Poets in Dialogue
This week we’re looking at poet’s talking to each other over centuries. What do you learn from listening in on these conversations? Have you found yourself responding to poets over the course of the semester with your own opinion that differs from them? Or have you responded with a resounding YES but with the desire to extend the comment or qualify it according to your experience?
In particular we are examining the Jubilate poems and the Fish poems. You may comment on the specifics of either of these or more generally on the nature of the poet-dialogue through time.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
To introduce Elizabeth Bishop’s The Fish, I think the best way to look at this poem as if it were a story in very few words, yet the story itself is very long. The poem represents the life of the fish, which is a story taking only a moment to tell as he slowly dies at the hand of this woman. The poem also represents a rainbow. The narrator never finds the rainbow until the very end, the resolution point, where she declares the fish victorious. Yet the poem itself represents a rainbow because it is made up of a myriad of colors, each distributed evenly throughout the length of the poem. It is evident that the narrator (and author, obviously) is a woman, based on certain descriptions she gives, especially using the metaphor of flowers on a regular basis. Lastly, it is important to mention how talented Elizabeth Bishop is at making gross or just uninteresting objects like oil, rust, and a dying fish sound so much more magical and beautiful. This could be her greatest talent as a poet.
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I find the idea of poets in dialogue to be fascinating, and this is a practice that I was completely unaware of until this week. I wonder if there is ever a feeling of frustration or offense taken with a poem written specifically to contradict what one has written, or if “all’s fair in love and poetry,” so to speak.
I noted this particularly when we read the poems about the country today. I thought the idea of writing a poem titled specifically against the poet before him was very surprising. The content of the poem entitled “Williams was Wrong” wasn’t necessarily offensive, as the “Jubilate Canis” might have been to Christopher Smart, but still, had the poets been living in the same era it could have been considered something to take offense at. I wonder what Christopher Marlowe thought of Sir Walter Raleigh’s poem. Here are two poems written within a year of each other, one with a shepherd confessing love and the other responding this sarcasm and disdain of what the shepherd offers. The idea of poets in contrast is very intriguing and I look forward to reading more poems like this.
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Listening to the conversations between poets has been something very interesting and captivating for me. I enjoyed in class how the groups split up and read each poem aloud according to the group member’s interpretations and on how each poem responded to the prior poem. It was interesting how between the two fish poems, the writers were enthralled by different projects, yet took the time to describe it in great detail. Each of the poems had very different formats, too. Moore had AABBC rhyme scheme, while Bishop had no real rhyme scheme. Moore’s poem seems very vague and can have a whole sleu of interpretation, while Bishop’s was very specific. Moore’s poem also seems to be impersonal, while Bishop’s is very personal. Bishop looked up to Moore and parallels between their poems can also be seen. For example, both of the poems discuss the effects of time and wear and tear of life. I can really relate because when I read poems, most times, I have a totally different interpretation of the poem than the original writer intends, yet sometimes I have an interpretation along the lines of the writer.
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I liked The Fish poem. I especially liked how the poet could make something so beautiful that is in reality very sad and dark. The slow horrible death of a fish is not poetic or beautiful at all. Seeing something that is so innocent struggling for its life is not pretty. However, Elizabeth Bishop makes the death of the fish into a poem that is so beautiful. It is filled with many allusions and poetic language. This poem is saturated with colors and bright flowers. I like how at the end all the colors came together to form a rainbow. There is also very descriptive language. The journey that the poem takes comes to an end when the speaker lets the fish go in the last line. I think that the speaker did let the fish go, because she saw herself in the fish. The fish was beautiful and this is seen in the speaker’s words. The fish’s struggle for life is what the speaker can relate too. Overall, I enjoyed the poetic details that the speaker gave about the fish.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Reading these poems in dialogue really surprised me. When I think of poetry and art, I often think of it as original and that it is a bad thing to use someone else’s work for your own. However, through these readings, I have learned that looking to other poems, other pieces of art, can really benefit your own work. I think that responding to other poems should be an important part of a poet’s writing, because it shows understanding and thoughtfulness in regards to other poem, as well as critical and original thinking. The Jubilate poems really struck me, seeing how their forms are almost identical and about very similar subject matter, and yet they are so different. One is serious and philosophical, the other is light hearted and sarcastic, and the other simply defends the first. It is interesting to see how poets across time periods and places can speak to each other through their poems and make it seem like there is a relationship there, even when there is not. It intensifies a poet’s work if someone else thinks about it enough to dialogue with it. From these readings, I see that when I read poems and think about them and analyze them, and then possibly respond with a poem, I am entering into this dialogue that is beyond me, beyond the poet, and is a part of art. This seems like a unique experience that can strengthen a writer in many ways.
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:32 pm
One thing about dialogue poems that I noticed is the tendency of the replying poet to be somewhat condescending towards the original poem. If not condescending, then differing in opinion. But isn’t that the definition of good poetry? To either identify a part of reality through new imagery, or to create a contrast of ideas to spark the reader’s interest? I think the replying poet takes a risk to his or her credibility when devising a poem that references another’s work. For instance, Erica Jong’s poem “Jubilate Canis” is a blantant reply to Christopher Smart’s “Jubilate Agno: My Cat Jeoffrey,” as she even states in the subtitle: “(With apologies to Christopher Smart)” Is she mocking Smart’s well-thought out lyrics that showed his real sense of spirituality in something as simple as his domestic pet? Her poem is much more carefree and witty than his in my opinion, thought not necessarily better. Only the reader can decide for themselves whether the replying author is emulating the previous author, or simply making a poetic joke at another’s expense. But in general, I think any poet who has the pleasure of having another reply to his or her work should take it as a compliment, since imitation is said to be the highest form of flattery.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Arguing with a dead person does not seem fair; good thing other, more living poets step up to defend those who have passed. I thought it interesting, though, the relationship between Moore and Bishop’s poems. Although the setting and tone to each may be similar, I saw very different structures and ways expressing the theme of the poem. Where Bishop used many discriptive words and allowed the poem to be flowing and conversational, Moore wrote in a way that, I a person spoke it, a listener may question the person’s sanity. But more, I want to simply document what I thought bishop’s poem could have meant. I think that the fish represented a man; she had the five-hooked man in her grasps. The man had obviously had hard times, and had faced adverseties, which is why he has a fishing-line beard. I think that Bishop could be relating the fish to all men. Then, by understanding his strongholds, his difficulties in life, and then letting him go for it, I think she is trying to make the point that she has also been through difficult times. She may be vying for the equality of lesbians in the eyes of men. She is saying, we are not so much opposites as you may think, and by allowing the fish to swim free, she is displaying her humanity, and making a charge to be treated fairly, even as a lesbian in the middle of the 19th century.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I think that the poet’s dialogue is so fascinating. It is probably one of my favorite chapters that we have looked at this semester. Almost everything we read warrants a reaction; whether it be that you agree with the author or whether you disagree. Up in till reading this poems, I never realized that expressing your response was really possible. I mean of course you could tell a friend or discuss it in class, but could you ever really respond? Dialogging with poets seems to transcend all boundaries of time. Almost as though you are sitting with the dead poet discussing their work. I love how the reader has the opportunity to expand on a thought, argue a thought, or reinforce a thought. So often I’m reading something and and idea pops into my head. This is so evident throughout the chapter on poets in dialogue; a small section from one poem, is taken and expanded on. I believe that the Jubilate poems are particularly interesting. It is neat to see two quite different response to the original poem “Jubilate Agno.” This is a beautiful example of two interpretations of the same poem can be so completely different and how our life’s experiences truly shape how we read a poem, what we take from it, and how we feel about it. I think that the poets dialogue is a perfect example for poetry at large; how it spans generations, touches each life differently, evokes different emotions, and inspires different reactions.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:21 am
I find it interesting that poets comment back and forth through poetry. It really just encourages the overall idea that poetry is truly its own language. When reading the poems in the section we were assigned for homework, and reading the responses that followed, it intrigued me. I began to think about the process of writing my own response to some of the poems that I have read over the years. I never really considered that a form of “talking back” could be to write my own poem.
With all the above in mind, I believe that the poem about the shepherd and his love is very touching, but I quite agree with the response written by Ralegh. I like his take on the whole issues that love can not necessarily concur all. I feel like he really captures the essence of the first poem, but turns it on its head making it a little more realistic in my opinion.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Before I started reading any of the poem in the “poets in dialogue” section I had this idea that all the poems would be argumentative, full of analytical meaning and discussing deep subjects like the meaning of life. I figured those deep, dark “meaning of life” poems would be the most controversial and thus the ones most talked about among poets. However, when we read the Jubilate poems, the Fish poems and the Passionate Shepard to His Love poems I was intrigued by the simplicity of the subject matter. These poets were discussing favorite pets, fishing experiences and living in the country. I would have never thought that poets would want to converse back and forth about such topics. Then I realized that is the beauty of poetry. People can write, discuss and express their thoughts and feelings about ANY subject that can relate to ANYBODY. The intensity of the subject that is being expressed is not what makes a meaningful poem; it’s about the impression it can have on readers. Apparently those poems had enough impact on some poets that they decided to respond to the original author.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
The idea of poets communicating to each other, through their own poetry, is a fascinating one. When thinking about it, it comes back to respecting the art for what it is – rather than verbally telling a poet that you don’t agree with his poem, write one that shows your view. I like this idea. It keeps the harsh faces of realism and life away from the art form of poetry.
With keeping this positive light in mind, I was very surprised at the negativity and the attacking words that went back and forth between two poems. I feel like titling a poem
“Williams was Wrong” does nothing but put a political label on the poem. It take away form the art. I guess I would just like to see the same ideas come out of these poems without the apparent bashing of other poets. Can’t a poet disagree without deliberately ripping down another poets ideas?
Also, in reading poems that are in immediate and harsh contrast with one another, what do the poets themselves think? Their ideas are presented, and its obvious that one poet doesn’t agree with then other…but I wanna’ know more about the thought process that these poets go through when responding to one another.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Christopher Smart’s poem “Jubilate Agno, My Cat Jeoffry,” is one of my favorite poems that we’ve read this semester. Yet as lovely as his poem is, I found that reading other poets’ responses to it brought a sense of completion to the poem. The expression was made whole after other poets examined it and wrote down their interactions with it. I was moved not only by Smart’s poetic expression, but by his influence on many contemporaries.
After reading “Jubilate Agno,” I was especially touched by poet Edward Hirsch’s response to the poem. Smart’s poem is a little out of the ordinary. He reflects vividly and at length on his beloved little cat, Jeoffry, claiming his cat to be a “servant of the Living God.” Unlike other poems, “Jubilate Agno” made me really wonder about its author. I wanted to know what Christopher Smart was like, what led him to view his cat with such joy and adoration. I wondered as to how he came to make such brilliant connections between his cat and the eternal presence of God. Hirsch seems to wonder the same thing. His poem is about Smart, and about Smart’s unique ability to see God in everything, especially his cat. Hirsch also provides some biographical information about Smart in his poem. He talks about this poet’s simple love for all things, and his eventual unhappy fate as he was forced into an insane asylum. I could tell that Hirsch had done some serious meditation on Smart, as did I after reading this poem. I loved not only the poem, but the ability to read about a second poet’s thoughts on it. Hirsch and I traveled a similar journey in our musings about Smart. He is an intriguing poet who invokes a lot of thought and wonder from his readers.
April 24th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
I found the Jubilate poems to a very interetsing “poetic series” if you will. Each had its own you unique style, brought by the poet, and yet they continued the same discussion regarding similar themes. The tones of the poems were quite varied, and reading them in sequence this was easy to detect. I found William’s Was Wrong to be the most unusual of the four poems. Unusal mainly because it didn’t really fit in with the other three. It did not have the passionate authoritative tone of Raleigh Was Right, instead the speaker seemed relatively indifferent. Whatever the reason for this it seems like the title of the poem was almost an afterthought, rather than the primary impetus for the poem. All in all though I find the idea of these poetic dialogues to be very interesting, both in the abstract and in actual practice.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I really enjoy reading poets in dialogue, and often times, I find myself dialoguing with poems. Earlier this year I read a poem, “A Description of His Ugly Lady,” and I found myself responding to the poet’s words. He wrote about all the ways his “beloved” was aging, and pointed out all of her flaws to be funny. He used humorous words, but in a sense, I would have liked to see what he looked like in return as an aging male. I was able to dialogue with the poet this week with some silly humor, because of this chance we had to choose a poem and dialogue. Overall, I really enjoy reading other poets dialogue with each other. It brings different views to the poem, and even humor to poke fun. The Jubilate poems were very humorous to me. Although the original poem about the cat was very thoughtful, and intriguing, because who knew that you could get so much from a simple house pet, it was really neat to hear a humorous response about a dog. Dogs and cats are very different animals, causing these poems to have very different tones. These dialogues make it even better for the reader.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I think that “my cat Jeoffry” was a nice break from more serious, structured poems we have studied over the past few weeks.
I think this poem conjured up more negative opinions from our class because of its dissimilarity to previous pieces. And let me also remind you that many famous poets, artists, and musicians in the past have spent a few days or weeks in mental institutions. I do not feel that mental illnesses impact art in a negative way. Contrarily, I want to suggest that most “good” art, thoughtful art, whatever, has come from people straddling the line between sanity and insanity. These states of mind trigger new thoughts, new perspectives on life, even epiphanies about one’s life or life in general.
No, I don’t have any scientific proof, statistics, or specific case studies. But I will say that I have witnessed artists in this state of mind and sometimes without even knowing (or caring about) the state of their psyche, appreciate their work as much, if not more than those whose works ends up in books, anthologies, art museums, or Broadway.
I don’t want to go off in another discussion about what art is. But for a moment let’s assume that art is everything that a human produces and take a quick look at Christopher Smart’s piece.
The speaker (who is not specified as Smart himself), is passionate and very observant about this cat, Jeoffry, he describes throughout the poem. The cat’s every move and thought is taken note of. There are several references to God. This may be saying that Jeoffry is praising God in his every movement: eating, cleaning, sleeping, interacting with other cats and humans.
Is this not what our every moment is supposed to be focused on? Praising the Lord our Savior, who is the very being who created us and enables us to do these very things. The only distinction I can think of between cats and humans is that we have an alphabet and opposable thumbs. This might sound too simple, but nothing God does is simple. It is carefully thought out and executed.
This poem is complicated and beautiful.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Virture
This poem speaks about the what’s important in life. The first three stanza’s discuss the beauty of the world in their first three lines and in the 4th line state that thou must die. The fourth stanza talks of a virtuous soul and then says in the last line that the virtuous soul chiefly lives. To me this is a message on how we perceive beauty in this world versus how we should perceive it. Beauty is more than just an outward thing, and in fact the outward and obvious beauty will die one day. A beautiful day will end, the season of spring will end, and a rose will eventually die. This poem is saying that it is the inward beauty that counts because when all else is gone and has died, the inward beauty will live on. The virtuous soul will live on.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:08 am
First of all, I think responding to other authors from the past is a brilliant way of writing poetry. Sometimes I find it hard to come up with a subject to write about, but maybe that’s just because I don’t write poetry very often. My mind is not tuned toward it. There are probably enough poems out there that have already covered any subject that you have thought about or will think about. When I read and listen to the poems of conversation in our book, it teaches me to have my own opinion. I do not have to see it the same way the author does. One example would be Robert Frost’s “Dust of Snow.” In the poem a crow shakes snow off a hemlock tree onto the author. And instead of becoming upset, he states that it has lightened his mood about the day. I remember reading it and thinking, “not in this lifetime.” I would have never had the same great attitude that the author did. Now granted, I don’t know what circumstance he was coming from, but it still seemed absurd to me. And it’s ok if I think this way. I would have to say that most of the poems that we have read I have agreed with, but there have been a handfull that were disagreeable to me. This section has allowed me to realize that I can form my own opinion when writing poetry. I do not have to convey a thought that I think should be universal. I am free to write what is on my mind.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I was very happy to have been able to do my poets choice on this poem. First impressions are always unusual to me when i read poetry but i was very glad that i took the time and looked closely into The Fish. I loved how as the reader we had to gaze into this poem that was about gazing, and it was only until we looked closely that we were able to see the spirit of the poem. The lesson of gazing and paying close attention to things is one that can be widely used, especially in poetry. To make an analogy, i think that in poetry class we are constantly hulling up “fish” in the forms of poem. We do not always appreciate them, but when we look closely at them, just as Bishop did to the fish, we can see what they are all about. It is only once we spend the time to gaze at something that we can really appreciate it for its full worth. I find myself many times not giving certain poems a second chance but maybe if i had spent the time to peer at its meaning i could have gotten a valuable lesson from it. Overall the poem was full of imagery and life that is enjoyable but once we gaze it, it is then that we learn it lesson.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
The Fish- Elizabeth Bishop
The thing that I find interesting here is that each broken line is still written in a basic sentence form. This is like a narrative poem telling a story about how a woman caught a fish, observed it, and let it return back to its natural habitat. The beginning and end of the poem allows the reader to think that this particular fish was desired by many, caught many times, but always was able to escape. She describes in great detail the appearance of this great fish and how subdued he is. I specifically liked lines 34 to 44 where she described his eyes, how they were larger than human eyes but shallower. I feel as if all the describing words donated to his eyes was a symbol perhaps to the fishes’ ’soul’ if you will, tarnished, old and scratched. Towards the end of the poem I believe she sees the fish as so worthy and appreciated. She describes how the oil in the spilled boat can create something that is beautiful, and thats how the fish is. With all his brokenness physically and probably emotionally she can see the rainbows in his tarnished gills, and decided to allow him to live, to return to where he came from, basically to continue living live because he deserves that.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Sometimes when I write I find myself imitating the style of other writers I have been reading recently unintentionally. It is as if the writers have worked their way into my subconscious. Other times I try to imitate the style of writers I admire. I suppose in a way this is how I dialogue with poets, and other writers of the past. I don’t usually write in direct response to a piece, even if I am influenced by it in some way. I try to take ideas, or the way in which the poet uses images and metaphors and come up with my own poetry not speaking directly to the poem or poet that influenced me, but dealing with other material using similar poetic style. While trying to find my own voice in poetry, my own style, I have found certain poets I imitate closer than others. Some poets I find I have nothing in common with and I generally avoid writing in their style. One thing that I have learned from this unit, well something I had known but it becomes even more clear through reading the poet’s in dialogue section is that all great writers are great readers. Seeing how some ancient poet influenced some modern poet and how we study both of these poets as literary greats makes that point clear.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I really appreciate the diversity of poems that are a response/critique/praise of another poem. It isn’t as if the poems have the same tone or structure. Each poet responded in a different way. The poems that I mainly think about are the jubilate poems. The first poem “Jubilate Agno” had a serious tone with a somewhat silly subject. The responses to the poem varied from a still serious tone with the subject being the past author to a sarcastic tone with the subject being another animal. I like the diversity because the past poem can serve as a basis, but that poet’s style is not the dominating one. This way, the poems are still on the same subject, but they still stand as individual works.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I find that it is really interesting how people are able to communicate throughout time. There often times things that I would love to say to the writers of poems so to see that there are people who actually do this, it very cool. I think that the response to “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” was really amusing. In this poem the speaker is seeking to convince a woman to marry him. He promises her things made from nature and all of the things that have no value. In the response, Sir Walter Ralegh says “If all the world were young…”. I enjoy it because it shows that woman are not always swept of their feet by every romantic gesture that is thrown their way. Dialogue poems allow writers to converse through poem. It reminds me very much of how people used to write letters to one another. It gives the sense of a well thought out conversation where people are actually thinking before they speak and understanding the weight of the words that come out of them.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I have learned that poets like to copy other poet’s style, sort of like musicians repeating or remaking an older song. Yet, the song can be similar, but it is still different in a unique and creative way. I have found myself responding to poets over the course of the semester in a way that I can relate to my experiences. Most of the time I just want to simplify what they are saying and make it less confusing. After taking this class I feel poetry is like a incomplete research paper. If the research paper is not complete then person reading the paper will not be fully informed. Poetry relates to an incomplete research paper because there is so much information left out for the reader to imagine and almost guess what the speaker of the poem is trying to say. I’m not saying all of poetry is like this, but most of the ones I have read this semester have made me feel this way. I like details, I guess I don’t like to use my imagination when I don’t know what other people are trying to say.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
This was the first in-depth look I have taken thus far in examining poetic conversation between poems of different authors. As a student in studies outside of literature and English, I am used to theories and ideas being proposed, and then further examination and responses are given to the build upon or criticize the original work. This technique in poetry sheds light on new perspectives that not everybody always sees. I think that there is a special layer added to a poem when another poem responds to the original piece. Inspiration amongst other feelings surface initially in these responses.
I am most interested in the rebuttal of the original poet to the responses he or she may receive in relation to his or her poem. Many poets, I am sure, have been enraged over poetic dialogue regarding their personal poem, while poets may see it in a more positive light. Unfortunately, many of the poetic responses are written after the death of the original poet as was the case in the poetic dialogue of the Jubilate poems.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I was fascinated by this section in our book. I thought it was amazing that these poets were able to connect with their predecessors by dialogueing with their poems. I was particularly interested in the cat poems, in which the poets so humbly praised characteristics of cats that are often overlooked. It’s neat to observe how the two poets paid attention to different qualities, and drew different conclusions as to the purpose and meaning of the cat’s existence. Together, they challenge us to look more closely at the world around us, to find beauty in the things we so often look over, to appreciate nature and our surroundings.
I thought this week’s exercise was also really interested. In thinking about the poem I wanted to dialogue with, I was challenged to think outside the box and connect with the poem on a new level. I choose to write on the poem I wrote my paper on, and it turned out pretty well since I had done a close reading of the poem already. I believe this is a crucial step in successfully dialoguing with poems.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
The idea of dialog through out the ages, is an amazing one. How wonderful it would be if we could in some way talk with Moses, or Abraham, or the things I would tell Hitler given the chance. Though some what un natural to me, I feel that this is spectacular. I have often found myself ruffled up by an idea in a poem, feeling absolutely vulnerable to the living words on the page and yet, what response could I give to this frustration? How could I connect with the pain felt by the character or poet? I really enjoyed writing my own reply to a poem written about the Holocaust in which a woman pleads to her readers that they must remember what was done to them. And I the seed of the survivor tell the poet that I will remember, I will carry this story even to my children and my children’s children. Strangely, now that I know that it is “kosher” to interact with any given poem, I feel like I now have a doorway open before me that will give me the power to interact with history past or present.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Poet-dialogue is something that i have not been exposed to in my discipline. I found this interaction very neat. The exchange if ideas has always fascinated me as a history major. So when i discovered this exchange in poetry i found it very interesting. One thing that i like about this dialog is that it does not have to be an immediate response. A poet today could respond to a poem from hundreds of years ago. I find it interesting to observe the change of ideas over time. For instance, in the response that i wrote to a poem was a respond to “the anthem of the doomed youth”. So i did not have the same ideas about a doomed future like the post WWI poet did. Instead i responded with a more hopeful message. Both responses where a result of the time period we lived in but it was still a dialogue.
April 26th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I do certainly always find myself wanting to respond to poems as I read them. Even poems that I disagree with I sometimes fall in love with because of the beauty of the poetry, and want to respond. It is the nature of poetry, and all art, I think, to evoke a response. If it does not do so, either the art is not fulfilling its purpose or the observer is not trying.
In regards to Jubilate Agno, I am one of those cat lovers who does love this praise poem. I love the way that cats move and how friendly cats act around people, and I think that all creation was made for the purpose of giving glory to God, so it is fitting to observe how a cat moves and consider it worship. More importantly, I think that reveling at the things that God’s creation does, and praising it is a worshipful activity for humans to do, because we are considering and wondering at, and fascinated with, and giving glory to God for the things He has made in his great power and wisdom.
April 26th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
I had never before been exposed to the fact that poets have been in dialogue with one another over the span of centuries. The idea is new to me, yet it makes complete sense that poets would voice their own opinions in response to the works of fellow poets. Subjects spark a variety of opinion and it is a wonderful thing to see professional and creative minds “speaking” with one another in relation to one of these topics. Over the course of this semester I have found myself forming opinions and questions as to the positions of various poets, trying to determine whether or not their position is correct. The opportunity to respond to a certain poem was an interesting challenge and one that I did not entirely master. I attempted to respond to the poem “Grass” by Carl Sandburg. This particular piece caught my attention early on in the semester. It portrays the grass as a hard-worker, and contained a dark tone. I thought I would try and portray the grass as something where social gatherings take place, like picnics, and where children play games; I wanted to create a happier tone, a much more light-hearted image of the grass. However, by trying to incorporate a rhyme scheme, the poem took a series of unintended turns and did come together as I had hoped. The exception to this was the third stanza which contained an entirely different pattern of thought, and proved to be the best of the three. Of this stanza, only three lines significantly stood out. I hope to continue this line of thought from the third stanza and thereby create a poem that is of good content and is in dialogue with Sandburg.
April 26th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I consider myself to be at least slightly intellectual, and that’s pushing it, but one thing is for sure, I love a good argument. I love responsive poetry because it is a marvelous way to provide a side of an argument and allow there to be persuasion in literary skill. One of my most favorite pieces is “Williams is Wrong.” I think there is a wonderful tension between William Carlos Williams and the author of the piece, though not literally, of course, that makes the poem have much more dimension to it. I also like the poets overwhelming use of imagery, as though battering Williams with proof of the beauty that comes from the country. I wrote a piece arguing with both of them and really enjoyed utilizing the way literary tools paired with an original argument can really make a strong point.
April 27th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I guess I never really thought I could respond to poems–or any literature, for that matter. When something is printed in a book, it seems so permanent and authoritative. For years I have equated publishedness with universal truthfulness, yet I realize that (almost) anyone can have their ideas published, as long as they can find a company that will agree. Maybe it’s the bound covers that scare me; none of my work–whether prose or poetry–has ever been good enough to be printed between two beautifully designed book covers, and I feel inadequate as I read and disagree with things that are. For these reasons, I haven’t really thought about interacting with poems in dialogue–I didn’t know that I could.
April 27th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
The concept of “poets in dialogue” is a completely new concept for me to think about (like just about all other things pertaining to poetry!). It is something that I find really interesting and fun actually. To be moved by a poem written long ago enough to want to expand on it or respond to it is a really awesome thing. I think that it also shows the original writer a lot of respect and admiration that their poem was able to impact someone’s life in that way.
I thought that the dialogue between the shepherd and the nymph was really well done. The shepherd had such lofty ideas as to how the romance was going to turn out but the nymph was not at all impressed. The other two poems however, did not seem to connect as nicely, they were both separately beautiful poems but didn’t bounce off of one another as well.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Throughout the course of the semester I have been responding to these poems by my own experience. I have also been looking at these poems throughout the author’s perspective as well. I enjoy this poet’s dialogue it’s a new way of looking at poems. It is probably one of my favorite sections that we have looked at this semester. I enjoyed the poem by Elizabeth Bishop’s The Fish. Being a fisherman myself I can see a different perspective than that of Elizabeth Bishop. I can also see where Bishop is coming from, when reading the poem. Within the concept of poets talking to one another, I see that the authors are putting their own personal experience in when they rewrite the poem. I get a lot more meaning out of a poem when I see it through the eyes of my past experiences rather than the author’s experience. This type of poetry will continue to be a favorite of mine and I will enjoy reading this type of poetry in the future.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
When I first read the poetry dialog, i found myself intrigued with delight at the thought of responding to another persons poem. The concept brought new ideas and meaning to my words. Through writing a response to a poem written by Wallace Stevens title, “The Snow Man”, I gained a deeper perspective on his meaning then I would have by mere dissection and analysis. I began to learn how to develop the mind of a poet when I realized I have the ability to observe and think as Wallace Stevens might.
I learned that each poet will interpret an idea, scene or event differently. Stevens spoke about what it means to look at winter through the eyes of the “snow man”. Or rather, Jack Frost. I had the opportunity to respond by adding what I would feel and experience if I had the mind of winter.