The God Called Poetry

Now I begin to know at last,

And leaps me through his paper hoops
A little higher every time.
The God Called Poetry’ begins with the poet’s understanding of God called poetry. Nowadays,
when he sits to write, he can understand what he tries to rhyme, form, or measure, is like God,
immeasurable, and formless. Poetry is vast and its range is great. The God whom the poet finds in
poetry, helps him to leap higher. The poet humorously says, he stoops and leaps him through the
paper hoops a little higher every time. As if poetry plays with the poet as a father plays with his
son.

Tempts me to think I’ll grow a proper

Singing cricket or grass-hopper
Rustling the thick stands of his hair.
In the second stanza of ‘The God Called Poetry,’ the poet uses an allusion to the poem, ‘On the
Grasshopper and Cricket’ by John Keats. Poetry makes the poet think that one day he will transform
into a proper “Singing cricket or grass-hopper”. As in Keats’ poem, those insects continue the
poetry of the earth, the poet wants to be like those creatures to carry on the unending process
called poetry. However, here the poet means when his poetic abilities grow better the crowd will
be shocked to know about him. He will be bolder day by day as God himself is there to assist him.

He is older than the seas,

Older than the plains and hills,
He sings to you from window sills.
Here, Graves illustrates the God-named poetry. He is older than the seas, plains, and hills. Even he
existed before the creation of the sun. Here, the poet refers to poetry as if it is the creator of the
whole universe. Here, the poet uses a metaphor in “sun’s hot wheel”. Moreover, the poet says
poetry wakes the gale or the stormy wind that uproots the trees on earth. It symbolizes the
destructive side of the creator. In this poem, God, the creator of the universe, is synonymous with
poetry. However, the God who at times tears down creation is also the mild breeze coming from
one’s window sills.

At you he roars, or he will coo,

He shouts and screams when hell is hot,
And where you seek him, he is not.
The fourth stanza of ‘The God Called Poetry’ similarly talks about the nature of poetry. In this poem,
the poet directly addresses the readers as well as mankind. The poet says, sometimes the god
called poetry roars at a person, and sometimes he sings like a bird. Moreover, when the hell or the
condition of the earth becomes hell-like, he shouts and screams in disgust. It’s not that poetry can
shout itself. One can hear the shouting and scream of this god through a poet’s work. Thereafter,
the poet refers metaphorically to war and compares it to “hell” mentioned in the previous line. He
smites one down and he is also there to assist a person in healing up. But it is tough to find him.
The poet says, “And where you seek him, he is not.”

To-day I see he has two heads

Like Janus—calm, benignant, this;
He is YES and he is NO.
The fifth stanza compares poetry to the two-headed god, Janus. One head of Janus is calm and
benignant and the other one is grim and scowling. His beard spreads from chin to chin. Here, the
poet uses the image of Janus but not associates its actual quality with the god called poetry. That’s
why the poet says, “this god” has the power that is immeasurable at every hour. He grows
powerful in every moment. Thereafter, the poet says, he taught lovers how to kiss. It is he who
brings down sunshine after a shower. Thunder and hatred are also his qualities. At last, the poet
remarks, “He is YES and he is NO.” So, this god has a duality of every quality he possesses.

The black beard spoke and said to me,

‘Human fraility though you be,
To your gales of anger bend.’
In this stanza, Graves captures the conversation between him and the god called poetry. The black-
bearded head of the god ordered the poet to shout at the injustice that occurs in the world and be
harsh in his expression. The God knows that the poet is frail like other human beings. To become a
true poet, he should obey god’s order. If the poet does so, the rest of mankind will obey him. Even
nature will obey the poet. Every human folly will hop and skip at the terror of the
poet’s ironic whip. Here, the poet uses a metaphor in “gales of anger”. It’s a reference to the
straightforward expression of the poet that is meant for correcting the follies of mankind.

The pale beard spoke and said in turn

‘True: a prize goes to the stern,
Graciously with no doubt or pain.’
The seventh stanza of ‘The God Called Poetry’ presents what the pale-bearded head of the god of
poetry told the poet. The milder side of God supports the hot-headed face’s arguments. According
to him, the prize goes to the stern. In contrast, he says one should not be so firm that he even
forgets to sing and laugh heartily. One must think easily and his thoughts should rub like the air
blowing over the plain. Moreover, the poetry-god urges the poet to bathe in the waters and drink
the warmth of the sun. He should close to the essence of nature and compose such songs that can
soothe one’s heart, not hurt one’s feelings. If the poet wants to be great in his art, he should
incorporate the element of firmness and kindness with proper care and due regard to balancing
those emotions. If he can do so, humans will understand his ideas “graciously with no doubt or
pain.

Then speaking from his double head

The glorious fearful monster said
A poet you shall be, my son.’
In the last stanza of ‘The God Called Poetry’, Graves furthermore refers to the remarks of the two-
headed god. Here, the poet refers to poetry as the “glorious” yet “fearful monster”. So, on one
hand, mastering the art can bring one glory yet it’s tough to handle as it’s like a fearful monster. In
this section, the god collectively says, he is both the affirmative, “Yes” and the negative, “No”. One
is black as pitch and white as snow. Here, “black” refers to pessimism, and “snow” refers to
optimism and hope. The god orders the poet to love him, at the same time hate him too. But the
poet has to hate but with love, and also has to take the perfect along with vile.In this way, a poet
can do equal justice. Otherwise, his poetry will be one-sided, hence biased. The poet has to nurture
the mildness of the moon and the power of the sun in his heart. Thereafter, the god refers to his
creation of nature and says it up to the poet how he looks at it. He can either curse the current
state of nature or be happy with the beauty of it. In this way, he can be a true “poet”.