Teevee
Keeping Things Whole
In a field
I am the absence
of field.
This is
always the case.
Wherever I am
I am what is missing.
Poem for a Dead Poet
L)A
l(a
When I walk
I part the air
and always
the air moves in
to fill the spaces
where my body's been.
We all have reasons
for moving.
I move
to keep things whole.
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness
e.e.cummings
(1894 – 1962)
He was a poet he was.
A proper poet.
He said things
that made you think
and said them nicely.
He saw things
that you or I
could never see
and saw them clearly.
He had a way
with language.
Images flocked around
him like birds,
St Francis, he was,
of the words. Words?
Why he could almost make 'em talk.
Roger McGough (1937 - )
In the house
of Mr and Mrs Spouse
he and she
would watch teevee
and never a word
between them spoken
until the day
the set was broken.
Then “How do you do?”
said he to she,
“I don’t believe
that we’ve met yet.
Spouse is my name.
What’s yours?” he asked.
Mark Strand (1934 - 2014)
Blue as a little girl
Blue as a little girl on Sunday afternoon
no homework done
Tomorrow’s school.
Fall chill
Football on the radio
Dying sun getting closer to tomorrow
School again
No homework done and baby blue.
Lois Sorrells (1937 – 2013)
The World
“Why, mine’s the same!”
said she to he,
“Do you suppose that we could be…?”
It burns in the void,
Nothing upholds it.
Still it travels.
But the set came suddenly right about,
and so they never did find it out.
Travelling the void
Upheld by burning
Nothing is still.
Burning it travels.
The void upholds it.
Still it is nothing.
Nothing it travels
A burning void
Upheld by stillness.
Kathleen Raine (1908 – 2003)
Word
The word bites like a fish.
Shall I throw it back free
Arrowing to that sea
Where thoughts lash tail and fin?
Or shall I pull it in
To rhyme upon dish?
Stephen Spender (1909 – 1995)
Contrary
When we are weak, we are
Strong. When our eyes close
On the world, then somewhere
Within us the bush
burns. When we are poor
and aware of the inadequacy
of our table, it is to that,
uninvited, the guest comes.
R. S. Thomas (1913 – 2000)
Eve Merriam (1916 - 1992)
A Word is Dead
A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.
E. Dickinson
(1830 – 1869)
Children
(from The Prophet, 1923)
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said,
"Speak to us of Children."
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,
not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you
with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
Kahlil Gibran (Bsharri 1883 - New York 1931)
HINTS FOR A GUIDED ANALYSIS OF A POETIC TEXT
1. Layout
Look at the number (couplet, tercet, quatrain, sestet, octave) and the length (e.g. pentameter = 10 syllables) of the lines
and stanzas - are they regular? Irregular? Do the lines have a similar length or do they look random? Are there any very
short, direct, lines? Is the poem a fixed form (elegy, ballad, sonnet, ode) or free verse? Is the visual layout an essential
part of the poem (shapes, patterns that underline the sense of the words: concrete poem)? Orthographic deviation
includes discarding of capital letters, eccentric use of punctuation and parentheses, jumbling or splitting of words.
Useful expressions: The poem is structured in... / consists of / is divided into…
2. Sound
 Think of the way the poet uses rhyme or echoing sounds: to bring certain words together and reinforce the meaning
/ to give emphasis to the words / create harmony / produce comic effects / hint at the disharmony of the war / of life
/ can stretch across from one stanza to another…
 Does he use blank verse (unrhyming iambic pentameter / quality of everyday speech) or free verse (absence of
traditional metre or regular rhyme scheme)?
 Does the poet use repetition, alliteration, assonance, refrain, or onomatopoeia to emphasise certain words?
 Is the meaning of the poem expressed through soft (sensual, thoughtful, retrospective…) or hard (assertive, idea of
tension, energy…) consonants?
l r
m n ŋ
Soft
v f z s h
ʤ ʧ
b d g p t k
Hard
 Does the poet use a definite rhythm (stress pattern: iambic, ˘/ ˉ, or trochaic, ˉ / ˘) throughout the poem, or in part of
the poem, which reinforces the meaning (regular, irregular, light, jerky (jumpy, erratic), slow, quick, fast,
hammering, smooth, flowing)?
 Are there any end-stopped lines or run-on-lines? They can sound firm and finished or produce a sense of
incompleteness.
 Sound can be deep / harsh / light / shrill / grating / strident / gentle / liquid / incisive /flat / mellifluous / resonant /
sonorous / smooth etc. You can speak of pitch and echo.
3. Language (lexis): take into consideration
 The choice of adjectives (describing words). They might be simple or complex.
1. Any allegory or symbols that convey particular ideas. Symbols can stand for / represent / suggest / point to / evoke /
express…
 The use of any techniques such as simile, metaphor, personification, oxymoron, hyperbole, litotes, synaesthesia,
verbal parallelism or repetition. Once you have found possible figures of speech, think about what effect they have.
Why did the poet use that particular figure? What was s/he trying to convey? For example, verbal parallelism or
repetition puts an emphasis on the relation between expression and content.
 Connotative and denotative language: a word has three components: denotation, connotation and sound which
are interrelated. Each aspect contributes to the meaning of the word. The denotation of a word is the formal meaning
or meanings of the word, that is to say the information it supplies. The connotation is what the word suggests, the
associations the word induces in the reader.
 Tone: if you were reading the text aloud, how would you do it? What kind of voice would you use? How would you
want an audience to react when they heard it? How does the writer want the audience to react to each one? Tone can
be joyous / melancholic / angry / cynical / resigned / cold / passionate / protesting / sad / humorous / vibrant etc.
 Imagery: images that words in a poem create in the reader’s mind - imagery (or images) can create an
impressive/sad/joyful atmosphere / focuses the meaning of the poem as a whole / appeals to the senses / makes the
poem more vivid and concrete / enacts the meaning / draws the poem together. We can also add that words and
images relate to each other / interconnect / are connected by a common idea / the meaning of a poem is focused on an
image / the central organising image is…/ the ... stanza resumes the imagery…
 The poet's style is clear, direct, plain, accurate, obscure, allusive, indirect, ambiguous, concise, brisk, epigrammatic,
incisive, verbose, bombastic, rhetorical, ornate, long-winded ... forceful, lively, vivid, effective, eloquent, sparkling,
weak, plain, colourless, conventional, prosaic, simple, bare, commonplace, everyday, unimaginative, precious,
affected, inflated, metaphorical, elegant, elaborate, flawless, polished. Useful expressions: the poem has a songlike
simplicity / has a conversational language / has a terse / stripped language
When you write a comment after analysing a literary text, you have to reassemble data and develop them into a
meaningful, well organised composition.
There are many ways of writing a comment on a text which are largely determined by your point of entry, that is, the
aspect you decide to concentrate on.
1. TITLE - If you decide to concentrate on the title, a plan for your comment might be:
- to consider the title words and say who/what they refer to in the text;
- to identify the other words/situations in the text the title is related to and add a few observations on them;
- to examine the relationship of the title to the subject matter and theme and comment on how effective it is.
2. KEY WORDS - Your point of entry can be what you regard as the key words in the text; in this case you should:
- locate the key words and say how they are foregrounded in the text (lay-out);
- identify what each refers to in ordinary language and in the text; .
- establish connections between them at the level of sound, meaning etc.;
- say what message they convey
Useful words/phrases that you can use to point out key words: The key-words that suggest... are: "..." / I have picked
out a number of key words: "...". They indicate...
3. OPPOSITION - If the text is centred on the opposition between two items, you may decide to look at the text in the
light of it. You can:
- start by mentioning what the two items are;
- go on analysing the functions they serve and how effective their juxtaposition is. Do not forget to consider how far
the other aspects of the text (e.g. lay-out) suit them;
- finally, relate the two items to the title of the text.
Useful expressions: the poem has the form of an argument
4. THEME - You decide to concentrate on theme/message, that is what the author makes of the subject matter; you
get to know the subject matter answering the basic Wh-questions (who / when / where / what / why); if
this is your choice a plan for your comment might include:
- a paragraph stating the thematic area and the major specific theme of the text; useful expressions: the poem deals
with the universal themes of…/ is concerned with / shows what went on in the mind of the poet / deals with the
world of./ conveys the emotion of / has for its main theme… / The poet establishes himself in a particular tradition
/ proceeds to outline the ideal relationship / uses harsh irony / appeals passionately to / displays lightness of touch
and humour / pain and pleasure are inextricably mingled…/ the cumulative effect of the details
- Contextualization of the text: if you can, use the information you know about the writer’s life, work, background
that could be meaningful for the text
- develop and support your point using quotations from the text. To support a statement you can use the following
words: The author /S/he says / points out / observes... - According to X, ... To quote X,: ... As X states, ... In X's
words, ... - This can be seen from this quotation / from the following quotation "..." - The quotation is relevant in
that... - The quotation highlights/emphasises... / A good example is... Another example is... / For
example/instance... / ... such as... / ... can be illustrated by... / ... clearly can be seen in... / Other words/lines in the
same category include... / This can be inferred from.../ It is clear that. .. / The reason for this is...
- a brief comment on minor themes of the text, e.g. the time motif…/ lesser motifs
- your personal view on how the theme is treated
Useful expressions: the poem moves in a circle / is based upon / the opening line introduces us to / the first stanza
establishes one/two important pattern/s / the stanza opens with a series of invocations / a statement / a question / in
stanza ... a new cycle begins
5. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE - The comment can also take as its starting point your personal experience as a reader
of the text. You can mention:
- your impressions/reactions when first reading the text;
- the elements/aspects of the text which opened up its meaning for you;
- whether your response changed as the reading process went on;
- the elements/aspects of the text which still remain obscure.
In a in written or oral form it is often necessary to reformulate something to stress a point or to make things clearer. Here are
some phrases you may use to introduce a reformulated statement: In other words, ... / To put it in another way,... / That's to
say, ... / What I mean is / meant was... /