentences,andofteninstanzas,whicharetheparagraphsofpoetry.Thewayalineofpoetryisstructuredcanbeconsideredakindofgarmentthatshapesandclothesthethoughtwithinit.Theoldestandmostlongstandinggenresforclassifyingpoetryareepic,alongnarrativepoemcenteredaroundanationalhero,andlyric,ashortpoemexpressingintenseemotion.
Throughout its long historypoetryhasreliedonevolvingrulesaboutwhatapoemis,withnewkindsofpoetrybuildingonearlierkindstocreategreaterpossibilitiesofexpression.Inthe20thcenturypoetshaveincreasinglyusedthelanguageofeverydayspeechandcreatednewformsthatbreaktheusualrulesofpoetry,suchasitsorganizationinlineunits.Yettosurpriseareaderandevokearesponse,thenewhastobeseenincontrasttotheold,andthuspoetrystilldependsuponareader’sdepthofknowledgeaboutthepoeticpracticesofthepastforitseffectiveness.Thoughmuchpoetryisinwrittenform,itusuallyrepresentsaspeakingvoicethatisnotthesameasthepoet’s.Insomelyricpoems,thisvoiceseemstospeakaboutindividualfeelings;inepicpoems,thevoiceseemstospeakonbehalfofanationorcommunity.Poeticvoicesofallkindsconfronttheunspeakableandpushthelimitsoflanguageandexperience.The20th-centuryAmericanpoetMichaelPalmercharacterizesthisaspectofpoetrywhenhewritesplayfully,“Howlovelytheunspeakablemustbe.Youhaveonlytosayitandittellsastory.”Atitsdeepestlevel,poetryattemptstocommunicateunspeakableaspectsofhumanexperience,throughthestillevolvingtraditionsofanancientandpassionateart.
Poets throughout the ageshavedefinedtheirart,devisedrulesforitscreation,andwrittenmanifestosannouncingtheirradicalchanges,onlytohaveanotherpoetaltertheirdefinition,ifnotdeclarejusttheopposite.“Poetryisthepurificationofthelanguageofthetribe,”wroteFrenchpoetStéphaneMallarméattheendofthe19thcentury.But20th-centuryAmericanpoetWilliamCarlosWilliams,just50yearslater,wouldcallforpoemswritteninalanguagesonatural“thatcatsanddogscanunderstand.”Increasinglyduringthe20thcentury,poeticlanguagehasreflectedaresponsetosevereandagonizingcircumstances.Romanian-bornpoetPaulCelan,whoseparentswerekilledinaconcentrationcampduringWorldWarII(1939-1945)andwhowashimselfimprisonedinaworkcamp,wroteinGerman,whichheviewedasthelanguageofhisNazitormentors.MuchofthedifficultyofCelan’scomplex,mysteriouspoemscomesfromthetensionhefeltbetweenpoetryasasourceofbeautyandorder,andthemeaninglessnessandviolenceofhisexperience.Writinginthelanguageofhisoppressors,hedramatizedthistensionbyusingfragments,inventedwordsandpuzzlingstatements.
While most poets facecircumstancesfarlessextremethanCelan's,other20th-centurywritershavealsostruggledwiththemanyassociationslanguagealreadycarrieswithit.Oneexperimentalgroup,wellrepresentedamongAmericanandCanadianpoets,knownasLanguagepoets,seekstofreethewordfromwhattheyconsidertobetheconstraintsofthegrammaticalsentence,atasktheyviewasapoliticalactionagainstWesternculture.Whilemostpoetsdonotcriticizelanguagetothisextent,manyfacenewchallengesinattemptingtomakethelanguageofpoetryreflectthespeed,complexity,andconfusionoflate20th-centurylife.
II
EXTRAORDINARYLANGUAGE
One characteristic thatmakespoetrydifferentfromordinarylanguageisthatitusesmanykindsofrepetition.Onekind,calledpoeticmeter,isessentiallytherepetitionofaregularpatternofbeats.Inpoemsorganizedbylinesofsyllabicmeters—inwhicheachsyllablehasabeat—thenumberofbeatsandthenumberofsyllablesarebothrepeated.Accentualpoetryreferstopoemsorganizedbytherecurrenceofasetnumberofaccentsorstrongerbeatsperline.Inpoetrywritteninaccentual-syllabicmeters,boththenumberofbeatsandnumberofsyllablesrecurinasetpattern(seeVersification).Themostcommonlyusedaccentual-syllabicmeterinEnglishlanguagepoetryisiambicpentameter,inwhichunaccentedandaccentedsyllablesalternateinlinesoftensyllables.Otherkindsofrepetitioninpoetryincluderhyme,therecurrenceofsoundclusters;assonance,theechoingofvowels;andconsonance,theechoingofconsonants.Manyearlypoemsincludedrefrains,therepetitionoflinesorwholephrases.Otherolderformsofpoetry,suchastheFrenchvillanelleandtheMalaypantoum,haveprescribedintricatepatternsthatareformedbytherepetitionofcertainlinesandtherhymingofcertainlines.TheProvençalsestinafeaturesasetofsixwordsthatendlines(end-words),repeatedinadizzyinglycomplexpattern.
The range of effects createdbythepoeticlinevariestremendouslydependingonitslength,itspatternsofrepetition,andwhetherthesentencestopsattheendoftheline(end-stopped)orcarriesovertheendoftheline(enjambed).ManyoftheearliestexamplesofOldEnglishpoetryfeatureanaccentuallinewithfourequallystrongbeats,withthreeofthefourstressedwordslinkedbytherepetitionofsounds,calledalliteration,andastrongpause,calledacaesura,inthemiddleoftheline.InthefollowinglinesfromtheOldEnglishepicpoemBeowulf(writtensometimebetweenthe8thcenturyandlate10thcentury),thewordswithastrongaccentconnectedbysimilarsoundsareinboldfacetype.Thecaesurasaremarkedwithadoubleslash(//).
...onthelastofhisharryings,//HygelactheGreat,
ashestoodbeforethestandard//astridehisplunder,
defendinghiswar-haul:
//Weirdstruckhimdown;
inhissuperbpride//heprovokeddisaster
intheFrisianfeud.//Thisfabledcollar
thegreatwar-kingwore//whenhecrossed
thefoamingwater.
(Beowulf,trans.MichaelAlexander)
A
RhythmandMeter
Iambic pentameter, themostcommonmetricalpatterninpoetrywritteninEnglish,alternatesweakunstressedandstrongstressedsyllablestomakeaten-syllableline(weakstrong/weakstrong/weakstrong/weakstrong/weakstrong).WithitsresemblancetotherhythmicpatternoftheEnglishlanguage,evenafairlystrictiambicpentameterlinecanresultinthesurprisinglynaturalrhythmoftheselinesbythe19th-centuryEnglishpoetChristinaRossetti:
Wefoundherhiddenjustbehindthosescreens,
Themirrorgavebackallherloveliness.
Aqueeninopalorinrubydress,
Anamelessgirlinfreshestsummer-greens,
Asaint,anangel—–everycanvasmeans
Thesameonemeaning,neithermorenorless.
(“InanArtist'sStudio,”1896)
The removal of only twosyllablesfromeachlineresultsintheverydifferentfeelandpaceoftheeight-syllabletetrameterline:
OldWomeninyourelbowchairs,
Whonowwillbeyourfenceandshield,
Whenwintryblastsandcuttingairs
Arebusyinbothhouseandfield?
(WilliamWordsworth,“Elegy,”1815)
With two less syllables,thesix-syllabletrimeterlinemovesevenmorequickly:
Thebeachishot,thefronds
ofyellowdwarfpalmsrust,
thecloudsarecloseasfriends,
theseahasnotlearnedrest...
(DerekWalcott,“Beachhead,”1986)
B
Parallelism
Not all lines of poetrymakeametricalpattern.Takinghiscuefromthelong,loopingflowofthepoetryoftheKingJamesBible,19th-centuryAmericanpoetWaltWhitmanoftencraftedhislinestogolongerthantensyllables,sometimescreatingsentencepatternsbyrepeatingwordorderwithslightvariationratherthanrepeatingthepatternofsyllabicstressorthenumberofwords:
Housesandroomsarefullofperfumes,theshelvesarecrowdedwithperfumes,
Ibreathethefragrancemyselfandknowitandlikeit,
Thedistillationwouldintoxicatemealso,butIshallnotletit.
(from“SongofMyself,”1855)
In the first line of thissegment,“theshelvesarecrowdedwithperfumes”isaso-calledsentence“rhyme”with“Housesandroomsarefullofperfumes”becausethetwophrasesfollowasimilarwordorder.Inthenextline,“andknowit”“rhymes”inasimilarwaywith“andlikeit.”
Whitman’s break with regularmeter,hisrepetitionofsentenceparts,andhislongerlinegreatlyinfluencedotherNorthAmericanpoets,aswellasLatinAmericans,includingChileanpoetPabloNerudaandPeruvianpoetCésarVallejo.Thesentencepartrhymesareboldfacedbelow:
...whenthewheathardensitslittlehip-jointsandliftsitsfaceofathousandhands,
Imakemywaytothegrovewherethewomanandthemanembrace...
(PabloNeruda,“BeingBornintheWoods,”1958;trans.PabloNerudaandW.S.Merwin,1973)
Why the rope, then, ifairissosimple?
Whatisthechainfor,ifironexistsonitsown?
CésarVallejo,theaccentwithwhichyoulove,thelanguagewithwhichyouwrite,thesoftwindwithwhichyouhear,onlyknowofyouthroughyourthroat.
(CésarVallejo,Untitled,1937;trans.ClaytonEshlemanandJoseRubiaBarcía,1978)
C
Rhyme
In addition to creatingbalancedrhythmsorcadencethroughtheuseofmeter,poetsgiverichnesstotheirlanguagethroughshadingsofsound,orchestratingthemusicalqualityofvowelandconsonantsthroughthewordstheyuse.Perhapsthemostfamiliarformofsoundpattern
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