FX’s newest dramedy series Atlanta is teeming with societal critique blanketed in clever humor. We knew Donald Glover was talented, but Atlanta has revealed his ingenuity as an artist… Read more “ATL tho”
Eliot-Hollow Men
“We are the hollow men/We are the stuffed men…We whisper together/Are quiet and meaningless” T. S. Eliot’s poem The Hollow Men is a concentrated expression of meaninglessness. Eliot takes things… Read more “Eliot-Hollow Men”
What is love
After reading Adrienne Rich’s “Twenty One Love Poems,” Robert Creely’s “For Love” is not the love poem that I had expected it to be. When I first… Read more “What is love”
Humans lived here once
Adrienne Rich’s poem, Shooting Script, is made up of two parts, and within the parts the poem has several sections distinguished by numbers. Shooting Script is teeming with clever metaphors… Read more “Humans lived here once”
Hughes and prejudice reality
Langston Hughes is arguably the most renown african american poet and activist of the 20th century. For some people, he was infamous. Regardless of his political opinions,… Read more “Hughes and prejudice reality”
Descent
William Carlos Williams experimented with many forms of poetry. He is well known for using the form he called, “variable foot,” also referred to as triadic line. Williams used this form extensively for the first time in his poem, “The Descent.” Williams’ triadic form flows with the theme of the poem: descent.
He speaks of memory as an accomplishment and defeat as an opportunity for the unexpected. There is a tinge of irony in the poem as Williams seems to put a positive spin on things that we typically think of as unfavorable.
The structure of the poem follows the feeling that Williams is describing. The aura of the poem moves up and down. For a moment, things seem brighter but then we are brought back to a harsh dark reality. For example, Williams writes,
“With evening, love wakens
though its shadows
which are alive by reason”
And later Williams continues,
“Love without shadows stirs now
beginning to awaken
as night
advances.
In these lines the mood of the poem grows hopeful, but as it continues, the disposition descends. The last few lines of the poem are grave, stating,
” what we have lost in the anticipation-
a descent follows,
endless and indestructible .”
Although this is not the only piece in which Williams employs triadic line, here, his use of variable foot is an emphasis of the feelings conveyed throughout the poem.
a dim sun
“April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm…” T.… Read more “a dim sun”
crack a slice of language
Gertrude Stein’s “Tender Buttons” certainly appears to have an agenda; possibly even the same as her poem, “Patriarchal Poetry.” Both poems seem to be lacking any sort… Read more “crack a slice of language”
frustration at its finest
Gertrude Stein’s “Patriarchal Poetry” distinguishes itself from any other poetry of its time. Reading the poem is much like reading Ezra Pound’s Cantos, in that, both poems are relentless… Read more “frustration at its finest”
vexed
H.D.’s poem “Mid-day” and Warsan Shire’s “Souvenir” have much in common, both in style and in sentiment. “Mid-day” produces a bleak scenery and a somber mood. In… Read more “vexed”
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