Thoughts on This Week's Readings...

I really enjoyed the poems we are reading this week, the ones for both Tuesday and Thursday. And although I don’t really have any deep thoughts or analysis of any one of the poems, I have some thoughts connected to each one and I figured I would share.

Firstly, I loved Columbus. We discussed in our group the type of humor used by Ogden Nash and the effect it had on the tone and our perception of the poem. I liked the long, run on lines and the fact that some of the words he rhymed were long and somewhat complicated. I also liked the effect created by the fact that the poem had a rhyme scheme, but no meter. It made it feel like a young child was writing the poem, sharing all the thoughts he possibly could in one big long run on sentence. The repetition of and, so, but and because at the beginnings of the lines accentuated this effect. It was interesting that the poem began with a somewhat clichéd beginning (Once upon a time…) and ended in a moral… Like a story book! I also like that although the poem has a somewhat juvenile tone because of these poetic elements included by Nash, it still is addressing a somewhat serious subject (the imperfections of official history) in a light, comical way. I really liked the humor and the style of this poem!

I was a little less of a fan of Musee des Beaux Arts because I felt that Auden’s tone was a bit more depressing and not quite so openly comical (although I did appreciate the more subtle comical comments and the humor that was woven more subtly into the poem). However, one aspect of this poem that especially stood out to me was the reference to Icarus. I think it is fun (and very effective) when authors play off of and reference the works of other artists and authors. I also like the use of references to mythology or biblical references… I think it adds a deeper meaning and significance to the poems. I thought this technique was very effective in this poem. It is something I might consider using in my own poetry at some point.

Now, the readings for Thursday. I really liked both of these poems and I am interested to see how we connect, compare and contrast them during our class discussion on Thursday. Both poems include an important historical context and references to historical events and happenings, which is an interesting poetic element and a concept we have not spent much time exploring as of yet. I am looking forward to our discussion to see what other elements connect these poems and what techniques we can look for as examples in these two works.

As for my thoughts on the individual poems, I really like the use of the fountain imagery in Fountain to connect all of the ideas in the poem, and to explicitly connect the beginning and the end of the poem to create a feeling of completion for the reader. It seems a bit obscure to me (I was not totally sure how the fountain was the poetic speaker’s life. This statement at the end of the poem left me curious as to what other people’s take on the message will be…), but overall, I thought it was effective. Just as one last random comment about Fountain, I like the narrative conversation that occurs between the mother and her son within the poem. It gives it a more personal effect, allowing the reader to have a firsthand look at their relationship and therefore develop a more intimate understanding of the characters. I think this is a cool effect!

Lastly, I found that The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner was an interesting poem in that it is short and compact and yet it includes a rhyme (lines 2 and 5 rhyme) and it includes a lot of historical knowledge that isn’t necessarily common knowledge to many readers (hence the long footnote…). Anyway, what I really liked about this poem and what stood out to me the most was the juxtaposition of birth and death. The poem is about war and death, yet the fighter is experiencing a birth-like experience as a gunner in the war. The imagery and description in the poem could be used to also describe an individual’s birth, but in context it is describing the end of the fighter’s life and his progress toward death as he is shot down. I think the combination of these two concepts is very powerful and makes the imagery and message of Jarrell’s poem even stronger.

I’m looking forward to our discussion on Thursday! See you all in class!!!

p.s. The poems this week (at least for group 2) were great! I really enjoyed reading all of your work! Keep it up!