web explorations
This weeks blog post is a bit more open ended. I would like you to do some exploring on the web. You'll notice I have some links posted to the right. They are organized by category (poets, publishers, modernism etc.)
1) explore a few of the links
2) pick one that interests you
3) summarize what you found and comment on it. Your comment should connect what you found/read with some of the aspects of poetics we have been discussing in class (such as self-identity, sound techniques, connections of poetry to culture etc.)
again, the response should be at least a solid 2 paragraphs. Don't forget to sign your name at the end of your response.
1) explore a few of the links
2) pick one that interests you
3) summarize what you found and comment on it. Your comment should connect what you found/read with some of the aspects of poetics we have been discussing in class (such as self-identity, sound techniques, connections of poetry to culture etc.)
again, the response should be at least a solid 2 paragraphs. Don't forget to sign your name at the end of your response.
posted by marcus silcock at 9:23 AM
44 Comments:
In the article titled “roots of modernism,” one encounters the question of what exactly modernism means. Personally, I feel the term is coined for different interpretations. Some may say it describes a specific era in the past, or maybe even the present. Perhaps it may describe a particular movement that officially ended classicism. There are two specific examples that identify closely with the topic of modernism: poetry and architecture. These two are actually similar in many ways according to Wooten who quotes, “Commodity, Firmness, and Delight” as the essential features. It’s obvious that both poetry and architecture consists of various structures, focuses on a specific purpose(s), and is appealing aesthetically. Also, the two share the relationship of addressing political, social, and cultural concerns through a form of civic discourse. It’s difficult for every single person to understand poetry and architecture at the same level, mainly because they both consist of ambiguities.
In terms of modernism, architecture differs from poetry in that “modernism” is actually thought of as a specific moment in the past (approximately around the 50s-60s). It was the rebirth of new ideas and “avant-garde” designs that tended to reject classical ways. Yet, with poetry, “modern” poetry is thought of as “present-day” poetry that is written— poetry that consists of made-up words, strong usage of sounds, and strange typography. There is no right or wrong answer for the way that “modern” is used, but both imply the change in its appeal. Poetry and Architecture are basically one in the same, only one consists of words, the other a more visual form. Together they are an integral part of our culture in helping to improve and/or reflect society.
~Airreia Smith
I read Do It In Tha Dirt by David Larsen. When I first read this poem, I really liked how it looked. And I really like the way it reads. For some reason, this poem seemed easier to understand then others. It's very realistic and I like the song quality of it. The next poem was The Bolt. I think this poem is talking about an experience he had with a court. Mainly because of the Judge part.
The next poem doesn't have a title. It has a list of seemingly random things. At the end it states that it takes a lot to kill a young person. However, the person the poem is for is 35 years old. I really liked this poem too. The poem that follows this is also not in typical poem set up. It's called Joke Paige. First thing i noticed was that the jokes didn't make that much since and weren't that particuarly funny. Also, the title, paige, instead of page. The last poem also doesn't have a title. This poem compares three very unlike thinks, a coward, a demon and a noble man.
All of these poems I liked a lot and understood the jist of what the poet was trying to convey.
Sally Hinson
I looked at a couple of different poems by different poets and the one that caught my attention the most was Listening from Livelihood. The reason this caught my attention more so than the others was because of the way it is set up. The structure itself is organized but it is not a basic left to right page. It is more in the center, to me this symbolizes that things are never perfect. It starts off by saying if we were to all get rid of our weapons (a perfect society) a less scrupulous person will then pick them up. His poem states that one thing always leads to another thing creating a continuous life. I agree with this completely. He also says that life is possible only because the rain falls and is the most important phenomena, because it does sustain life.
Maurice Scully uses the rhetorical through out his poem. He poses a question and leaves it open ended for you to take what he has written and find the answer yourself. He does a good job showing and not telling. I like this because it leaves it open for interpretation to the reader. He does have play on words almost like Stein with a little repetition. For an example “one thing
of course
one thing.”
He does use rhyme adding to the music of the poem. This poem does try and explain the natural in nature, life being sustained in rain, which is the question he poses at the beginning of the poem. This is a poem that requires a little reading into but I think is worth the little extra work.
The last post was by
lisa thompson
I read about Expresssionism. It came about as art literature in the 20th century mostly in Germany. This movement was known for its use of exaggeration for emotional effect. The works of Expressionism affects dance, cinema, theatre, and other fine arts. It's relation to self-identity shows great characteristics. The artist's own sensibility to the world's representation is imposed. An expressionist artist substitutes his own image of an object that he considers is a representation of its real meaning. In fact, the qualities of self-expression are typical now with modern artists and various art movements.
Reading about some of the representative artists was also interesting to me. I had the chance to hear about their works and how it tied in with expressionism. One of them, Franz Marc was at the forefront of German expressionism. He probably had the chance to experience first hand some of the techniques. I liked how he used different colors to symbolize feelings. Also, it was interesting to learn that he painted mostly animals because they were more important physically and spiritually than humans, according to him.
Johnna' Burns
I read three poems. Two of the poems was form Eleni Sikelianos and one was from the book "Do it in da dirt".
"A women alone" was a poem that has a lot of detailed images that makes you think negatively, makes you think pain, and suffering. All these images connects back to the title. When you think of a women being alone, it sounds very depressing and as you read, you hear situations that you dont want to be in or feel at any point. This poem repeats a lot of words keeping "lock" and "stuck" in your mind. Letting you get the sense of how the persons who is being talked about in the poem is feeling.
"Auguries" when reading this poem I tried to find the connection with words said in the poem to the title. Auguries is a prophet, and a prophet predicts things. It seems as if this poem is not really predicting anything to happen but is basically saying that this is whats happen. This poem is very dark and gloomy. It talks about a lot of human characteristics that may somewhat be missing out of human beings or society. Also repition and playing with the words plays a big part in the beginning and towards the end. Repition of same words with different meanings.
"Joke Paige" the last poem I read, I never thought that poetry could be written in such a way as asking a question then answering it. I mean it was like a bunch of jokes then answers. I looked at the structure of the words and it was just like a poem. You had like one sentence then on word. It followed all the way to the end. It just made me realize that poetry can be anything and written in any way.
These poems that I read I think falls under modernism. They both refer to the philosophy of modern art. This time period was about finding enlightment and truth but also finding and creating new things or knowlege.
Andrea Brown
I read three different poems in which I think fall unders moderism. For the simple fact that they talk about creating new things or bringing something new out of there poetry. Although it is still simple and straight to the point.
"A women alone" has many detailed images that make you think negatively, makes yo think pain, and suffering. All this connects back to the title. A women alone sounds depressing and as you read, you hear these images or situation that you dont want to be in or feel at any point. Repition is present throughout the poetry, such words as "lock" and "stuck" keeps repeating itself making it stick in you head.
"Auguries" when reading this poem I tried to find the connection with words said in the poem to the title. Auguries means prophet and a prophet predicts things. It seems as if this poem is not really predicting anything to happen but is basically saying that this is what I want to happen. The tone of the poem is very dark and gloomy. The author of this poem uses Gertrude Stein technique, using repition of the same word creating a different meaning.
"Joke Paige" was a different kind of poetry. It had a question and then an answer. I looked at the stucture of the words and it was just like a poem. You had like one sentence then one word. It followed this all the way through. It just made me realize that poetry can be written in different styles.
I read three different poems in which I think fall unders moderism. For the simple fact that they talk about creating new things or bringing something new out of there poetry. Although it is still simple and straight to the point.
"A women alone" has many detailed images that make you think negatively, makes yo think pain, and suffering. All this connects back to the title. A women alone sounds depressing and as you read, you hear these images or situation that you dont want to be in or feel at any point. Repition is present throughout the poetry, such words as "lock" and "stuck" keeps repeating itself making it stick in you head.
"Auguries" when reading this poem I tried to find the connection with words said in the poem to the title. Auguries means prophet and a prophet predicts things. It seems as if this poem is not really predicting anything to happen but is basically saying that this is what I want to happen. The tone of the poem is very dark and gloomy. The author of this poem uses Gertrude Stein technique, using repition of the same word creating a different meaning.
"Joke Paige" was a different kind of poetry. It had a question and then an answer. I looked at the stucture of the words and it was just like a poem. You had like one sentence then one word. It followed this all the way through. It just made me realize that poetry can be written in different styles.
Andrea Brown
This semester, I am taking an Introduction to Art History class and this Introduction to Poetry class. Each day, I am more and more amazed by how closely these two forms of art follow each other. I decided to explore the link labeled "Expressionism" under the category "Modernism." What I have learned from this website and from my Art History class is that Expressionism, especially German Expressionism, is very...well...expressive. It is usually characterized by a strong contrast between black and white; it is very harsh and could even be considered primitive.
Expressionistic poetry is very similar to expressionistic art; it is harsh and jabbing. You'll notice also that the Expressionistic poems printed in the text, such as the one on page 266, is printed in very bold font and includes a small picture, all done in very harsh thick black lines. This emphasizes the harsh black and white lines used to create Expressionistic art between 1900 and the 1920's.
Stefanie Tallent
I read the poem, The Pillar, by Mairead Byrne, or rather, I read along as I listened to it being read on Real Player. I was really confused as to the meaning of this poem, and even after I read the review of Alan Sondheim, it was still unclear. However, Sondheim said about the poem, "in the manner of reference and referencing not all of which I understand but which fill in the depths of such a life, this is a work I can and do read over and over." This seemed interesting to me because here is a man who is writing a review of Byrne's, The Pillar, and not even he fully understands it, and yet he still finds joy in reading it over and over again. I found that this was true of me too. While I hadn't a complete idea of what The Pillar was about (the most I could gather was that there was a pillar that stood through several events and important lifetimes of history?), I found myself enjoying the reading of it, and I found many of the things that we talked about in class about poetry in this poem.
There were a few instances of sound in The Pillar, made up words where the reader perhaps is encouraged to think and be creative. Some of these include words such as, "dubh le daoine," "ag baint dhá thaobh den bóthar", and "íseal." This poem was also very elegiac or conveying a mood of sadness. Byrne's tone as she read the poem conveyed this characteristic. Too in this poem, there was quite a bit of parallelism or anaphora, one such instance being in the repetition of "He was there" in seven consecutive lines. There were also several episodes of rhyme in this poem--i.e. "Clouds scud, what else, in the grey sky, and yes,
gulls hang all the way out, to the bay, I guess." I found all of these things very intriguing about "The Pillar," and they allowed me to enjoy the poem even though I didn't quite understand it all.
Jessica Dickerson
As I was looking at a couple of the poems in the different links, there was one that stood out to me. It was the Nine Light Poems by Jackson Mac Low. I read "the first light poem: for Iris" first and as i was reading it, the poem had a few techniques that was similar to the ones we have had in class. For instance, he repeats the word "light" in every stanza and there are two stanzas that are repeated also. This technique reminded me a little of Gertrude Stein because of the use of repetition in the poem. It put alot of emphasis on the fact that the poem was about light.
Another poem that was also in this link was the "5th light poem." This one was kind of strange and harder to understand. It used the repetition of "white" in the beginning and towards the end. Everything was white as in the white light, white wooden chair, white tee shirt, white cotton trousers, and so on. Then it goes to the meaning of light. Whatever the dropped white rose was pointing to was what kind of light appeared as he sat there.
Brittany Hall
I read Janet Rodney's collage on cameleons. I understood the poems as being separate poems, but also individual pieces of a whole collage. Each poem tied together the image of a cameleon, representing change, transformation, and renewal. The poems tied together memories with high speed, an characteristic found in futurism. When writing about the high speed, it introduced technology and how our world is more electronic and industrialized.
She used repittion for emphasis and incorporated the idea of speed but cutting off her words at the end of a short line and places the end of the word on the following line. This made the poem read fast(speed) with the short lines and alliteration. The poem also sounded kind of machanical with the pause in the middle of a word because it is separated into parts. I'm not sure if I ever analyze the poems correctly, but that is what I took away fromt the poem.
Karin Aydelette
In the first poem of Do it in tha Dirt, I interpreted the poet to be a pimp expressing to his escort his feelings of disappointment in her. The line that states “ your talking all that bull shit about the thorn” it sounds like the “escort” is fed up about something, the “thorn that tore your coat.” She’s really complaining and maybe wants out, and the man or “pimp” tries to tell her that “call it the way,” like that’s the way of life as he knows and is accustom to, and he is stressing that a lot of people don’t see what we see or go through what we go through.
In the third little page that starts off “1. The glory of god.” I think in a nutshell its talking about a persons life. It starts out positive with the glory of god, and how we come into the world and how life is formed, up until number 7. That’s where it turns and starts talking about ways to keep life from existing, with the “illness” and “corruption.” This poem is showing how life in its precious state can be tampered with in order to be nonexistent.
~James DeGraffenreid~
I read two poems that I found interesting but also extremely hard to understand. One is "Demo" by Kit Robinson and the other called "Summer" by Ronald Johnson. Both poems uses senory words to decribe the things in their poem. Both poems remind me of some of Gertrude Stein's work. Where she uses lots of imagery and repetitive phrases and words to get her point across. Robinson uses animals and nature like things in his poem. I thought his poem was confusing because I really couldn't tell if he was describing his life as a poet or writer. Or maybe he was trying to describe the everyday life and experiences of the people around him. I really didn't know.
Ronald Johnson's poem was also confusing to me. Just like Robinson and Stein,he use imagery such as the season to decribe his thoughts. He discusses the sun in the sky and the roosters making noise. I thought he was trying to explain what a summer to him would be like and then explaining how his summer days were. He uses bugs and insects to describe his pain. That is what I thought of his poem.
Tori Hoyle
I also read David Larsen's " Do it in Da Dirt". To someone that does not know the various methods of poetry, they would consider this strange. I felt that a lot of emotion was put into this "poem". There were some feelings of anger and pervertidness. The topography of the poem alone lets the reader know that this person wrote out of feelings. It was in handwriting on notebook paper rather than typed on a blank sheet of white paper. This appealed to my eyes and was what started me reading this.
His somewhat repeated use of the color blue made me think that there some kind of positive aspect to his writing. His constant use of the word sperm and that too much or too little cold be the death of you was very akward to me. One on of the pageds i saw what could've been a juxtapoisition with the combination of "sperm" and " blue". I can tell that his mind was probably in the dirt when he was writing this and that's where the title came from.
Natisha Webb :)
I also read David Larsen's " Do it in Da Dirt". To someone that does not know the various methods of poetry, they would consider this strange. I felt that a lot of emotion was put into this "poem". There were some feelings of anger and pervertidness. The topography of the poem alone lets the reader know that this person wrote out of feelings. It was in handwriting on notebook paper rather than typed on a blank sheet of white paper. This appealed to my eyes and was what started me reading this.
His somewhat repeated use of the color blue made me think that there some kind of positive aspect to his writing. His constant use of the word sperm and that too much or too little cold be the death of you was very akward to me. One on of the pageds i saw what could've been a juxtapoisition with the combination of "sperm" and " blue". I can tell that his mind was probably in the dirt when he was writing this and that's where the title came from.
Natisha Webb :)
I read the Ethnopoetry. I really liked the first 2. It was two "stories" that told 2 different things. The first one was about a warrior that was once a great warrior. He tells of how he used to kill many people and lead them to their deaths, but for some reason he ( I believe )is killed or is too old to fight anymore or he just doesnt want to fight anymore. I think that he is just reflecting and boasting on how he use to be. The second "story" was one written by a old or useless person. I think that it is the same warrior talkin at a different point in time. He is reffered to as the "maimed lion". It sounds like to me from that and the rest of the "story" that he has seen one too many battles in his life time. He considers himself worthless now. And he is now reflecting on it. Its sad that he compared himself to a rotted twig that the weight of a bat could break it.
This poem really did not have any sound affects in it. Instead it really did connect with this persons culture. It showed many aspects of the African Battle/Warrior culture. Indirectly it showed the great pride and respect that they held for a warrior. By showing the hurt and the shame he was feeling it hinted to the pride he once had in himself. The wasnt much rhyme if any in it. But the cultural allusions were great.
Jonathan Bryant
I read Rosemarie Walthrop's Nothing Has Changed. I saw this poem as a romantic one. It intrested me because I saw it as describing a long distance relationship and the struggles that come along with those. The author kept talking about distance and not being together. There were not really any sound techniques used in this poem. It was more of a reflective poem that showed the author's emotions and personal feelings. I saw it as a sappy love poem and being a girl I tend to relate to this type of poetry. I thought the poem was about a romantic relationship the author was in that was not exactly the easiest realtionship, but she was so in love. I don't know if that was what she meant to convey but I took that out of it. It showed her struggles and she really put her heart on her sleeve in this poem. It was different from the sound poetry we have been reading. It seemed to have a much deeper meaning to me.
Megan Foster
while searching through the poetry links i came across many interseting poems. the one i chose to read and review was John Taggart's "Slow Dance for Mark Rothko." This poems has much structure to it. Taggart uses Anaphora by repeating the phrases to breathe, to stretch, and to sing throughtout the poem. The way he writes this poem is simular to that of Stein's style. Also throughout the the poem the last lines of each large group are all common. They all have to do with the host and his house.
While reading this poem, i saw many images throughtout the text. The line that state "singing light into the darkness", brings a vision to my mind. i can see and hear the music softly starting and then getting louder and brighter as it goes on. Also when he talks about stretching but not to tourture leaves a visual. The sight of someone stretching thremsleves full out. Reading this poem was also enjoyable, it might not make perfectly clear sence to me, but i think that he gets the point across with his amazing choice of words. the make terrific visuals.
Stephanie Kuebler
I read David Larsen's "Do it in tha Dirt." I picked this one because I thought the title was interesting, crude, and in your face, and I liked that. The first poem, read like a song, and when I was reading it, I could hear music playing in my head. I thought this poem could easily be made into a popular song. When I was reading this I imagine that is a poem that you has a high tempo speed and is full of emotion.
Another thing I noticed about all his poems, is he does repeats certain words, I think, for effect. In "Bolt" he repeats calling and the color blue and I imagined he was in a panic state, maybe in a storm, but the last line he states about a judge, so you assume he's in court. This is the same in his list poem. He repeats sperm 4 times, and then contradicts himself everyother line.
I enjoyed reading these poems because it gives me a better insight into this form of art.
Jennifer McGuirk
I chose to read To Speak While Dreaming by Eleni Sikelianos. The title of the book itself says a lot about the poems inside; the truth and vulnerability she expresses. Many of her poems are about love or the sea, chocked full of imagery and metaphors. She uses alliteration in many cases, and modern linebreaks. I feel that many of her poems deal with personal struggles, about life: childhood, relationships, learning experiences, etc. She has a very elegant use of language, selecting uncommon words or writing them in unusual manners to give more meaning to the reader. Sikelianos’ poetry is very sensual and emotional, but yet mysterious. Her tone is often somber or melancholy, but her poetry is not (in my opinion) depressing.
Some of the sonnets by Sikelianos sounded angry in a sense, possibly, at a man. Having read much female poetry with frustration directed at someone who has hurt the writer, it seems to me that the poet has been treated unkindly, or been forced to deal with unfair circumstances. She paints her words carefully, letting the reader get a taste of what she feels.
Katie Rogers
I have found that Gertrude Stein is one of the most profound poets in history. Through the first of her pieces I was introduced to, it inspired me to read on. In "Tender Button" like most of her work, she is so short but yet so precise. Just when you frustrate yourself to find the true meaning of her poem a different perspective is laid before you.
"Tender Button" is about change. It is about how things can gradually or drastically change but it is bound to happen. It is simulated with color because color change can either be drastic or soothing depending on the light it is put in. She says that it is ok for things to be different in life that you just need to adjust and whatever pace you may do it in is ok; because everyone is different they adjust to change on their own time table. I really enjoy her work and hope that we continue to keep her in mind.
Tiffany Buie
Expressionism first appeared in art literature during the early twentieth century. Expressionism is a word used to indicate the use of misrepresentation and embellishment for emotional effect. Other than fine arts expressionism has influenced cinema, theatre, literature, and dance as well. Expressionism is trying to portray the bias emotions and responses that objects and events inspire in an artist. Its objective is to inflict the artist’s own deep feeling to the earth’s representation.
This type of artistic style affects modern artists and poets. Poets are constantly trying to illustrate their thoughts and feelings about the surroundings and everyday objects. For example, in Pierre Reverdy’s poem called Secret he talks about how the earth holds itself. He talks about clouds and leaves, which is the world he lives in.
Hong Ton
I read the poem named Slow Song for Mark Rothko by John Taggart. I really liked the way that he uses the sentences and changes them slightly but they end up meaning a totally different thing. He uses repetition throughout the entire poem to get the idea across.
I also like how he uses the repetition in a serious way. The poem had a very serious tone to it. I love how poets can use one sentence and change it to mean so much. This is exactly what John Taggart did. This particular poem had several different factors of life all drawn in by one sentence. I love this type of poetry.
Kelsey Bowers
Written in the winter of 1962, during the beginning of the Vietnam War and shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis, the first of Denis Roche's Three Poems from Locus Solus describes sentiments of the times. On first reading, it seems as though the author is only providing a series of unrelated images. There is no use of alliteration, no rhyme scheme, and no apparent rhythm. Furthermore, the poem has no title. These characteristics make it difficult to determine a central meaning; however, several readings reveal that all images share a common tone and together they create a powerful perspective on war.
A reoccurring image is that of death and decay, and the destruction of nature, to which there is a repeated use of the word "die" or "dying." For example, the speaker sadly discovers that no longer any traces of animals can be found, and that trees that could have been saved by human effort are dying. In effect, he is stating that instead of appreciating nature and protecting it, humans are contributing to its elimination. The second image seems to be war, as indicated by the word "battle," and the description of "hot marsh weather," most likely suggesting Vietnam. The third, and most important point made in this poem is less of an image, and more a perception of the situation as a senseless war, where nature is destroyed and the speaker gives up hope. The last few lines of the poem support this point as the speaker describes himself as allowing the events to simply wash over him like waves, knowing that no amount of prayer will change the fact that the end is near. Thus, the dominating theme is most aptly described as a sense of alienation and powerlessness.
Tineke Misegades
The link that I choose to comment on was shampoo poetry. This website has many poems written by different people, on different topics. One of the poems that I read was "Freedom", in issue 1 by Michael Caldon. I enjoyed this poem it made me think about Harriet Tubman, and how she escape to become free. It was a perfect time to read this poem I think, because it is Black History month and how many people wished to see a day like this, where they were free. The reason I say that this reminded me on Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad,is how he described being a fugitive and running wild in the shadows. I can imagine that Harriet felt that way too because she was a fugitive and I know she dream of running away and being free wherever she went. So I definitely enjoyed this poem.
Another poem that interest me was "Boy or Girl", in issue 2 by Alex O'Neil. In this poem a girl talks about how she sometimes wishes she was born a boy. In this poem alliteration is used (ex: pulling-pushing, sporting-scab, and perma-pressed). Also in this poem anaphora is used at the beginning and the end of the poem....once I wished I had been born a boy. This was an interesting poem because to me this girl doesn't even care that she is a girl, she just wishes she was a guy. How she talks about her pigtails been whipped behind the tomboy, to me she doesn't appreciate being a girl and trys to hide it behind the tomboy look.
Tammy McRae
I chose to read about Expressionism. I have recently been studying some of the artwork from the Expressionism period and have come to enjoy it greatly. Expressionism becan in the twentith century, primarily in Germany in 1910. Expressionsim had an impact on the fine arts, as well as theater, dance, cinema, and literature. Artists like to portray emotions and responses that particular events are objects evoke in them.
Among the famous people during this era were Max Bechman, Otto Dix, and Franz Mark, and my favorite, Edward Munch. Artist would use distortion, exaggeration, and fantasy in their works by using vivid and many times violent images in their works.
Growing up, Edward Munch lived a hard and troubled life. Many of his most famous works, such as "The Scream" depicted the extreme psychological states that he was in. The colors he used in "The Scream" were vary dramtic reds and oranges which gives a sense of anger and anxiety.
Kimberly Richtarik
The roots of modernism.
The atricle is a brief history of what the title says - the roots of modernism. Modernism takes is roots in the later part of the 19th century and lats till about the mid to late 20th century. However other historians tend to believe modernism got its roots in the Renasaince.
Modernism led way to a whole new breed of inteluctual poets and thinkers. Modernism put great emphasis on reason and thinking. Also important to modernism is the "belief in the notion of freedom, libert" and that they open the door to wisdom and happiness. These aspects of modernism can be seen in the flower children of the 60's.
John Elliott
The Roots of Modernism by Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe is a link that talks about the history of modernism. Modernism is defined as a period in history dating from the 1860's to the 1970's. It is used to describe the style and the ideology of art produced during that time period. The term modernism is also used to refer to the art of the modern period. It is believed by artists of this time that all art is founded in reason. Rome was believe to be where it all started. It was found that the aim of modernism is to creat a better society.
Poet Giuseppe Ungaretti is of Italian decent. Giuseppe's poem called The Rivers, is an example of modern poetry. The main character of the poem is speaking of self identity. In the poem, he is going over his past in the back of his mind. He is trying to overcome the pieces of his life that have followed him. He feels like time is standing still, but is determined to move on with his life. By the end of the poem the main character has found himself.
Nicole Parker
Do it in tha dirt... was unlike any poem that I have ever read before... It allowed the reader to look futher into a man's world. The things that were said about men were things that I had never thought about before. The part where it ays what do you call a man.... those things were thing that really made me think... However, I don't really agree about most of them. The poem it self was really hard at first, I had to read it twice to get the real understanding (if there really is one)...
Ashlee Richards
Mathews "your table, lucky bidder" was a great poem on the fellings of post love and romance. I found the poem to be full of surprises. How he invision himself doing all of these things before they happened. As if love at first sight he caught a feeling that he could possibly be writing his life story if all went well with his lover.
Mathew gives a since of self and understanding in his work. Something the reader can easily relate to or see themselves doing. Even his sound poetry had me excited and alive just as the thought of his expecting feelings of his date. "Your table, lucky bidder" is a wounderful poem on relationships building blocks. It also give light to the very first of our feelings for someone. The feelings we always remember, never talk about and never forget about. Its the perfect discription of love at first sight. ~De'Anna S. Graham~
I have chosen the poem "your table,lucky bidder" this poem was about a young man who aspired to date a young lady and he sortive takes a side bar and explores all the things he would do with her. He starts by stating a harsh but true fact in that every thing comes with a price. Such as you wouldn't directly offer a girl money in return for her hand but by courtship wining and dining in a way you have. Anyway he talks of all the wonderful things he would do for her and how much of a sacrifice he was willing to make. The thing about this poem is that he could have been speaking of a love that has blossomed over time in which a case where the relationship had blossomed over time . Then once you get to the end of the poem you find that htey hadn't been on a date at all they were still at a flirting stage when he kes back in after the side bar and decides that if he doesn't act this oppurtinity that could alter his life he may just be altering hislife. I felt this poem was excellent and i had to read the end twice to grasp that he never went on the date at all he simply imagining. Anthony Headen
Samantha Ray
I looked at four different poems or works by all different authors. Then, I finally found one that stood out to me because of how I actually understood it on the first try when reading it. I chose Inside Out by John Taggart...his conveys different subjects but all in some form or fashion relating to the same thing. He moves step by step into getting a point for each of his subjects. I really tried pinpoint stuff out of others but couldn't.
You can't just look at it and say he uses repetition. Or you can't just say he writes in the exact same style as Stein. Taggart's work is slightly diffent from Stein's because of how he uses the same words but they create a more vivid example for the reader. In one instance he writes like this, " You have to hear you have to you have to hear to
hear you have to give you who have." This shows how his repetition actually does mean something different each time. But then he writes like this, " who have ears you who have ears to hear." And by explanition its soo true.
Maybe I'm a little too enthused or too into his work because I actualy comprehend it. But to me, Befre he writes, It like he sits down with one question in mind and generate it into something else that relates. Like, What do you hear, a birds sings, singing is sound, and how do you hear it? SEE...that's what he does. He puts all these questions in mind...writes them..and builds off of each to relate it all back into the same subject and it actually makes perfect sense. Now, these all might be different subjects but they relate too...Birds Sing and that's a form of sound.
I really enjoyed reading it and analyzing it at well. I got to pick little things out of it and they made perfect sense to me.
I liked the poem by Larry Eigner, Air in the Trees. The content of the poem is mind twisting. It confused me. I had to try to read it with a more open mind and try to take it in as a whole but in pieces. I reads words in the poem that are very negative words such as,the view diminishes, and black throughout the centuries. Phrases such as these gives me the impression of the poem having a sorrowful tone. I find some references in the poem to time passing bye and the seasons changing (the sun burns the leaves). One of my favorite lines in this poem is “life burying you.” This line just really stuck out to me because of what it means to me. The word life to me means responsibilities, hassles, pain, loss, and just general worries. All these things that life brings bury us. If feels like weight is on our shoulders. No matter what we do there is always something that is counting on us to get done.
This poem also has a visual aspect. It is a form of art in the way it is placed upon the page. The incomplete thoughts, the cutting off, and spacing makes the reading more difficult but at the same time tries to portray a different view. The spaces between the words create more of a somber mood for me. The words don’t read off the page with speed and fury but more of a slow, controlled read. The visual seems to create the same sorrowful tone as the words that are being said.
Dorothy Michael
While reading "TO SPEAK WHILE DREAMING" By Eleni Sikelianos, I came across "A WOMEN ALONE" and really liked the structure,symbolism, and anology of the poem. Eleni uses no near rhyme, but does use justoposition.
"Women Alone" makes a cultural connection to not just women but to men as well. She writes of a lonely and sterirl conception (Tubular preg.) and how lonlieness sometimes overwelms her like a fishbone when it gets stuck in the throat.Lonlieness is a uncomfortable place ,especially when you feel stuck (sharp gullet that holds) Finally the emotion breaks forth and she is emotiomally shattered (the threads break apart).
Rebekah Bair-Sanders
I read thecollection of poems intitled "9 light poems", by Jackson Mac Low and i dont really know what i was expecting considering the title but i thought it was really interesting how the word "light" is used not only in almost every poem but in almost every line of every poem.It gives you a new perspective on light it's self which is somthing we all so easily take for granted. Talking about all the things that produce light or need light helps to shed light on how taken for granted light is. The ryhme pattern is random to non existent but you cant help to read the poems with a sort of rythm in your head. The short lines leave alot of room for self interpritation. It is also interresting how all the poems are dedicated to people alot of them to woman of which his relation ship you can only sepcualate on because non of them are distinctly love poems and one seems to be to a man and his wife. Another is to famous silent film star buster keaton which makes you think about movies when they were merely light without sound. His use of qoutes as verse almost seem to turn one of the poems into an open ended sort of conversation. I like his kind of primitive tarzan of the jungle line "you sagitarius woman me virgo man" it was a cool refernce to somthing seemingly unrealted from the subject but still a recognizable part of the culture. These poems were dense but easy to read whihc attracted me to them along with the general theme that tied them all together.
-Alex Laube
I decided to look at “John Taggart’s Slow Song and Inside Out” for this week’s poetry response. I found this link to be very interesting. The large font made the article very difficult to read. But after I looked at this poem I noticed the author used specific words many times throughout the poem. The words “sing” “breathe”, and “whisper” were repeated several times during the work. By this heavy use of repetition Taggart stresses the importance of these words. I believe he is showing the unique connection between these actions.
This link analyzes the simple things in life. Every day we take waking up, walking, and even breathing for granted. This poem is very simplistic but the language grabs your attention. It makes the reader think about these actions in a different way than they are normally thought about.
-Paul Gilliland
I read the poem "Nothing Has Changed" by Rosmarie Waldrop. When I first read this poem it reminded me slightly of Gertrude Stein's poetry style. To some that might seem a stretch similarity, but I felt that there were some likenesses. Some of the repetitiveness of the words and also the sort of rhythmical pattern led me to think back to Gertrude Stein.
"Nothing Has Changed" was a very interesting poem for me. I felt the poem was about a person who had or was in the speaker's life that maybe the speaker had tried to change and the person in fact did not change. I really like the way Waldrop wrote this poem. Thru some of the poem I almost thought that there were two people talking because the way the poem was written. Waldrop would state a thought or phrase, sometimes and incomplete phrase, and then right underneath she would put another. Some of the phrases she put didn't make, sense, at least to me, but even still it added something to the poem. I enjoyed this poem and I plan to read more of Rosmarie Waldrop's poetry.
Brianna Smith
I found several of the websites to be interesting and informative, especially those that explained in depth modernism and postmodernism, expressionism and impressionism. The website on Contemporary French Poetry is the one I have chosen to talk about. This website is a copy of a paper that was first published in 1991 titled Violence of the White Page: Contemporary French Poetry. The paper has over a 160 pages of translated poetry (French to English). The preface to the paper written by Stacy Doris is an explanation of the differences between French and American poetry from different standpoints: prosodic, conceptual, and national (Doris). She discusses French poetry in terms of forum and context.
In her discussion of forum, Doris explains how free verse French poetry was difficult to translate because time was no longer imposed by the sequence of numbered syllables, but the English language had natural stresses which caused the need to exam a poem line by line. "The French language recognizes no metric strictures within words" (Doris). Also the use of white space in a poem was intrepreted differently in each language. Doris states, "the use of white space functions in French poetry as the trace of physicality, intended at times as a breath". I felt that Doris was saying that the French are less concerned about traditional form, whereas general American English is more concerned with form as she puts it, they have a "sense of commitment to form". Reading this section of the paper made me think of something my sister's friend, a foreign exchange student from Austria, said over dinner one night. She speaks fluent German, English, and French and was reading Harry Potter in English. She said that she enjoyed reading Harry Potter in English almost as much as reading it in German, but the French version was disappointing because the French are not as concerned with interpreting literature according to what the original author intended the meaning and form to be. She said that they give their own words to text that has no French translation, where as, the German translation will just use the English name or word in the German text if there is no translation for the English word. Doris continues her discussion with the differences in context which she credits to cultural differences since World War II and the feelings and images the French people have versus those of the American people.
Patrick Nelson
The website i chose to read was a poem by Rosmarie Waldrop with the title of Nothing has Changed. It was an interesting poem and her way of writing was unique yet familiar because of another author we studied in class. Waldrop's writing was comparable to Gertrude Stein's in a way, because it also has the words arranged in a different way leading to require thinking by the reader. The poem did have a rhythem to it yet it didn't really make me visualize sounds or anything.
This poem seemed as though she may have been writing about another person and it did have great feeling in the writing. Waldrop is definately not what is considered an antipoet becausee even though she may use plain language, her entire poem is revolved around symbolism and it causes you to have to use your imagination and read deeper into the poem. It did interest me in the way she was similar to Stein and how to totally different people had the same ways of thinking which lead to the same type of writing. In all I enjoyed her writing.
-Whitney Johnson
DO IT IN THA DIRT
I clicked on this link because I was intrigued by the spelling of the word "the"; also the sexual connotation of "doing it in the dirt" aroused my curiosity. After clicking a couple times I noticed the poetry is written on notebook pages on the screen. How interesting that the author chooses to use an old fashioned element, lined notebook paper with a medium "the internet" which allows so many other possibilities. Why would he revert back to a simpler tool of expression? The poem has no title; it just begins and just ends. It seems rather disorganized, but it is trying to make a point. Its trying to explain "the chronic" what could that stand for? The text is in all caps with only a few commas no formal punctuation. The tone is quick paced; I couldn’t help but speed up while reading the words. I want to read more so I continued to the next piece. "The Bolt", this one seems to make no sense. On first read it seems like just random statements which end with some kind of ironic closure that should make sense. "Nice going to a judge". I want to read more rather then sit and try to comprehend the author’s message. Next poem, a long list of items followed by the declaration, "it takes a lot to kill a young person", then "for Ann Simon" . Very strange. Reading each item I think, "Are each of these items ways to kill a young person?" Or are they all required to accomplish that goal? Illness, by a fall or blows struck, could certainly lead to death; but imagination, the glory of God, what do these have to do with death, or murder? Who is Ann Simon? Next Poem, "Joke Paige", reading this list of "Jokes" I feel like the author is a woman, a cold, cruel woman. But maybe this is the author playing with his gender role and thinking how a woman would? The poem is very cruel, holding back nothing. What do you call a man when you want to cut him off for good? A cry baby. Seems the author must have experienced something similar in their life and chose to express it in poetry. Why not ask "What do you call a woman when you….". Last poem, jumping out first is the red Arabic writing and the words, terror, horror, immediately I get the emotions of September 11th coming out. The associations with the words and symbols is different for all of us after that day. Surely anyone reading this will notice those three items quickly and be intrigued to read the rest of the words to see what the author is thinking about.
-Matthew Modrow
Looking for poerty was a little diffcult. You type in poetry into a search and a million things pop up. I had a time finding on that I felt was pleasing. There was a lot of variety and no one can say that they could not find anything because evenn if you had a favorite poet they could find him. I don't have a favorite but i did find one that i liked.
I read a poem called " I wandered lonely as a cloud" by William Wordsworth. It was a upbeat type of poem talking about the nature of the world and how nice it was. It reminded me of a time where I felt like I was on top of the world.. The title seems kind of sad but the poem itself was intriging. It was talking about like if a cloud could see what it would see. Seeing hills and dancing daffodils, I just liked that it was just talking about the nature. Not trying to make it a person or anything. Sometimes I feel that poetry should be simple sometimes and this was one that I liked.
Adrienne Mann
Reading BOB PERELMAN'S THE FUTURE OF MEMORY, has really made me interested in wanting to write in this blog. I randomly selected the link and I came to find out how awesome it was. The language of this poem touched me in a very profound way. The writer expresses himself very detailed with his language and expresses his true emotion with the poem. I loved how he refered to Jesus and how we should give our soul to him. At least thats how I took the reading by his language.
I enjoyed him saying how he must come out from where we are and shine and run to Jesus. I really did interpret this poem this way, I may be totally wrong but thats the beauty of poetry is that we can interpret it anyway. The structure of the poem was rather interesting. There were several poems with very different structure, but the one I will refer to is to that one I read which was at the very beginning. Everything flowed together very well and I was able to read the poem rather smoothly. I LOVED IT!!!!
Wendy Pagoaga 106 :)
The poem i chose to read was very interesting with a definate feeling of gloom and death. Scary Movie by Ron Padgett was a little bit confusing yet i enjoyed reading it because of the odd instances that would occur. A certain part that set the mood for me was the mentioning of "ducks who died there-shot by hunters" this isn't exactly a happy setting. THen it was said "close the door the children must not see." It is like the poem was also secretive and it showed that things were taking place that shouldn't have been.
When reading this poem you really had to go deep into it and still there are certain parts and peices i don't understand. The best part of the poem in my eyes was the last line being "why didn't someone tell me." That line is so deep it touched me intensely. It is so often heard and so many times people aren't told something when they wish they had been. I enjoyed this poem and wouldn't mind to explore more of Ron Padgett's works.
Whitney Johnson
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