Chapter 1: Approaching Poetry Introduction This chapter introduces the meaning of poetry and explains why it is difficult to define it in a suitable way. In addition, it introduces the basic differences between language styles in general and tries to locate poetry in the complex picture of the various literary arts known. The objective of this introduction is to establish a solid base for the student who is approaching the notion of poetry and who is trying to enjoy it, What is poetry? Poetry is a very difficult term to define but very easy to identify and recognise. Like love or any other abstract notion (such as pain, motherhood, patriotism, courage, pleasure, beauty, etc), it can be felt when it is there but difficult to really pin down to a specific definition. Poetry is very elusive because it reflects a feeling and an experience, and no maiter how hard we try to define it and attach certain or Specific words to il, we would have to be disappointed because one definition would fall short of another and can never be conclusive. Therefore, we willdiscuss several definitions used by different poets in order to draw an appropriate picture of what poetry really means. Poetry basically means concentrated language that expresses experience. For William Wordsworth (1770-1850), the father of romantic poetry, poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling as it is emotion recollected in tranquillity. Percy Bysshy Shelley (1792-1822) defines poetry as leaves growing in a tree in its natural flow: since these leaves should come as natural as they come to a tree or they should not ‘come at all. Probably one of the best and perhaps most practical definitions is Robert Frost’s (1847-1963) who thinks that poetry begins in delight and terminates in wisdom. What he really means is that people, regardless of their age, gender, experience and education, usually respond to poetry when they hear it read for them and enjoy it without really fully comprehending its meaning, which comes secondly ata later stage. This probably explains why babies respond to the lullabies of their mothers and go to sleep without really understanding the words that are uttered. Furthermore, for Robert Frost, poetry refers to the words and thought reaching each other from both ends. He states that poetry is when an emotion finds its thought and the thought find words. Other poets and scientists have various ways of looking at and defining this difficult term in speech and writing. But suffice it to say that no matter how we define it, itis with you as a reader of poetry to relate to it in your own way with the help of the knowledge that you would gain from reading this book. The feelings and emotions you get and the interest you develop in poetry will shape your own definition. It also depends on knowing meaning in its process of negotiation between the reader and the text, which may seem very difficult for students at the beginning. But once they have been taught how to handle it, this would become an enjoyable task for them, and this applies to reading literature 5«generally. In the case of poetry, it would become not only easy to read but desirable as well. Poetry is, therefore, multi-dimensional. If its language is to communicate experience, then it must involve the four dimensions of the human being: intelligence, senses, emotions an imagination. In brief, poetry is the words used in other THAR “Caiveying a solid méssape-@ it is an art that transforms experiences and feelings nto easy and tasteful language that can be sling or chanted. This is because it employs and depends on certain elements that are part of the literary study in general, including literary techniques or devices, imagery and beauty. The common. base should be experience and emotions, EAP crn eranG en Verse vs. prose If we assume that poetry is language and language is poetry, as one of the various definitions, then we need to distinguish between two types of language when using literature in general and poetry in particular. If language is not taken literally, then it must be literary or figurative. This basic difference creates the main criteria for differentiating poetry and artistic language from other types as shown in Figure 1 The differences between the two types are summarised in Table 1 Figure 1The difference between literal and literary language ‘Table 1 Characteristic of literal and literary language Literal language a Literary language Tr is a practical use of language and | It is an alternative use of language and therefore functional therefore supplementary and = entertaining Temeans exactly what itsays Tt means something other than what it een [says (more, less, the opposite or simply different from what the statement/action says) Teas only one meaniny Tt has multiple meanings thas only one meaning _) Tt has multiple meanings _ Itis used to communicate information | It is used to express more complex and fs condensed feelingsIn literary terminology, the different categories are called verse and prose. Verse refers to specifically writing in lines with common artistic features (zhytlhm, metre, rhyme, etc) that usually compose what we call a poem or a piece of poetry (stanza), On the other hand, prose simply means the opposite of that poetic language, ie. normal age or speech/writing without metrical structure, To quote Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), the famous British philosopher, prose is when all the lines except the last one go on to the end, and poetry (ie. verse) is when some of them fall short of it, referring to how the poetic lines look like because definitely a poem does not look like a paragraph of prose. Furthermore, especially if music is taken into consideration, the difference between a poem and a song is not straightforward Usually the words ofa song are called iyris, but lyrics are essentially a group of lines written a5 one piece with cerlain poetic features, so songs are essentially poems. Students should be aware of the differences between prose and verse. In addition, they should not take language only literally when reading any text. Instead, they Should be flexible in going beyond the literal meaning to the figurative meaning, if and when the text warrants this. They should try to guess other possible meaning or meanings suggested by the statements and negotiate the best meaning of the text with themselves, But they should be able to Support their points of view and interpretations with evi in the text, The following is an example of the differences between literal language and figurative language. With regard to the subject of telephone, we can approach it scientifically as in the following excerpt or poetically as in the following poem. A telephone is a device that translates one's speech into analog electrical signals, allowing them to engage in communication over extended distances, The word telephone is Greek for "far away voice". Originally, all telephone transmissions took place over land based phone lines, but in recent times more and more people have been using cellular phones, satellite phones, and other wireless technology. tpu/seww friendsofvista.org/artcles/article22485.htenl 1- The Telephone Tt comes in black and blue, indecisive beige. In red and chaperons my life. Sitting like a strict and spinstered aunt 5 spiked between my needs and need. Ittats the day, crocheting other people's lives, in neat arrangements, 10ignoring me, busy with the hemming of strangers’ overlong affairs or the damning of my neighbors’ worn-out 15 dreams. From Monday, the morning of the week, through mid-times noon and Sunday's dying light. Itsits silent. 20 Its needle sound does not transfix my ear or draw my longing to a close. Maya Angelou (0.1928) ‘Typology of literature Having clarified the difference between the two main types of language, it is convenient now to embark on the exploration of types of literature. These are called genres of literature, and they refer to different styles or ways of language production. Basically, there is no single and simple way to classify literary genres because there is much overlap between them. Although it is generally acceptable to classify literary genres into the three classical categories of poetry, drama and fiction, the confusion is largely seen in the sub-genres. Generally students can distinguish between these three genres and can tell the difference, for instance, between dramatic and narrative postry, between tragedy and comedy in drama, and between short story and novel in fiction. But these students may find it difficult to distinguish between epic, lyric and drama as sub-genres of poetry,or consider the difference between detective story and Gothic novel. ‘The difficulties are caused by having genres and sub-genres as well as by looking at the work of arts from different angles. For example, the basic divisions of fiction and non-fiction cannot account for the differences between poetry and drama for some plays are based on fiction and some on non-fiction. Furthermore, some types refer to the form of producing (e.g. novel, short story), others convey the theme of producing, (comedy, tragedy), and still others focus on the medium of production (written vs. spoken). For example, satire is considered a gente although it relates to the themes and voices of the work not the shape or form such as fiction or drama, so there are satirical stories and satirical plays. If we also consider the following categories as genres, it will be clear how difficult and fuzzy this term is: romance, tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, fantasy, folklore, horror, humour, mythology, antinovel, memoir, saga, westerns, thriller, etc.i Besides these difficulties, itis also convenient to distinguish between the categories of poetry, drama, film, opera, music, ballet, etc. as separate genes too. Therefore, these difficulties may stem from the problem of distinguishing between literature and art. The latter would include all activities performed for entertainment and which involve creation and beauty in one way or another.Althoughmainly associated with drawing and painting in the past,the arts are now known to be divided into three main categories: visual arts (including drawing, painting and architecture), literary arts (poetry, drama and fiction), and performing arts (such as music, dance, magic, theatre, opera, and film). Still, these divisions may be short from complete as new artistic activities are developed by different cultures, especially with modern technology since the classification should consider all types of single and composed arts known to humans. Therefore, new aris or art forms, such as video games, need to be put satisfactorily in this classification. The issue is complicated, as it is so in major philosophical and social issues because they are not easily classified. The borders between them are known to be fuzzy and overlapping, and definitions will always be short from complete, compared to scientific and technical notions which are usually exact and precise in their definitions, This is a fact in the world of humans, hence the disciplines of humanities. And this may account for the problems students may face in studying literature. ‘The term ‘genre’ is clearly difficult to define as it may refer to different aspects of literary works, However, in this course we will consider literary arts (or simply literature) to be divided into the three genres of poetry, drama and fiction. Each in turn is divided into various sub-genres. Regarding poetry, a simple classification scheme can be seen on the next page. The various types will be discussed in the book.— Classification of Literature Literature 10 Fein Short story History Narrative lyric Dramatic Painting EditorialClassification of Poetry L Narrative poems: tell a story ora series of events A. Ballad: 1.) isavery short story _ 2) is aproductof folks oF egular people — 3.) has asimple plot and language _ 4) hasadialogue _ B. Metrical tale: 1). isashort story in verse 2) has more descriptions 3.) the poet expresses attitudes and opinions | | | i i i | | Epic: 1) _isextremely long, as a novel made in verse 2.) is about national heroes, kings, great warriors, etc 3.) has an elevated tone, lofty style with highly poetic language } u Lyric poems: express an emoton and share a moment without explaining ty | can be understood Through thefogical cont&n hat the writing acually says) i land the emotive content (the feelings the writing produaes) i A. Reflective lyric: | 1) _ shows emotional response through recallreflecton i {past tense) i 2) is usually calm BL Flegy: 1) expresses grief at death 2) is usualy dignified 3) uses formal language and structures c 1.) any sustained lyric poem of exalted theme i 2.) often commemorates some important event 3) has dignified formal language / irregular structure i D. i 1.) has adignified subject matter — i 2) hasafixed form, } a.) Italian (Petrarchan) i abba i abba | cc, cde or ceded b) English (Shakespearean) abab aed let 85 mm. Dramatic poetry: drama written to be spoken in verse and played for an audience A. Dramatic narrative: tells a story by the person involved B. Dramatic monologue: a character speaking to audience on stage CC. Soliloquy: a character on stage speaking alone (to himself) ul2- Introduction to Poetry Task them to take a poem i and hold it up to the light like a color slide or press an ear against its hive. Isay drop a mouse intoa poem 5 and watch him probe his way out, or walk inside the poem's room and feel the walls for a light switch. want them to water-ski across the surface of a poem 10 waving at the author's name on the shore, But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it. ‘They begin beating it with ahose 8 to find out what it really means. Billy Collins (b.1941) 3 The Eagle ‘He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ringed with the azure world, he stands. ‘The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He watches from his mountain walls, 3 Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) Questions for further discussion 1 Define poetry and state how it relates to you. ‘What is meant by literal language and literary language? To what extent are they similar or different? Is poetry literal or literary? Write a short analysis of The Eagle taking into account the difference between the two types of language discussed above. Discuss the famous Les sep! arfs(seven arts) of Etienne Souriau (1892-1979) and their ‘suitability for the classification of the arts. They include the following: sculpturejarchitecture, drawinglarabesque, painting, music, pantomime/dance, literature/poetry, and cinema.5, In Arabic, poetry is usually divided into those poems that are characterised by one of the following themes or anthologies: madi (a panegyric oreulogy), hija’ (a lampoon or insult poem), ritha’ (an elegy), waif (a descriptive poem), ghazal (a love poem), amriyyah (wine poetry), tardiyyah (hunt poetry), zuhdiyyah (homiletic poetry), fakhr (boasting), and hamsasok (Valo). Is this classification satisfactory? Can it be applied to English poetry? Discuss. | i | | i i | | | | i | | BChapter 2: Denotation and Connotation Introduction ‘This chapter introduces the differences between denotation and connotation. Generally speaking, poetry cannot be understood or appreciated without debating the differences in meaning between what the word literally means and what it actually implies. Furthermore, meanings of the same lexical item differ among different cultures. Therefore, it is important for the student of poetry to appreciate how meaning is shaped and developed by the speakers of different languages. Through various examples of poems, this chapter will help the student appreciate meaning, the essence of poetry. Denotation and connotation If we deal with words and use them to means certain things, we need to distinguish between two ways of how meaning is perceived. Meaning can either refer to the inherent characteristics of the thing (concrete o abstract) looked at neutrally without any further overtones, or it can be seen as a carrier of various positive or negative fexira meanings, not part of the normal or natural picture. These two types are known as denotation and connotation, respectively. The denotation of a word, also called the lingui the word itself, This meaning is assumed scientific and free from literary or other associations added by people's experience with language. Therefore, detonation is the meaning devoid of any emoticnal or attitudinal shades, On the other hand, connotation covers the associative meanings people add to the ‘word from their experiences tha: have accumulated Through the deveTopments OF cultures, oritis the feeling a word evokes. Indeed, connotation can cover a variety of ‘meanings that can be referred to a5 the extza or additional meanings used for literary Purposes iH_particular. To compare between denotation and connotation, the @enotation of certain types of animals is usually the scientific description found in iological or zoological books, eg a lion is a four-legged mammal of the big cats belonging to the genus Panthera and the family Felidae. In ordinary dictionaries, this scientific description is simplified to something like ‘a large powerful animal of the cat family, that hunts in groups and lives in parts of Africa and southern Asia’ (Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary 2000). The connotation of lion is, however, different because it describes the qualities usually associated with the lion not only in the English language but in others too, e.g. bravery, great courage, strength, stealth, stamina, royalty, dignity, and it also evokes words like magnificent, powerful, lexical, referential or dictionary meaning, is the lexical sense found in awesome CI Other animals might have other connotations, e.g._snake: danger, patience, rebirth, etc. rabbit: love, luck, shyness, harmony, ete; fox: cunningness, Strategy, adaptability, etc. Connatafion including other “additional”" meanings added ig the lexical meanings closely related to what is studied in the discipline of pragmatics which deals with how the hearer is able to know which assumptions and intentions the speaker wanted tomake clear (Thomas 1994) 14Denotation and connotation show clearly how meaning is complicated and how ‘words or lexical items are a vessel for accumulated ideas and experiences that are not always known and as such are not mentioned in dictionaries. Therefore, each culture shapes is lexis differently. Although the denotative meaning of words seems to be fixed in almost all languages, culture plays an important role in shaping the connotative meaning in the reader's mind. This is why the connotations each word _has are very far from its literal meaning, sometimes even the opposite me Notice Row words sich asterrible' and fal hase Bor ACS on ones ‘meanings in different contexts Other complications arise if we consider other aspects of words that affect the meaning such as the sound and sense relations between words. The sound itself is important in poetry and will be discussed in Part If of this book. Regarding the sense relations between words, such as synonymy, homonymy and polysemy, we might need to be aware in some cases for the associations and connotations which some words reflect and when they are used in order to trigger other words or meanings. For example, for a homonymous word such as ‘fair’ (it means being just or acceptable, or having a pale colour, amongst other meanings), some poets might accentuate this difference in playing on words (pun) for example by using this word to mean both of these two meanings at the same time. Words which have many denotations in particular raise more problems for understanding the message and the intentions of the poet fully, and this might sometimes be confusing. This is in contrast with ordinary writers of prose who need to be precise in the words they choose in order not to be ambiguous or cause ambiguity for the reader. This is especially true with the language of science and technical and legal writing where there is a need to be precise and accurate, preferring a one-to-one correspondence between word and meaning, similar to writing in symbols in the language of mathematics. In such scientific language, there is no chance for misunderstanding because each symbol refers to one and only one word and one meaning. In the following chemical equation, one molecule of the methane gas (CHs) needs two molecules of oxygen (O2) to form one molecule of carbon dioxide (CO:) and two molecules of water (H:0). Changing any number in the equation will make it untrue. CHe +20:3CO2 +2H:0 Furthermore, connotations can be negative or positive according to the choice of words. For example, the words vagrant and homeless both mean a person who has no fixed address. However, the first one is used when the speakers/writers have negative feelings about the concept, whereas the second is usually used when they neutrally describe the status or even when they feel positive towards it, e.g. that this person deserves help. The same can be said for pairs such as ‘childlike’ vs. ‘childish’, or ‘clever’ vs, ‘sly’. This is also influenced by time, and some words become less tasteful with time, so people use euphemisms to refer to them, Notice, for instance, how the same concept has been referred to through different periods with different words as follows: crippled, handicapped, disabled, differently abled.In de ndeed, poetry is usually full of connotative uses of words, Poets can be said to leviate from denotative meanings and add new or even invented shades of meaning, ie. they utilise as much as pessible of what words can carry of meanings to invite di lfferent and various kinds of interpretations. Such deviations from the literal meanings are called figures of speech or figurative language, see Chapter 10. But these should generally be accepted by readers and easily deciphered in the poem's analysis. Otherwise, poets risk misunderstanding of their poems by readers who should have the sense of imagination. Consider the following poems. 4- A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal ‘A slumber did my spirit seal; Thad no human fears: She seemed a thing that could not feel The touch of earthly years. No motion has she now, no force; 5 She neither hears nor sees; Roll'd round in earth's diurnal course With rocks, and stones, and trees, William Wordsworth (1770-1850) In this poem, the speaker describes the death of a girl who was alive and active, and who was even angelic as she could not feel the passing of time, being always bright and young. However, later she died and became motionless, buried with the dead creatures of the earth such as rocks, stones and dead trees. To create a good effect for the big contrast between the two situations, we should assume the connotative meanings of the words ‘rocks, and stones, and trees’. They basically mean the geological parts of the earth, and can be connotatively understood to mean grandiose and highness, especially for trees and strong rocks, However, in this poem the meaning expected to be understood is that associated with death and dirt of the e ound, so the associations are different from the common associations of words such as ‘tree’ or ‘rock’, The connotations differ from the denotations, and each context detects its own use and its own preferences of the connotations known and chosen by the poet. pl ne and erecgekyco dental 5- My Papa’s Waltz dendrabon. ‘The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy. dizzy; But I hung on like death: — C oWNOTA TION Such waltzing was not easy. Se piiad unlthepae ? Ae skvucsve, Siromiheenshey ry enue Heachinns Mle ‘My mother's countenance Couttnotuntownitele — he om Eyenn he ly cont halicte Connakation ow| ‘The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; 10 Atevery step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt, ‘Then waltzed me off to bed 15 Still clinging to your shirt. Theodore Roethke (1908-1963) | & Desert Paces worreta Soe Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast Ina field Mooked into going past, And the ground almost covered smooth in snow, But a few weeds and stubble showing last oe le? aha The Woods around it have ititis theirs. a Judie 5 oe All animals are smothered in their Iairs. La ban Tam too absent-spirived to count; Conn ai The loneliness includes me unawares. And lonely as itis that loneliness. Lie a o\, Will be more lonely ere it be less-~ corn 10 <—arbInker whitenesyorbenighied snow With no expression, nothing to express. i j 1 ‘They cannot scare me with their empty spaces | Between stars--on stars where no human race is. i Thave it in me so much nearer home 15 i To scare myself with my own desert places. i i i Robert Frost(1874-1963) 7- The Naked and the Nude | For me, the naked and the nude (By lexicographers construed As synonyms that should express The same deficiency of dress Or shelter) stand as wide apart 5 ‘As love from lies, or truth from art. WLovers without reproach will gaze (On bodies naked and ablaze; ‘The Hippocratic eye will see In nakedness, anatomy: 10 ‘And naked shines the Goddess when. She mounts her lion among men. ‘The nude are bold, the nude are sly To hold each treasonable eye. While draping by a showman's trick 15 Their dishabille in rhetoric, ‘They grin a mock-religious grin Of scom at those of naked skin. ‘The naked, therefore, who compete ‘Against the nude may know defeat; 20 Yet when they both together tread ‘The briary pastures of the dead, By Gorgons with long whips pursued, How naked go the sometime nude! Robert Graves (1895-1985) 8 The Sheaves va__ Where long the shadows of the wind had rolled cio’ ¢— Green wheat was yielding tothe change assigned: (Cee ‘And as my some vast magic undivined The world was turning slowly to gold 9 C. antd Like nothing that was ever bought or sold 5 Ttwaited there, the body and the mind; ‘And with a mighty meaning of a kind ‘That tells the more the more itis not told. So in a land where all days are not fair, | Fair days went on till on another day 0 ‘A thousand golden sheaves were lying there, Shining and still, but not for long to stay — ‘As ifa thousand girls with golden hair Might rise from where they slept and go away. Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869 ~1935)| | | 9 Pathedy of Manners At twenty she was brilliant and adored, Phi Beta Kappa, sought for every dance; Captured symbolic logic and the glance Of men whose interest was their sole reward. She learned the cultured jargon of those bred ‘To antique crystal and authentic pearls, Scored Wagner, praised the Degas dancing girls, And when she might have thought, conversed instead. She hung up her diploma, went abroad, Saw catalogues of domes and tapestry, Rejected an impoverished marquis, And learned to tell real Wedgwood from a fraud. Back home her breeding led her to espouse A bright young man whose pearl cufflinks were real ‘They had an ideal marriage, and ideal But lonely children in an ideal house I saw her yesterday at forty-three, Her children gone, her husband one year dead, ‘Toying with plots to kill time and re-wed Mlusions of lost opportunity. But afraid to wonder what she might have known With all that wealth and mind had offered her, She shuns conviction, choosing to infer Tenets of every mind except her own. A hundred people call, though not one friend, To parry a hundred doubts with nimble talk. Her meanings lost in manners, she will walk Alone in brilliant circles to the end. Ellen Key (1849 ~ 1926) 10- Cross —> Conn ha bion My old man’s a white old man And my old mother's black, Ifever Icursed my white old man Ttake my curses back. Ifever I cursed my black old mother And wished she were in hell, Tm sorry for that evil wish And now I wish her well 19 10 1B 20 25denckeli iG n Connstat ten My old man died in a fine big, house. > © end ce My pla died in ashack. —9> Canrnebahien Iwonder were I'm going to die, Being neither white nor black? Langston Hughes (1902-1967) 11 The world is too much with us ‘The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon, ‘The winds that will be howling at all hours, ‘And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers, For this, for everything, we are out of tune; Itmoves us not. Great God! Id rather be ‘A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathéd horn. William Wordsworth (1770-1850) 12- Base Details IF I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath, Td live with scarlet Majors at the Base, ‘And speed glum heroes up the line to death. You'd see me with my puffy petulant face, Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel, Reading the Roll of Honour. ‘Poor young chap,’ Td say—“T used to know his father well; Yes, we've lost heavily in this last scrap.’ And when the war is done and youth stone dead, T/d toddle safely home and die—in bed. Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) 20 10 10Questions for further discussion |. What is the difference in meaning (denotation and connotation) between house and home? What associations do these words have in the English culeare? 2. Who told us that ‘a red rose’ stands for love? Where do we find this in the world? Is it viable culturally? 3. Consider the issue of wine, which is associated with luxury in the Western world, Compare it with its position in the Muslim world as it is associated with sin and decadence. 21