The Understanding of Poetry

CHAPTER II THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

A. The Understanding of Poetry

Poetry, like life, is one thing essentially a continuous substance or energy, poetry is a historically a connected movement, a series of successive integrated manifestations. Each poet, from homer or the predecessors of homer to our own day, has been, to some degree and at some point, the voice of movement and energy of poetry; in him, poetry has for the moment become visible, audible, and incarnate; and his extant poems are the record left of that partial transitory incarnation. The progress of poetry, with its vast power and exalted function, is immortal. 4 Poetry affords the clearest examples of subordination of reference to attitude and it is the supreme form of emotive language. According to Perrine, poetry might be defined as a kind of language that says more and says intensely than ordinary language does. It means that poetry uses certain language: it is not ordinary language that we use everyday. 5 Poems are usually very compressed. Often a complex experience of meaning and emotion can came out of few words. That means that each word of the poem counts heavily, so that it’s absolutely necessary for a good reader to master all the words of 4 I.A Richard, 2001 Principles of literary Criticism, London and New York, Rutledge Classics, p.15 5 Laurence Perrine, Thomas R, Arp, 1988, Literature; structure, sound, and sense, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publisher, p.552 the poem- to look them up if necessary, and to think through all their meanings to feel their emotional impact. As literary work, poetry relatively used the language more compact than prose. For some people, poem seems too difficult. According to Mc. Laughlin, “poetry are difficult because the language used are precision and flair”. 6 Through the language poets want to make us as readers to explore how the language works. While Wordsworth defined poetry as the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; Emily Dickinson said, If I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry; and Dylan Thomas defined poetry this way: Poetry is what makes me laugh or cry or yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or nothing. But poetry, unlike prose, often has an underlying and over-arching purpose that goes beyond the literal. Poetry is evocative. It typically evokes in the reader an intense emotion: joy, sorrow, anger, catharsis, love. Alternatively, poetry has the ability to surprise the reader with an Ah Ha Experience, revelation, insight, further understanding of elemental truth and beauty. 7

B. The Understanding of Imagery