G. Thompson
Two poems are assigned for Thursday, Sept. 21, "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Owen, and "Diving into the Wreck" by Rich. Choose one of these, quote a few lines which seem important to the poem, and write approx. 100 words in response. Why are the lines you quoted significant?
If it works well for your response, you might comment on one or more of the figures of speech to be discussed that day, but it's not a requirement.
Because this assignment is posted Sat. afternoon, you need not submit this informal writing until the time class begins on Thursday.
Whole class--look at Dryden briefly; at Shakespeare briefly; at Frost; then discussion of Thomas and Ashbery. Set up with brief writing for each.
Poets sometimes write serious, reflective observations--and sometimes they play. One of the kinds of play involves form, and the theme for today is having fun with how structure and freedom play off each other.
Dryden--I'm not concerned with interpretation of this--it's a long satire grounded in events of the English 17th-century, and unless you are going into further study in that period it's not particularly relevant. What Dryden is doing is grafting a biblical story onto contemporary events involving Charles II. The king had a number of mistresses and illegitimate children; when he was in poor health, it appeared that his brother would become king--but his brother was Roman Catholic, which was a threat (England left the Catholic Church under Henry VIII); there was discussion about allowing one of Charles' illegitimate children to become heir, and the political intrigues are what was being satirized in this poem.
Absalom was King David's illegitimate son in 2 Samuel, who revolted against his father's rule.
William Piper, The Heroic Couplet
"The closed couplet . . . was primarily a medium for public discourse--rather than a medium for dramatic effects, say, or for those of meditation. Its persistent order allowed a poet to define issues, to balance arguments, and, in the process, to give the impression of a clear and balanced mind." (23-24)
There's a hierarchy of pauses established by the form.
strongest pause--at the end of the couplet
second strongest pause--at the end of the line
third strongest pause--at the caesura (when present)
Hamlet passage, blank verse. Stress definition.
[Prompt questions]
Both poetic forms, the villanelle and the sestina, involve repetition. Describe the form--what are the rules? What repeats in each poem and how does it affect your interpretation of the poem's meaning?
For Dylan Thomas: Here I think the anthology writer's questions are good ones. "What do the wise, good, wild, and grave men have in common with the speaker's father? Why do you think Thomas chose such a strict form, the villanelle, for such an emotionally charged subject?"
Counterpoint: see William Cullen Bryant, "Thanatopsis," which recommends stoic acceptance.
So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
For John Ashbery: Why such an involved form and comic strip / cartoon characters? Why is the title so disconnected from the poem?
See images from comic strip.
(Heads-up: Ashbery's poem combines characters from the comic strip with a highly prescriptive form, as if to point out the arbitrary nature of such forms. Title has nothing to do with the poem! Thomas' poem is pretty self-evident.)
Popeye strip:
"Sunday color feature, January 14, 1934. A typical example of mix of adventure and humor that was Segar’s specialty. The Sea Hag, speaking in a mysterious language, directs "the Goon" to kidnap perpetually-hungry Wimpy from another ship, now that Popeye is temporarily trussed."
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/ashbery/rutabagas.htm
