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Modern Poems

Hello Friends, 

This blog is my response to the task of the thinking activity given to us by our Prof.Dr.DilipSir, Head of the English Department, M K Bhavnagar University, on the Modern Poems. Read, understand and enjoy. Happy Learning!

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"The Pool" By Hilda Doolittle

Are you alive? 

I touch you. 

You quiver like a sea-fish. 

I cover you with my net. 

What are you—banded one?

A reading of a classic Imagist poem

‘The Pool’ is, along with ‘Oread’, Hilda Doolittle’s finest achievement as an Imagist poet. The poem was first published in the 1915 anthology Some Imagist Poets. You can read ‘The Pool’ here (all five lines of it), before proceeding to our analysis of this curious little poem.

‘The Pool’ is one of the most famous and widely discussed Imagist poems, and in many ways it conforms to the central ‘tenets’ of that movement as set out by Ezra Pound in his unofficial manifesto, ‘A Few Don’ts by an Imagiste’. It’s unrhymed, it has no regular metre, it uses no superfluous word or phrase, and it has at its centre a strong, clear image, an ‘image’ being defined by Pound as ‘that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time.’

It is at once easy and difficult to summarise what is going on in ‘The Pool’. We know the setting of the poem is a pool, probably a rock-pool given the fact that the speaker of the poem is carrying a net. The speaker spots something in the pool, wonders if it is alive, touches it, making the thing quiver like a fish; she then covers the thing with a net. The poem ends with her still wondering what this thing is.

‘The Pool’, like much modernist poetry, poses more questions than it provides – indeed, literally, given the first and last lines of this five-line Imagist masterpiece. How should we analyse Doolittle’s poem? What is the thing she finds in the pool? It’s clearly not a fish, since it quivers like a sea-fish, suggesting it is something else.

One possible way to interpret or analyse ‘The Pool’ is suggested by the setting. If the speaker is in a rock-pool, or standing over one, she can probably see her reflection in the surface of the water. Is ‘The Pool’ a poem about self-discovery – or, rather, failure to self-discover? (She remains unsure of ‘what’ she is at the end of the poem.) Why is she ‘banded’? Is this simply because she has it (her own face) covered with the ‘bands’ of her net?

However, another reading is also possible and perfectly persuasive. It was suggested by an IL reader in response to a previous piece of ours, and sees the rock-pool encounter in light of Hilda Doolittle’s pregnancy. When analysed this way, ‘The Pool’ might be interpreted as dramatising an encounter between Doolittle and her as-yet unborn child. Tragically, in May 1915 – two months after the poem was published – the baby, the first and only child with her husband Richard Aldington, was still-born.

Both readings are tenable. Despite inviting such open-ended interpretation, the style of ‘The Pool’ is, however, plain, clear English. It is written entirely in words of one or two syllables. Indeed, the poem can be rendered in ‘text-speak’ as follows: ‘R U alive? I touch U. U quiver like a C-fish. I cover U with my net. What R U, banded 1?’ The poem is 23 words long (if we count the hyphenated ‘sea-fish’ as two words), 12 of which can be rendered as a single letter or digit. This is telegrammatic poetry taken to the extreme: short, sharp, to the point – and yet, for all that, ‘The Pool’ remains an enigmatic and elusive mystery of a poem, evading any final interpretation or analysis.

In a Station of the Metro 

BY EZRA POUND

"The apparition of these faces in the crowd:

Petals on a wet, black bough."


‘In a Station of the Metro’ by Ezra Pound is the quintessential Imagist poem. Using very few words, he paints a clear and unforgettable image.

One of the best aspects of poetry is its total lack of rules. The art form is filled to the brim and beyond with every imaginable idea under the sun, and throughout time, various poets have tried out just about everything. So, when ‘In a Station of the Metro’ by Ezra Pound is introduced, it shouldn’t even be that surprising that what makes this particular poem stand out is that it is fourteen words long. It is a short and very much to-the-point poem, and is also notable for not containing any verbs, creating a true rarity in the realm of written works. And although the style is uncommon, this is not at all because it is ineffective, as Ezra Pound demonstrates easily within this work.

Detailed Analysis

On their own, each of the two-sentence fragments that make up this work has almost no real meaning. The relationship between the two moments is what creates meaning in this work. The real engine of this work is the metaphor likening faces in crows to petals on a wet, black bough (referring to the main branch on a tree).

With only fourteen words used throughout ‘In a Station of the Metro’, it stands to reason that each one was chosen specifically for one particular conveyed image. For example, the word “apparition” in the first line suggests the nature of traveling in a crowd — it is a fleeting action, so much so that people seem like ghosts to the observer. In one moment, there is a face, as clear as can be, and in the next, it is gone, and likely will never be remembered by the mind. They are apparitions, in one place for one moment, and then gone forever in the next.

In the following image, the observer views “petals on a wet, black bough,” which is to say they are looking at the leaves of a tree, likely following rainfall. In this image, the reader is presented with the idea of small, fleeting, and weak elements of beauty within the natural world. It is difficult to describe the feeling of appreciation of a transient natural phenomenon, which is likely why Pound chose this particular image — to stand in for a feeling that can’t be easily described.

The first image of ‘In a Station of the Metro’ is entirely constructed by humans, and the second one is entirely a phenomenon of the natural world. The relationship between the two ideas is an abstract one, but by pairing them together, Pound seems to be suggesting that there is that specific kind of beauty in the station of a metro, and that the fleeting apparitions of people drifting through is no different than the wilting nature of a petal stuck to a wet tree. The petal weathers, the petal is rained on, and eventually, that petal wilts and dies, just like each person entering and leaving the view of the author.

In many ways, this poem is impossible to truly define. There are parallels and similarities and noticeable differences between the two images, and these can be defined in several ways. To some, the poem might say more in its structure, as a verbless imagist poem of fourteen words than with those fourteen words. To others, it is the definition of an unusual emotion, one that does not have a correlating word in the English Dictionary. As with most poetry, it tends to be the eye of the reader that gives it its true definition.

The Embankment

(The fantasia of a fallen gentleman on a cold, bitter night)


"Once, in finesse of fiddles found I ecstasy,

In a flash of gold heels on the hard pavement.

Now see I

That warmth’s the very stuff of poesy.

Oh, God, make small

The old star-eaten blanket of the sky,

That I may fold it round me and in comfort lie."

First, a short paraphrase of the poem: on London’s Embankment (an area well-known for homeless people sleeping rough), a ‘fallen gentleman’ reflects on his past and how he found pleasure in worldly social activities (the ‘finesse of fiddles’ suggesting musical gatherings, such as dances) and beautiful women – probably (given the ‘flash of gold heels on the hard pavement‘) courtesans or prostitutes. But now, down on his luck and most probably sleeping rough on the streets, he realises that warmth is what really matters and is what poets should be singing about. The poem then ends with a heartfelt entreaty to the heavens, with the poem’s speaker beseeching God to make a blanket of the starry sky so that the speaker’s wish for warmth might be granted.

This is a very different kind of poem from the sort of thing being written in England a few years before. Although many poets of the 1890s had written about ‘fallen gentlemen’ (not just men down on their luck, but often, by implication, those who had succumbed to sexual temptations and been subsequently ruined emotionally or financially), and had treated the stars in the night sky as an appropriate topic for their poetry, none of them had taken the bold step of reimagining that starry canopy as a moth-eaten blanket.

But that is precisely what the ‘old, star-eaten blanket of the sky’ achieves through a concise compacting of the two ideas, with the starry sky being overlaid with the less grand (or typically poetic) image of the moth-eaten blanket. However, Hulme is out to question our notions that the starry sky is a more fitting subject for poets to sing or write about: we think of the night sky as beautiful and romantic and a moth-eaten blanket as squalid and unattractive, but to the speaker freezing to death on London’s streets, the blanket is more immediately valuable and beautiful than the sky above him.

To invert Oscar Wilde’s famous line, we can all look at the stars, but some of us are in the gutter. Talk of the beauty of a starry night is of little use to someone in the gutter: a blanket, though – now you’re talking sense, Mr Poet.

The internal rhymes of the poem, running from the poem’s subtitle or description to the last line – those of cold, gold, old, fold – help to form a chain that unites the central images of the poem. We are presented with a contrast between past and present, with the poet’s ‘I’ invoking the different physical senses in order to draw the contrast between ‘Once’ and ‘now’: the poet’s speaker remembers finding pleasure in sounds (amply summoned through the alliterative and assonantal sounds of ‘finesse of fiddles’) and sights (‘flash of gold heels’), but now rejects these in favour of sensation (‘warmth’s the very stuff of poesy’). The ‘gold’ of the ‘gold heels’ is destined to disperse into, respectively, the ‘God’ and ‘old’ of the succeeding lines, just as the former wealth of the ‘fallen gentleman’ has now given way to fruitless prayer (‘Oh God’) and a plea for shelter (any ‘old’ blanket will do).

If one thing uniting moths with stars is the fact that they are usually seen only at night, and are then associated with light, then the poem does not ask us to observe this association, merely to see ‘star-eaten’ as breathing new life and warmth into the lifeless and fusty old cliché that is ‘moth-eaten’. The suggestion of the poem – again, what it says without saying – is that the speaker is homeless, the Thames Embankment having a long-standing association with homelessness.

What this poem iterates, therefore, is the thesis that only what is essential to human existence makes good poetry. In other words, good poetry deals with the necessary and includes only what is necessary. Hulme pushes this point home by choosing ‘fiddles’ and ‘gold heels’ as the images with which he rejects sound and sight respectively; both are associated with luxury, with what is not necessary but merely desired. But warmth is something different: warmth is not only desired but needed for us to live.

Darkness. JOSEPH CAMPBELL

I stop to watch a star shine in the boghole –

A star no longer, but a silver ribbon of light.

I look at it, and pass on.

The title itself reflects the dark shade. Darkness gives us an image of downfall.       'Star' is a symbol of prosperity and brightness means that there was some goodness in civilization but now it's all dark.

If anyone looks at the stars, he or she will sit and admire the beauty of the night, but here post just looks at it and passes on. This reflects the disinterestedness prevalent in modern times.  How modernists were not interested in the so-called brightness of the Victorian age can be seen here. The decayed condition of the civilization is presented.

'Image' - Edward Storer

 "Forsaken lovers,

 Burning to a chaste white moon,

  Upon strange Pyres of loneliness and drought."

 The 'Forsaken lovers' (people of civilization) are burning. Here 'Burning' gives various meanings. Burning with lust, isolation, so-called ideal thoughts of the Victorians etc. This poem reflects the disillusionment and the brokenness of civilization especially after the World war.

This poem can also be connected to one of the Universal Human Laws

      ‘Fatal Love and Inevitable Death'


Insouciance

By Richard Aldington


“In and out of the dreary trenches,

Trudging cheerily under the stars,

I make for myself little poems

Delicate as a flock of doves.


They fly away like white-winged doves.”

Richard Aldington was married to Hilda Doolittle and, although they divorced after numerous affairs ending with Doolittle pregnant with another man’s child, they remained lifelong friends. In his short poem “Insouciance,” written a year after World War I ended, Aldington composed this odd little poem. In it, Aldington describes life in the trenches and how poetry kept him alive and happy. It is oddly light-hearted when compared with modern ideals of war poetry. The personification of poems as “white winged doves” that fly away is liberating and helps understand his perspective on the arts and why they kept him alive and happy during trying times.

Morning at the Window

T. S. Eliot - (1888-1965)

They are rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens,

And along the trampled edges of the street

I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids

Sprouting despondently at area gates.


The brown waves of fog toss up to me

Twisted faces from the bottom of the street,

And tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts

An aimless smile that hovers in the air

And vanishes along the level of the roofs.

‘Morning at the Window’ was written in 1914, some months after the outbreak of World War I. It was published in 1917 in T. S. Eliot’s first poetry collection, Prufrock and Other Observations. This book is widely known and recognized for featuring one of Eliot’s most famous poems, ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’. ‘Morning at the Window’ depicts the impressions of the lyrical voice as he/she looks outside his/her window and observes the streets.

The form of the poem, although unrhymed, follows the Spenserian stanza. That means that the poem has nine lines, ending with an Alexandrine. This type of form was used by Edmund Spenser to write The Faerie Queene, one of his most recognized works in which heroic deeds are narrated in an idyllic pastoral fairyland. Yet, Eliot uses this form to convey impressions of a modern city, most probably London.

T. S. Eliot was strongly influenced by French poets, especially by Charles Baudelaire and Jules Laforgue. Hence, in ‘Morning at the Window’, T. S. Eliot presents observations and scenes from modern urban life. These can be related to Baudelaire’s portrait of modern Paris. According to Eliot, in poetry, it is crucial to elevate everyday life and to accentuate the quasi-transcendent qualities of modern life. 

The first stanza sets the scene and the setting of the poem. The lyrical voice starts talking about a “They”. Thus, the lyrical voice appears to be an observer who looks at this scene with distant sight (“They are rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens”). The images that the lyrical voice describes are object correlatives, meaning that the objects and situations depicted correspond to certain ideas and emotions in the lyrical voice’s and the reader’s mind. Then, the lyrical voice will state that he/she is in the street and aware of what goes on around him/her: “And along the trample edges of the street/ I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids/Sprouting despondently at area gates”. The lyrical voice shows images of poverty in modern London and describes them as everyday scenes, without describing individualities or moralizing his/her surroundings. This first stanza presents a very human, but distant picture; everyday life is narrated but not in individual depth. The lyrical voice chooses to narrate what he/she observes and focuses on his point of view.

The second stanza furthers on the characteristics and occupants of the modern city. The lyrical voice describes the air and its pollution (“The brown waves of fog toss up to me”), being a consequence of the industrial and modern city. Just like the air comes to him in a particular way, he/she sees people in the streets accordingly. Notice how they are described: “Twisted faces from the bottom of the street,/ And tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts”. People appear to be sad and dirty; nothing in this portrait of modern London seems to be cheerful or positive, as poverty reigns in the streets. Furthermore, the lyrical voice describes a possible attempt to revert the picture in the city, but it is useless (“An aimless smile that hovers in the air/And vanishes along with the level of the roofs”). This stanza, and the entire poem, present a distinctly modern view of a city, most probably London, by focusing on the small details of everyday life and elevating them to “quasi-transcendent qualities”.

The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams


so much depends

upon


a red wheel

barrow


glazed with rain

water


beside the white

chickens

‘The Red Wheelbarrow’ by William Carlos Williams might at first seem like a bizarre poem about a meaningless “wheelbarrow.” Upon deeper consideration, however, the reader can uncover layers of depth that speak of disguise, appreciation, and usefulness that can be applied outside of the poem—like in the relationships we have with companions. Basically, from this story of “a red wheelbarrow,” we can realize that some of the most crucial elements in our lives can go overlooked, and we can use that information to show more appreciation to those who merit it.

‘The Red Wheelbarrow’ by William Carlos Williams depicts, in very simple language, a red wheelbarrow outside in the rain.

The structure of ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’  is remarkably fitting for the commentary that is taking place regarding the “red wheelbarrow”. Specifically, no word of this set of lines (or of the lines to follow) is capitalized, which shows a lack of visible importance for everything said. Even with the beginning of a sentence with “so,” there is no capitalization. This speaks of how unadorned and overlooked a “wheelbarrow” can be, though its uses are many. No doubt, the “wheelbarrow” can be utilized as a grand tool for manual labor, but when someone sees it, there is little significance to note, like a lowercase tool that is surrounded by things that seem more important. Still, “so much depends upon” this tool that the lack of visible grandeur is somewhat misleading, just as the lowercase lettering can be a misleading detail that hides the fact that what is presented is, in fact, a full sentence.

As well, the structure of ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’ is very reliable. Each first line of every set is three words, and the second line of each set comes with just one word. This shows that the “wheelbarrow” is sturdy and reliable in its nature to be a sound tool. Worth noting as well is that the only way that this basic three-to-one-word structure for line sets can be accomplished is for the poet to separate “Wheelbarrow” into two words. This manipulation of the wording to fit into the structure indicates that this tool can be used in various manners like it too can be made into the right tool for jobs even when it logically is not a perfect fit. Essentially, then, this overlooked “wheelbarrow” is multifaceted and dependable, even if circumstances logically stand outside of its normal reach.

That the narrator says “upon” instead of “on” is telling as well since it comes with an elegant connotation like something out of a fairy tale. Given that fairy tales often include royalty and disguises—like Snow White’s stepmother as an old lady, Cinderella at the ball, and Princess Aurora in a quaint cottage—this hints that there is something above and beyond at work with this “wheelbarrow.” Like these fairy tale characters, there is more to this “wheelbarrow” than meets the eye.

One final note about these beginning lines is that this “wheelbarrow” is “red.” This is such a connected color for a “wheelbarrow” that it borders on cliché, and if a person pictures it in front of a “red” barn, the “wheelbarrow” could easily blend in. In this, the narrator has addressed the “wheelbarrow” in a manner that makes it very typical in coloring, and something that likely does not stick out from its surroundings. Basically, it is doomed to be overlooked though “so much depends upon” it.

These lines continue with the same structural patterns of word counts and no capitalization, though it does add a bit of elegance to the noted “wheel barrow.” In particular, the “wheel barrow” is “glazed with rain water.” While this speaks to the level of disregard the “wheelbarrow” endures to be left out to the elements, the verb choice of “glazed” comes with a connotation of a shining covering. Though it comes from neglect, in a way, this is a glimmering sheen that adds something to the visual of the “wheelbarrow.” It is no longer just “red” and ordinary, but “glazed”—shining and more likely to gain attention.

However, that attention is stunted with the final line of the poem when the poet notes that this “wheelbarrow” is “beside the white chickens.” As was noted earlier, “a red wheelbarrow” can certainly blend into a typical farm lifestyle, particularly when something as bright as a “white chicken” is there to catch a viewer’s eyes. The irony, though, is that this “wheelbarrow” could be used to help tend to the chickens as well, such as carrying their food. Regardless of this usefulness, the “wheelbarrow” could be overlooked in favor of the “chickens” and their brighter coloring.

There is no punctuation mark within ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’ outside of the final period. What this indicates is that only the final act of the “wheelbarrow” matters, as in only its ability to function fully. There is no appreciation shown, though the owner of the “wheelbarrow” must have his tasks finished to completion by the “wheelbarrow.” In this, the period is needed because it indicates that the ending details are what matter. As well, it indicates that this is the ultimate end to the existence of the “wheelbarrow.” It will never escape this cycle, and this situation of being overlooked and little appreciated is its ultimate end.

When applied to human nature, this poem could indicate that there are people around us who are essential to our being, but they go overlooked as well for various reasons. However, their influence on our lives makes it so they should glisten more brightly, like a “glaze” that comes from “water” on the “wheelbarrow.” In essence, this poem could be a lesson, by comparison, to look for those who truly matter in order to make sure we do not take them for granted. Otherwise, the lack of appreciation could continue to the relationship’s end, like the period is the only punctuation mark within this poem.

It is noteworthy, though, that nothing in the poem indicates that the “wheelbarrow” will stop functioning or lower its quality because of the lack of appreciation, other than the possibility of becoming rusted from the “water,” so there is little hint of warning of losing someone who is not cared for in a right manner. It is, rather, the very essence of allotting the due amount of appreciation that makes the concept worth putting into action. Overall, there is a great deal to learn about how to treat our companions found with this “wheelbarrow” so that our friendships do not become tainted and rusty.

Anecdote of the Jar 

BY WALLACE STEVENS

I placed a jar in Tennessee,   

And round it was, upon a hill.   

It made the slovenly wilderness   

Surround that hill.


The wilderness rose up to it,

And sprawled around, no longer wild.   

The jar was round upon the ground   

And tall and of a port in air.


It took dominion everywhere.   

The jar was gray and bare.

It did not give of bird or bush,   

Like nothing else in Tennessee.

‘Anecdote of the Jar’ by Wallace Stevens is a poem that expresses, through the story of “a jar” and “a hill,” the progressive overtaking of industry over nature. In the final stanza, that overtaking is revealed to be a sad and absurd prospect since Stevens’s comparisons make it clear that he believes nature is far more remarkable than industry will ever be. While there are other explanations that could be applied to this poem, the heart of the plot is a reflection of this absurdity, making the three-stanzas a combined lament of the forsaking of nature for what was misinterpreted as betterment.

The narrator begins ‘Anecdote of the Jar’ by the simple proclamation that he “placed a jar in Tennessee,” “upon a hill.” This is a very clear and nondescript action, and even this “jar” is treated in a less than vivid manner. The reader does not know how big this “jar” was, what color it was, etc. Rather, the reader can only know that it was “round.” Despite the simple design and description, however, this “jar” turned into something of massive importance since “[i]t made the slovenly wilderness [s]urround that hill.”

Already, the reader might find themselves pondering a strong and reasonable question regarding how something as insignificant as “a jar” could have such an impact on “wilderness.” Because “a jar” would not physically be capable of making something like this happen—and also because “wilderness” would not be able to make a rational decision like this—the reader must look to metaphor  and symbolism for an answer. It could be that Stevens is relaying a situation where perfection demands attention and admiration. This idea has support in that this “jar” was “placed” “upon a hill” so that “wilderness” would have to grow to reach its superior position, and in the notion that “wilderness” itself has been labeled as “slovenly.” If “wilderness” was unimpressive, its reach toward this “jar[‘s]” position and stance would show the tendency of something that is less to try to become something better by example.

More likely though, this is a general representation of the transition of the world from something completely natural to something more focused on man-made structures and engineering. This “jar” could represent the progress into a more industrial era from the more natural world that once existed, and the falling away of “wilderness” as the world strove to follow this industrial pattern is revealed through the statement that “the slovenly wilderness” started to “[s]urround that hill.” Through industry, more and more became man-made, leaving less that still existed within the realm of “wilderness” territory.

The question would then become why Stevens has selected a lowly “jar” to represent all of man-made industry. The answer could be found in the progress of industry since tools and equipment would have started much simpler than they currently are in the modern world, meaning this “jar” could take the reader back to a moment of early history in industry. In this, the reader can see the beginnings of industry as a turning point of “wilderness” to witness that early struggle. Another possibility is that Stevens is showing that even the simplest of man-made items has the ability to lure people from more natural elements, and something as non-technical as “a jar” would be a wonderful representation of that.

Early in the second stanza of ‘Anecdote of the Jar,’ the sway of this “jar” over “[t]he wilderness” increased so that “wilderness” did not just “[s]urround the hill” this “jar” was “on,” but “rose up to” “[t]he jar” itself. This progress was so strong and impacting that “wilderness” was “no longer wild” by the time the transition was finished. This represents the complete change of the world around technology and industry since so much of nature was forsaken during the process. The world became tame, and nature was forced to change to keep in step, as can be seen by forests and such that would have been removed for the sake of buildings and factories.

Still, this “jar” remained unchanged. It stayed “round upon the ground,” and in fact seemed quite proud and admirable in its stance of being “tall and of a port in air.” The visual is almost regal, as odd as it might seem to have that kind of atmosphere linked to a simple “jar,” but given the sway of this particular “jar” to the world, it is fitting. It is being treated like a ruler over “wilderness,” so describing it like royalty is a fitting choice.

The third stanza of ‘Anecdote of the Jar’ begins with the blunt declaration that this simple jar “took dominion everywhere,” which extends the influence of “[t]he jar” beyond the “hill.” The sway grew to include every place imaginable, and that idea gives the theme of the poem universality. Ironically, though, once this concept is noted, Stevens turns to criticize “[t]he jar” by saying that it “was gray and bare” and “did not give of bird or bush.” Essentially, as soon as its influence has been extended as a universal issue, Stevens mocks that issue by revealing how unimpressive this “jar” was when compared to the things around it.

By appearance, it was almost boring, and it lacked the natural beauty and possibility that the “bird” or “bush” would have provided. Ironically, these “bird[s]” and “bush[es]” could have been the very things striving to be like “[t]he jar,” and that idea makes the transition feel a bit ridiculous. If “a jar” could not “give” like the “bird or bush,” there was no reason why they should have striven to be like that “jar.” In fact, if such were the case, “[t]he jar” would have had reason to envy the “bird or bush,” or anything “else in Tennessee” that could have provided natural beauty, wonder, and purpose to outshine the “gray and bare” industry that overcame nature.

This is a statement that industry itself is “gray and bare” as compared to the “giv[ing]” nature of “wilderness,” and that idea would make ‘Anecdote of the Jar’ a mocking tale of industry’s rise to reveal how lacking the world has become through the embracing of that industry.

l(a (A Leaf Falls with Loneliness) by E.E. Cummings

This poem, ‘l(a, A Leaf Falls with Loneliness’, remains one of the Cumming’s most fascinating. After decades it still captivates its readers even though it is only a few words long. The effect is all the more powerful because ‘l(a, A Leaf Falls with Loneliness’ is so short. To some readers, it may feel as though it ends too soon.

The brevity of the text causes the reader to feel a sense of emptiness at the lack of completion. This effect directly relates to the words that seem to exist within the poem on their own in a state of complete and utter loneliness. Thus, the meaning of the poem is created in the feeling it renders to its readers. The lack of completion of words and the use of incomplete phrases allows the reader to feel an absence. It is this absence that Cummings sought to embody in the poem. For these reasons, ‘l(a (A Leaf Falls with Loneliness)’ holds an important place within the minds of many lovers of poetry.

Analysis of l(a (A Leaf Falls with Loneliness)


l(a

le

af

fa

ll

s)

one

l

Iness

When glancing over the text, the word “loneliness” can be made out. It exists outside of the parenthesis. It is one word by itself. There are no other words to complete the thought. It stands alone, and is the word “loneliness”. The phrase “a leaf falls” can be found inside of the parenthesis. This creates an image of emptiness and solitude and reflects the written “loneliness” that runs parallel to it. This leaf falls by itself and is not with other leaves.

The image of a leaf falling also implies death. The life of the leaf is over for the season. The cold of the winter is soon to come and the chill of the fall has rendered the leaf lifeless. Thus, it falls to the ground by itself. This image is one of loneliness. The phrase existing inside of the word “loneliness” allows the reader to feel the emptiness mention here.

The poem also functions visually. The words inside the parenthesis look like a leaf as it sways back and forth in the wind as it falls to the ground. Thus, this is more than just a poem. It is also a work of art made from a few words. The visual qualities of the text allow the reader to experience not only the imagery created by the description of the leaf falling to the ground in loneliness but also to experience the imagery created by the words and the way they are arranged.

More than 2,000 words.

Works Cited

1. Abella, Julieta. "Morning at the Window by T.S. Eliot." Poem Analysis, 26 Feb. 2021, poemanalysis.com/t-s-eliot/morning-at-the-window/.

2. Corfman, Allisa. "I(a (A Lead Falls with Loneliness)." Poem Analysis, 26 Feb. 2021, poemanalysis.com/edward-estlin-cummings/a-leaf-falls-with-loneliness/.

3. "Insouciance." Imagism, 10 May 2017, imagistpoetry.wordpress.com/2017/05/10/insouciance/.

4. "A Short Analysis of Hilda Doolittle’s ‘The Pool’." Interesting Literature, 5 May 2018, interestingliterature.com/2017/06/a-short-analysis-of-hilda-doolittles-the-pool/.

5. Smith, Connie. "Anecdote of the Jar by Wallace Stevens." Poem Analysis, 26 Feb. 2021, poemanalysis.com/wallace-stevens/anecdote-of-the-jar/.

6. ---. "The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos..." Poem Analysis, 26 Feb. 2021, poemanalysis.com/william-carlos-williams/the-red-wheelbarrow/.

7. Walker, Andrew. "In a Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound." Poem Analysis, 31 Oct. 2020, poemanalysis.com/ezra-pound/in-a-station-of-the-metro/.

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