Picking Apart a Poem

Here are some of my notes and annotations concerning “Ars Poetica”

A poem should be palpable and mute   

As a globed fruit, (Here is our first example of the common rhyme pattern for the poem.)

(Does this mean that a poem should be easily peeled?- As in, it should be something that someone could pick apart and discover?)

Dumb

As old medallions to the thumb,

(Not super sure what this means. I wonder if the author means dumb as in stupid or dumb as in speechless.)

Silent as the sleeve-worn stone (Here is the first example of the alliteration he uses in his comparisons.)

Of casement ledges where the moss has grown—

A poem should be wordless   

As the flight of birds.

(I like this one. Wordless could mean many things, but I would think it stands as “don’t add fluff to your poem, and don’t write things just to write things. Everything should have a purpose.”)

A poem should be motionless in time   

As the moon climbs,

Leaving, as the moon releases

Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,

Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,   

Memory by memory the mind—

A poem should be motionless in time   

As the moon climbs.

(These four stanzas take part in the longest example of what a poem should be. I wonder if he means that poems should be something in which should take our time reading. It’s almost as if, when we read poetry, time around us stops. If we read a poem the right way, the world, time, problems, worries, and struggles around us halt, and in these moments, we lose ourselves to the writings.)

A poem should be equal to:

Not true.

(This stanza throws me off my trail. This whole time he has been saying what poems should equal to more or less, so what does that author mean by this line?)

For all the history of grief

An empty doorway and a maple leaf.

(An empty doorway- a chance to start new?)

For love

The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea—

(I feel like the two lights above the sea refer to the sun and the moon- two constant things above the sea, just as love is constant.)

A poem should not mean   

But be.

(I would think that this is his main point of what poetry should do for someone. A poem shouldn’t be casually written or read, but it should be taken seriously, appreciated, inspiring. A poem should live within the heart of both writer and reader.)

Policy claim: Ars Poetica should inspire the reader to have a different view of what poetry is.  

Definition claim: Ars Poetica is more than a simple writing of poetry, rather it is a template of how we should view all poetic writings.

Comparison claim: The understanding of Ars Poetica is much unlike understanding film.

Evaluation claim: Ars Poetica does an excellent job at providing ways that one could decipher poetry.

Casual claim: The writing of Ars Poetica was caused from an experience that Macleish had with poetry.

Poetry Unfurled

Archibald Macleish's "Ars Poetica" (with notes and annotations)

A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit, (Like an orange?)

Dumb
As old medallions to the thumb,

Silent as the sleeve-worn stone (The alliteration with the "S" really helps bring sound of a hiss as the reader speaks softly.)
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown--

Poetry and Art

I went to the "Poetry Jam" that was held at BYU's Museum of Art last Thursday evening and it was not quite what I had expected. When I first heard of this event, I assumed that it was going to be a poetry slam held in the main atrium of the MoA. Instead, we walked around to different pieces of art that had inspired poems for some students and faculty. The poets would then read their poems while the audience was looking at the art.

Reading and listening to poetry in this setting helped give a visual for the inspiration of the poet. Many of the poems were just describing what the art looked like, the first few even sounded more similar to creative essays.

A few poems seemed to go beyond the basic description, to the story within the painting. There was one poem that went into issues of racism, sexism, and poverty. It then went in to the Atonement and the Savior, yet the painting was a simple one. This allowed the audience to look at the painting and try to see how it would influence the poet in such a way that she was able to see so much.

Breaking Down Billy Collins

Annotation of Billy Collins "Introduction to Poetry":

I ask them to take a poem           
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

(Obviously about a poem of his own, he asks or expects the people he allows to read it to handle it in a certain way, like a color slide)

The Poem's Poem

Archibald Macleish's "Ars Poetica" is, at it's heart, a poem about poems. But what does it say about the poem, as a genre?

1.  A poem should be palpable and muteAs a globed fruit,
   
   Dumb
   As old medallions to the thumb,
   
   Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
   Of casement ledges where the moss has grown--
   
   A poem should be wordless
   As the flight of birds.
   
   A poem should be motionless in time
   As the moon climbs.
   
   Leaving, as the moon releases
   Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,
   
   Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,
   Memory by memory the mind--
   
   A poem should be motionless in time
   As the moon climbs.
   
   A poem should be equal to:
   Not true.
   
   For all the history of grief
   An empty doorway and a maple leaf.
   
   For love
   The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea--
   
   A poem should not mean
   But be.
   
   
2. Well, based on this poem being titled "Ars Poetica," Macleish seems to be telling us that he will be trying to convey the essence of a poem.
3. As I read through Macleish's poem, he gives a list of images describing what a poem is and he associates attributes with the images. This poem is riddled with metaphors about a the stillness and the quiet that are part of the essence of poems. To literally read Macleish's "Ars Poetica" is to read a list of comparisons.
4. --
5. Macleish sets the poem in the night, outside, under the moonlight, surrounded by grass and trees. The night is young and passing by, but at the same time, the poem stops time.
6. Macleish leaves us with the answer to what he has been trying to convey: "A poem should not mean But be." In essence, there is not meaning to this poem. The question to ask is: "Is this poem what Macleish describes a poem to be?"
7. Alliteration and "Silence" seem to go together a lot in poetry. It is the same in this poem. Macleish says "Silent and the sleeve-worn stone" in his third couplet. When reading this aloud, the alliteration with the letter "s" begs for it to be read in an almost whisper, sounding like a hiss. "Leaving, as the moon . . ." is quoted twice, surrounded on both sides by "As the moon climbs." It causes me to think of the chiasmus, and it makes me wonder if this is the most important imagery included in the poem.
8.  --

Dissecting Poetry

Ars Poetica
BY ARCHIBALD MACLEISH

A poem should be palpable and mute 
As a globed fruit,
Dumb
As old medallions to the thumb,
Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown—
A poem should be wordless 
As the flight of birds.
                         *             
A poem should be motionless in time 
As the moon climbs,
Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,
Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves, 
Memory by memory the mind—
A poem should be motionless in time 
As the moon climbs.
                         *             
A poem should be equal to:
Not true.
For all the history of grief
An empty doorway and a maple leaf.
For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea—
A poem should not mean 
But be.

1. Reading this poem aloud certainly helped me realize the alliteration riddled inside.  Nearly every metaphor is the same letter as the attribute or adjective its described to.

2. I wasn't super sure what the title meant. I had to cheat a little and look up the phrase "Ars Poetica" to see what it could possibly mean. In my immediate google search, it seemed that the phrase is supposed to mean, "A poem should not mean, but be." This tells me that the poem will try to be its own message: it is going to be something that is to inspire others. It's to be real and genuine, not written just to be written. 

3.As a globed fruit, Dumb As old medallions to the thumb, Silent as the sleeve-worn stone Of casement ledges where the moss has grown—A poem should be wordless As the flight of birds.

A poem should be motionless in time As the moon climbs, Leaving, as the moon releases Twig by twig the night-entangled trees, Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves, Memory by memory the mind—A poem should be motionless in time As the moon climbs.

A poem should be equal to: Not true.

For all the history of grief An empty doorway and a maple leaf.

For love The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea—A poem should not mean But be.

4. The first sentence in the poem is simply stating what the poem should be like, perhaps in the eye of the beholder. I don't think that a single poem could be every thing that Macleish says it can be. Some poems may be dumb, or silent, or wordless, motionless, etc., but I don't think a poem could be all those things at once. 

I wasn't able to find sure answers about all the metaphors and examples drawn out in the poem. For some, I had to guess. The last line with, "two lights above the sea", I imagined that the author was talking about the sun and moon; one or the other is is over and watching the sea, protecting it, guiding it. 

5. Who - I don't think the poem is addressing any sort of who. The subject itself is a poem or poetry in general. 

What- I'm not sure that there is a distinct "what" for this poem. There is no main character with a task. There are simply examples of what poetry should be. In this case, there are many "whats"; they could be each example given by the author. Perhaps the main what is the final line of the poem: a poem should not mean, but be. 

When- I don't think a specific time is given. If I had to pick only one, I would suggest that the author is speaking of the night, since one of his longer examples talks of the moon rising in the sky. I imagine that each example is its very own "when and where". The leaning grass could be shown in early dawn. The two lights above the sea could be at dusk, with the sun falling, the moon rising, and the stars beginning to shine. The flight of the birds could be in the middle of the day- despite the chaos of the world around them, the birds silently fly through the day sky. 

Where- The poem is all over the place. With its many metaphors and examples of what poetry should be, it takes place in casement ledges, in the sky with the moon (and possibly the sun or stars, depending on how you see the final line), a doorway, and the leaning grass. 

6. I like to think that this poem is inviting the readers and authors of poetry to see each poem as one of his examples given. A poem may be wordless, or silent, or rising, or loving. Some authors may wish to write a certain may and some readers may desire to always see poetry in a certain light. The overall message of the poem is that poetry shouldn't be written just to be written- it should be something. It should do something for both the writer and the reader. 

7. The lines are enjambed. The whole first stanza is only one sentence, but it has seven lines to it. Reading over it, each line is a different (except for lines 2-3) from the other in their way of suggesting what a poem should be. Each line could be a different who, what when, where. I feel like this poem was not meant to be read very quick. Perhaps that is why the author decided to write it in the form that he did, so that he may slow the reader down and take each line at a time with careful consideration. There is also lot of alliteration, which helps the poem flow smoothly, despite its choppy appearance. 

8. The poem is divided into four couplets. There is not a ton of rhyming that one would certainly see in an "a-b-a-b" poem. There are random rhymes, some that compliment metaphors before or after, but there doesn't seem to be any sort of pattern. Because of this, if I'm not mistaken, the poem is written in free-verse. 

Responding to poetry

I was looking at the poem "Poetry Makes Nothing Happen"? By Julia Alvarez

1) Listening to a poem on the radio,
Mike Holmquist stayed awake on his drive home
from Laramie on Interstate 80,
tapping his hand to the beat of some lines
by Longfellow; while overcome by grief
one lonesome night when the bathroom cabinet
still held her husband's meds, May Quinn reached out
for a book by Yeats instead and fell asleep
cradling "When You Are Old," not the poet's best,
but still... poetry made nothing happen,

which was good, given what May had in mind.
Writing a paper on a Bishop poem,
Jenny Klein missed her ride but arrived home
to the cancer news in a better frame of mind.
While troops dropped down into Afghanistan
in the living room, Naomi Stella clapped
to the nursery rhyme her father had turned on,
All the king's horses and all the king's men...
If only poetry had made nothing happen!
If only the president had listened to Auden!



Faith Chaney, Lulú Pérez, Sunghee Chen--
there's a list as long as an epic poem
of folks who'll swear a poem has never done
a thing for them...except... perhaps adjust
the sunset view one cloudy afternoon,
which made them see themselves or see the world
in a different light - degrees of change so small
only a poem registers them at all.
That's why they can be trusted, why poems might
still save us from what happens in the world.

Understanding Poetry on a Deeper Level

In the poem "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins, he pokes fun at the fact that critics don't really enjoy poems, and instead prefer to "torture a confession" out of them in order to understand their meaning.
Listening to this poem, you can hear the humor and sarcasm in his voice as he describes in vivid detail how critics hit his poems with a hose in order to understand their meaning. In a casual way, he wants to point to the fact that he simply wants his poems to be enjoyed.

That has made all the difference

Sitting in English class in middle school, looking over this poem, it’s always intrigued me.  Something about it always made me want to read it over and over again.  At first glance, there’s the obvious forest imagery, that always reminds me of my times camping, my time in boy scouts, and the friends I’ve made there, or of the times I went hiking, and times I came across my own two paths in the wood.                                                             

            http://ey.westside66.org/exploring-the-road-not-taken-by-robert-frost/

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, 

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as  could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

               

The Love of a Lighthouse

I have always been incredibly moved by the combination of poetry and music. This mostly takes place in a song written by various artists- The Beatles, Eagles, Weezer, and many more. Music is powerful on its own, without lyrics, and the combining of lyric or poetry to a song makes something that can at times leave me speechless.

Wrapping My Head around Poetic Media (Revised)

While I must admit that poetry has not always played a large role in inspiring or motivating my life, there are some notable exceptions. When I first began to be interested in poetry, I was introduced mainly through religious sources, like hymns, scriptures, and occasionally general conference talks. The most notable, or the one that had the greatest impact on me, was quoted at the end of a talk by Boyd K. Packer in October, 2009.

“With thoughtless and impatient hands,

We tangle up the plans the Lord has wrought,

And when we cry in pain He saith,

‘Be quiet, Man, while I untie the knot.’”

-Author Unkown

Listening to Poetry

There are so many different ways to experience poetry. I spent some time last week listening to poems on a list my college professor gave us. It was quite an experience.

There was one poem that just played music in the background while the video passed over the words in a jail cell. The words were written in what looked like blood. The effect was dark. It had the feel of some awful crime had presence there.

The poems that stood out to me the most, were the ones that were spoken with music in the background. The first one I listened to was spoken and shared with passion. It was powerful and carried a strong message. I was drawn in to the poem and was emotionally attached to it. I could connect and feel the power of it’s message.

I saw and heard multiple versions of “The Raven.” They were all a little creepy, with eerie music and an ominous speaker. One version was part of an episode of “The Simpsons.”

Music held a strong role in influencing how each poem affected me. When there was not music, I was less emotionally attached.

All in all, I feel like the poems held more power when I listened to them than they would have if I had just read them. That effect is dependent on the individual and how they think. I am one who would rather listen to the author read it. Words on a page can be misread, but listening to the author read allows for a more complete picture of the intended message.

Mind Games

In fifth and sixth grade, my class had to memorize the poem “Life’s Battles.” It didn’t mean much to me then, but over the years, I still remember it.

            If you think you’re beaten, you are

            If you think you dare not, you don’t

            If you like to win, but think you can’t

            It’s almost certain you won’t

Wrapping My Head Around Poetic Media

After viewing all of the videos left behind for this assignment, I was happy that I gained a lot of great perspectives of different ways in which poetry can be performed. I was an especially big fan of some of the more creative and outgoing examples, like Edgar Allen Poe in the Simpsons or  John Masefield's "Sea Fever" in Star Trek. There were a broad variety of topics discussed, and in this post I hope to break down and discuss some of my favorites.

One of the things mentioned in this post was how to portray a sense of professionalism with your posts. We see one example that is clearly amateur, which we can tell just by the grainy quality and lack of proper lighting. An example of a good amateur video and poetry reading can be seen in the video "Kairos" where a single lady with quality footage and good lighting reads an insightful poem that is successful even though it is not professionally done. What I took from this is that even if you don't have a professional camera crew, it is still possible to create your own inspiring videos and to express your creativity to others through poetry in a way that does not come of as poor quality or extremely "amateur."

Slam Poetry and musical adaptations of poetry both stuck out to me in the same ways. I saw them as being a lot like going to a concert. As a big fan of music, I have attended quite a few concerts, and I got the same kind of vibe while watching these videos. They are obviously meant to entertain, although I think there's a difference in the slam poetry performances, as these tend to include more elements of humor, I especially liked the scene from, "So I Married an Axe Murderer." Where he talks about the woman stealing his heart and his cat, it just had a very informal, light feel to it, which is a side of poetry I don't think a lot of people see if they don't have a lot of exposure to it. They see it more as the videos at the beginning, where the people are all tense and serious while quoting Shakespeare and trying to get people to fall in love with them.

Most of the videos at the end seemed to share similarities in that they were about sharing poetry in different video formats, and included everything from 3D to rotating swirls of texts, with beats in the background. These were all a little strange for me at first, and I personally haven't seen a lot of poetry shown in this kind of format. Despite that I thought it was still creative, and I think that there is certainly an audience for it, as the extra effects give the video personality, and the words are no longer just words, but rather images that can speak for themselves as well, giving the poem a second voice.

Poetry in Motion

The first video called “To This Day” was just a masterpiece of art, music and emotion. From the start of the video all the way to the end, every bit of animation flowed and connected with each other. A character falls off an edge and becomes a raindrop. That raindrop becomes a part of the drops raining down on the character. The rain and the character, in his sadness, opens up and shows his heart, in which it breaks and is rained on.  Everything was set in a reaction, like pushing a domino and watching all the others fall. This way on animating portrays one of the themes that the speaker is trying to convey- that a single event can cause a massive chain-reaction that goes beyond imagination. The kids that bullied the boy and his friend in the third grade probably didn’t see past their teasing, and despite their ignorance, their teasings had a terrible impact on the lives of the bullied.

The Simpsons performing “The Raven” written by Edgar Allen Poe is an excellent example of the way rhythm plays a great role in poetry. Reading “The Raven” by itself can be somewhat difficult with the difference in language from 1945 to 2018. I consider myself a musician and would hope that I have rhythm and despite all this, it’s hard for me to find it when I read that poem. The Simpsons were able to show a flawless reading of it and how the stressed syllables found in every line of the poem has an impact on the sentence and gives greater meaning to the word or words it’s stressing. One of the final lines is the man, driven mad by the bird, saying that the raven, “still is sitting, still is sitting on the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door.” The Simpsons help show the rhythm in which that sentence was meant to be read.

I especially loved the singing of “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” by the lead singer from Pink Floyd. I think the idea of taking poetry and setting your own music to it is awesome. It can give a new perspective of how the poem can affect someone. Two people can receive the same poem differently, despite what the author wanted to say through it. Will one person write a minor and eerie melody, or a major and joyful chorus?

I think I’m going to try and do this now.