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.