Poetry Class

    This is my last post in regards to my Modern American Poetry class, though I do think I will continue to post for my own enjoyment. For my final post I think I will do things a little bit different. I will post about my class instead of one of the poets that I have read.
      I joined the class because I needed to fill an elective and I have always enjoyed poetry. I was looking for a class that would be easy and something I could focus little attention to. Though my I did not expect much from the class, I find that at the end of the semester, it is the class I will miss the most. There are several reasons for this change of attitude and I would like to share some of them with you.
     First, the professor made the class fun. He gains an indescribable excitement when discussing the poets and their works, which honestly made me realize that I did not like poetry as much as I thought. The professor's ability to engage the poem in a way that represents what the author's purpose is, and to do this easily, impressed me. The professor then would lead us (students) to begin to grasp a better understanding of the author's intent in writing the poem. Where I used to just read the poem and enjoy it for rhyme and rhythm, he taught me to slow, put the poem into my own words and find what emotions were held within the words of the poem. This ability to understand the poem better has made me actually enjoy poetry. I now respect the words and writers.
     Second, my fellow classmates, through discussion and their own blogs, gave me different viewpoints to read the poems in. I got to hear how others interacted with the read poems, which also helped me in better understand the poems. I can only read poems through my past experiences, through my thought process, and through my understanding; hearing someone else's personal reflection of the text is wonderful in the fact that it allows me to experience the text through emotions I would not normally be able to experience it with. To those who are in my class and may read this, I truly enjoyed being in class with you and I thank you for sharing your thoughts, they have helped me a lot. I also want to address that I said some things regarding some poems that may have left you scratching your head (my comments on Muriel Rukeyser's Mearl Blankenship probably is my best example of this). I did this at times just to get conversation going when things were a little slow, I apologize.
      Third, this class made me want to write  again. I used to write poetry all the time (looking back most were not very good), now I feel like taking pen to paper again and just letting the words flow onto the page like "something like wave after wave that breaks on the beach" (Rukeyser's Poem White Page White Page Poem). I have no intention of ever being published again (yes, I was published once), but maybe someone will come across a poem that I might post on this blog and actually enjoy it.
     These are just a few things I walk away with from this class. I have grown to actually enjoy poetry and the people who write them. So let the last words that I post in regards to this class be said to my professor and my fellow classmates, Thank You.

The Many Confessions of a Poet

             Sylvia Plath is indeed a remarkable poet. In her poem, Lady Lazarus, Plath completely blows my mind with the raw pain and internal suffering that she is able to communicate. With her marriage falling apart and a past of emotional breakdowns haunting her, she is able to let the reader into her desire to rise above these setbacks in her life. Just like the Phoenix, she will rise out of her own ashes and be stronger than she was before. But is it all in vain? She states that this is her third attempt to be reborn, if the first two did not work, will this time be different?

            This is a perfect example of poetry flowing from life. We are not supposed to read her life into the poems, but it is hard not to when this poem was written only months before her suicide. Plath was a brilliant writer, and in this poem, she uses her brilliance to try and pursued her readers and possibly even herself that she was going to overcome her struggles. Sadly it was not the case.

            Her use of imagery from Nazi WWII treatment of the Jews gives a great description of how torn inside she truly was. Some of the images she mentions are painful to read and makes it hard to grasp how evil man can be. With work as moving as this, one can only question what could have come if she lived, and what may not have come if she was not so torn inside.

Frederick Seidel’s Mount Street Gardens is a confessional poem as Plath’s, just not near as dark and infused with some humor. This is a simple poem which talks about how a man has watched his little town grow into a big city that is more flashy and fancy than he ever wanted it to be. He reminisces about the old ways that he truly loved and speaks of some of the changes that have taken place, and now the only enjoyment he gets when visiting is sitting on a park bench in the garden that is hidden behind all of the growth.                                                                                               http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/244422

The Sweet and the Sad and Sweet

          Elizabeth Bishop’s Man-Moth is amazing! There is everything one wants in a poem (or a story for that matter), mystery, darkness, sadness, a hope that can never be fulfilled, and all of it lies in a character that has a genuinely gentle heart. If you have read any of my other posts you know I enjoy the darker creepy stuff, I think it plays more to the imagination, which entails allows your emotions to become more subjective to the poem itself.

            I may be reading more into this poem than what is actually there, but I think this poem tells the lives of many people, even if those people do not accept it. First we have a man who chooses to remain hidden by living in the underground tunnels. How often do we choose to keep thoughts and emotions hidden from those around us, we bury our burdens deep inside so others will not have to be bothered. There have probably been a few occasion when one chooses to actually open up and reveal what is going on inside and it ends up not working out as planned and just like the Moth-Man one ends up falling on their back. When this fall takes place, the person who has fallen ends up going back into their hiding place, alone and sad.

            Given this is not an image most want to look at in themselves, but it is there. That is why Bishop’s use of imagery is so great in this poem, it taps into an emotional side that most try to avoid, yet gives so much character. I just want to give the Moth-Man a hug to tell you the truth. On a secondary note, I enjoy cryptozoology and this story reminded me of the Mothman mystery that took place in West Virginia about fifty years ago.

            Ron Padgett’s  The Love Cook is nothing like Bishop’s aforementioned poem, this poem is simple and tells of a person who is willing to care for and cook for the person they love who has been gone for most of the day. It is simple and sweet.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/179241

Image is Everything...Sometimes

            William Carlos Williams’ poem “The Great Figure” is awesome. I love it when poets are able to create a large picture with just a few words. With very little description, I am able to be transported back to a time when I was smaller, hearing a fire engine roar down the road, I ran outside just to see it. Though descriptions are few, I can still place the picture of this fire truck with the large number 5 on the side of it screaming past me. I can describe it from the color scheme to the stainless steel gauges that display the water pressure.

            This is what poetry should do; it should tap into your emotional subconscious and allow you to be taken to a moment of your life to which you can relate to the poem. With minimal description, yet using just enough description to get the picture into the imagination of the reader, Williams successfully takes his readers back to childhood with this short, yet image filled poem.

            Diane Di Prima’s poem “The Window” takes an opposite approach than Williams does in “The Great Figure.” Prima, for the most part, describes the window without actually using descriptions of the window. In this case, Di Prima gives the reader an image of the surroundings and through some metaphor, what the window is for. I also enjoy this type of imagery in a poem because it allows you to let your imagination control what you see. Sometime leaving room for interpretation of imagery is a good thing, it creates a personal feel for the poem that most probably will not share.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/242640

Let it Flow with Rukeyser

Muriel Rukeyser’s poem “Poem White Page White Page Poem” is one that I find very interesting. Rukeyser uses the metaphor of waves crashing on the beach to help her readers identify with the process of writing good poetry. In the process of discussing the writing of poetry, the reader is also given an example of what good poetry should look like. Through imagery, Rukeyser is sharing with her readers the process she uses to write her poetry, allowing the reader to think that they can also accomplish such a task (writing poetry).

To break down the poem, one finds that it stats with just a blank white page. The writer proceeds to allow emotions and thoughts to flow from his/her soul like “waves” which control the fingers that hold the pen. This first glimpse in the writing process illuminates the idea that good poetry writes itself. When good poetry writes itself, the poet is able to relate to the readers emotions through image, mood, and experience.

Rukeyser proceeds to tell that the process of the poem flowing from the author, it begins to “declare for my whole life,” the good and the bad. The ability to allow the poem to write itself makes the author vulnerable to his/her audience because giving emotions full control of the poem creates an alley for bottled up feelings to be released. These feelings can be of happy moments and moments of sorrow and anger, again creating relationships between the poet and the reader.

As “wave after wave that breaks on the beach” is the in relation to the process of not ending the poem until it ends itself. Once the waves stop crashing, the poem is over the author should not try to incorporate any more material or try to use intellect to finish the work. Once the waves have finished crashing and the poem ceases to flow from your soul, it should stand alone as a single work of art that is able to stand upon its own merits. Do not force poetry let it flow from the depths of your being.

            Instead of comparing Rukeyser’s poem with another on this post, I thought I would just share a poem with you that I wrote. I will not say that it is good or that it is a work of art (I don’t think the author should praise his/her own work) but I did sit and let it flow. Tell me what you think.

                                                Happy Birthday My Love

The children are quiet, no sounds to hear as I wake from an unrest-full sleep.

The smiles I am used to in the mornings are not to be found – just tears.

My love sits beside me, no hug, no kiss, no joy to be found – just tears.

The first words said are “I’m sorry.” Not what I expect after waking from sleep.

Confused, I inquire about the sorrow. No answer to be given – just tears.

After long pause, with heavy breath, my love pushes away the pain – but not the tears.

While the children are quiet, her soul is what I hear. I am no longer dazed by an unrest-full sleep.

She somberly tells me that this day of my birth has lost its joy – now just tears.

The birth expected will no longer come – we embrace – we pray – with tears.

The Injustice of That Thing Called Justice

Justice by Langston Hughes may be a short poem, but it is a powerful poem. It is comprised of four lines that are made of a mere twenty six words. In those twenty six words is a message that is big enough to represent an entire era of struggle, hate, and inequality.

            Hughes begins his poem by calling Justice a “blind goddess.” In classic mythology gods and goddesses are known to be removed from the humans, only showing themselves for selfish reasons such as self-glorification, “jumping on the good foot and doing the bad thing” (as quoted from the great philosopher Austin Powers), and to spite fellow gods. One can contend that Hughes is making the statement that justice is removed from the Black peoples, especially in the south. Hughes also describes this removed justice as “blind,” indicating that justice is not just removed from the Black Americans but is also ignorant to this fact. Those who claim to be on the side of justice are far removed from what they claim to uphold and are not even aware of their fallacy. This statement is followed by a line that indicates that the people who are aware of this discrimination are the people who are being discriminated against.

            Lines three and four further the assertion that justice is blind, indicating that justice not only has a bandage covering its eyes, but the eyes are not even there anymore, they have become festering sores. What people claim to be justice is so far removed from the real thing that even if it wanted to change and be restored to what justice is actually supposed to be, it would be a difficult, if not impossible thing to accomplish. Justice is still blind, but maybe Hughes would be happy with the progress that it has made.

Shailja Patel’s ICC Kenya Trails: Witness is a poem about a witness who was blinded by an attacker. The witness asks several questions to gain to try and understand why she was left alive and why she was blinded. She seeks justice to come to the attacker but believes that it will not because she cannot identify who it was. With no sight she has no case. The means of the justice that would come to the attacker is now blind, and thus the justice is removed.

www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/247328

A Harlem Dancer's Family Dinner

        Claude McKay’s Harlem Dancer is a poem filled with emotions that make the poem difficult to ascribe just one. Some may argue that it is hollow because the dancer is showing a carefree, happy attitude, though the author states that her smiles are false, or fake. Some may argue that it has a feeling of detachment because in her mind she is not where her body says she is at emotionally. There are many different emotions that this poem can cause the reader to feel, I will not argue against those emotions because those are the emotions that readers get for various reasons which make poetry so great.

            The emotion that resonates with when I read this poem is that of remorse. You may be scratching your head at this particular emotion and not see where I can come up with such a notion. Good news! I will tell you. It all comes down to the last two lines. “Looking at her falsely-smiling face, I knew her self was not in that strange place” The entire poem paints the picture that this woman is the center of the party. People are admiring her dancing and singing. She looks so happy, yet she is not there in her mind. I see a woman who deeply troubled, maybe her move to Harlem did not bring the happiness she expected, maybe she lost a loved one, maybe she just does not like the people in her neighborhood, either way she is clearly troubled or saddened by something. You are still thinking “Where do you get remorse from?”

Have you ever been in a time of life where you put on mask? The world around you is falling apart, nothing is going right, you feel emotionally or physically terrible and you just want to let someone know. You want someone to help share this burden that you carry. When that friend or family member comes that you can trust and they ask you how everything is going and you respond with a smile and a lie of an answer such as, “God is good and I am having a great day.” Or maybe the response is a simple “I’m fine.” Losing your opportunity to let someone know what is happening, to let someone help you carry the burden that is weighing you down usually does not put a smile on one’s face and have them walk away rejoicing the fact that they still feel alone in their struggles. One usually feels remorse that they did not speak truthfully, they lost the chance to unload. This is what I see in the Harlem Dancer, a woman puts on a mask and does not share her true feelings, and this makes her feel horrible. I am sure she danced well though.

  

            Priscilla Lee’s poem Family Dinner describes a girl who is the complete opposite of the Harlem Dancer. She is very open about her feelings and the feelings others in her family have for her. She hides nothing. Nothing. Her family does not like her yet she still dines with them for the holidays. She deals with her life, she does not hide what she feels or thinks.

www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/247406

Rose, Garden, Rock, Igloo

    H.D.’s (Hilda Doolittle) poem Garden is one which has such visual descriptions that I find myself easily being taken to this garden as I walk along the path and view these magnificent scenes. A statue of a rose greets me as I entire the path that winds through this garden, a path I picture has not been traveled in some time which contains some overgrowth. This statue is covered with moss and mold, making it possible for the author to scrape the color off the petals. The statue is thick and solid breaking it is almost impossible, just as breaking the large trees surrounding the statue by hand  is a task that none can accomplish. In this hot, humid day which is not helped by the massive trees locking the heat in the path I walk, just a breeze would be a wonderful retreat from this exhausting heat. The fruit is not even appetizing to me due to the heat suffocates me. I beg for the breeze to move the heat so that I can enjoy my walk.

            The descriptions of this garden is amazing. H.D. does a great job of drawing a picture in the imagination of the reader to make one feel as if they are experiencing this garden.

Matthew Sweeney does a good job using imagery in his poem The Igloo as well. This poem of a traveler finding a an igloo which contains a fire and some food uses just enough description to allow the reader to feel as if they are undergoing this experience for themselves, and he is able to achieve this without taking away from the story that is being told. Cold and hungry a man finds warmth and nourishment in an igloo in the middle of nowhere. The character does not question whom the igloo belongs to, but when you are desperate you do not really care.

www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/247438

Gerontion and the Young Man Old

Poor Gerontion

      When most hear the name T.S. Eliot, the first thought that comes to mind is The Wasteland.  The work by Eliot that I would like to discuss today was originally written to be the preface to The Wasteland. But with great influence by Ezra Pound, Gerontion was published as its own free standing poem. The ability of Eliot to make the narrator (Gerontion) to speak of history while making himself a part of history is remarkable. Reading this poem makes one feel as if they are sitting with Gerontion in his final days as he tells the story of his life.

      Using the inclusio technique, (our narrator is old and dry) Eliot indicates that Gerontion is possibly close to death because the spring rains that usually bring life do not seem to be there any longer, they are dried up. Gerontion continues to draw this idea out by speaking of times in his life that possibly caused his life to dry out (besides old age of course). Gerontion elaborates with his role in history and his religion.

       Gerontion’s role in history is a little obscure, all he tells us is that, “I was neither at the hot gates-

Nor fought in the warm rain- Nor knee deep in the salt marsh, heaving a cutlass, bitten by flies, fought” (3-6). Gerontion is referring to WWI when speaking of the battle. He claims to not have fought in the war itself, but just mentioning the war and putting it at the beginning of his narration (seems to me) indicates that he did have some part in the war. If only he answered the question we could know what it took so much out of him. Tell us Gerontion, what happened in the war that started your decay?

      There is a lot that can be said in regards to religion in this work, but I would like to focus on the saving aspects of religion. One would have to conclude that Gerontion is not sure if religion, Christ, can save someone. He acknowledges Christ as being powerful, like a tiger, yet he also questions if a man’s virtue comes from past actions in life. After such a query he returns to the idea that what we do cannot save us. Do you struggle with the idea that Christ can save you Gerontion? Do you think your actions can save you?

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176666

     Gerontion, Gerontion, your confessions only make us ask more questions, which makes this poem great. It makes the reader want to know more about you. Eliot tells a great story of a sad life. Likewise, Sholeh Wolpe does the same in a less dramatic form with her poem Prisoner in a Hole.

     In Wolpe’s poem is short but depicts a young man, who seems to be in as bad of shape as our friend Gerontion. At twenty five he is sickly and looks much older. Wolpe takes us back to when the subject was a baby being loved and raised by his mother. What happened? Getting the reader to ask such a question is how an author can draw the reader into a relationship with the character, which has been done well by both Eliot and Wolpe in both poems.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/237600

There Shall be No Commerce Between Us Pound, Yet There is Literary Respect

    I am at a crossroads with Ezra Pound. How am I to praise his intellect without praising the man? How am I to claim the genius of his writing without flattering his worldview and political beliefs? How can I complement his poetry and alienate his ethics at the same time? This feat shall be difficult, much like the day we “set keel to breakers, forth on the godly sea, and We set up mast and sail on that swart ship,” but I shall give it my best.

   Pound’s use of historical and literal figures throughout his poetry speaks volumes of his intellect. His ability to infuse these historical and literary figures into his poetry with ease furthers the argument that Pound may have indeed had the most impressive literary mind of his time. Such a case can be made after reading Canto I and furthered with the reading of the remainder works recorded in The Cantos.

    In Canto I, Pound takes his readers on a journey with Odysseus as he sets sail to travel into Hades to seek advice from Tiresias. Pound writes this poem as if he is one of the crew who travels with Odysseus (He often uses the word “we” when speaking of the crew), which draws his audience into his poem even more, setting the mood which the audience is to read the text. In a way to both reach a more vast audience and to pay homage to Andreas Divus, (The man who translated the Greek epic into Latin) Pound tends to use the Roman names for the gods as he takes the reader through this Greek epic. His ability to use this tool successfully, allowing the reader to connect with the work no matter their bias in mythology, is the most incredible apologetic to his literary capabilities that he possesses (that is to relate to his audience). His ability to continue this feat throughout The Cantos strengthens such a claim.

      Though I exalt Pound’s literary capabilities, it must be made clear that I denounce his social and political stance. For more on his worldview, I suggest you look him up. There is not enough room to write on the problems associated with his worldview.

        Hasmukh Amathala’s poem New Approach is political in meaning. I choose this poem to write on alongside of Pound due to Amathala’s desire to see change in how politics are handled. Coming from a liberal point of view, Amthala first claims to seek help for people from their struggles. He continues to speak on ways that a person can work and strive to better themselves, which mostly consists of knowing the right people and gaining the benefits of knowing these people, such as political power and recognition. He argues people will know you by those you are associated with. His liberal view is prevalent when he claims he wants to help people but insists that religion is no help at all. Most religions, whether you agree with them or not, provide hope for the believers. Hope begins the process of a one striving to be better, so why say it is a bad thing? pound shared some of these political views.

The Rebellious Gertrude Stein and Patriarchal Wendy Videlock

Gertrude Stein’s Patriarchal Poetry is not your typical poem. In fact it makes no sense at all, but that may be the purpose of the poem. One can make the argument that Stein felt poetry was boxed in by certain distinctions such as meter, structure, etc. and question why those distinctions have been placed on such a free form of writing. The word patriarchal is defined as “characteristics of a system society or government controlled by men” (dictionary.com). Stein felt that poetry had been developed by men with guidelines that men wanted to have, which trapped a form of verse that Stein felt should allow people to have an exuberant freedom. One can conclude this in the fact that Stein never answers exactly what Patriarchal poetry is, but after a lengthy poem filled with a lot of repetition of adjectives about patriarchal poetry she writes, “Dinky pinky dinky pinky dinky pinky dinky pinky once and try. Dinky pinky dinky pinky dinky pinky lullaby. Once sleepy one once does not once need a lullaby.” The beginning of this statement seems like a lot of nonsense, and it is, but the end of the statement gives the reader the meaning behind the poem, which is that poetry as people knew it was patriarchal by design and that makes no sense. Why would someone sing a lullaby to child whose eyes are already closing due to sleepiness? They would not, they would just put the child to sleep. Why would someone make create rules for what should be the most freeing form of expression? One should not, one should sit with a pen and write, letting their emotions and thoughts regurgitate onto the paper by way of the pen. 

Patriarchal Poetry by Gertrude Stein

http://www.scribd.com/doc/85887062/Gertrude-Stein-Patriarchal-Poetry

            Wendy Videlock’s poem Hullo follows the very distinctions that Stein argues are ridiculous. Videlock, in her poem about loneliness, uses a popular four line stanza with every second line rhyming. She also makes each line contain only four syllables which makes her poem patriarchal due to the fact that it holds to all of the standards of structure that Stein argues hold back the freedom in writing poetry. I think that Stein’s argument has merit, though the structure of poems, such as Hullo, give the text more feeling and can more easily set the mood in which the poem should be read. There are times when emotions should be regurgitated on paper with no rhyme or definite structure, but the guidelines that Stein calls patriarchal make poetry more enjoyable and connectable to the reader.

Hullo by Wendy Videlock

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/179344

The Imagery of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Leonard E. Nathan

         Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem Sympathy is a poem of hope. Dunbar, the son of former slaves, must have heard many stories from his parents regarding the malicious treatment they had to suffer through while they were slaves. Yet, one can also imagine that Dunbar’s parents would have told him about how they held on to hope that one day they would be free. Dunbar displays this in the image of a caged bird, though its wings are bloody and bruised and body sore the bird is still able to perch on its swing and sing a beautiful song. Dunbar tells his audience that the bird is not singing out of joy, on the contrary it is singing plea from his heart to be free to fly over the grass and enjoy the freedom it longs for. Dunbar references the bird sending a plea to heaven which may indicate that his parents hope, during their times as slaves, was found in God. Dunbar uses a structure of poetry that consists of three stanzas which are seven lines long and contain a rhyme pattern of abaabaa and is filled with imagery that allows the reader to not just have sympathy for the bird but to become empathetic with what the bird is experiencing.

Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar

http://www.potw.org/archive/potw219.html

        Leonard E. Nathan’s Potato Eaters uses eating potatoes, something everyone has done, to bring the reader into a time of his past. Potatoes take him back to a time when he was poor, grateful to have what they had, yet bored of the same thing and wanting more, not just in food but in life. The author has now moved on in life, yet something so simple as a potato takes him back to childhood and makes him grateful for not being in that place anymore, yet saddened because he can never go back to that time outside of memories. Dunbar uses his imagery as a sign of hope, while Nathan uses his a means to reminisce. They both use imagery that allows the reader to be drawn in to what they are feeling by using sights and experiences that many can relate to, seeing a caged bird sing and eating a plain boring potato. 

Potato Eaters by Leonard E. Nathan

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171091

Frost and Flynn

Robert Frost’s Witch of Coos is a dark poem which tells its readers of a conversation between the narrator, a woman and her son. The woman who is presumably a witch, along with her son tells the narrator of an event that took place forty years prior. This event which she describes is an occasion when she claims to have heard and witnessed a skeleton wake in the cellar and carry itself to the attic. There are some great metaphors used to describe this skeleton, one of which comes from the son when he states that it “carried itself like a pile of dishes.” A pile of dishes are unstable and swaying with little control, which one has to consent would the image that would be associated with a walking skeleton.

             The mother has a more romanticized metaphor for this skeleton as she claims it “was put together not like a man, but like a chandelier.” This metaphor begins to answer the question of who the skeleton is. Throughout the story, the mother mentions that the skeleton “came to her with hands outstretched, the way he (skeleton) did in life once,” which indicates that the mother at one time was either emotionally or physically close to whomever the skeleton once was. Further into the story she admits that her deceased husband killed the man instead of her which can further lead one to conclude that this mother had an affair, which makes the reader understand the meaning behind such a romantic metaphor given to describe a particularly terrifying event.

            Did a skeleton really walk from the cellar to the attic? No one but the mother witnessed the event. The son was too young to remember any of this and the husband, as admitted by the mother, never saw or heard anything though he was present when this event supposedly took place. Is it guilt, love, or did this event actually take place? The dark tones to the poem and the wonderful metaphors used make this deathly poem a lively one to read. (Bad pun I know but I could not help it.)

http://www.internal.org/Robert_Frost/The_Witch_of_Coos

In comparison, Nick Flynn’s Bag of Mice also uses great metaphors to progress a dark story. In his poem, Flynn speaks of finding a suicide note in his dream. This suicide not is written in pencil on a brown paper bag which is filled with mice. Flynn uses metaphors such as the penciled writing “smoldering,” and claiming that the writing was his friends “voice being released into the night.” These metaphors along with the mice representing the soul of the one who took their life, gives the impression that the author, though saddened at his loss, finds comfort in the idea that his friend is finally free.  

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bag-of-mice/

The Progression of Dickinson and Stallings

Emily Dickinson’s poem 508 is one of progression. She begins with the image of a young child being baptized in a small country church. The decision was not hers to make, as it was apparently the beliefs of the parents being imposed upon the child, as seen in line 8. The image then progresses to that of a woman who is of age and able to make her own decisions in life. While the childhood baptism wanted by her parents is considered to be of no use, she now chooses the same path for herself as a “conscious” (9) adult. If one looks past the theology of the poem and looks at the imagery of the character, one can see that the character has progressed from a small child who had no authority over herself to an adult who is able to make important life decisions based on her own understanding and authority.

Likewise, the poem After a Greek Proverb by A.E. Stallings, also shows progression with the main character. The progression is not the same as illustrated by Dickinson, yet arguably just as essential in life of the main character. In this villanelle style poem, Stallings uses the imagery of moving from one place to another for what is supposed to be a short time (2). It is revealed that this short time has become a dozen years, which has made the narrator less than pleased (10).  A character (who is the apparent spouse of the narrator) tells our narrator not to think about the past and its plans because it will only cause sorrow (11). Our narrator proceeds to speak of bottling up her sorrows and disappointments and continues to live as if she only has a short time left in this place. What was supposed to be temporary has become lasting.

Unlike Dickinson’s poem, which depicts progression with an increase in knowledge and authority concerning decision making, Stallings displays a progression from hopefulness and ambition to that of hopelessness and sorrow. Though the two poems contrast in the direction of progression, they both depict realistic evolutions that progression can have on a person.