UNDERSTANDING POETRY

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Miranda Tyler
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1 UNDERSTANDING POETRY A pem s subject matter is whatever the pem talks abut. The theme f a pem, n the ther hand, is its "idea", its generalized cntent, which it is pssible t state with varius degrees f generality. The theme f a pem is part f its meaning, just as its subject matter. But neither subject matter nr theme nr bth tgether make the whle meaning. The whle meaning f a pem is the whle pem as it stands, and nthing less. The meaning f a pem is illustrated by the pem s speaker and audience, the tne, meter and sund, as well as many ther devices. A. The mst imprtant single factr in a pem is its speaker. Of curse, a pem is always spken by the pet, but when we lk mre clsely at the petry, we have t allw fr a mre immediate speaker. In sme instances, the speaker may be simply a vice. Often the speaker is much mre than a vice, and then whever the speaker is becmes a cntributr t the whle meaning f the pem. The persnality f the speaker becmes imprtant t the meaning f the pem. The persnal situatin in any pem is whatever the speaker f the pem is reacting t. This situatin will help us t mre fully understand the meaning f the pem. The speaker f the pem speaks t sme kind f audience. The nly prblem is that f deciding whether the audience is a persn r persns imagined in the pem, r a grup f hearers r readers altgether utside f it in shrt, us. The speaker may vary frm a persn imagined in the pem t a vice altgether utside f it in shrt, the pet. B. The tne f a pem, like its meaning, is the cnsequence f all its elements sunding tgether, i.e., the speaker, his situatin and his audience. C. Rhythm is dependent f the fact that certain wrds r syllables get a heavier stress than d ther wrds r syllables in the stream f speech, that there are definite rises and falls as the vice mves alng, and that definite kinds f pauses cut up the sund stream. Pets make it their business t arrange wrds s that their speech rhythms will accmplish tw things. a) the heightening f pleasure because we all enjy rhythm

2 b) the heightening r clarificatin f meaning The fllwing is a stry f a man wh gets hanged at the end f the pem titled "Eight O Clck". Hw des the language f the last tw lines imitate the actins f the clck befre striking and the actin f the trap dr thrugh which the cndemned man plunges? He std, and heard the steeple Sprinkle the quarters n the mrning twn. One, tw, three, fur, t market place and peple It tssed them dwn. Strapped, nsed, neighing his hur, He std and cunted them and cursed his luck. And then the clck cllected in the twer Its strength, and struck. (A.E. Husman) Frm the preceding example we can see that rhythm may supprt and clarify meaning. But rhythm may als please fr its wn sake, and then the principle that accunts fr the pleasure it gives is the principle f recurrence with change. Regular rhythmic recurrence in petry is called meter. Petic rhythm cmbines regular stress patterns with irregular stress patterns. Regularity mst ften is the result f sme definite underlying meter. Irregularity cmes mainly frm nrmal speech rhythms. Free verse is nt verse as we have been using the term s far. It wuld be better t call it a petic rhythm free frm verse free frm any kind f definite metrical pattern, althugh any free verse pem has ccasinal lines and phrases with bvius metrical regularity. Pattern in free verse is achieved in a number f ways: thrugh the repetitin f sunds, wrds, and grammatical structures; thrugh the paralleling f ideas; thrugh the use f special printing effects n the page. D. Like rhythm, sund is used in petry t give pleasure fr its wn sake and t enhance r clarify meaning. T create pleasure rather than distaste,

3 there must be change as well. The dminant frms f recurrence-withchange that are clsely related t rhyme, are: assnance (recurrence f vwel sunds); cnsnance (recurrence f cnsnant sunds); alliteratin (recurrence f initial sunds). Apart frm giving pleasure, sund in petry like rhythm may cntribute pwerfully t the meaning. In sme cases, and t a limited extent, the pet achieves this cntributin t meaning by actual imitatin. A few wrds called nmatpeic wrds have sunds that mre r less imitate their meanings, His ft n juts f slippery crag that rang. Devices f Cmpressin 1. Overstatement we emphasize what we mean by saying mre than we literally mean, r at least mre than what is literally true. "Wh says my tears have verflwed this grund?" 2. Understatement we emphasize what we mean by saying less than we literally mean, r less than is literally true. "Yes, quaint and curius war is..." 3. Irny and Paradx we intensify meaning by saying smething different frm what we mean literally r frm what is literally true. Paradx a cmpressed way f making a single truth grw frm tw elements that literally cntradict each ther. "Petry is language that tells us smething that cannt be said." (Edwin Arlingtn Rbinsn) Irny a. verbal We use when we exclaim, "Yu re a big help!" t smene wh has awkwardly kncked all ur bks ut f ur hands while he was stping t pick up ur hat.

4 b. situatin A man laburs all his life, denying himself every pleasure, t lay up a frtune fr his children t inherit, and then sees them all die befre his wn death. c. dramatic whenever a speaker in literary wrk says smething with an applicatin r a depth f meaning that we r thers see, but he des nt. King Duncan, in Macbeth, cmmenting n the treasn f ne f his subjects says, "There s n art t find the mind s cnstructin in the face," just as Macbeth, wh is ging t becme a traitr very sn, enters the rm. 4. Cmparisn a. metaphr a cmparisn in which ne thing is described as anther. "The rad was a ribbn f mnlight," (Alfred E. Nyes) b. simile a cmparisn in which the wrds "like" r "as" are used. "The stillness in the rm Was like the stillness in the air Between the heaves f strm." (Emily Dickinsn) c. allusin reference t peple, places, histrical events r t wrks f literature. "Nature and Nature s laws lay hid in night: Gd said, "Let Newtn be!" and all was light." (Alexander Ppe) d. juxtapsitin cmparisn achieved by placing the names f bjects side by side in such a way as t imply that the listener r reader shuld lk fr a cnnectin.>/li>

5 "The plwman hmeward plds his weary way, And leaves the wrld t darkness and t me." (T. Gray) e. pun a figure f speech which cmpresses the struggle f tw passins, tw ideals, r tw different wrlds. There was a yung fellw named Hall, Wh fell in the spring in the fall; Twuld have been a sad thing If he d died in the spring, But he didn t, he died in the fall.

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