Sentimentality in Family-related Poetry

Poetry is of course built and created from the emotions of the poet. Emotion is the foundation of a poem. However, there is only a thin line between a beautiful poem filled with emotions and an overly sentimental piece. This is clearly portrayed in two of this week’s readings.

Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” and Galway Kinnell’s “After Making Love We Hear Footsteps” are both related to Family. Most will agree that the topic, Family, is one that is sensitive and emotional. Although both poems relate to family matters, they are two very different, almost opposing poems.

In “Daddy,” Plath voices her opinion, mostly negative ones, regarding her father. Going through this poem, I can tell she has very strong emotions towards her dad. A little risky, Sylvia Plath is on the verge of being overly sentimental. Certainly, a poem is where a poet expresses his or her emotions, but I believe Plath may have immersed herself in too much of her own emotions while writing this poem.

Bit my pretty red heart in two.
I was ten when they buried you.
At twenty I tried to die
And get back, back, back to you.
I thought even the bones would do. (56-60)

The stanza above may be too overwhelming for the reader. The content makes the reader step back away from the poem. This piece contains a little Too much emotion and details.

On the other hand, Kinnell’s “After Making Love We Hear Footsteps” does a good job in avoiding excess sentiment. He does not go into too much detail about making love (a topic which not every reader might be comfortable with if overly used), and instead focuses his details on his son and the emotions the child brings him. The last line, “this blessing love gives again into our arms” ensures that this poem’s main topic is the child, not love making (21).

The Beats Vs. The NY School

After reading the poems for this week, I noticed something unique to each category of poems. The poems from the Beats are more related to the poet’s thoughts. They are also a little more on the passive side. On the other hand, the poems coming from the NY School concentrate on a specific event; they are usually about one subject or occurrence. There are some poems in this category that are like stories and some that are about writing poems or being a poet.

One of my favorite pieces from the Beats is Gregory Corso’s “Marriage.” In this poem, the entire thought process of a man thinking about marriage is stated. After reading this poem, I thought to myself, “Wow, this is so real and true.” Common thoughts of a man meeting his significant other’s parents for the first time is seen:

When she introduces me to her parents
back straightened, hair finally combed, strangled by a tie,
should I sit with my knees together on their 3rd degree sofa
and not ask Where's the bathroom?
…
O how terrible it must be for a young man
seated before a family and the family thinking
We never saw him before! He wants our Mary Lou!
After tea and homemade cookies they ask What do you do for a living?
Should I tell them? Would they like me then? (10-13, 16-20)

In this poem, Corso emphasizes on his thoughts and feelings.

A very different type of poem, Frank O’Hara’s “The Day Lady Died” from the NY School describes a specific event (the day Billie Holiday passed away). In this poem, O’Hara lets the reader know what a typical New Yorker day in the year 1959 was like. He uses numerous references to popular culture to highlight the lifestyle and culture of his time. For example, he would “have a hamburger and a malted and buy an ugly NEW WORLD WRITING” on a typical day.

The poem from the Beats concentrates on the thoughts of the common man, while the piece from the NY School emphasizes the typical lifestyle and culture of a specific time period.

Plainspoken, But Indeed Poetic

Free Verse is a type of poetry that does not follow strict metrical and rhythmic patterns. Poets using Free Verse have a lot of freedom in creating their poems.

The poems of this week are very plainspoken. These modern poets use everyday language to write about everyday topics. In order to distinguish their writings as poetry and not just “mere facts,” these poets use brilliant techniques.

In my opinion, what makes poems different from “mere facts” is that poems are created from the thoughts and feelings of its creator. When one reads a poem, he or she can experience what the poet felt at the time the poem was written. Even though the poems of this week are written so plainly, the content of the poems is a part of the poet. Each individual poem reflects the personal experience of a poet and what he or she went through.

In addition, the poets of this week make use of certain poetic elements. For example, repetition of the words “Why” and “Somebody” can be seen in Elizabeth Bishop’s “Filling Station.”

Why the extraneous plant?
Why the taboret?
Why, oh why, the doily? (28-30)

Somebody embroidered the doily.
Somebody waters the plant,
or oils it, maybe. Somebody
arranges the rows of cans
so that they softly say:
ESSO-SO-SO-SO
to high-strung automobiles.
Somebody loves us all. (34-41)

Moreover, rhyme is present in John Berryman’s “The Dream Songs: 324.”

Henry in Ireland to Bill underground:
Rest well, who worked so hard, who made a good sound
constantly, for so many years:
your high-jinks delighted the continents & our ears:
you had so many girls your life was a triumph
and you loved your one wife. (1-6)

The rhyme scheme here is aabbcc.

These modern, plainspoken and everyday poems are definitely not “mere facts” and are extremely poetic.

The Not-So-White Page

My favorite poem from this week’s readings is Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B.” The discussion, “Appropriated Forms -- Anti-establishment Poems,” is what sparked my interest. It allowed me to discover the importance of the poem’s form. The content of this piece gave me the idea that by writing in an “establishment” form similar to others, the poet is trying to say that Blacks are the same as any other race.

“Theme for English B” talks about racial discrimination against African Americans in the 1900’s through an assignment from Hughes’ English instructor. The assignment is as follows:

Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you—
Then, it will be true. (2-5)

The most interesting thing about this poem is the technique Hughes uses in order to make a powerful statement and express his thoughts on the issue. He uses a brilliant metaphor comparing the treatment of Blacks to the page he is writing the poem on. Langston Hughes writes about how he “like[s] the same things other folks like who are other races” (25-26) and adds:

So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
A part of you, instructor.
You are white— (27-31)

By white, Hughes means the truth. The instructor said that a poem will be true if the words or content originates from inside you. In a way, Hughes is arguing that that will not be the case for him, because he is Black. He believes that Blacks do not get the same respect or treatment as Whites. A poem written by a colored poet will not have the same effect and credit as one written by a white writer.

The Art of Influence

The first readings for this week are by Robert Frost. As soon as I started reading his poems, I noticed something very familiar. The five poems by Frost all relate and surround Nature. Nature Nature Nature. If anyone asked me anything about poetry, I would give him or her one word: Nature. Even though that is a bit exaggerated, the use of nature is what I began this course with and what I found the most interesting and enjoyable.

The famous “Nature-users” are Romantics like Blake, Wordsworth, and Coleridge. Blake and Wordsworth’s poems are more joyful and optimistic, while Coleridge’s are more negative and gloomy, much like Frost’s poems. Looking back at Samuel Coleridge’s poems, I found something very intriguing. One of his poems is titled: “Frost at Midnight.” What an amazing coincidence! Robert Frost’s name is actually part of one of Coleridge’s poem titles. Coleridge’s “Frost at Midnight” and Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” are speaking about almost the same topic. The lines: “And extreme silentness. Sea, hill, and wood,/ This populous village! Sea, and hill, and wood” (Coleridge 10-11) and “Whose woods these are I think I know./ His house is in the village though” (Frost 1-2) are a fitting example. Choosing only two lines in each poem, two subjects are already identical: woods and villages. In addition, both poems talk about the winter nights.

I also found that Carl Sandburg’s “Chicago” resembled a little of William Blake’s “Songs of Experience: London.” Both poems talk about the negative aspects of a specific city. In “London,” Blake writes about the “cr[ies] of every man” and “every Infant’s cry of fear,” (5-6) while “Chicago” speaks of how “on the faces of women and children [Sandburg has] seen the marks of wanton hunger” (8).

Thirteen Ways, Thirteen Stanzas

Wallace Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” is an extremely smart and interesting poem. In this piece, Stevens (of course) uses thirteen different ways a blackbird can be observed. A very effective poetic element he chose to use is numbered stanzas.

There are thirteen stanzas, numbered from one to thirteen. Each of these numbered stanzas represent a way a blackbird can be seen. With this technique, Wallace Stevens creates thirteen miniature poems. Every single stanza could be a poem of its own. However, with all thirteen ‘mini-poems’ combined, an immense effect is achieved.

In this poem, there are stanzas that are in higher spirits: “The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds./ It was a small part of the pantomime.” This gives me an image of a blackbird flying peacefully with the winds. On the other hand, there are stanzas that are more negative:

“Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow of the blackbird
Crossed it to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the shadow
An indecipherable cause.”

The use of the word shadow in this stanza gives it a gloomy feel. Stevens is trying to compare “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” to the real word. I believe this poem is to show us how there is always so many different aspects to look at something. Every person’s view of something is dissimilar to another person’s. For example, a certain event can be devastating or it can be hopeful. It really depends on an individual’s perspective. Negative or positive, good or bad, it all comes down to how an individual looks at it.

We should not complain if we think our life is horrible; it is really our own choice. If everyone is optimistic and only looks at the good side of things, our world would be a happy place.

I may be totally off with my interpretation, but I think that even if there is no true meaning of this poem, it is still very enjoyable to read. Stevens seems like a very open-minded poet. He is able to create so many different and unique ways to describe only one topic, or even one item.

Blake Vs. Byron, Innocence Vs. Beauty

Similar to the world of sports, poetry can be a competitive field. As basketball players compete on the court, poets are battling through poems with their own thoughts and emotions. William Blake and George Gordon, Lord Byron are two very well known poets. These two English Romantics write very unique and different poems. However, there is one major aspect that can be used to compare the two very different but similar poems: Poetic Elements. Analyzing Blake and Byron’s use of poetic elements (more specifically their use of Language and Images) can lead us to determine whether “Songs of Innocence: Introduction” or “She Walks in Beauty” is the most effective at achieving its meaning.

Lord Byron’s ability to convey his message through tone in “She Walks in Beauty” surpasses that of Blake’s in “Introduction.” “She Walks in Beauty” is a very emotional piece; Byron is clearly writing in the midst of emotion. The first line in the poem is suitable evidence: “She walks in beauty, like the night / Of cloudless climes and starry skies” (Byron 1-2). If Byron is not writing this poem at the time when his feelings are strongest, he can easily change the poem to past tense. “She walk[ed] in beauty” will let the reader know that the writer is mentioning the past (Byron 1). George Gordon Byron makes it seem as if he is observing and admiring the beauty of a lady while simultaneously recording his feelings and emotions. By doing this, he is striking while the iron is hot with emotions and therefore can express his truest feelings. On the other hand, “Introduction” from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence is a retelling of a story. The entire poem is referring to the past, as seen in lines like: “So I sung the same again / While he wept with joy to hear” (Blake 11-12) and “So he vanish’d from my sight. / And I pluck’d a hollow reed” (15-16). Blake is writing at a distance from emotion, and that is exactly what his readers feel: an emotional distance in Blake’s poem. Because of this “distance,” the audience does not relate to “Introduction” the same way they relate to “She Walks in Beauty.” They feel closer to Byron’s poem than they do to Blake’s.

The images formed in both Blake and Byron’s poems are clear and definite. However, William Blake is able to use these images to create a deeper meaning in “Introduction.” In the first stanza, Blake writes:

Piping down the valleys wild
Piping songs of pleasant glee
On a cloud I saw a child,
And the laughing said to me, (1-4)

This first stanza creates the main image of the poem. As I read those lines, I imagine a beautiful green pasture on a sunny day with a clear blue sky and clouds like cotton. While an older man plays music, he looks up and sees a child on one of the fluffy clouds. With this image in my head, I continue to read the rest of the poem. I realize that this image is very meaningful; Blake is trying to portray the innocence of childhood. Using “a cloud” as to where he saw the child, the child is seen as an angel or someone belonging in Heaven (Blake 3). In addition, the white color of clouds represents innocence and purity. William Blake also describes the joy of an easily satisfied child in the following stanza:

‘Drop they pipe thy happy pipe
Sing thy songs of happy chear’;
So I sung the same again
While he wept with joy to hear. (Blake 9-12)

The child in this poem is indescribably happy, merely because of a song. This shows how the child is worry-free and unfamiliar with the real world’s dangers and stresses. William Blake describes how “[e]very child may joy to hear [his songs]” (20). “Every” indicates that the poet feels that all children live a happy, innocent and perfect life (Blake 20). Going a step deeper, Blake is in a way envious of the child. He wants to relive his childhood and return to a state free of worries. I believe Blake is not content with his current state; he probably has many issues and problems occurring in his life at the time the poem is written. Contrary to “Introduction,” Lord Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty” does not have as deep of a meaning to it. Byron is successful at creating a vivid image of the appearance of a lady to the reader. As I read the poem, lines like “She walks in beauty, like the night… / And all that’s best of dark and bright / Meet in her aspect and her eyes” let me know that the time when the poet saw the lady was probably at night, and her features are most likely dark: dark eyes, dark hair (Byron 1, 3-4). Although George Gordon Byron does a wonderful job at reproducing an image of the beautiful features of a lady, his images are purely decorative. There is no further meaning beyond that of a poet showing his admiration for a lady’s beauty.

Lord Byron excelled in the category, Language. He is able to draw his readers into his poem; the readers are actually experiencing exactly what Byron experienced. William Blake is weaker at using Voice to communicate his idea. His retelling of a story causes a distance between him and his audience. As for using images, Blake triumphs over Byron. William Blake is able to create images that advance the meaning of his poem. Deeper meanings can be achieved through Blake’s images, while Lord Byron’s images are solely decorative. One to One. The result is a tie for the Battle of Poetic Elements. Using only two elements to conclude which is the better poet is far too imprecise. There are many more aspects to consider when analyzing poems. In my opinion, I enjoy William Blake’s “Introduction” more than Lord Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty.” I prefer an image that creates deeper meanings to an emotional tone. At the end of the fourth quarter, the two basketball teams go into a tiebreaker. Who will be the winner?

Works Cited

Blake, William. “Introduction.” The Norton Anthology of Poetry. Ed. Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter and Jon Stallworthy. 4^th ed. New York: Norton, 1996. 671-72.

Byron, George Gordon. “She Walks in Beauty.” The Norton Anthology of Poetry. Ed. Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter and Jon Stallworthy. 4^th ed. New York: Norton, 1996. 767.