Have you ever decided to sit down and watch a movie with a friend or family member and you get about 3/4 of the way through, only to find out something came up and the movie cannot be finished? Say this movie was a total cliffhanger and not seeing the end of the film would drive you crazy until the next time you decided to sit down and view it again. For most people this would be total travesty.
Ok, let's take it one step further. have you ever been so caught up in a movie or piece of literature that had the makings of a great ending but instead the piece just ends? It leaves the reader with so many questions and they are left in total confusion.
For some of the poems written by William Carlos Williams, they tend to give off this exact feeling for the reader. "The Red Wheelbarrow", for example, is a very short promising statement or poem. "So much depends upon the red wheelbarrow, glazed with rain beside the white chickens." Sure, this is a complete thought, but what is he writing about? What is he trying to do with just this one statement? What happens to the red wheelbarrow? Some people would go insane over lines like these because the poem doesn't give off any more information than it needs to. William's takes a step out from norm when he writes little statements like these and turns people's heads in the process.
This style of poetry is really popular in today's culture. In my opinion, poetry in this style urge a person to think rather than everything set out before them. Don't get me wrong, most poetry of any style gets me thinking in any which way. But I guess the fact that most of the thinking relies on the abrupt ending leaves me to question more about the purpose rather than what the figurative language expressed in other works. Jennica Harper writes a poem by the name of "Every Good Boy" that has a very modern tone to its alliteration. She expresses the subject of the title and then leaves the reader with an ending that leaves the reader wanting more. The poem is really a bunch of generalized statements but its the way the author ends the poem that wants the reader wanting more.
http://lemonhound.com/2014/04/23/jennica-harper-three-poems/
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Muriel Rukeyser has been an interesting writer to read in the last week. First off, "The Book of the Dead" proved to be as intense as the hype I read behind it. It was extremely fascinating the way the story was set up within the poem. Starting with the first section of the road when it reads "Past your tall central city's influence, outside it's body: traffic, penumbral crowds, are centered removed and strong" and "These roads will take you into your own country. Select the mountains and follow rivers back, travel the passes." All though there is one of the shorter parts of the overall poem, it does a great job at setting up the background of everything. It's a very random way to start out a poem because it feels like a story within a story. Then finally it reaches the point where it reaches the actual story. So this intro of the direction of how to get to this so called town really hooks the reader into the story of what happened in this town in West Virginia. It then breaks down into a dialogue between reporter and locals. It gives a report of the accident that happens within the town. This strategy of the section "Statement: Philippa Allen" gives a closer look to the poem and gives the reader a realistic look of the events. The testimonies throughout show the raw emotion of these workers and what they went through.
It was super hard trying to find a poet that can be compared to this style, especially modern day. This poem is written in a very unique way and not many people have tried to imitate it to its point. I guess one of the connecting points would be the testimonies of the workers written throughout. One poem that caught my eye that was written very recently is by Karen Connelly and is called "The Children. It's basically written as a testimony of the unborn lives that scream out for life and how special life really is. I would say this is almost considered a testimony of her opinion. In comparison, both of these tell a story within a story. One may go a lot more in depth, but Connelly's work does portray a certain outcry that had similar use within Rukeyser's work.
http://lemonhound.com/2014/04/17/karen-connelly-the-children/
It was super hard trying to find a poet that can be compared to this style, especially modern day. This poem is written in a very unique way and not many people have tried to imitate it to its point. I guess one of the connecting points would be the testimonies of the workers written throughout. One poem that caught my eye that was written very recently is by Karen Connelly and is called "The Children. It's basically written as a testimony of the unborn lives that scream out for life and how special life really is. I would say this is almost considered a testimony of her opinion. In comparison, both of these tell a story within a story. One may go a lot more in depth, but Connelly's work does portray a certain outcry that had similar use within Rukeyser's work.
http://lemonhound.com/2014/04/17/karen-connelly-the-children/
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Studying these African American poets in class has definitely been interesting. In these few short weeks, I've learned how these poets used their opinion to control their writings. By this, you can feel almost feel the personal anguish and sorrow some of the poets had felt during this time period. Poetry simply does that to people. It's a scapegoat to putting all your deepest thoughts and feelings. I guess you could say that about blogging in todays generation even though some of it might not be as personal.
Langston Hughes was definitely an outspoken poet about what he believed. The themes he used within his poetry mirrored the direct emotions of the world he grew up in. The use of culture around this time period when he wrote his poetry or shortly there after was prevalent throughout his writings and he sent a huge message to his readers by doing so. He was so outspoken in his writing that people would maybe turn or shake their heads at it today.
A lot of the poems that were written showed not only the tragedy of the time period but also the personal heartache he had from society. But another thing I found very interesting was the depth of historical background that was written in his poetry. His poem "Negro" showed just that. Lines such as "Caesar told me to keep his door steps clean. I brushed the boots of Washington." and "All the way from Africa to Georgia I carried my sorrow songs. I made ragtime" showed how the times were changing for this group of people. It not only showed background but the intensive roots of where they came from.
I guess you could compare this kind of passion to Gertrude Stein's as she promoted feminism within her writings. This subject too was not easily the most accepted thing and the world and may have appeared controversial at times. You could almost take any modern era writer and see that they have some kind of passion that they feel needs to be expressed. Whether the reader agrees with it or not is not really their problem. If it causes some form of controversy then their works will be shown through publicity no matter what.
Langston Hughes was definitely an outspoken poet about what he believed. The themes he used within his poetry mirrored the direct emotions of the world he grew up in. The use of culture around this time period when he wrote his poetry or shortly there after was prevalent throughout his writings and he sent a huge message to his readers by doing so. He was so outspoken in his writing that people would maybe turn or shake their heads at it today.
A lot of the poems that were written showed not only the tragedy of the time period but also the personal heartache he had from society. But another thing I found very interesting was the depth of historical background that was written in his poetry. His poem "Negro" showed just that. Lines such as "Caesar told me to keep his door steps clean. I brushed the boots of Washington." and "All the way from Africa to Georgia I carried my sorrow songs. I made ragtime" showed how the times were changing for this group of people. It not only showed background but the intensive roots of where they came from.
I guess you could compare this kind of passion to Gertrude Stein's as she promoted feminism within her writings. This subject too was not easily the most accepted thing and the world and may have appeared controversial at times. You could almost take any modern era writer and see that they have some kind of passion that they feel needs to be expressed. Whether the reader agrees with it or not is not really their problem. If it causes some form of controversy then their works will be shown through publicity no matter what.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Mckay's tropical topical poetry
Claude Mckay. Wow...could this guy be any more topical? This guy seriously reminds me of the indie and hardcore artists that come out with one word song titles for their entire album. Relatively, this is exactly what Mckay has done. He picks a topic and rolls with it. He chooses to discuss, describe and expose the subject of choice in a way that captures the attention of his audience. I easily find his poetry a lot easier to read than say Eliot's. He gets right to the point of what he is trying to get across. As such in his poem "The Tropics in New York", he uses descriptive views of the surroundings to illuminate the bigger picture. For example, the lines "Set in the window, bringing memories of fruit trees laden by low singing rills" and "Bananas ripe and green, and ginger root" further emphasize the tropics of New York. But then he goes into a much deeper tone that focuses on the emotion of the moment.
I would say that the poetry Mckay writes has a more modern feel to it even though his works were written in the early part of the 1900's.
http://lemonhound.com/2014/02/28/george-murray-three-poems/
George Murray writes a few poems here and there for lemonhound. I chose to pick out his poem "Indicator Click" because of his use of topical poetry. For instance, this poem is situational in it's use of topic and takes a look in depth to the specific subject as well as possibly a deeper meaning. This poem, of course, is about the little things that happen here and there while driving down the road. It spurs the emotion to think about the smaller things that happen in everyday life that way may not even notice because we are simply too busy. It kind of does reflect the other poem a bit with the use of this tactic of the simple things of everyday life that we may or may not notice.
I would say that the poetry Mckay writes has a more modern feel to it even though his works were written in the early part of the 1900's.
http://lemonhound.com/2014/02/28/george-murray-three-poems/
George Murray writes a few poems here and there for lemonhound. I chose to pick out his poem "Indicator Click" because of his use of topical poetry. For instance, this poem is situational in it's use of topic and takes a look in depth to the specific subject as well as possibly a deeper meaning. This poem, of course, is about the little things that happen here and there while driving down the road. It spurs the emotion to think about the smaller things that happen in everyday life that way may not even notice because we are simply too busy. It kind of does reflect the other poem a bit with the use of this tactic of the simple things of everyday life that we may or may not notice.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
The garden
One thing that struck me about H.D.'s poetry was how she slowly crept in to talks of being a recognized poet by simply going along with the flow of expressing herself through her vivid and distinct works. Her writings being recognized in that time period was unheard of. Of course, Pound had a huge part to do with getting her stuff out there but nonetheless, her material spoke for itself and wasn't totally over the top for her audience to read. Compared to Gertrude Stein, she wasn't as outspoken about feminism but was very subtle with her opinion. It almost seemed as if she was just content being where she was and never really pushed the boundaries. As said before, she wrote what she was passionate about and tried not to cause a stir within the poetry world. Although, there may have been a poem or two in her works that would question he audiences motives about supporting a male industry of writers. One poem in particular that stood out to me is the work "Garden". This is a tremendously and beautifully written poem. It gives just an amazing and vivid view of nature throughout. H.D. acts as the narrator making requests to "mother nature" as we see it and asking certain things to happen within its domain. Lines such as "O wind, rend open the heat, cut apart the heat, rend it to tatters." and "Cut the heat- plough through it, turning it on either side of your path" really harsh side of nature in a very tender way.
http://lemonhound.com/2014/03/14/michael-casteels-two-poems-and-one-frog-pond-sudoku/
Another poet I found quite interesting, Michael Casteels, writes a sonnet that has a setting within nature in one of his works. Lines such as "The irises arrive, serene and swallowing
the orchard" and "A pheasant
integrates from treetop to treetop; the curtains
part and there she is" help set the mood of the overall poem. Surprisingly this poem is about an out of order type writer but the author does a great job captivating its surroundings within its setting.
http://lemonhound.com/2014/03/14/michael-casteels-two-poems-and-one-frog-pond-sudoku/
Another poet I found quite interesting, Michael Casteels, writes a sonnet that has a setting within nature in one of his works. Lines such as "The irises arrive, serene and swallowing
the orchard" and "A pheasant
integrates from treetop to treetop; the curtains
part and there she is" help set the mood of the overall poem. Surprisingly this poem is about an out of order type writer but the author does a great job captivating its surroundings within its setting.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
The Waste land of Skin and Fish
Eliot's "Wasteland" or really any of his poetry, for that matter, was very hard to articulate and analyze to any degree. This is definitely a poem you can actually write a couple commentaries on because of the material presented with the poem. You can tell that his material is very well thought out and used in a very cultured and refined manner. After discussing it in the last class, reading it for the first time was very confusing because of the amount of information and different points of narration given throughout. The narration is very hard to follow and it confuses the reader because it switches off suddenly without any kind of notice.
I'm going to compare Jaime Forsythe's poem "Skin to Fish", a more modern work, to T.S. Eliot's Wasteland. For Eliot's poem, he uses an enormous amount of symbolism to represent the picture of the wasting away of society as we know it. Forsythe uses a similar tactic with this of giving a tremendous amount of imagery within the text keep the reader interested. Both of these authors use clever words or illustrations to further identify the point or story they are telling. From an outside perspective, "The Waste Land" is a rather large poem conditioned to go into every living detail that the chosen narrator dictates if you really sit down and look into it. But from a broader perspective or outside view, Eliot paints such a big picture of what is going on that it's almost hard to fathom the idea of what the actual point of the poem is. Fortunately for Forsythe's poem, his poetry could've gone to a deeper level of illustration and he could've gone for a couple more pages, but he chose not to. He puts in just enough to keep the reader interested. Of course, his poem was found on a blog site, so I guess He had no choice but to keep it to a certain length for attention deficit reasons with his audience. There is definitely a lot more I could say about both of these poems but these are few things that stood out right off the bat.
http://lemonhound.com/2014/03/07/jaime-forsythe-two-poems/
I'm going to compare Jaime Forsythe's poem "Skin to Fish", a more modern work, to T.S. Eliot's Wasteland. For Eliot's poem, he uses an enormous amount of symbolism to represent the picture of the wasting away of society as we know it. Forsythe uses a similar tactic with this of giving a tremendous amount of imagery within the text keep the reader interested. Both of these authors use clever words or illustrations to further identify the point or story they are telling. From an outside perspective, "The Waste Land" is a rather large poem conditioned to go into every living detail that the chosen narrator dictates if you really sit down and look into it. But from a broader perspective or outside view, Eliot paints such a big picture of what is going on that it's almost hard to fathom the idea of what the actual point of the poem is. Fortunately for Forsythe's poem, his poetry could've gone to a deeper level of illustration and he could've gone for a couple more pages, but he chose not to. He puts in just enough to keep the reader interested. Of course, his poem was found on a blog site, so I guess He had no choice but to keep it to a certain length for attention deficit reasons with his audience. There is definitely a lot more I could say about both of these poems but these are few things that stood out right off the bat.
http://lemonhound.com/2014/03/07/jaime-forsythe-two-poems/
Monday, March 3, 2014
Ezra Pound's poetry is very significant in the way that a lot of his works feel like a narrative with a meaning behind it. In the poem "Portrait d'une Femme", Pound paints a very vivid picture for his reader and is anything but discreet when it comes to telling the story within his poem. "In a station of the Metro", Pound uses two lines to portray a picture of a Paris subway. But is it really? To the common reader this could mean a lot of different things. Well let's take a closer look. "The apparition of these faces in the crowd." The common consensus is that the poet is simply seeing different faces within the station. Well yes, this is true, but if the faces are blended together, wouldn't that mean that the station would in fact appear crowded? On to the next line, Pound recites "Petals on a wet, black bough." This line, in fact, takes us to back to the first line. It simply describes the faces of the people. I can't say I'm exactly sure what the author is getting at but it seems as though he's telling the audience of the gloominess of the subway station. After reading this, I turn to the next page to find that the poem has ended. This came as a disappointment personally because Pound did an amazing job drawing his audience in just two lines. You could actually dwell on these two lines for a while and still come up with different ideas of what they mean. So why isn't there more to the story? He definitely left me in the middle of the subway station without a ticket on this one.
George Murray recently submitted a few poems to lemonhound recently and one of them appeared as a simple narrative to the common reader. "Proper Punctuation" being the poem, it sets up a stage of something that's about to happen and is situational. Compared to Pound's two line poem, this one just isn't as formal and seems to be "dumbed down" to a sense where it doesn't make you think at all. Of course, the writer had his own style and his own message he was trying to give with his form but it's no where near the craftiness of Pound. http://lemonhound.com/2014/02/28/george-murray-three-poems/
George Murray recently submitted a few poems to lemonhound recently and one of them appeared as a simple narrative to the common reader. "Proper Punctuation" being the poem, it sets up a stage of something that's about to happen and is situational. Compared to Pound's two line poem, this one just isn't as formal and seems to be "dumbed down" to a sense where it doesn't make you think at all. Of course, the writer had his own style and his own message he was trying to give with his form but it's no where near the craftiness of Pound. http://lemonhound.com/2014/02/28/george-murray-three-poems/
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