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.