Handout intro to poetry
LESSON I :
Dict ion & I nt er pr et at ion
A. Dict ion
One of degr ee t hat makes poet r y dif f er ent f r om pr ose is not only by a
mat t er of t he r hyming lines and t he line-ar r angement but also t he f ewest
number of wor ds t hat poet r y employs. Hence, Per r ine says (1977:9) t hat poet r y
is “t he most condensed and concent r at ed f or m of lit er at ur e”. Fur t her mor e, he
st at es t hat t he language of poet r y has “a higher volt age”; it gr ows while giving
“light ” and “heat ”. The wor ds employed in poet r y ar e singled out wit h gr eat car e.
I n line wit h t his view, t he pr ef er ence of t hese wor ds must be in accor dance wit h
t he poet ’s pur pose in a given poem since, as Alt enber nd and Lewis (1966:9)
asser t , “t he whole r ange of human act ivit ies, ideas, and emot ion is now wit hin t he
pr ovince of poet r y”.
Alt hough it is har d, t her e ar e many who der ive a gr eat deal of pleasur e of
r eading poet r y, and what makes it dif f icult t o under st and is t he nat ur e of
poet r y it self , of which language use is dif f er ent f r om t he or dinar y one.
“Reading poet r y is an-act of discover y”. Exhaust ive concent r at ion should
be given t o any par t icular wor ds and t he way t hey ar e r elat ed t o t he ot her s,
which make up t he basic element s of poet r y t o r espond, i.e. imager y, f igur at ive
language, and musical devices.
The wor d choice in poet r y is accur at ely and st eadf ast ly select ed and
t her ef or e, it does not acknowledge synonyms. I t is invent ed by manipulat ing t he
small dif f er ences in meaning bet ween synonyms. This select ion of wor ds, which
is t he f oundat ion of ever y poem, is called dict ion.
Ther e ar e t wo aspect s of a wor d which need usef ully dist inguishing: denot at ion
and connot at ion. I n a poem, t her e may be a wor d t hat demands special at t ent ion
because eit her what it means is uncer t ain exact ly or t her e is somet hing cur ious
or excit ing about how it is used. I n under st anding such a lit er ar y piece, t he
r eader is of t en sent t o a dict ionar y t o look up t he pr ecise def init ion of t he wor d
or it s denot at ive meaning—”t he t hing t hat t he wor d names, descr ibes, or
1
nar r at es, pr esumably consider ed in a det ached, scient if ic, and descr ipt ive
(r at her t han evaluat ive) manner ” (Alt enber nd & Lewis, 1966:10). However , a
single wor d of t en has mor e t han one denot at ive meaning. This leads t he r eader
t o t hink car ef ully of it s meaning in it s specif ic cont ext . The common wor d “f ir e”,
f or inst ance, has some var ious meanings and may st and as a noun, a ver b, or an
adj ect ive.
I n f ully under st anding a poem, t he connot at ive meaning of wor ds is
needed gr asping as it of t en car r ies wit h it cer t ain associat ions and emot ive
values in par t icular cont ext . On t he subj ect of connot at ion, Leech (1976:41) has
t his t o say
When we t alk of connot at ive meaning, we r ef er , in par t , t o t his power of
a wor d, sent ence, et c., t o conj ur e up t he t ypical cont ext of it s
occur r ence. But t his is not t he whole explanat ion of ‘connot at ion’, f or t his
t er m is used not only of t he associat ions which go wit h t he use of t he
linguist ic it em it self , but also of t he associat ion of what it r ef er s t o.
Accor ding t o Hor nby (1980:403), t he wor d “highland” bear s t he denot at ive
meaning of “mount ainous r egion; (plur al) mount ainous par t s of a count r y”.
However , t he same wor d, plur alized, wit h a def init e ar t icle, and capit alized T,
connot es “t he mount ainous par t of Nor t h West Scot land”. Connot at ion is ver y
signif icant in poet r y, f or it may be obser ved in such var ious expr essions as
met aphor , simile, per sonif icat ion, allegor y, and t he ot her kinds.
B. I nt er pr et at ion
Alexander (1975:4) r esolut ely hint s t hat t he same poem may be seen
dif f er ent ly by dif f er ent people. This does not mean, however , t hat poet r y can
mean anyt hing t hat anybody f inds in it . All t he int er pr et at ions ar e not
aut omat ically accept able; some may have been quit e wr ong albeit what is
consider ed t o be ‘r ight ’ is not always exact ly t he same. This is under pinned by
Hall (1983:VI ) by st at ing t hat “alt hough dif f er ing, equally def ensible opinions
ar e common, er r or is even mor e common”.
Poet r y, and lit er at ur e in gener al, is gr eat ly dif f er ent f r om ar it hmet ic
t ext . I t is a complex wor k and, t her ef or e, it s meaning cannot be r educed int o a
2
simple, cor r ect one. Hall (1983:VI ) admit s t hat lit er at ur e is inexact and
t her ef or e lit er ar y t r ut h is also “inexact , changeable, and subj ect t o ar gument ”
which const it ut es t he pr ice t hat lit er at ur e has t o pay “f or r epr esent ing whole
human beings” who ar e t hemselves complex, ambiguous, and mut able. I n f act ,
t his sor t of t r ut h is not solely monopolized in wor ks of ar t . Hall compar es
lit er at ur e t o law. Legal t r ut h, accor ding t o him, “is dependent on cont ext and
cir cumst ance”, on t he agr eement of a j ur y t o br ing in a ver dict of guilt y or not
guilt y. I t may, t hen, be inf er r ed t hat all poems cannot be loosely int er pr et ed.
Cer t ainly t her e ar e poems of which meaning is simple and obvious. As f ar as t he
meaning is concer ned, Alexander (1975:4) has given a war ning t hat “a piece of
wr it ing need not always have a ‘deep’ meaning simply because it happens t o be a
poem”, f or example “The Cobr a” by Ogden Nash. This shor t poem simply sounds a
not e of war ning of t he danger of cobr as as t hese venomous r ept iles give a
deadly bit e.
The Cobra
(Ogden Nash, 1902— )
This creature fills its mouth with venom,
And walks upon its duodenum1);
He who attempts to tease the cobra
I s soon a sadder he, and sobra2).
Vocabular y:
1) t he lower par t of t he st omach
2) possibly it r ef er s t o “sober ’ which means “gr ave, inact ive, indicat ing gr eat danger or
iner t ”.
Based upon t he exposit ion above, pensive concent r at ion on par t icular wor ds
in poet r y and on t he way t hey connect wit h each ot her ar e t he key t o r eading
poet r y. Coinciding wit h t his view, Alexander (1975:4) posit s t hat t he r eader
should examine closely what t he poet has act ually wr it t en. He has also pr ovided
t hr ee impor t ant r ules t hat r equir e t he r eader :
01. not to r ead lazily so that the poem is not altogether misr ead;
02. always to look for a simple explanation and not to be afraid to expr ess it;
03. to avoid, as far as s/ he can, putting his/ her own ideas and feelings into the poem.
3
I f t he pr oposit ion above as well as Alexander ’s idea is given a close at t ent ion, it
is obvious t hat eit her of t hese t wo nominat es t he t ext ual appr oach t o poet r y
under st anding. I n f act , it is t he appr oach t o be employed in t his poet r y unit . To
demonst r at e t hese r ules, Alexander opt s Tennyson’s “Br eak, br eak, br eak”.
Break, Break, Break
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1809— 1892)
Break, break, break,
On thy cold, grey stones, O sea!
And I would1) that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arises in me.
O well 2) for the fisherman’s boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O well for the sailor at play!
O well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!
And the stately3) ships go on
To their haven4) under the hill;
But O for the touch of vanish’d5) hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!
Break, break, break,
At the foot of thy crags6), O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.
Vocabular y:
1)
2)
01.
I wish
it is well
3) dignif ied
4) har bour
5) disappear ed
6) st eep r ocks
I f t his poem wer e car elessly r ead, it might be t aken t o be simply about t he
sea.
02. However , t he lines
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arises in me.
shows t hat t he poet is pensive. The lines
But O for the touch of vanish’d hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!
4
t ell t he r eader why t he lyr ical speaker in t he poem is sad. I n ot her wor ds,
s/ he is unhappy because s/ he has lost someone s/ he loves, wher eas t he sea,
t he people near it (‘t he f isher man’s boy’ and ‘t he sailor lad’), and t he st at ely
ship’ ar e unawar e and unt r oubled. This is t he simple explanat ion of t he
poem.
03. I f t he r eader t r ies t o put his own ideas int o t he poem, s/ he might be led t o
assume t hat t he speaker is sad because someone s/ he loves has been
dr owned. As t his idea is not expr essed or implied, it cannot be t r ue.
5
LESSON V:
Figur at ive Language
(Par t I )
Figur at ive language is used not in t he lit er al sense but in an imaginat ive way.
I t is a deviat ion f r om what a speaker of a language appr ehends as t he or dinar y, or
“st andar d signif icance or sequence of wor ds, in or der t o achieve some special
meaning or ef f ect ” (Abr ams, 1971:60). However , it must be seen not f ar f r om t he
convent ions of daily speech seeing t hat t he f igur at ive expr essions ar e alive in daily
usage. The st r engt h of f igur at ive language lies in it s connot at ive, r at her t han it s
denot at ive, power t o evoke and abilit y t o deal suggest ively wit h f eelings and
qualit ies in t he cont ex t of t he wor k being discussed. I n ot her wor ds, it s employment
is t o make it easy f or t he r eader t o gr asp what is act ually expr essed by t he poet as
long as it s connot at ive meaning inher ent is int er pr et ed wit hin it s cult ur al, social, or
int ellect ual cont ex t . The f ull moon, f or ex ample, always adher es t o t he image of
beaut y; a buf f alo in t he J avanese cult ur al cont ext
connot es st r engt h and
f oolishness. As a language, f igur at ive language clar if ies t he abst r act by compar isons
wit h t he concr et e, by associat ions, and by cont r ast s. Thus, t he connot at ive meaning
ex ploit ed in a lit er ar y wor k may be based upon t hese t hr ee main cat egor ies. Owing
t o t he limit at ion, t his unit explor es only t he kinds cat egor ized by compar isons. The
r est will be addr essed in Poet r y I I .
A. Figur at ive Language by Compar isons
Based on compar isons, t her e ar e f our t ypes t o not e. They ar e met aphor ,
simile, per sonif icat ion, and apost r ophe.
01. Simile (Lat in, ‘like’ )
Bot h a simile and a met aphor ar e sense devices invent ed by a poet t o make an
unusual compar ison of t hings or obj ect s or ideas which ar e basically dissimilar t o
give r ise t o st r ong images. I n a simile, t he compar isons ar e made explicit by t he
employment of such connect ives as like, as, t han, similar t o, or a ver b such as
46
r esemble, appear , seem. I n ot her wor ds, t his t ype of f igur at ive language f unct ions
t o pr esent images t hr ough a dir ect compar ison bet ween t wo dissimilar t hings or
obj ect s or ideas. Hence, Bur ns’ f ir st line of his f amous poem “A Red, Red Rose”,
‘Oh, my love is like a r ed, r ed r ose’ uses a simile. The same is also t r ue if t he phr ase
‘is like’ is r eplaced by t he ver b ‘r esemble’, ‘Oh, my love r esembles a r ed, r ed r ose’. To
clar if y t his, Rober t s and J acobs (2003:535) r emar k t hat “a simile illust r at es t he
similar it y or compar abilit y of t he known t o somet hing unknown or t o be explained.
Wher eas a met aphor mer ges ident it ies, a simile f ocuses on r esemblances”. An
ex pr ession like “t he st eak is t ough” is of t en hear d in ever yday lif e. However , t o
cr eat e a st r ong image, a f igur e of simile may be used: “t he st eak is as t ough as
leat her ” . “You ar e like t he sunshine in my lif e” and “all t he wor ld mer ely r esembles
t o a st age” ar e t he ot her easily under st ood ex amples.
The poem ent it led “The Ancient Mar iner ” below ar e, act ually, t aken f r om
Coler idge’ s long poem wit h t he same t it le which r elat es t he st or y of a cur sed ship in
consequence of t he r eckless conduct of one of t he sailor s who shoot s an innocent
albat r oss. The event s being r ecount ed occur immediat ely af t er t he killing when t he
ship ent er s t he Pacif ic Ocean.
The use of a simile is spot t ed in lines 14—6 of st anza t hr ee, " W e st uck, nor
br eat h nor mot ion;/ As idle as a paint ed ship/ Upon a paint ed ocean.” Her e, in his
at t empt t o cr eat e t he image of how mot ionless t he ‘cur sed ship’ in t he vast Pacif ic
Ocean is, Coler idge compar es t he ‘st uck ship’ t o ‘a paint ed ship on a paint ed ocean’.
Hence, t he compar ison bet ween t hese t wo dissimilar t hings—t he act ual ship and it s
paint ing—is t o br ing about a similar it y i.e. t he idea of st agnancy.
47
Ex er cises
The Ancient Mariner
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772-1834)
The fair breeze1) blew, the white foam2) flew,
The furrow3) that followed free;
We were the first that ever burst4)
Into that silent sea.
Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, 05
‘Twas5) sad as sad could be;
A nd we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea!
A ll in a hot and copper6) sk y,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast7) did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck , nor breath nor motion;
A s idle8) as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
Water, water, everywhere,
A nd all the boards did shrink 9);
Water, water, everywhere
Nor any drop to drink .
10
15
20
Vocabulary:
1) favourable wind
2) white mass of small air bubbles formed in or on
a liquid by motion
3) deep line made in the earth by a plough. Here, of
course, the word refers to the water behind the
moving ship.
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
brok e out
i.e., it was
common reddish-brown metal (symbol Cu)
upright pole for a ship’s sails
unmoving, inactive
become smaller
Quest ions:
01. Quot e t he lines t hat st at e t hat no ot her ship had ever sailed in t his sea.
02. Which line shows t hat t he wind suddenly st opped blowing?
03. What t ype of imager y is obser ved in lines 01 and 02?
04. Does t he last sent ence of t he f ir st st anza cont ain imager y? What about lines
07— 08?
48
05. I dent if y t he kind of imager y used in lines 09—10!
06. St at e st anza 03 in your own wor ds.
All Morning
(Gregory Orr)
A ll morning the dream lingers1),
I am lik e the thick grass
in a meadow2), still
soak ed3) with dew at noon.
Vocabulary:
1) remains longer than is expected, as if from reluctance to leave
2) grassland, pasture
3) thoroughly wet
Quest ions:
01. What does t he lyr ical speaker say about his dr eam?
02. What t ypes of imager y does t he poet use?
03. Why does he compar e himself t o t he gr ass?
04. What ar e t he implicat ions t o t he simile used in t he poem?
Snow in the Suburbs
(Thomas Hardy, 1840-1928)
E very branch big with it,
Bent every twig with it;
E very fork 1) lik e a white web-foot2);
E very street and pavement mute:
Some flak es3) have lost their way, and grope4) back upward when
Meeting those meandering5) down they turn and descend again.
The palings6) are glued together lik e a wall,
A nd there is no waft7) of wind with the fleecy8) fall.
A sparrow enters the tree,
Whereupon9) immediately
A snow-lump thrice his own size
Descends on him and showers his head and eyes,
A nd overturns10) him,
A nd near inurns11) him,
A nd lights12) on a nether13) twig, when its brush14)
Starts off15) a volley16) of other lodging lumps17) with a rush.
49
05
10
15
The steps are a blanched18) slope,
Up which with feeble hope,
A black cat comes, wide-eyed and thin;
A nd we tak e him in.
20
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
part at which a thing branches
a foot with the toes joined by a web
small, light, leaf-lik e pieces (of snow)
search about as one does in the dark
following a winding course
fences made of pointed pieces of wood
waving movement
resembling wool (of a sheep)
… and then …
10) k nock over
11) bury
12) sk im/ brush against
13) lower
14) sk imming/ glance/ friction
15) brings about/ begins
16) a series of violent flow
17) lumps of snow being held together by the
branches of the tree
18) mak e or become white
Quest ions:
01. What wor ds in t he f ir st t wo lines show us t hat t her e has been a heavy f all of
snow?
02. Find anot her line which suggest s t he same t hing!
03. What does it mean by ‘f or k’ (line 03)? Why is it called t o be like ‘web-f oot ’ ?
04. Why ar e t he st r eet s and pavement s mut e?
05. I s line 07 of st anza 01 a simile? Why?
06. What t ypes of imager y ar e f ound in st anza 03?
07. What has happened t o t he spar r ow?
02. Met aphor (Gr eek, ‘car r ying f r om one place t o anot her ’)
I n r elat ion t o what is pr eviously discussed, met aphor is one element t o
mast er f or poet r y r ecuper at ion (mer ebut makna puisi oleh pembaca), and dif f er ent
f r om a simile which uses an explicit compar ison, a met aphor uses an implicit
compar ison alt hough t hey pr incipally oper at e on t he same gr ound, t hat is, bot h
f igur es compar e t hings or obj ect s or ideas which ar e basically unlike. Such a
compar ison as ‘Bandung is Par is of J ava’ is not a met aphor at all because t he t hings
being compar ed ar e basically equal; Bandung is a cit y and Par is is also a cit y. ‘Oh, my
love is a r ed r ose’ is a met aphor as t his alt er ed line f r om Rober t Bur ns’ “A Red, Red
50
Rose” equat es ‘my love’ (human being) and ‘a r ose’ (an inanimat e obj ect ). The t wo
obj ect s being compar ed ar e basically unlike, but t he compar ison may involve a
cer t ain r espect : my love shar es a qualit y wit h a r ose, i.e. beaut y. Rober t s and J acobs
(2003:535) asser t t hat “a met aphor equat es known obj ect s or act ions wit h
somet hing t hat is unknown or t o be ex plained. Some common ex amples ar e ‘You ar e
t he sunshine of my lif e’, ‘all t he wor ld is mer ely a st age’, ‘J ack has a hear t of st one’
and J ill has a hear t of gold’.
I t should be not ed t hat if it is t hor oughly ex plor ed, t her e is a t ype of a
met aphor of which usage has been common, and, t her ef or e, it s f igur at ive meaning
has been ceased t o be awar e of . This sor t of met aphor is cat egor ized as a dead
met aphor ‘The legs of t he t ables’, ‘t he ar ms of a chair ’, ‘t he hear t of t he mat t er ’
and ‘Maliobor o is t he hear t of t he cit y of Yogyakar t a’ ar e ex amples of dead
met aphor .
Per r ine (1977:62—3) explicit ly af f ir ms t hat t her e ar e met aphor ical f or ms in
which bot h t he lit er al and t he f igur at ive t er ms ar e named or only eit her t he lit er al
t er m or t he f igur at ive t er m is named. As demonst r at ed in t he ex ample pr eviously:
t he lit er al t er m ‘my love’ and t he f igur at ive t er m ‘a r ed r ose’ ar e ment ioned. I n t he
ex pr ession ‘t he wind f r om t he t op of t he cold hill neighed, galloping f ast ’, t he lit er al
t er m ‘t he wind’ is named wher eas t he f igur at ive t er m ‘t he r unning hor se’ is implied.
I ndeed, t he I ndonesians use met aphor when t hey ar e cur sing, “ bangsat
lu” , or
“ dasar monyet kamu …ya..”.
Leech (1969: 151—5) int r oduces t hr ee element s t hat can be analyzed in a
met aphor , i.e., t enor , vehicle, and gr ound.
Tenor is t he subj ect t o which t he
met aphor ic wor d is applied and vehicle is t he met aphor ic wor d it self wher eas gr ound
is t he aspect of vehicle which applies t o t enor .
Leech also int r oduces what is called as t he met aphor ic r ule, t hat is, a
par t icular r ule of t r ansf er ence which is associat ed wit h met aphor . He f or mulat es
t he r ule as f ollows:
51
F = ‘like’ L
Her e, t he f igur at ive meaning ‘F’ is der ived f r om t he lit er al meaning ‘L’ in
having t he sense ‘like L’, or per haps ‘it is as if L’. Wit h t he aid of t his r ule, Bur n’s
line ‘Oh my love is a r ed, r ed r ose’, f or example, can be under st ood t hat ‘my love is a
r ed r ose’ as ‘my love is like a r ed r ose’, or ‘my love is, as she wer e, a r ed r ose’. I n
not ional t er m, ‘my love’ is t he t enor of t he met aphor —t he act ual subj ect under
discussion—and t he pur por t ed def init ion ‘a r ed r ose’ is it s vehicle, t hat is, t he image
or analogue in t er ms of which t he t enor is r epr esent ed wher eas t he gr ound is t he
beaut y shar ed by bot h. Consider t he f ollowing poem by R. L. St evenson.
The Land of Counterpane1)
( Robert L ouis Stevenson,1850— 94)
When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
A nd all my toys beside me lay
To k eep me happy all the day.
04
A nd sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden2) soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
A mong the bed-clothes, through the hills;
08
A nd sometimes sent my ships in fleets
A ll up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
A nd planted cities all about.
12
I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
A nd sees before him, dale3) and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.
16
Vocabulary:
1) a bed-spread
2) made of lead
3) valley
52
I n t his poem, St evenson employs met aphor is lines 08, 09—10, 11—12, 13—16.
I n line 08, t wo t hings which ar e basically unequal ar e compar ed. The ‘bed-clot hes’
ar e compar ed t o t he ‘hills’ on which t he sick child is playing wit h his ‘t oy soldier s’.
Her e, ‘t he bed-clot hes ar e t he hills’ as ‘t he bed-clot hes ar e like t he hills’, or ‘t he
bed-clot hes ar e, as t hey wer e, t he hills’. I n t heor et ical t er m, ‘t he bed-clot hes’ ar e
t he t enor of t he met aphor , i.e., t he act ual subj ect under discussion wher eas ‘t he
hills’ ar e it s vehicle—t hat is, t he image wit h which t he t enor is ident ical. This br ings
t he t hir d not ional element of met aphor : t he gr ound of t he compar ison. Hence, t he
‘t enor ’ is LI KE t he ‘vehicle’ in r espect of t he ‘gr ound’; t he ‘bed-clot hes’ ar e like t he
‘hills’ as r egar ds t he likeness bet ween t he t wo, t hat is, t he act ual subj ect of t he
bed-clot hes ar e, in t he mind’s eyes of t he sick child’s, seen as t he hills on which he
can play wit h his t oys.
Ex er cises
Food
(Victor M . Valle, 1950— )
One eats
the moon in a tortilla1)
E at frijoles2)
and you eat the earth
E at Chile3)
and you eat the sun and fire
Drink water
A nd you drink sk y
Vocabulary:
1) pancak e omelette (Mexican style)
2) beans with brown colour (made as food in Mexican style)
3) chili
Quest ions:
01. Who is t he poet r ef er r ing t o wit h t he pr onouns “One” and “you”?
02. Wor k wit h a par t ner t o f ind t he met aphor s t he poet uses f or f oods. Wr it e each
f ood, aspect of nat ur e, and similar it y in t he char t below. Number one has been
done f or you as an ex ample.
53
Food
a)
t or t illa
Par t of Nat ur e
moon
Similar it y
r ound
b)
c)
d)
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
( William Blake 1757-1827)
To see a world in a grain of sand
A nd a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity1) in the palm of your hand
A nd eternity2) in an hour.
Vocabulary:
1) boundlessness
2) everlastingness, endlessness
Quest ions:
01.
Despit e his appar ent ly simple wor d employment , Blake’s use of t he met aphor s
is one of signif icance in enr iching t he poem. I n which lines do you see t he
met aphor s?
02. What t hings ar e compar ed? And what ar e t he similar it ies?
03. What philosophical value can you lear n f r om t he poem?
The Hound
(Robert Francis, 1901— )
L ife the hound1)
E quivocal2)
Comes at a bound3)
E ither to rend4) me
Or to befriend me.
I cannot tell5)
The hound’s intent
Till he has sprung6)
A t my bare hand
With teeth or tongue.
Meanwhile I stand
A nd wait the event.
54
05
10
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
a k ind of dog for hunting and racing
dubious, questionable
border, limit
rip, tear apart
be sure, mak e out
jumped
Quest ions:
01. I n which lines do you obser ve t he met aphor ?
02. What t wo t hings ar e compar ed?
03. I s t he use of met aphor her e ef f ect ive? Why?
04. Show how t he use of t he adj ect ive “equivocal” is t he key wor d in t he poem!
05. How is t he imager y employed in t he poem?
06. Does t he speaker know what t he hound is going t o do t o him? Why?
The Land of the Story Books
(Robert L ouis Stevenson, 1850— 94)
A t evening when the lamp is lit,
A round the fire my parents sit;
They sit at home and talk and sing,
A nd do not play at anything.
04
Now, with my little gun, I crawl
A ll in the dark along the wall,
A nd follow round the forest track
A way behind the sofa back .
08
There, in the night, where none can spy,
A ll in my hunter’s camp I lie,
A nd play at book s that I have read
Till it is time to go to bed.
12
These the hills, these are the woods,
These are my starry solitudes1);
A nd there the river by whose brink 2)
The roaring lions come to drink
16
I see the others far away
A s if in firelit camp they lay,
A nd I, lik e to an Indian scout,
A round their party prowled3) about.
20
55
So, when my nurse comes in for me,
Home I return across the sea,
A nd go to bed with back ward look s
A t my dear land of Story-book s.
24
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
lonely places
border (of water, esp. when deep)
went about
Quest ions:
01.
What does t he subj ect ive pr onoun ‘I ’ r ef er t o?
02. I s t he employment of t he ver b ‘play’ in line 04 appr opr iat e? Why?
03. What sor t of met aphor ical f or m is used in lines 06—08 and line 22?
04. What may t he speaker mean by ‘none’ in line 09?
05. What does t he pr onoun ‘t he ot her s’ in line 17 r ef er t o?
06. I s t he use of ‘pr owled about ’ in line 20 appr opr iat e? Why?
Bereft1)
(Robert Frost, 1874-1963)
Where had I heard this wind before
Change lik e this to a deeper roar?
What would it tak e my standing there for,
Holding open a restive1) door,
L ook ing downhill to a frothy2) shore?
Summer was past and day was past.
Somber3) clouds in the west were massed.
Out in the porch’s sagging4) floor
L eaves got up in a coil and hissed,
Blindly struck at my k nee and missed.
Something sinister in the tone
Told me my secret must be k nown:
Word I was in the house alone
Somehow must have gotten abroad,
Word I was in my life alone,
Word I had no one left but God.
05
10
15
Vocabulary:
1) Dispossessed (of sth immaterial)
2) hard to be controlled
3) foamy
56
4) gloomy; dark -coloured
5) sink ing, esp. in the middle, as from weight
Quest ions:
01. Descr ibe t he set t ing of place and t ime of t he poem!
02. St at e in your wor ds t he weat her condit ioned as ment ioned by t he speaker .
03. What t ypes of imager y do you f ind in lines 02 and 09?
04. To what ar e t he leaves in lines 09-10 compar ed?
05. To what is t he wind (‘it ’) compar ed in line 03?
06. To what is t he speaker ’s ‘lif e’ compar ed (line 15)?
07. Why is t he door (line 04) ‘r est ive’ and what does t his do (f igur at ively) t o t he
door ?
It sifts from Leaden Sieves
(Emily Dickinson, 1830— 1886)
It sifts1) from leaden2) sieves3),
It powders all the wood.
It fills with alabaster4) wool
The wrink les of the road.
04
It mak es an even face
Of mountain and of plain—
Unbrok en forehead from the east
Unto the east again.
08
It reaches to the fence,
It wraps it rail by rail
Till it is lost in fleeces5);
It deals celestial veil
12
To stump and stack and stem—
A summer’s empty room—
A cres of joints where harvests were,
Recordles6), but for them.
16
It ruffles7) wrists of posts
A s ank les of a queen,
Then stills its artisans8) lik e ghosts,
Denying they have been.
20
57
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
filters/ separates by putting, through a sieve
dark
(k itchen) utensils with wire network for separating finer grains etc.
soft, white stone lik e marble in appearance, used for ornaments
(resembling) woolly coverings of a sheep or similar animal
unrecorded
disturb; mess up; upset
sk illed work men in industry or trade; mechanic
Quest ions:
01. The lit er al t er m of t he met aphor ical f or m used in t he poem is ident if ied as ‘it ’.
What is ‘I t ’?
02. I n t he ot her f or m, t he f igur at ive t er ms ar e named. However , t her e is a f or m in
which neit her t he lit er al nor f igur at ive t er ms ar e named. To what is ‘I t ’
compar ed in lines 01—02? I n lines 17—18?
03. Comment on t he addit ional met aphor ical expr essions or complicat ions cont ained
in ‘leaden sieves’ (01), ‘alabast er wool’ (03), ‘even f ace’ (05), ‘unbr oken f or ehead’
(07), ‘a summer ’s empt y r oom’ (14), and ‘ar t isans’ (19).
The Dead Crab
(Andrew Young, --)
A rosy shield upon its back ,
That not the hardest storm could crack ,
From whose sharp edge projected out1)
Black pin-point eyes staring about;
Beneath, the well-k nit cote-armure2)
That gave to its weak belly power;
The clustered3) legs with plate4) joints
That ended in stiletto5) points;
The claws lik e mouths it held outside:—
I cannot think this creature died
By storm or fish or sea-fowl6) harmed
Walk ing the sea so heavily armed;
Or does it mak e for death to be
Oneself a living armoury7)?
05
10
Vocabulary:
1) stood out beyond the surface nearby
2) coat of mail, armour
5) dagger, a small, very sharp k nife
6) seabird
58
3)
4)
gathered together in a bunch
covered with a hard outer shell for protection
7)
place where weapons and ammunition are
k ept
Quest ions:
01. I s t he wor d ‘shield’ in t he f ir st line of t he poem above a met aphor ?
02. Explain t hat ‘Black pin-point eyes’ (04), is a met aphor . Find t hr ee mor e
met aphor s and comment on t hem.
03. What sor t of device is f ound in t he phr ase ‘claws like mout h’? (09). What does
t he phr ase suggest t o you?
04. How would you comment on t he second line?
05. What does it mean by / …deat h t o be/ Oneself a living ar mour y/ / ?
06. What makes t he poet ’s descr ipt ion of t he cr ab so vivid?
The Iceberg Seven-eights Under
(Abbie Huston Evans, 1881— 1983)
Under the sk y at night, stunned by our guesses,
We k now incredibly much and incredibly little.
Wrapped in the enveloppe of gossamer air,
A clinging mote whirled round in a blizzard of stars,
A chaff-cloud of great suns that has not settled,
By the barn’s black shoulder where the gibbous moon
Hangs low, no other light mak ing a glimmer
In the dark country, hearing the breathing of cattle—
I do not need that anyone should tell me
Most real goes secret, sunk en, night-submerged:
Yet does it dazzle with its least part showing,
L ik e the iceberg seven-eighths under.
05
10
Vocabulary:
1) delicate
2) (of a heavenly body) so viewed as to appear convex on both margins
3) gleam
4) a large floating mass of ice
Quest ions:
01.
How does t he simile of ‘t he iceber g seven-eight hs under ’ ex plain t he ‘Most
r eal’ t hat ‘goes secr et ’? I n what way is t his simile, t oget her wit h line 11, an
ex t ension of t he idea in line 02?
59
02.
What met aphor s does t he poet use t o descr ibe t he ear t h and t he people (‘We’)
on it ?
03.
Explain t he cont r ast bet ween t he met aphor s of night and dar kness (lines 01,
06, 08) and t he use of t he wor d ‘dazzle’ in line 11. How does t he poem ex pr ess
awe about t he visible univer se?
Harlem
(L angston Hughes, 1902— 1967)
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
lik e a raisin in the sun?
Or fester1) lik e a sore2)—
A nd then run?
Does it stink lik e rotten meat?
Or crust3) and sugar over—
lik e a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags4)
lik e a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Vocabulary:
1) rank le
2) wound
3) cover with or as with a crust
4) hangs down
Quest ions:
01. I n t he light of t he black ex per ience wit h t he ‘Amer ican Dr eam,’ what do you
t hink is meant by t he phr ase ‘dr eam def er r ed’?
02. Explain t he st r uct ur e of t he poem in t er ms of t he speaker ’s quest ions and
answer s.
03. Explain t he similes in lines 03, 04, 06, 08, and 10. Why ar e t hese apt
compar isons? What sor t s of human act ions ar e implied in t hese f igur es?
04. What is t he meaning of t he met aphor in line 11? Why do you t hink Hughes
shif t ed f r om similes t o a met aphor in t his line?
60
A Work of Artifice
(M arge Piercy, b. 1934)
The bonsai tree
in the attractive pot
could have grown eighty feet tall
on the side of a mountain
till split by lightning.
But a gardener
carefully pruned it.
It is nine inches high.
E very day as he
whittles1) back the branches
the gardener croons2),
It is your nature
to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak ;
how luck y, little tree,
to have a pot to grow in.
With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth:
the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers3),
the hands you
love to touch.
05
10
15
20
Vocabulary:
1) reduces the size of by cutting away slices
2) hums or sings gently
3) small cylindrical objects round which warmed or wet hair is wound to create a curl
Quest ions:
01. What is a bonsai t r ee? I n what ways is it an apt met aphor f or women? The
t r ee ‘could have gr own eight y f eet t all.’ What would be t he compar able gr owt h
and development of a woman?
02. What do you make of t he gar dener ’s song (ll. 12—16)? I f t he bonsai t r ee wer e
able t o r espond, would it accept t he gar dener ’s consolat ion? What conclusions
about women’s lives ar e implied by t he met aphor of t he t r ee?
61
03. How does t he poem shif t at line 17? To what ex t ent do t he nex t images (ll.
20—24) embody women’s lives? How ar e t he images met aphor ical?
03. Per sonif icat ion (Lat in, ‘mask ’)
I n a per sonif icat ion, eit her an inanimat e obj ect or abst r act concept or a
qualit y is spoken of as t hough it wer e a per son, and t hus, endowed wit h lif e or wit h
human at t r ibut es or f eelings. T his f igur e is obser ved in t he f ollowing ex pr essions,
‘an angr y volcano’, ‘st or ms r age’, ‘meadows look cheer f ul’, ‘t he wind whist les’, ‘t he
beaut if ul moon looks invit ing’, and ‘t he heat is happy .’ The use of t he t hir d pr onoun
gender t o r ef er t o inanimat e obj ect s like ‘a ship’ or ‘a count r y’ shows t hat t his
f igur e is inher ent in t he daily use of language.
Wind and R iver R omance
(John Agard, — )
Wind forever playing loverboy1)
bringing his breeze joy
to everything he touch
but Wind you can't trust
Forever playing fresh2)
with big woman lik e me
He forget I name River3)—
passing he hands4) over me face5)
tick ling6) me bellysk in7)
talk ing to me in whisper
Promising to bring down
the moon and the stars
and lay them in me lap
even when hot sun shining
but sweet whispering don't catch me8)
I k now Wind too good
I does just flow along to faithful Sea
and let Wind sweet words pass by
lik e cool breeze
Vocabulary:
1) always trying to attract women
2) acting in a bold, rude, or disrespectful
5) my face
6) touching someone to mak e him or her laugh
62
3) He forgets my name is River
4) his hand
7) my stomach
8) doesn't impress or trick me
Quest ions:
01. Who is t elling t he st or y in t he poem?
02. What does t he W ind pr omise t he River ? What does he means by t his?
03. Why does t he River choose t he Sea inst ead of t he Wind?
04. How do you t hink t he Wind would def ine love? Why?
05. How do you t hink t he River would def ine love? Why?
06. St at e how Agar d per sonif ies t he Wind, River , and Sea in t he cor r ect column of
t he char t by opt ing t hese human qualit ies: plays lover boy, can’t be t r ust ed, is
not f ooled or t r icked, is a big woman, is f ait hf ul, t alks f r esh, whisper s sweet ly,
br ings ot her s j oy, and, t ickles ot her s.
Wind
River
Sea
The Wind
(James Stephens 1882-1950)
The wind stood up and gave a shout.
He whistled on his fingers and
Kick ed the withered leaves about
A nd thumped1) the branches with his hand
A nd said he’d k ill and k ill and k ill,
A nd so he will and so he will.
Vocabulary:
1) strik e heavily
Quest ions:
01. To what cent r al f act do all t he per sonif icat ions in t he poem r ef er ?
63
02. What imager y do you f ind in lines 01, 02, and 04?
03. What does it mean by ‘t he wind kicked leaves about ’?
04. What does t he last line mean? Why does it use t he pr esent t ense?
05. Ret ell br ief ly t he st or y in your own wor ds!
Beach Burial
(K enneth Slessor, 1901-71)
Softly and humbly1) to the Gulf of A rabs
The convoys of dead sailors come;
A t night they sway and wander in the waters far under,
But morning rolls them in the foam.
04
Between the sob and clubbing2) of the gunfire
Someone, it seems, has time for this,
To pluck 3) them from the shallows and bury them in burrows4)
A nd tread the sand upon their nak edness;
08
A nd each cross, the driven stak e5) of tidewood,
Bears the last signature of men,
Written with such perplexity6), with such bewildered pity7),
The words chok e8) as they begin---
12
“Unk nown Seaman”---the ghostly9) pencil
Wavers10) and fades, the purple drips,
The breath of the wet season has washed their inscriptions
A s blue as drowned men’s lips,
16
Dead seamen, gone in search of the same landfall11),
Whether as enemies they fought,
Or fought with us, or neither; the sand joins them together,
E nlisted on the other front.
20
El Alamein, 1949
NOTE:
This poem is an elegy wr it t en by an Aust r alian poet . On t he surf ace, it appears t o be a lament f or t he sailor s killed
in t he N or t h Af r ican campaign dur ing t he Second W or ld W ar , but t he poet meant it t o have a wider signif icance.
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
meek ly
banging
pull out
holes made in the ground (by foxes, rabbits, etc)
post pointed at one end for driving into the
ground
6) confusion
7)
sympathetic grief for the suffering or misfortune
of others
8) hinder the breathing of
9) indistinct
10) is indecisive
11) land to reach, esp. for the first time during a
voyage
64
Quest ions:
01. What does t he under lined pr onoun ‘t hey’ (line 12) r ef er t o?
02. What f igur e of speech do you see in t he t it le?
03. What f igur e of speech do you see in lines 4, 12, 16, and 19?
04. What imager y do you f ind in lines 02, 05, and 09—10? Give each a br ief
ex planat ion.
05. I s ‘nakedness’ (line 08) used lit er ally or f igur at ively?
06. What may t he expr ession ‘each cr oss bear s t he last signat ur e of men’ mean?
07. Why is t he pencil descr ibed as being ‘ghost ly’?
08. The employment of “landf all” in line 17 bear s specialt y. Give a br ief comment
on t his!
09. I n what st anza is t he climax? Ex plain!
10. What does t he phr ase “t he ot her f r ont ” in line 20 connot e?
The Dead
(Rupert Brooke,1887-1915)
These hearts were woven1) of human joys and cares,
Washed marvelously2) with sorrow, swift3) to mirth4).
The years had given them k indness. Dawn was theirs,
A nd sunset, and the colours of the earth.
These had seen movement, and heard music; k nown
Slumber5) and wak ing; loved; gone proudly friended6);
Felt the quick stir7) of wonder; sat alone8);
Touched flowers and furs and cheek s. A ll this is ended.
There are waters blown by changing winds to laughter
A nd lit by the rich sk ies, all day. A nd after,
Frost, with a gesture, stays the waves that dance
A nd wandering loveliness. He leaves a white
Unbrok en glory, a gathered radiance9),
A width, a shining peace, under the night.
05
10
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
were put together
magnificently
quick
being merry, happy and bright
sleep soundly
6)
7)
8)
9)
65
friendship
excitement
meditation
brightness
Quest ions:
01.
How does t he poet employ t he imager y?
02. What does t he pr onoun ‘t hem’ (line 03) r ef er t o?
03.
Point out t he cont r ast in t he poem.
04. How does t he poet show t hat t her e is a gr eat deal of var iet y in lif e?
05. What ar e t he poet ’s f eelings about deat h?
06. I n what way does t he met aphor in t he second st anza suit t he subj ect -mat t er ?
07. Besides met aphor , ar e t her e any ot her kinds of f igur at ive language used?
08. The employment of t he ver b ‘known’ in line 05 is pr oblemat ic. Why?
04. Apost r ophe (Gr eek, ‘t ur ning away’)
Closely r elat ed t o per sonif icat ion is apost r ophe, t hat is, a way of addr essing
a par t icular per son who may be dead or absent or an abst r act or inanimat e obj ect or
even a spir it or somet hing not or dinar ily spoken t o as if he or it wer e alive or
pr esent and could r eply t o what is being said. I t is mor e of t en t hat “t he poet uses
apost r ophe t o announce a lof t y or ser ious t one” (Kennedy, 1982;92). When t he
speaker in J oyce’s poem ent it led “I Hear An Ar my” cr ies out , ‘My love, my love, my
love, why have you lef t me alone?’, he is apost r ophizing his depar t ed sweet hear t .
London, 1802
Composed September 1802. -Published 1807
(William Wordswort h, 1770-1850)
MIL TON! thou shouldst be living at this hour :
E ngland hath need of thee: she is a fen1)
Of stagnant2) waters: altar, sword, and pen,
Fireside3), the heroic wealth of hall and bower4),
Have forfeited5) their ancient E nglish dower6)
Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
A nd give us manners7), virtue, freedom, power.
Thy soul was lik e a Star, and dwelt apart;
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was lik e the sea:
Pure as the nak ed heavens, majestic, free,
So didst thou travel on life’s common way,
66
05
10
In cheerful godliness8); and yet thy heart
The lowliest9) duties on herself did lay.
NOTE:
J ohn Milt on (1608-74), English poet .His maj or wor ks are t he epics “Par adise Lost ”, “Par adise Regained”, and t he
t r agedy “Samson A gonist es”. He t r ied t o make t he sonnet somet hing more t han a declar at ion of love or ver bal
r epresent at ion of nat ur al beaut y. His lit er ar y inf luence on W or dswor t h is seen in t his sonnet .
Vocabulary:
1) area of low marshy land, bog, marsh
2) (of water) without current or tide
3) part of a room round the fireplace
4) leafy shelter or recess
5) (have to) suffer the loss of something as a consequence, or because
of rules
6) widow’s inheritance
7) customs, moral codes of social and political conduct
8) devoutness
9) humble, simple, modest
Quest ions:
01. What do t he under lined wor ds ‘she’ (line 02) and ‘her self ’ (line 14) r ef er t o?
02. I dent if y which line cont ains apost r ophe!
04. What element s of Milt on’s car eer as a wr it er does Wor dswor t h emphasize?
05. I s t he compar ison appr opr iat e and ef f ect ive?
06. What ot her f igur es of speech does t he poem make use of ?
07. What t ypes of imager y do you see in lines 09 and 10?
08. Why does t he lyr ical speaker need Milt on? (You may r ef er t o any inf or mat ion
pr ovided by encyclopedias)
To Daffodils
( Robert Herrick 1591-1674)
F air Daffodils, we weep to see
You haste1) away so soon;
A s yet2) the early-rising sun
Has not attained his noon.
Stay, stay,
Until the hasting day
Has run
But to the evensong3);
A nd having prayed together, we
Will go with you along.
We have short time to stay as you;
67
05
10
We have as short a spring;
A s quick a growth to meet decay
A s you, or anything.
We die
A s your hours do, and dry
A way
L ik e to the summer’s rain;
Or as the pearls of morning’s dew
N e’er4) to be found again.
15
20
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
hurry
up to now
(archaic) evening prayer in the Church of E ngland
never
Quest ions:
01. What f igur es of speech ar e used in t he poem?
02. I s t he st at ement made in line 11 lit er ally t r ue?
03. Why does t he poet use ‘evensong’? I s it s use signif icant her e?
04. What t ypes of imager y ar e f ound in lines 01, 03, 08—09, and 18—19?
05. What is t he poem about ? Tr y r ewr it ing t his poem in your own wor ds!
06. How many kinds of imager y do you f ind in t he poem? Give examples of each!
The Tiger
(W i l l i am Bl ake,1757— 1827)
Tiger! Tiger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal1) hand or eye
Could frame2) thy fearful symmetry3)?
04
In what distant deeps or sk ies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare4) he aspire5)?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
08
A nd what shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart6)?
A nd when thy heart began to beat,
What dread7) hand? and what dread feet?
12
What the hammer8)? what the chain?
68
In what furnace9) was they brain?
What the anvil10)? what dread grasp11)
Dare its deadly terrors clasp12)?
16
When the stars threw down their spears,
A nd water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the L amb mak e thee?
20
Tiger! Tiger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
24
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
eternal, never-ending
was able to mak e
balance, quality of harmony (of perfection)
be brave enough to
be filled with high ambition
i.e. have the power to shape and fit them into place
fear
God creating the tiger is compared to a black smith creating from the furnace
enclosed space for heating metals
large, heavy block of iron on which a smith hammers heated metal into shape
dreadful hold
hold onto, grasp
Quest ions:
01. Whom does t he poet apost r ophize in his poem?
02. What does Blake int end t o convey t hr ough his poem?
03. What does t he poet r ef er t o by lines 1—3?
04. What does t he poet mean by “t hy f ear f ul symmet r y”?
05. Whom does t he pr onoun “he” (line 7) r ef er t o? And what does it mean by t his
line?
06. What compar ison does t he poet t r y t o make in st anza f our ?
07. Whom do t he pr onouns “he” (lines 19 and 20) and “t hee” (line 20) r ef er t o?
69
LESSON VI :
Theme and Subj ect - Mat t er
Poet r y and wor ds ar e in each ot her ' s pocket ; f or one t hing, it may make
ut most use wor ds as it s medium of expr ession. Regar dless of t heir old publicat ion,
Br ooks and War r en (1960:340) inf er r ing t he philosopher Geor ge Sant ayana say t hat
“wor ds inevit ably car r y wit h t hem some weight of idea”, and t his idea has a
r ecipr ocal link wit h moods. For t his, Br ooks and War r en (1960:341) exemplif y Keat s’
“Ode t o Aut umn”∗) in which no st at ement of idea is ex plicit ly ment ioned but “t he
gener al mood built up by t he r hyt hm and imager y” which “inevit ably leads t o a
cer t ain at t it ude t owar d lif e—t hat is, t o an idea, a t heme”. As a f inal point wit h
t his, t hey conclude t hat t he r elat ion bet ween idea and mood is “at t he r oot of all
poet r y”.
A. Theme and Subj ect - Mat t er
Kennedy (1982:3) pr oposes t hat t heme must be dist inguished f r om subj ect .
Wher eas t heme is t he cent r al t hought of a poem, subj ect is it s cent r al t opic. To
illust r at e t his not ion in pr act ice, he uses Housman’s “Loveliest of Tr ees, The Cheer y
Now”.
Loveliest of Trees, the Cheery Now
(A.E. Hou sman, 1859-1936 )
L oveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
A nd stands about the woodland ride1)
Wearing white for E astertide.
Now, of my threescore2) years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
A nd tak e from seventy springs a score3),
It only leaves me fifty more.
A nd since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
A bout the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
∗)
05
10
T his poem is f ur t her analyzed in Poet r y I I under t he t opic of “Figur at ive Language I I ”.
70
Vocabulary:
1) track
2) sixty
3) twenty
Her e, accor ding t o Kennedy, t he subj ect of t he poem is “cheer y blossom, or t he
need t o look at t hem” wher eas t he t heme is “Time f lies: enj oy beaut y now!” or it s
f avour it e Lat in ex pr ession: car pe diem (“seize t he day”).
Even t hough similar , Babusci (et al) (1989:148) elabor at e t he t er m, “t heme is
t he gener al idea about lif e t hat is r evealed t hr ough t he st or y”, and t hey divide it
int o a st at ed t heme and unst at ed t heme. I n t he f or mer , t he poet / ess or his/ her
invent ed per sona declar es clear ly t he t heme. Again, Kennedy (1984:3) pr ovides a
good ex ample f or t his by asser t ing t hat Her r ick’s “To t he Vir gin, t o Make Much of
Time” explicit ly st at es t he t heme in it s opening line, “Gat her ye r osebuds while ye
may,” which he par aphr ases int o “enj oy love bef or e it is t oo lat e”, and again t his is a
f avour it e t heme employed f r om Hor ace t o Houseman which is f amiliar in it s Lat in
car pe diem.
To The Virgins,To Make Much Of Time
(Robert Herrick, 1591-1674 )
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
A nd this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the Sun,
The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
A nd nearer he’s to setting.
05
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
10
Then be not coy, but use your time;
A nd while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry1).
15
71
Vocabulary:
1) k eep on, persist in
Sadler (et al) (1989:1) opt t he t er m subj ect -mat t er f or subj ect and pur pose
or message of t he poet f or t heme. They also p
Dict ion & I nt er pr et at ion
A. Dict ion
One of degr ee t hat makes poet r y dif f er ent f r om pr ose is not only by a
mat t er of t he r hyming lines and t he line-ar r angement but also t he f ewest
number of wor ds t hat poet r y employs. Hence, Per r ine says (1977:9) t hat poet r y
is “t he most condensed and concent r at ed f or m of lit er at ur e”. Fur t her mor e, he
st at es t hat t he language of poet r y has “a higher volt age”; it gr ows while giving
“light ” and “heat ”. The wor ds employed in poet r y ar e singled out wit h gr eat car e.
I n line wit h t his view, t he pr ef er ence of t hese wor ds must be in accor dance wit h
t he poet ’s pur pose in a given poem since, as Alt enber nd and Lewis (1966:9)
asser t , “t he whole r ange of human act ivit ies, ideas, and emot ion is now wit hin t he
pr ovince of poet r y”.
Alt hough it is har d, t her e ar e many who der ive a gr eat deal of pleasur e of
r eading poet r y, and what makes it dif f icult t o under st and is t he nat ur e of
poet r y it self , of which language use is dif f er ent f r om t he or dinar y one.
“Reading poet r y is an-act of discover y”. Exhaust ive concent r at ion should
be given t o any par t icular wor ds and t he way t hey ar e r elat ed t o t he ot her s,
which make up t he basic element s of poet r y t o r espond, i.e. imager y, f igur at ive
language, and musical devices.
The wor d choice in poet r y is accur at ely and st eadf ast ly select ed and
t her ef or e, it does not acknowledge synonyms. I t is invent ed by manipulat ing t he
small dif f er ences in meaning bet ween synonyms. This select ion of wor ds, which
is t he f oundat ion of ever y poem, is called dict ion.
Ther e ar e t wo aspect s of a wor d which need usef ully dist inguishing: denot at ion
and connot at ion. I n a poem, t her e may be a wor d t hat demands special at t ent ion
because eit her what it means is uncer t ain exact ly or t her e is somet hing cur ious
or excit ing about how it is used. I n under st anding such a lit er ar y piece, t he
r eader is of t en sent t o a dict ionar y t o look up t he pr ecise def init ion of t he wor d
or it s denot at ive meaning—”t he t hing t hat t he wor d names, descr ibes, or
1
nar r at es, pr esumably consider ed in a det ached, scient if ic, and descr ipt ive
(r at her t han evaluat ive) manner ” (Alt enber nd & Lewis, 1966:10). However , a
single wor d of t en has mor e t han one denot at ive meaning. This leads t he r eader
t o t hink car ef ully of it s meaning in it s specif ic cont ext . The common wor d “f ir e”,
f or inst ance, has some var ious meanings and may st and as a noun, a ver b, or an
adj ect ive.
I n f ully under st anding a poem, t he connot at ive meaning of wor ds is
needed gr asping as it of t en car r ies wit h it cer t ain associat ions and emot ive
values in par t icular cont ext . On t he subj ect of connot at ion, Leech (1976:41) has
t his t o say
When we t alk of connot at ive meaning, we r ef er , in par t , t o t his power of
a wor d, sent ence, et c., t o conj ur e up t he t ypical cont ext of it s
occur r ence. But t his is not t he whole explanat ion of ‘connot at ion’, f or t his
t er m is used not only of t he associat ions which go wit h t he use of t he
linguist ic it em it self , but also of t he associat ion of what it r ef er s t o.
Accor ding t o Hor nby (1980:403), t he wor d “highland” bear s t he denot at ive
meaning of “mount ainous r egion; (plur al) mount ainous par t s of a count r y”.
However , t he same wor d, plur alized, wit h a def init e ar t icle, and capit alized T,
connot es “t he mount ainous par t of Nor t h West Scot land”. Connot at ion is ver y
signif icant in poet r y, f or it may be obser ved in such var ious expr essions as
met aphor , simile, per sonif icat ion, allegor y, and t he ot her kinds.
B. I nt er pr et at ion
Alexander (1975:4) r esolut ely hint s t hat t he same poem may be seen
dif f er ent ly by dif f er ent people. This does not mean, however , t hat poet r y can
mean anyt hing t hat anybody f inds in it . All t he int er pr et at ions ar e not
aut omat ically accept able; some may have been quit e wr ong albeit what is
consider ed t o be ‘r ight ’ is not always exact ly t he same. This is under pinned by
Hall (1983:VI ) by st at ing t hat “alt hough dif f er ing, equally def ensible opinions
ar e common, er r or is even mor e common”.
Poet r y, and lit er at ur e in gener al, is gr eat ly dif f er ent f r om ar it hmet ic
t ext . I t is a complex wor k and, t her ef or e, it s meaning cannot be r educed int o a
2
simple, cor r ect one. Hall (1983:VI ) admit s t hat lit er at ur e is inexact and
t her ef or e lit er ar y t r ut h is also “inexact , changeable, and subj ect t o ar gument ”
which const it ut es t he pr ice t hat lit er at ur e has t o pay “f or r epr esent ing whole
human beings” who ar e t hemselves complex, ambiguous, and mut able. I n f act ,
t his sor t of t r ut h is not solely monopolized in wor ks of ar t . Hall compar es
lit er at ur e t o law. Legal t r ut h, accor ding t o him, “is dependent on cont ext and
cir cumst ance”, on t he agr eement of a j ur y t o br ing in a ver dict of guilt y or not
guilt y. I t may, t hen, be inf er r ed t hat all poems cannot be loosely int er pr et ed.
Cer t ainly t her e ar e poems of which meaning is simple and obvious. As f ar as t he
meaning is concer ned, Alexander (1975:4) has given a war ning t hat “a piece of
wr it ing need not always have a ‘deep’ meaning simply because it happens t o be a
poem”, f or example “The Cobr a” by Ogden Nash. This shor t poem simply sounds a
not e of war ning of t he danger of cobr as as t hese venomous r ept iles give a
deadly bit e.
The Cobra
(Ogden Nash, 1902— )
This creature fills its mouth with venom,
And walks upon its duodenum1);
He who attempts to tease the cobra
I s soon a sadder he, and sobra2).
Vocabular y:
1) t he lower par t of t he st omach
2) possibly it r ef er s t o “sober ’ which means “gr ave, inact ive, indicat ing gr eat danger or
iner t ”.
Based upon t he exposit ion above, pensive concent r at ion on par t icular wor ds
in poet r y and on t he way t hey connect wit h each ot her ar e t he key t o r eading
poet r y. Coinciding wit h t his view, Alexander (1975:4) posit s t hat t he r eader
should examine closely what t he poet has act ually wr it t en. He has also pr ovided
t hr ee impor t ant r ules t hat r equir e t he r eader :
01. not to r ead lazily so that the poem is not altogether misr ead;
02. always to look for a simple explanation and not to be afraid to expr ess it;
03. to avoid, as far as s/ he can, putting his/ her own ideas and feelings into the poem.
3
I f t he pr oposit ion above as well as Alexander ’s idea is given a close at t ent ion, it
is obvious t hat eit her of t hese t wo nominat es t he t ext ual appr oach t o poet r y
under st anding. I n f act , it is t he appr oach t o be employed in t his poet r y unit . To
demonst r at e t hese r ules, Alexander opt s Tennyson’s “Br eak, br eak, br eak”.
Break, Break, Break
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1809— 1892)
Break, break, break,
On thy cold, grey stones, O sea!
And I would1) that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arises in me.
O well 2) for the fisherman’s boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O well for the sailor at play!
O well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!
And the stately3) ships go on
To their haven4) under the hill;
But O for the touch of vanish’d5) hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!
Break, break, break,
At the foot of thy crags6), O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.
Vocabular y:
1)
2)
01.
I wish
it is well
3) dignif ied
4) har bour
5) disappear ed
6) st eep r ocks
I f t his poem wer e car elessly r ead, it might be t aken t o be simply about t he
sea.
02. However , t he lines
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arises in me.
shows t hat t he poet is pensive. The lines
But O for the touch of vanish’d hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!
4
t ell t he r eader why t he lyr ical speaker in t he poem is sad. I n ot her wor ds,
s/ he is unhappy because s/ he has lost someone s/ he loves, wher eas t he sea,
t he people near it (‘t he f isher man’s boy’ and ‘t he sailor lad’), and t he st at ely
ship’ ar e unawar e and unt r oubled. This is t he simple explanat ion of t he
poem.
03. I f t he r eader t r ies t o put his own ideas int o t he poem, s/ he might be led t o
assume t hat t he speaker is sad because someone s/ he loves has been
dr owned. As t his idea is not expr essed or implied, it cannot be t r ue.
5
LESSON V:
Figur at ive Language
(Par t I )
Figur at ive language is used not in t he lit er al sense but in an imaginat ive way.
I t is a deviat ion f r om what a speaker of a language appr ehends as t he or dinar y, or
“st andar d signif icance or sequence of wor ds, in or der t o achieve some special
meaning or ef f ect ” (Abr ams, 1971:60). However , it must be seen not f ar f r om t he
convent ions of daily speech seeing t hat t he f igur at ive expr essions ar e alive in daily
usage. The st r engt h of f igur at ive language lies in it s connot at ive, r at her t han it s
denot at ive, power t o evoke and abilit y t o deal suggest ively wit h f eelings and
qualit ies in t he cont ex t of t he wor k being discussed. I n ot her wor ds, it s employment
is t o make it easy f or t he r eader t o gr asp what is act ually expr essed by t he poet as
long as it s connot at ive meaning inher ent is int er pr et ed wit hin it s cult ur al, social, or
int ellect ual cont ex t . The f ull moon, f or ex ample, always adher es t o t he image of
beaut y; a buf f alo in t he J avanese cult ur al cont ext
connot es st r engt h and
f oolishness. As a language, f igur at ive language clar if ies t he abst r act by compar isons
wit h t he concr et e, by associat ions, and by cont r ast s. Thus, t he connot at ive meaning
ex ploit ed in a lit er ar y wor k may be based upon t hese t hr ee main cat egor ies. Owing
t o t he limit at ion, t his unit explor es only t he kinds cat egor ized by compar isons. The
r est will be addr essed in Poet r y I I .
A. Figur at ive Language by Compar isons
Based on compar isons, t her e ar e f our t ypes t o not e. They ar e met aphor ,
simile, per sonif icat ion, and apost r ophe.
01. Simile (Lat in, ‘like’ )
Bot h a simile and a met aphor ar e sense devices invent ed by a poet t o make an
unusual compar ison of t hings or obj ect s or ideas which ar e basically dissimilar t o
give r ise t o st r ong images. I n a simile, t he compar isons ar e made explicit by t he
employment of such connect ives as like, as, t han, similar t o, or a ver b such as
46
r esemble, appear , seem. I n ot her wor ds, t his t ype of f igur at ive language f unct ions
t o pr esent images t hr ough a dir ect compar ison bet ween t wo dissimilar t hings or
obj ect s or ideas. Hence, Bur ns’ f ir st line of his f amous poem “A Red, Red Rose”,
‘Oh, my love is like a r ed, r ed r ose’ uses a simile. The same is also t r ue if t he phr ase
‘is like’ is r eplaced by t he ver b ‘r esemble’, ‘Oh, my love r esembles a r ed, r ed r ose’. To
clar if y t his, Rober t s and J acobs (2003:535) r emar k t hat “a simile illust r at es t he
similar it y or compar abilit y of t he known t o somet hing unknown or t o be explained.
Wher eas a met aphor mer ges ident it ies, a simile f ocuses on r esemblances”. An
ex pr ession like “t he st eak is t ough” is of t en hear d in ever yday lif e. However , t o
cr eat e a st r ong image, a f igur e of simile may be used: “t he st eak is as t ough as
leat her ” . “You ar e like t he sunshine in my lif e” and “all t he wor ld mer ely r esembles
t o a st age” ar e t he ot her easily under st ood ex amples.
The poem ent it led “The Ancient Mar iner ” below ar e, act ually, t aken f r om
Coler idge’ s long poem wit h t he same t it le which r elat es t he st or y of a cur sed ship in
consequence of t he r eckless conduct of one of t he sailor s who shoot s an innocent
albat r oss. The event s being r ecount ed occur immediat ely af t er t he killing when t he
ship ent er s t he Pacif ic Ocean.
The use of a simile is spot t ed in lines 14—6 of st anza t hr ee, " W e st uck, nor
br eat h nor mot ion;/ As idle as a paint ed ship/ Upon a paint ed ocean.” Her e, in his
at t empt t o cr eat e t he image of how mot ionless t he ‘cur sed ship’ in t he vast Pacif ic
Ocean is, Coler idge compar es t he ‘st uck ship’ t o ‘a paint ed ship on a paint ed ocean’.
Hence, t he compar ison bet ween t hese t wo dissimilar t hings—t he act ual ship and it s
paint ing—is t o br ing about a similar it y i.e. t he idea of st agnancy.
47
Ex er cises
The Ancient Mariner
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772-1834)
The fair breeze1) blew, the white foam2) flew,
The furrow3) that followed free;
We were the first that ever burst4)
Into that silent sea.
Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, 05
‘Twas5) sad as sad could be;
A nd we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea!
A ll in a hot and copper6) sk y,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast7) did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck , nor breath nor motion;
A s idle8) as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
Water, water, everywhere,
A nd all the boards did shrink 9);
Water, water, everywhere
Nor any drop to drink .
10
15
20
Vocabulary:
1) favourable wind
2) white mass of small air bubbles formed in or on
a liquid by motion
3) deep line made in the earth by a plough. Here, of
course, the word refers to the water behind the
moving ship.
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
brok e out
i.e., it was
common reddish-brown metal (symbol Cu)
upright pole for a ship’s sails
unmoving, inactive
become smaller
Quest ions:
01. Quot e t he lines t hat st at e t hat no ot her ship had ever sailed in t his sea.
02. Which line shows t hat t he wind suddenly st opped blowing?
03. What t ype of imager y is obser ved in lines 01 and 02?
04. Does t he last sent ence of t he f ir st st anza cont ain imager y? What about lines
07— 08?
48
05. I dent if y t he kind of imager y used in lines 09—10!
06. St at e st anza 03 in your own wor ds.
All Morning
(Gregory Orr)
A ll morning the dream lingers1),
I am lik e the thick grass
in a meadow2), still
soak ed3) with dew at noon.
Vocabulary:
1) remains longer than is expected, as if from reluctance to leave
2) grassland, pasture
3) thoroughly wet
Quest ions:
01. What does t he lyr ical speaker say about his dr eam?
02. What t ypes of imager y does t he poet use?
03. Why does he compar e himself t o t he gr ass?
04. What ar e t he implicat ions t o t he simile used in t he poem?
Snow in the Suburbs
(Thomas Hardy, 1840-1928)
E very branch big with it,
Bent every twig with it;
E very fork 1) lik e a white web-foot2);
E very street and pavement mute:
Some flak es3) have lost their way, and grope4) back upward when
Meeting those meandering5) down they turn and descend again.
The palings6) are glued together lik e a wall,
A nd there is no waft7) of wind with the fleecy8) fall.
A sparrow enters the tree,
Whereupon9) immediately
A snow-lump thrice his own size
Descends on him and showers his head and eyes,
A nd overturns10) him,
A nd near inurns11) him,
A nd lights12) on a nether13) twig, when its brush14)
Starts off15) a volley16) of other lodging lumps17) with a rush.
49
05
10
15
The steps are a blanched18) slope,
Up which with feeble hope,
A black cat comes, wide-eyed and thin;
A nd we tak e him in.
20
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
part at which a thing branches
a foot with the toes joined by a web
small, light, leaf-lik e pieces (of snow)
search about as one does in the dark
following a winding course
fences made of pointed pieces of wood
waving movement
resembling wool (of a sheep)
… and then …
10) k nock over
11) bury
12) sk im/ brush against
13) lower
14) sk imming/ glance/ friction
15) brings about/ begins
16) a series of violent flow
17) lumps of snow being held together by the
branches of the tree
18) mak e or become white
Quest ions:
01. What wor ds in t he f ir st t wo lines show us t hat t her e has been a heavy f all of
snow?
02. Find anot her line which suggest s t he same t hing!
03. What does it mean by ‘f or k’ (line 03)? Why is it called t o be like ‘web-f oot ’ ?
04. Why ar e t he st r eet s and pavement s mut e?
05. I s line 07 of st anza 01 a simile? Why?
06. What t ypes of imager y ar e f ound in st anza 03?
07. What has happened t o t he spar r ow?
02. Met aphor (Gr eek, ‘car r ying f r om one place t o anot her ’)
I n r elat ion t o what is pr eviously discussed, met aphor is one element t o
mast er f or poet r y r ecuper at ion (mer ebut makna puisi oleh pembaca), and dif f er ent
f r om a simile which uses an explicit compar ison, a met aphor uses an implicit
compar ison alt hough t hey pr incipally oper at e on t he same gr ound, t hat is, bot h
f igur es compar e t hings or obj ect s or ideas which ar e basically unlike. Such a
compar ison as ‘Bandung is Par is of J ava’ is not a met aphor at all because t he t hings
being compar ed ar e basically equal; Bandung is a cit y and Par is is also a cit y. ‘Oh, my
love is a r ed r ose’ is a met aphor as t his alt er ed line f r om Rober t Bur ns’ “A Red, Red
50
Rose” equat es ‘my love’ (human being) and ‘a r ose’ (an inanimat e obj ect ). The t wo
obj ect s being compar ed ar e basically unlike, but t he compar ison may involve a
cer t ain r espect : my love shar es a qualit y wit h a r ose, i.e. beaut y. Rober t s and J acobs
(2003:535) asser t t hat “a met aphor equat es known obj ect s or act ions wit h
somet hing t hat is unknown or t o be ex plained. Some common ex amples ar e ‘You ar e
t he sunshine of my lif e’, ‘all t he wor ld is mer ely a st age’, ‘J ack has a hear t of st one’
and J ill has a hear t of gold’.
I t should be not ed t hat if it is t hor oughly ex plor ed, t her e is a t ype of a
met aphor of which usage has been common, and, t her ef or e, it s f igur at ive meaning
has been ceased t o be awar e of . This sor t of met aphor is cat egor ized as a dead
met aphor ‘The legs of t he t ables’, ‘t he ar ms of a chair ’, ‘t he hear t of t he mat t er ’
and ‘Maliobor o is t he hear t of t he cit y of Yogyakar t a’ ar e ex amples of dead
met aphor .
Per r ine (1977:62—3) explicit ly af f ir ms t hat t her e ar e met aphor ical f or ms in
which bot h t he lit er al and t he f igur at ive t er ms ar e named or only eit her t he lit er al
t er m or t he f igur at ive t er m is named. As demonst r at ed in t he ex ample pr eviously:
t he lit er al t er m ‘my love’ and t he f igur at ive t er m ‘a r ed r ose’ ar e ment ioned. I n t he
ex pr ession ‘t he wind f r om t he t op of t he cold hill neighed, galloping f ast ’, t he lit er al
t er m ‘t he wind’ is named wher eas t he f igur at ive t er m ‘t he r unning hor se’ is implied.
I ndeed, t he I ndonesians use met aphor when t hey ar e cur sing, “ bangsat
lu” , or
“ dasar monyet kamu …ya..”.
Leech (1969: 151—5) int r oduces t hr ee element s t hat can be analyzed in a
met aphor , i.e., t enor , vehicle, and gr ound.
Tenor is t he subj ect t o which t he
met aphor ic wor d is applied and vehicle is t he met aphor ic wor d it self wher eas gr ound
is t he aspect of vehicle which applies t o t enor .
Leech also int r oduces what is called as t he met aphor ic r ule, t hat is, a
par t icular r ule of t r ansf er ence which is associat ed wit h met aphor . He f or mulat es
t he r ule as f ollows:
51
F = ‘like’ L
Her e, t he f igur at ive meaning ‘F’ is der ived f r om t he lit er al meaning ‘L’ in
having t he sense ‘like L’, or per haps ‘it is as if L’. Wit h t he aid of t his r ule, Bur n’s
line ‘Oh my love is a r ed, r ed r ose’, f or example, can be under st ood t hat ‘my love is a
r ed r ose’ as ‘my love is like a r ed r ose’, or ‘my love is, as she wer e, a r ed r ose’. I n
not ional t er m, ‘my love’ is t he t enor of t he met aphor —t he act ual subj ect under
discussion—and t he pur por t ed def init ion ‘a r ed r ose’ is it s vehicle, t hat is, t he image
or analogue in t er ms of which t he t enor is r epr esent ed wher eas t he gr ound is t he
beaut y shar ed by bot h. Consider t he f ollowing poem by R. L. St evenson.
The Land of Counterpane1)
( Robert L ouis Stevenson,1850— 94)
When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
A nd all my toys beside me lay
To k eep me happy all the day.
04
A nd sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden2) soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
A mong the bed-clothes, through the hills;
08
A nd sometimes sent my ships in fleets
A ll up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
A nd planted cities all about.
12
I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
A nd sees before him, dale3) and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.
16
Vocabulary:
1) a bed-spread
2) made of lead
3) valley
52
I n t his poem, St evenson employs met aphor is lines 08, 09—10, 11—12, 13—16.
I n line 08, t wo t hings which ar e basically unequal ar e compar ed. The ‘bed-clot hes’
ar e compar ed t o t he ‘hills’ on which t he sick child is playing wit h his ‘t oy soldier s’.
Her e, ‘t he bed-clot hes ar e t he hills’ as ‘t he bed-clot hes ar e like t he hills’, or ‘t he
bed-clot hes ar e, as t hey wer e, t he hills’. I n t heor et ical t er m, ‘t he bed-clot hes’ ar e
t he t enor of t he met aphor , i.e., t he act ual subj ect under discussion wher eas ‘t he
hills’ ar e it s vehicle—t hat is, t he image wit h which t he t enor is ident ical. This br ings
t he t hir d not ional element of met aphor : t he gr ound of t he compar ison. Hence, t he
‘t enor ’ is LI KE t he ‘vehicle’ in r espect of t he ‘gr ound’; t he ‘bed-clot hes’ ar e like t he
‘hills’ as r egar ds t he likeness bet ween t he t wo, t hat is, t he act ual subj ect of t he
bed-clot hes ar e, in t he mind’s eyes of t he sick child’s, seen as t he hills on which he
can play wit h his t oys.
Ex er cises
Food
(Victor M . Valle, 1950— )
One eats
the moon in a tortilla1)
E at frijoles2)
and you eat the earth
E at Chile3)
and you eat the sun and fire
Drink water
A nd you drink sk y
Vocabulary:
1) pancak e omelette (Mexican style)
2) beans with brown colour (made as food in Mexican style)
3) chili
Quest ions:
01. Who is t he poet r ef er r ing t o wit h t he pr onouns “One” and “you”?
02. Wor k wit h a par t ner t o f ind t he met aphor s t he poet uses f or f oods. Wr it e each
f ood, aspect of nat ur e, and similar it y in t he char t below. Number one has been
done f or you as an ex ample.
53
Food
a)
t or t illa
Par t of Nat ur e
moon
Similar it y
r ound
b)
c)
d)
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
( William Blake 1757-1827)
To see a world in a grain of sand
A nd a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity1) in the palm of your hand
A nd eternity2) in an hour.
Vocabulary:
1) boundlessness
2) everlastingness, endlessness
Quest ions:
01.
Despit e his appar ent ly simple wor d employment , Blake’s use of t he met aphor s
is one of signif icance in enr iching t he poem. I n which lines do you see t he
met aphor s?
02. What t hings ar e compar ed? And what ar e t he similar it ies?
03. What philosophical value can you lear n f r om t he poem?
The Hound
(Robert Francis, 1901— )
L ife the hound1)
E quivocal2)
Comes at a bound3)
E ither to rend4) me
Or to befriend me.
I cannot tell5)
The hound’s intent
Till he has sprung6)
A t my bare hand
With teeth or tongue.
Meanwhile I stand
A nd wait the event.
54
05
10
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
a k ind of dog for hunting and racing
dubious, questionable
border, limit
rip, tear apart
be sure, mak e out
jumped
Quest ions:
01. I n which lines do you obser ve t he met aphor ?
02. What t wo t hings ar e compar ed?
03. I s t he use of met aphor her e ef f ect ive? Why?
04. Show how t he use of t he adj ect ive “equivocal” is t he key wor d in t he poem!
05. How is t he imager y employed in t he poem?
06. Does t he speaker know what t he hound is going t o do t o him? Why?
The Land of the Story Books
(Robert L ouis Stevenson, 1850— 94)
A t evening when the lamp is lit,
A round the fire my parents sit;
They sit at home and talk and sing,
A nd do not play at anything.
04
Now, with my little gun, I crawl
A ll in the dark along the wall,
A nd follow round the forest track
A way behind the sofa back .
08
There, in the night, where none can spy,
A ll in my hunter’s camp I lie,
A nd play at book s that I have read
Till it is time to go to bed.
12
These the hills, these are the woods,
These are my starry solitudes1);
A nd there the river by whose brink 2)
The roaring lions come to drink
16
I see the others far away
A s if in firelit camp they lay,
A nd I, lik e to an Indian scout,
A round their party prowled3) about.
20
55
So, when my nurse comes in for me,
Home I return across the sea,
A nd go to bed with back ward look s
A t my dear land of Story-book s.
24
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
lonely places
border (of water, esp. when deep)
went about
Quest ions:
01.
What does t he subj ect ive pr onoun ‘I ’ r ef er t o?
02. I s t he employment of t he ver b ‘play’ in line 04 appr opr iat e? Why?
03. What sor t of met aphor ical f or m is used in lines 06—08 and line 22?
04. What may t he speaker mean by ‘none’ in line 09?
05. What does t he pr onoun ‘t he ot her s’ in line 17 r ef er t o?
06. I s t he use of ‘pr owled about ’ in line 20 appr opr iat e? Why?
Bereft1)
(Robert Frost, 1874-1963)
Where had I heard this wind before
Change lik e this to a deeper roar?
What would it tak e my standing there for,
Holding open a restive1) door,
L ook ing downhill to a frothy2) shore?
Summer was past and day was past.
Somber3) clouds in the west were massed.
Out in the porch’s sagging4) floor
L eaves got up in a coil and hissed,
Blindly struck at my k nee and missed.
Something sinister in the tone
Told me my secret must be k nown:
Word I was in the house alone
Somehow must have gotten abroad,
Word I was in my life alone,
Word I had no one left but God.
05
10
15
Vocabulary:
1) Dispossessed (of sth immaterial)
2) hard to be controlled
3) foamy
56
4) gloomy; dark -coloured
5) sink ing, esp. in the middle, as from weight
Quest ions:
01. Descr ibe t he set t ing of place and t ime of t he poem!
02. St at e in your wor ds t he weat her condit ioned as ment ioned by t he speaker .
03. What t ypes of imager y do you f ind in lines 02 and 09?
04. To what ar e t he leaves in lines 09-10 compar ed?
05. To what is t he wind (‘it ’) compar ed in line 03?
06. To what is t he speaker ’s ‘lif e’ compar ed (line 15)?
07. Why is t he door (line 04) ‘r est ive’ and what does t his do (f igur at ively) t o t he
door ?
It sifts from Leaden Sieves
(Emily Dickinson, 1830— 1886)
It sifts1) from leaden2) sieves3),
It powders all the wood.
It fills with alabaster4) wool
The wrink les of the road.
04
It mak es an even face
Of mountain and of plain—
Unbrok en forehead from the east
Unto the east again.
08
It reaches to the fence,
It wraps it rail by rail
Till it is lost in fleeces5);
It deals celestial veil
12
To stump and stack and stem—
A summer’s empty room—
A cres of joints where harvests were,
Recordles6), but for them.
16
It ruffles7) wrists of posts
A s ank les of a queen,
Then stills its artisans8) lik e ghosts,
Denying they have been.
20
57
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
filters/ separates by putting, through a sieve
dark
(k itchen) utensils with wire network for separating finer grains etc.
soft, white stone lik e marble in appearance, used for ornaments
(resembling) woolly coverings of a sheep or similar animal
unrecorded
disturb; mess up; upset
sk illed work men in industry or trade; mechanic
Quest ions:
01. The lit er al t er m of t he met aphor ical f or m used in t he poem is ident if ied as ‘it ’.
What is ‘I t ’?
02. I n t he ot her f or m, t he f igur at ive t er ms ar e named. However , t her e is a f or m in
which neit her t he lit er al nor f igur at ive t er ms ar e named. To what is ‘I t ’
compar ed in lines 01—02? I n lines 17—18?
03. Comment on t he addit ional met aphor ical expr essions or complicat ions cont ained
in ‘leaden sieves’ (01), ‘alabast er wool’ (03), ‘even f ace’ (05), ‘unbr oken f or ehead’
(07), ‘a summer ’s empt y r oom’ (14), and ‘ar t isans’ (19).
The Dead Crab
(Andrew Young, --)
A rosy shield upon its back ,
That not the hardest storm could crack ,
From whose sharp edge projected out1)
Black pin-point eyes staring about;
Beneath, the well-k nit cote-armure2)
That gave to its weak belly power;
The clustered3) legs with plate4) joints
That ended in stiletto5) points;
The claws lik e mouths it held outside:—
I cannot think this creature died
By storm or fish or sea-fowl6) harmed
Walk ing the sea so heavily armed;
Or does it mak e for death to be
Oneself a living armoury7)?
05
10
Vocabulary:
1) stood out beyond the surface nearby
2) coat of mail, armour
5) dagger, a small, very sharp k nife
6) seabird
58
3)
4)
gathered together in a bunch
covered with a hard outer shell for protection
7)
place where weapons and ammunition are
k ept
Quest ions:
01. I s t he wor d ‘shield’ in t he f ir st line of t he poem above a met aphor ?
02. Explain t hat ‘Black pin-point eyes’ (04), is a met aphor . Find t hr ee mor e
met aphor s and comment on t hem.
03. What sor t of device is f ound in t he phr ase ‘claws like mout h’? (09). What does
t he phr ase suggest t o you?
04. How would you comment on t he second line?
05. What does it mean by / …deat h t o be/ Oneself a living ar mour y/ / ?
06. What makes t he poet ’s descr ipt ion of t he cr ab so vivid?
The Iceberg Seven-eights Under
(Abbie Huston Evans, 1881— 1983)
Under the sk y at night, stunned by our guesses,
We k now incredibly much and incredibly little.
Wrapped in the enveloppe of gossamer air,
A clinging mote whirled round in a blizzard of stars,
A chaff-cloud of great suns that has not settled,
By the barn’s black shoulder where the gibbous moon
Hangs low, no other light mak ing a glimmer
In the dark country, hearing the breathing of cattle—
I do not need that anyone should tell me
Most real goes secret, sunk en, night-submerged:
Yet does it dazzle with its least part showing,
L ik e the iceberg seven-eighths under.
05
10
Vocabulary:
1) delicate
2) (of a heavenly body) so viewed as to appear convex on both margins
3) gleam
4) a large floating mass of ice
Quest ions:
01.
How does t he simile of ‘t he iceber g seven-eight hs under ’ ex plain t he ‘Most
r eal’ t hat ‘goes secr et ’? I n what way is t his simile, t oget her wit h line 11, an
ex t ension of t he idea in line 02?
59
02.
What met aphor s does t he poet use t o descr ibe t he ear t h and t he people (‘We’)
on it ?
03.
Explain t he cont r ast bet ween t he met aphor s of night and dar kness (lines 01,
06, 08) and t he use of t he wor d ‘dazzle’ in line 11. How does t he poem ex pr ess
awe about t he visible univer se?
Harlem
(L angston Hughes, 1902— 1967)
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
lik e a raisin in the sun?
Or fester1) lik e a sore2)—
A nd then run?
Does it stink lik e rotten meat?
Or crust3) and sugar over—
lik e a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags4)
lik e a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Vocabulary:
1) rank le
2) wound
3) cover with or as with a crust
4) hangs down
Quest ions:
01. I n t he light of t he black ex per ience wit h t he ‘Amer ican Dr eam,’ what do you
t hink is meant by t he phr ase ‘dr eam def er r ed’?
02. Explain t he st r uct ur e of t he poem in t er ms of t he speaker ’s quest ions and
answer s.
03. Explain t he similes in lines 03, 04, 06, 08, and 10. Why ar e t hese apt
compar isons? What sor t s of human act ions ar e implied in t hese f igur es?
04. What is t he meaning of t he met aphor in line 11? Why do you t hink Hughes
shif t ed f r om similes t o a met aphor in t his line?
60
A Work of Artifice
(M arge Piercy, b. 1934)
The bonsai tree
in the attractive pot
could have grown eighty feet tall
on the side of a mountain
till split by lightning.
But a gardener
carefully pruned it.
It is nine inches high.
E very day as he
whittles1) back the branches
the gardener croons2),
It is your nature
to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak ;
how luck y, little tree,
to have a pot to grow in.
With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth:
the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers3),
the hands you
love to touch.
05
10
15
20
Vocabulary:
1) reduces the size of by cutting away slices
2) hums or sings gently
3) small cylindrical objects round which warmed or wet hair is wound to create a curl
Quest ions:
01. What is a bonsai t r ee? I n what ways is it an apt met aphor f or women? The
t r ee ‘could have gr own eight y f eet t all.’ What would be t he compar able gr owt h
and development of a woman?
02. What do you make of t he gar dener ’s song (ll. 12—16)? I f t he bonsai t r ee wer e
able t o r espond, would it accept t he gar dener ’s consolat ion? What conclusions
about women’s lives ar e implied by t he met aphor of t he t r ee?
61
03. How does t he poem shif t at line 17? To what ex t ent do t he nex t images (ll.
20—24) embody women’s lives? How ar e t he images met aphor ical?
03. Per sonif icat ion (Lat in, ‘mask ’)
I n a per sonif icat ion, eit her an inanimat e obj ect or abst r act concept or a
qualit y is spoken of as t hough it wer e a per son, and t hus, endowed wit h lif e or wit h
human at t r ibut es or f eelings. T his f igur e is obser ved in t he f ollowing ex pr essions,
‘an angr y volcano’, ‘st or ms r age’, ‘meadows look cheer f ul’, ‘t he wind whist les’, ‘t he
beaut if ul moon looks invit ing’, and ‘t he heat is happy .’ The use of t he t hir d pr onoun
gender t o r ef er t o inanimat e obj ect s like ‘a ship’ or ‘a count r y’ shows t hat t his
f igur e is inher ent in t he daily use of language.
Wind and R iver R omance
(John Agard, — )
Wind forever playing loverboy1)
bringing his breeze joy
to everything he touch
but Wind you can't trust
Forever playing fresh2)
with big woman lik e me
He forget I name River3)—
passing he hands4) over me face5)
tick ling6) me bellysk in7)
talk ing to me in whisper
Promising to bring down
the moon and the stars
and lay them in me lap
even when hot sun shining
but sweet whispering don't catch me8)
I k now Wind too good
I does just flow along to faithful Sea
and let Wind sweet words pass by
lik e cool breeze
Vocabulary:
1) always trying to attract women
2) acting in a bold, rude, or disrespectful
5) my face
6) touching someone to mak e him or her laugh
62
3) He forgets my name is River
4) his hand
7) my stomach
8) doesn't impress or trick me
Quest ions:
01. Who is t elling t he st or y in t he poem?
02. What does t he W ind pr omise t he River ? What does he means by t his?
03. Why does t he River choose t he Sea inst ead of t he Wind?
04. How do you t hink t he Wind would def ine love? Why?
05. How do you t hink t he River would def ine love? Why?
06. St at e how Agar d per sonif ies t he Wind, River , and Sea in t he cor r ect column of
t he char t by opt ing t hese human qualit ies: plays lover boy, can’t be t r ust ed, is
not f ooled or t r icked, is a big woman, is f ait hf ul, t alks f r esh, whisper s sweet ly,
br ings ot her s j oy, and, t ickles ot her s.
Wind
River
Sea
The Wind
(James Stephens 1882-1950)
The wind stood up and gave a shout.
He whistled on his fingers and
Kick ed the withered leaves about
A nd thumped1) the branches with his hand
A nd said he’d k ill and k ill and k ill,
A nd so he will and so he will.
Vocabulary:
1) strik e heavily
Quest ions:
01. To what cent r al f act do all t he per sonif icat ions in t he poem r ef er ?
63
02. What imager y do you f ind in lines 01, 02, and 04?
03. What does it mean by ‘t he wind kicked leaves about ’?
04. What does t he last line mean? Why does it use t he pr esent t ense?
05. Ret ell br ief ly t he st or y in your own wor ds!
Beach Burial
(K enneth Slessor, 1901-71)
Softly and humbly1) to the Gulf of A rabs
The convoys of dead sailors come;
A t night they sway and wander in the waters far under,
But morning rolls them in the foam.
04
Between the sob and clubbing2) of the gunfire
Someone, it seems, has time for this,
To pluck 3) them from the shallows and bury them in burrows4)
A nd tread the sand upon their nak edness;
08
A nd each cross, the driven stak e5) of tidewood,
Bears the last signature of men,
Written with such perplexity6), with such bewildered pity7),
The words chok e8) as they begin---
12
“Unk nown Seaman”---the ghostly9) pencil
Wavers10) and fades, the purple drips,
The breath of the wet season has washed their inscriptions
A s blue as drowned men’s lips,
16
Dead seamen, gone in search of the same landfall11),
Whether as enemies they fought,
Or fought with us, or neither; the sand joins them together,
E nlisted on the other front.
20
El Alamein, 1949
NOTE:
This poem is an elegy wr it t en by an Aust r alian poet . On t he surf ace, it appears t o be a lament f or t he sailor s killed
in t he N or t h Af r ican campaign dur ing t he Second W or ld W ar , but t he poet meant it t o have a wider signif icance.
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
meek ly
banging
pull out
holes made in the ground (by foxes, rabbits, etc)
post pointed at one end for driving into the
ground
6) confusion
7)
sympathetic grief for the suffering or misfortune
of others
8) hinder the breathing of
9) indistinct
10) is indecisive
11) land to reach, esp. for the first time during a
voyage
64
Quest ions:
01. What does t he under lined pr onoun ‘t hey’ (line 12) r ef er t o?
02. What f igur e of speech do you see in t he t it le?
03. What f igur e of speech do you see in lines 4, 12, 16, and 19?
04. What imager y do you f ind in lines 02, 05, and 09—10? Give each a br ief
ex planat ion.
05. I s ‘nakedness’ (line 08) used lit er ally or f igur at ively?
06. What may t he expr ession ‘each cr oss bear s t he last signat ur e of men’ mean?
07. Why is t he pencil descr ibed as being ‘ghost ly’?
08. The employment of “landf all” in line 17 bear s specialt y. Give a br ief comment
on t his!
09. I n what st anza is t he climax? Ex plain!
10. What does t he phr ase “t he ot her f r ont ” in line 20 connot e?
The Dead
(Rupert Brooke,1887-1915)
These hearts were woven1) of human joys and cares,
Washed marvelously2) with sorrow, swift3) to mirth4).
The years had given them k indness. Dawn was theirs,
A nd sunset, and the colours of the earth.
These had seen movement, and heard music; k nown
Slumber5) and wak ing; loved; gone proudly friended6);
Felt the quick stir7) of wonder; sat alone8);
Touched flowers and furs and cheek s. A ll this is ended.
There are waters blown by changing winds to laughter
A nd lit by the rich sk ies, all day. A nd after,
Frost, with a gesture, stays the waves that dance
A nd wandering loveliness. He leaves a white
Unbrok en glory, a gathered radiance9),
A width, a shining peace, under the night.
05
10
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
were put together
magnificently
quick
being merry, happy and bright
sleep soundly
6)
7)
8)
9)
65
friendship
excitement
meditation
brightness
Quest ions:
01.
How does t he poet employ t he imager y?
02. What does t he pr onoun ‘t hem’ (line 03) r ef er t o?
03.
Point out t he cont r ast in t he poem.
04. How does t he poet show t hat t her e is a gr eat deal of var iet y in lif e?
05. What ar e t he poet ’s f eelings about deat h?
06. I n what way does t he met aphor in t he second st anza suit t he subj ect -mat t er ?
07. Besides met aphor , ar e t her e any ot her kinds of f igur at ive language used?
08. The employment of t he ver b ‘known’ in line 05 is pr oblemat ic. Why?
04. Apost r ophe (Gr eek, ‘t ur ning away’)
Closely r elat ed t o per sonif icat ion is apost r ophe, t hat is, a way of addr essing
a par t icular per son who may be dead or absent or an abst r act or inanimat e obj ect or
even a spir it or somet hing not or dinar ily spoken t o as if he or it wer e alive or
pr esent and could r eply t o what is being said. I t is mor e of t en t hat “t he poet uses
apost r ophe t o announce a lof t y or ser ious t one” (Kennedy, 1982;92). When t he
speaker in J oyce’s poem ent it led “I Hear An Ar my” cr ies out , ‘My love, my love, my
love, why have you lef t me alone?’, he is apost r ophizing his depar t ed sweet hear t .
London, 1802
Composed September 1802. -Published 1807
(William Wordswort h, 1770-1850)
MIL TON! thou shouldst be living at this hour :
E ngland hath need of thee: she is a fen1)
Of stagnant2) waters: altar, sword, and pen,
Fireside3), the heroic wealth of hall and bower4),
Have forfeited5) their ancient E nglish dower6)
Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
A nd give us manners7), virtue, freedom, power.
Thy soul was lik e a Star, and dwelt apart;
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was lik e the sea:
Pure as the nak ed heavens, majestic, free,
So didst thou travel on life’s common way,
66
05
10
In cheerful godliness8); and yet thy heart
The lowliest9) duties on herself did lay.
NOTE:
J ohn Milt on (1608-74), English poet .His maj or wor ks are t he epics “Par adise Lost ”, “Par adise Regained”, and t he
t r agedy “Samson A gonist es”. He t r ied t o make t he sonnet somet hing more t han a declar at ion of love or ver bal
r epresent at ion of nat ur al beaut y. His lit er ar y inf luence on W or dswor t h is seen in t his sonnet .
Vocabulary:
1) area of low marshy land, bog, marsh
2) (of water) without current or tide
3) part of a room round the fireplace
4) leafy shelter or recess
5) (have to) suffer the loss of something as a consequence, or because
of rules
6) widow’s inheritance
7) customs, moral codes of social and political conduct
8) devoutness
9) humble, simple, modest
Quest ions:
01. What do t he under lined wor ds ‘she’ (line 02) and ‘her self ’ (line 14) r ef er t o?
02. I dent if y which line cont ains apost r ophe!
04. What element s of Milt on’s car eer as a wr it er does Wor dswor t h emphasize?
05. I s t he compar ison appr opr iat e and ef f ect ive?
06. What ot her f igur es of speech does t he poem make use of ?
07. What t ypes of imager y do you see in lines 09 and 10?
08. Why does t he lyr ical speaker need Milt on? (You may r ef er t o any inf or mat ion
pr ovided by encyclopedias)
To Daffodils
( Robert Herrick 1591-1674)
F air Daffodils, we weep to see
You haste1) away so soon;
A s yet2) the early-rising sun
Has not attained his noon.
Stay, stay,
Until the hasting day
Has run
But to the evensong3);
A nd having prayed together, we
Will go with you along.
We have short time to stay as you;
67
05
10
We have as short a spring;
A s quick a growth to meet decay
A s you, or anything.
We die
A s your hours do, and dry
A way
L ik e to the summer’s rain;
Or as the pearls of morning’s dew
N e’er4) to be found again.
15
20
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
hurry
up to now
(archaic) evening prayer in the Church of E ngland
never
Quest ions:
01. What f igur es of speech ar e used in t he poem?
02. I s t he st at ement made in line 11 lit er ally t r ue?
03. Why does t he poet use ‘evensong’? I s it s use signif icant her e?
04. What t ypes of imager y ar e f ound in lines 01, 03, 08—09, and 18—19?
05. What is t he poem about ? Tr y r ewr it ing t his poem in your own wor ds!
06. How many kinds of imager y do you f ind in t he poem? Give examples of each!
The Tiger
(W i l l i am Bl ake,1757— 1827)
Tiger! Tiger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal1) hand or eye
Could frame2) thy fearful symmetry3)?
04
In what distant deeps or sk ies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare4) he aspire5)?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
08
A nd what shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart6)?
A nd when thy heart began to beat,
What dread7) hand? and what dread feet?
12
What the hammer8)? what the chain?
68
In what furnace9) was they brain?
What the anvil10)? what dread grasp11)
Dare its deadly terrors clasp12)?
16
When the stars threw down their spears,
A nd water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the L amb mak e thee?
20
Tiger! Tiger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
24
Vocabulary:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
eternal, never-ending
was able to mak e
balance, quality of harmony (of perfection)
be brave enough to
be filled with high ambition
i.e. have the power to shape and fit them into place
fear
God creating the tiger is compared to a black smith creating from the furnace
enclosed space for heating metals
large, heavy block of iron on which a smith hammers heated metal into shape
dreadful hold
hold onto, grasp
Quest ions:
01. Whom does t he poet apost r ophize in his poem?
02. What does Blake int end t o convey t hr ough his poem?
03. What does t he poet r ef er t o by lines 1—3?
04. What does t he poet mean by “t hy f ear f ul symmet r y”?
05. Whom does t he pr onoun “he” (line 7) r ef er t o? And what does it mean by t his
line?
06. What compar ison does t he poet t r y t o make in st anza f our ?
07. Whom do t he pr onouns “he” (lines 19 and 20) and “t hee” (line 20) r ef er t o?
69
LESSON VI :
Theme and Subj ect - Mat t er
Poet r y and wor ds ar e in each ot her ' s pocket ; f or one t hing, it may make
ut most use wor ds as it s medium of expr ession. Regar dless of t heir old publicat ion,
Br ooks and War r en (1960:340) inf er r ing t he philosopher Geor ge Sant ayana say t hat
“wor ds inevit ably car r y wit h t hem some weight of idea”, and t his idea has a
r ecipr ocal link wit h moods. For t his, Br ooks and War r en (1960:341) exemplif y Keat s’
“Ode t o Aut umn”∗) in which no st at ement of idea is ex plicit ly ment ioned but “t he
gener al mood built up by t he r hyt hm and imager y” which “inevit ably leads t o a
cer t ain at t it ude t owar d lif e—t hat is, t o an idea, a t heme”. As a f inal point wit h
t his, t hey conclude t hat t he r elat ion bet ween idea and mood is “at t he r oot of all
poet r y”.
A. Theme and Subj ect - Mat t er
Kennedy (1982:3) pr oposes t hat t heme must be dist inguished f r om subj ect .
Wher eas t heme is t he cent r al t hought of a poem, subj ect is it s cent r al t opic. To
illust r at e t his not ion in pr act ice, he uses Housman’s “Loveliest of Tr ees, The Cheer y
Now”.
Loveliest of Trees, the Cheery Now
(A.E. Hou sman, 1859-1936 )
L oveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
A nd stands about the woodland ride1)
Wearing white for E astertide.
Now, of my threescore2) years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
A nd tak e from seventy springs a score3),
It only leaves me fifty more.
A nd since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
A bout the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
∗)
05
10
T his poem is f ur t her analyzed in Poet r y I I under t he t opic of “Figur at ive Language I I ”.
70
Vocabulary:
1) track
2) sixty
3) twenty
Her e, accor ding t o Kennedy, t he subj ect of t he poem is “cheer y blossom, or t he
need t o look at t hem” wher eas t he t heme is “Time f lies: enj oy beaut y now!” or it s
f avour it e Lat in ex pr ession: car pe diem (“seize t he day”).
Even t hough similar , Babusci (et al) (1989:148) elabor at e t he t er m, “t heme is
t he gener al idea about lif e t hat is r evealed t hr ough t he st or y”, and t hey divide it
int o a st at ed t heme and unst at ed t heme. I n t he f or mer , t he poet / ess or his/ her
invent ed per sona declar es clear ly t he t heme. Again, Kennedy (1984:3) pr ovides a
good ex ample f or t his by asser t ing t hat Her r ick’s “To t he Vir gin, t o Make Much of
Time” explicit ly st at es t he t heme in it s opening line, “Gat her ye r osebuds while ye
may,” which he par aphr ases int o “enj oy love bef or e it is t oo lat e”, and again t his is a
f avour it e t heme employed f r om Hor ace t o Houseman which is f amiliar in it s Lat in
car pe diem.
To The Virgins,To Make Much Of Time
(Robert Herrick, 1591-1674 )
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
A nd this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the Sun,
The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
A nd nearer he’s to setting.
05
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
10
Then be not coy, but use your time;
A nd while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry1).
15
71
Vocabulary:
1) k eep on, persist in
Sadler (et al) (1989:1) opt t he t er m subj ect -mat t er f or subj ect and pur pose
or message of t he poet f or t heme. They also p