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--


A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds. (It is probably safe to assume this is not referring to a flock of geese or ducks.)

A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs. (The imagery here is brilliant. It implies the passing of time while time itself has stopped. It seems as though Macleish is implying that a poem should cause the reader to get lost in time.)

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. (I have highlighted this section that appears to be a chiasmus. This is the middle of the poem and would therefore be considered the most important part. If so, Macleish is telling us that the most important thing that a poem is, is timeless or something the reader can get lost in.)

A poem should be equal to:
Not true. (Macleish seems to say that a poem should not spell out the exact scenario or thing that is the subject. He seems to say that, instead, a poem should have images and use words that, when understood, have a meaning and convey the feelings that the poet desires to share.)

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. (This seems to be a poem about the essence of a poem, not the specific elements that describe what is in a poem.)


Policy claim: Macleish should not have been so obscure with some of his imagery and comparisons in his "Ars Poetica."

Definition claim: According to what Machleish says in his "Ars Poetica," a poem is more than just the words on the page, but a poem has so much more to it.

Comparison claim: Alliteration is similar to a rhyme, with the same sound at the beginning of the words instead of at the end.

Evaluation claim: Macleish's "Ars Poetica" is full of good policy claims about the essence of poetry.

Causal claim: Macleish's strong feelings about poetry are what caused him to write his "Arts Poetica."