  Poetry
This week: Edited by: redridinghoo
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A reader emailed me about my editorial last month:
caroledwinell: I read with interest your opening column about the 'level's' of poetry and thought you did a very thorough job of differentiating those levels. In fact, it's so good; I've copied it to remind myself about those levels, but also to use when asked the same question. Excellent writing. I think it would also be good to have an article about the levels of understanding within a poem and how different people can have different perspectives on the same poem depending on how much they want to explore the landscape of the work.
Great job, useful information.
Best regards, Carole Dwinell.
This month I’d like to try to cover most of that information for you.
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Let’s split this into two parts:
Levels of Understanding
First, keep in mind that there is no one right way to go about this. This is what I do; you will find the way that works for you.
I. Scratching the Surface
Begin by reading the poem through once – just to get a general sense of the poem. Now is the time to look up any words you’re not quite sure about the meaning of. Also, start opening up to the possible connotations (implied or suggested meaning) some of the words may possess.
II. Dig a Little Deeper
Read the poem again (out loud, if you can) and listen to the rhythm and rhyme; the music of the poem. Take note of things like alliteration, instances of onomatopoeia, assonance and consonance. Also listen for the meter, if it has one. Notate the overall tone of the poem.
III. Mining for Gold
Now read the poem again. This time look for some other poetic devices. For example: allegory and allusion, symbolism, synecdoche, and metonymy. Be on the look out for forms of imagery, like metaphor, simile, personification and conceit.
IV. Eureka!
Finally, determine if there is a theme, and if there is one – what it is. Take all the information you discovered in sections I, II, and III and determine how they enhance the poem’s theme.
Take note of what the poem says directly and what it merely implies. Both are important to the poem’s intended effect.
~*~
Tomato/Sfumato: how different people can have
different perspectives on the same poem
There are many reasons why different people can have differing perspectives on the same piece of poetry. Some of them are background (religious, cultural, how they grew up and where), moral stances (how they look at certain issues, what are their basic beliefs, etc), and education.
Here is a poem presented at Writing.com for feedback. After each section I have notes from the author that talks about the subtleties of that particular part of the poem. Also, just because these are the things the author intends does not mean you can’t take other meaning from the poem. The author’s notes will be in blue.
Info on Champ de Mars, history, nuances of poem:
This [link] should help with the less-complicated allusions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs_de_Mars
To truly understand the poem, you have to realize that the four titles of the four
fascicles are each a line in a whole, separate, and enveloping stanza.
I. Rappelez-vous
(You recall)
II. Et Prenez Notre Combat
(And take up our fight)
III. Tomber de Mémoire
(As memory fades)
IV. Dans Embrume de la Nuit
(Into fogs of night)
Each title sums up the following stanzas within it.
I. Rappelez-vous
Paris! Paris!
Our city was once a torch--is now expired.
Take up this broken wood, these crack’d stones,
Undone by those kings' fitful thrones.
I sit here, atop a ruin’d city,
Watching nothing collide with nothing,
And shaking out a sad pity
On the ivies that still cling
To broken stones.
We are as wet clay, unfired.
Hidden in this fatidic kiln,
"Come, take seat!" with these bemired.
And naught for bread but bones.
And in the back room, the hidden suite,
Amidst much of spider work and dust,
Lies, unfurled on the old Jacquard,
Something which we know, and is yet
Incomplete.
A Totten trust.
The first title translates to "You Recall", and deals with the narrator’s recollection of France being undone by war, revolution, and monarchy. It primarily deals with things being incomplete in France--people being entirely destroyed by the war. I read once, I forget where, that women who stormed the Bastille had left their cloth on the loom, unfinished, without taking it off. Just so they could storm the prison. That's where I got the lines about the Jacquard (a French loom-head), though it also has metaphysical connotations. A Totten Trust is one bestowed upon a beneficiary on the death of the previous owner.
II. Et Prenez Notre Combat
“They have broken through the doors!
The prison doors!" and out a flood
Comes storming through and past,
Trailing wakes of blood.
From out the École Militaire,
With that one white stripe, unbecoming,
Fly the motley devils of Bailly’s fare:
"Wretches! He is coming!"
Their guns strike thunder; an imbroglio
To tap French blood, and let it go
And let it flow; In the streets—
Mordant Bordeaux!
France! Chatoyant gem of Europe’s land,
Strong and shapely Damask rose,
Which will not fall to God’s own hand,
Nor be beleaguer’d by man’s unsteady blows.
II. Et Prenez Notre Combat
This line translates roughly to "And take up our fight," so, I included all the violent
moments of the revolution. The "prison doors" references the Bastille. The line about
Bailly references Jean-Sylvan Bailly, a French loyalist, who called the National Guard
out to shoot on the crowds. They were housed in the Ecole Militaire (which is opposite the Eiffel Tower on the Champ de Mars). Bordeaux is a red-wine. Mordant means death--I was referencing how blood would flow like wine in the streets. In Dicken's "A Tale of Two Cities", this kind of juxtaposition between wine and blood, when a cask spills in the street, is used. The last stanza in this part is my favorite--and I think it was the last I added. "Chatoyant" means "cats-eye", and refers to a band of light on a gem. A Damask rose is a rare and beautiful flower.
III. Tomber de Mémoire
Certain thoughts shorn of minds,
Certain people without business,
Had conspired,
As to traverse the dark streets
Which yet are stark,
And filled with what had not
Transpired.
O! for the glory of the mass-produced,
The indiscriminate
Iron machines pressing out Proust,
And served by grubby hands.
The shining monotonies, which lay
Day and day to rest,
They turn up the collars,
And tuck down chins to chests.
A shrill voice calls, sounding
Through unpainted halls:
“Fasten the buckles.
Fasten them tight!"
Keep the fancies trimmed--
The vacancies slight.
This life filled, a maudlin notion,
With silly, hollow romance,
That takes no time for thought,
But kicks up the heels to dance.
III. Tomber de Memoire
This section confuses me as much as the next person. It deals mainly with memory, of things both before during and after the war--all mixed up. For instance, Proust is
referenced, and he lived in the late 1800's. The "O! for the glory of..." line was
something I wrote about a year ago, and decided to introduce into this, just to flesh it
out. The "turn up the collars/tuck down chins to chest" is a reference of how people walked alone on the streets for fear of being associated with conspirers or loyalists, with collars turned up, and heads bowed. This was during the "Reign of Terror" and period of mass beheadings. People refused to show their necks out of a certain disposition to not having it cut off. The end of this portion deals with how people fill up their empty lives with pointless, "silly" things, and try to forget the past. People tell me they like the "maudlin notion" stanza the best--it was added later to the original poem, and I only put it in to use the word 'maudlin.'
IV. Dans Embrume de la Nuit
But while still keeping here,
Sitting upon man’s fool monument,
We’ll not let this peace reign,
This tranquility no raiment.
These caliginous streets below,
These dark and violent streets below me,
Fall and rise with ebb of tide
And flow of visceral snow.
The newspaper still raises
The throat that chokes on dust,
To cough up empty words
And dry phrases.
They! they would have us up,
Up, up! from our dirt and dust,
To blink our eyes in garish lights,
And be cast out in disgust.
My voice, like all voices,
Brattled and aged, atop this aerie,
With not the life for choices,
And so many dead to bury.
And always here I sit,
Recalling the days, tender--
With graying eyes,
And human splendor.
Français, nous sommes libres !
Français, nous sommes des frères!
IV. Dans Embrume de la Nuit (Into the fogs of Night)
First off, Embrume might not be the word for plural "fog", but instead the verb "to fog
up." I have no idea. This section deals entirely with dark memories confused with present times. For instance, the narrator is apparently a survivor, and sits upon the metaphysical ruins of France, and yet still calls the streets below "dark and violent." "Caliginous" means "foggy". The newspaper section concerns how royalty fought heavily against a free-press, and their own printings assured everyone that nothing bad was happening in the state. "Brattled" means kind of "rattling, shaky" An "aerie" is a high-perch.
The last two lines are what was shouted at the Fete de Federation by Charon, the president of the Commune of Paris. They translate to, "French, we are free! French, we are brothers!"
The last actual stanza is most likely my favorite--it was the first one I wrote.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
gaiusverres I'm seventeen years old--I wrote this poem in about 45 minutes, then spent two days editing it, intermittently. I was born in New Jersey, and lived in a converted railroad house. For a long time, the 1 PM train out of Princeton and Newark ran through my backyard, usually between 1:30 and 2. I woke for it, and when we moved, I woke for it still. So, I found myself waking at 2 in the morning by habit, and with nothing to do.
That's how I learned to write.
I would love to hear other takes on this poem, specifically people from France (since it deals with a part of their history), but if anyone finds a part of this poem that speaks to them – please share your perspective.
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If so, send it through the feedback section at the bottom of this newsletter OR click the little envelope next to my name redridinghoo and send it through email.
Comments on last month's newsletter:
Submitted By: vzabel
Submitted Comment:
Red, you covered a topic that needed addressed. One thing I've learned over my lifetime is that some people like my poetry; some don't. Some people like some of my poems and not others. We have to take all comments about our works and find anything that will help us and disregard the rest, even if not easy to do.
Submitted By: lorilady
Submitted Item: "Daydreams" [ASR]
Submitted Comment:
Thank you so much for showcasing me in your newsletter! I was absolutely tickled to find out that I had been featured!
Thank you!
Submitted By: larryp
Submitted Comment:
I have read many articles on opinions of what poetry is and what poetry is not. I think you have captured the essence here.
"With each poem you write, find your motivational level and embrace it. It’s your poem. With each poem you read, understand that what may motivate you is different than what motivates others."
An insightful newsletter.
Submitted By: axilea
Submitted Comment:
Hello!
I have to admit I don't always like separating poems (and literature in general) into categories, but when I read this, I had to agree with you.
I do feel that your description of the four types of poetry is very effective, although, in reality, many poems have a little bit of each.
There are cathartic poems where a line is particularly brilliant and shows maturity and literary skills that are only waiting to be developed.
Thank you for the great newsletter and for making me think.
Axilea
Submitted By: iammark301
Submitted Comment:
Thank you so very much for encouraging and supporting review and personal growth theories. I do a fair amount of critical reviewing, and more and more it seems these explainations are necessary within a review. I know I can become so wrapped up in my own poetry that reviews can be hard to swallow, especially when they are fresh. I believe (a lack of) perspective or detachment is the greatest factor involved in acceptance/rejection of comments. Authors are often excited and anxious to share their newest creation, while it can be the worst time to receive advice, or opinion. Excellent newsletter Red, your thoughts should help many chefs.
Submitted By: kundanchhabra
Submitted Comment:
Thanks so much for the editorial. I really needed that.
Submitted By: charlotte
Submitted Comment:
Thank you for the seperation of different types of poems at the beginning of this news letter. It was very helpful.
Submitted By: wolffe
Submitted Comment:
Well you answered a lot of questions going on in my mind. I did not realize the hierarchy of poetry. I've written less than some before and I know sometimes I still do. But the eduction of the article in this edition, has made me understand that I need to set a particular corridor for my goal. When I review I give them the best of where their pieces stand and try to give them suggestions along the line to improve their craft. Considering the reviews I've had, some good and some bad, have been a tremendous help to me toward how to write and to review. This article has put a sense of peace to my mind and I believe I can focus much clearer on my objective, whether reviewing or writing.
Thanks for the education,
Wolffe
Submitted By: monty31802
Submitted Comment:
Your newsletter was very interesting. I liked the way you explained the topics.
Monty
Submitted By: oldcactuswren
Submitted Comment:
Good column. I like the distinctions you made, and that you consider catharsis worthy. (I prefer peanut butter and onion, myself.)
Thank you all for your fantastic comments. I am pleased that I chose a topic that touched so many. 
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Poetry: February 21, 2007 Issue [#1565]
