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POETRY

POETRY. Introduction: Reading Poetry. POETRY. How to Read Poetry: Notice PUNCTUATION: question marks, exclamation marks, period is a line (or more) a question or a statement adjust your inflection accordingly Read to a COMMA or SEMICOLON or PERIOD:

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POETRY

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  1. POETRY Introduction: Reading Poetry

  2. POETRY How to Read Poetry: Notice PUNCTUATION: • question marks, exclamation marks, period • is a line (or more) a question or a statement • adjust your inflection accordingly Read to a COMMA or SEMICOLON or PERIOD: • don't stop necessarily at the end of each line • enjambment

  3. POETRY How to Read Poetry: Watch for “ROAD SIGNS”: • watch for changes in logic or time • notice conjunctions such as “but” or “yet” • recognize transitions such as “then” or “meanwhile” or “afterwards” Read with a DICTIONARY at hand: • look up • key words • words you do not recognize • to note Connotation vs. Denotation • look up various definitions of words to note how different meanings = different interpretations for the work

  4. POETRY How to Read Poetry: Sparingly and Cautiously use PERSONAL experiences or personal tastes, attitudes, beliefs: • while your own views may, occasionally, shed light on the work • more often than not, they can lead to misinterpretations and prejudices • a “grain of salt” Realize that the SPEAKER and the POET are not necessarily one and the same: • because poetry is by nature quite subjective and emotional, • we readers have a tendency to confuse the views expressed in the poem with the views held by the writer • Disclaimer: “Please understand that the opinions, views, and comments that appear in the poem will not necessarily reflect the views held by ….”

  5. POETRY How to Read Poetry: Notice the POETIC ELEMENTS employed: • diction, symbolism, imagery, metaphors, • similes, conceit, meter, rhythm, rhyme, • stanza, persona, alliteration, assonance … Note the RHYME SCHEME and RHYTHM: • at the end of each line, note the rhyme with a letter (a, b, c, …) • read the poem aloud, noticing and enunciating each piece of punctuation, to discover its rhythm

  6. POETRY How to Read Poetry: READ, PARAPHRASE, and then SUMMARIZE: • read the poem through the first time • then begin to put it into your own words, to simplify its meaning (paraphrase) • then summarize the entirety in a brief statement relating to its meaning, message, “theme” (summarize) EXPLICATE and ANALYZE: • explain each line of the poem; interpret line by line (explicate) • analyze the piece focusing on a single literary/poetic element (analyze)

  7. POETRY Introduction: Poems

  8. LANGSTON HUGHES

  9. LANGSTON HUGHES • 1902-67 • Born in Joplin, Missouri • Mexico, NYC, Paris • Fiction, Drama, Essays, Biographies, • Newspaper column • In the Chicago Defender • Jesse B. Simple (fictional Everyman) • Poetry • “Poet Laureate of the Negro Race”

  10. LANGSTON HUGHES • “Harlem” (1951) • re-titled in 1959 as “Dream Deferred” • Which do you prefer? • 11 lines • 1st and last – • questions • 1-line stanzas • Middle stanzas = 4 questions (possibilities) • 2 lines, 2 lines, 1 line, 2 lines • similes • last = not a question • Last line = italicized

  11. LANGSTON HUGHES • “Harlem” (1951) • Thesis Question: • “What happens to a dream deferred?” • Answers: • dries up (raisin in sun) • festers (sore) • stinks (rotten meat) • crusts over (sweet syrup) • sags(heavy load) • explodes (bomb)

  12. LANGSTON HUGHES • “Harlem” (1951) • Diction • Dream = • hopes, aspirations, wishes, talents • delusion • Fester = • to rot, puss, ulcerate • (ugly, repulsive images) • Heavy load & sag = • Burden • Slaves carrying bales of cotton, supplies • Raisin, sore, black meat, syrup, bomb = • Black in color • Syrup = • Not so disgusting • Why?

  13. LANGSTON HUGHES • “Harlem” (1951) • Title • Harlem Renaissance (1920s) • “New Negro Movement” • post-Civil War, move North • Harlem, Manhattan, New York • @ 3 miles, @ 175,000 blacks • WEB DuBois, Langston Hughes • Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, • Jazz Age, Roaring ’20s • Great Depression, Harlem Riots

  14. LANGSTON HUGHES • “Harlem” (1951) • Title • Harlem, 1950s • Racial inequality • Riots: 1935, 1943, 1964 (Watts 1965, Detroit 1967) • How did people react? • Rot • Anger, frustration festers • “Uncle Toms” • Anger, frustration explodes

  15. LANGSTON HUGHES • “Harlem” (1951) • Questions • Why are the 1st and last lines separated? • Why is the last line italicized? • Why is the last line w/o simile? • Why is the “heavy load” not a question? • What is the answer to the thesis question? • Why are “load” and “explode” the only rhymes? • Why the break from disgusting images with syrup?

  16. APHRA BEHN

  17. APHRA BEHN • “Ay-fra Bean” • (1640-89) • 1st English woman to earn a living through writing (1st professional woman writer) • Married London merchant of Dutch descent • Served as a spy in the Dutch Wars, 1665-67 (after his death) • Novels • Oroonoko (royal slave, one of 1st English works to question slavery) • Plays, Poetry

  18. APHRA BEHN • “Song: Love Armed” (1676) • Characters: • Love = Cupid, the god of love • Persona = man • Addressee = woman • Poetic conventions: • Unrequited love of the man • toward a disdainful woman • Unrequited love is painful • Yet pleasurable

  19. APHRA BEHN • “Song: Love Armed” (1676) • Structure: • 2 4-line stanzas • Rhyme scheme = ABAB • Refrain • “from me” • “from thee” • (variations on)

  20. APHRA BEHN • “Song: Love Armed” (1676) • Structure: • What’s “Taken” (to arm Love)? • From man (persona): • desirefrom his eyes • sighs & tears • languishments & fears • From woman: • fire from her eyes • pride & cruelty • killing dart

  21. APHRA BEHN • “Song: Love Armed” (1676) • Themes: • Love & war connection • Battle of the sexes • All’s fair in love & war • Cupid w/bow & arrow • Why do we enjoy suffering? Listening to others suffer? • The Blues • Sad songs, break-up songs • Why do we name hurricanes? • To impose form onto suffering = To master or control suffering, the unknown, uncontrollable

  22. APHRA BEHN • “Song: Love Armed” (1676) • Questions: • What is its theme concerning “love” or relationships? • Is this a man’s poem – to be enjoyed more by male readers than female readers? • Is it sexist in its portrayal of women? • The persona = man, written by a woman – Does that make a difference?

  23. POETRY Narrative Poetry

  24. BACKGROUND • Transition from Prose to Poetry • Historically, move from “stories” in poetry to stories in prose • verse narratives • stories in poetic form • “narrative” = • beginning, middle, end • basic Plot • Action, Characterization, Setting, Dialogue • Symbolism, Irony, Juxtaposition

  25. BACKGROUND • Historically • Oral Tradition • illiterate masses • poetic structure makes it easy to remember & pass along • stories about heroes & history • epic poetry (Homer) • sagas (scops)

  26. BACKGROUND • Historically • Literacy – • Wm. Caxton’s printing press (1440) • Gutenberg’s bible (1450) • More literacy • = less oral tradition • = change in literature

  27. POPULAR BALLADS

  28. POPULAR BALLADS • authors = • anonymous, undated • persona = • detached, objective, impersonal, characterless • 3rd person POV • themes • death, fate • perils of sea

  29. POPULAR BALLADS • use of repetition • of sounds • alliteration (Anglo-Saxon hold-over) • consonance (consonant) • assonance (vowel) • of words, phrases • musical rhythm • meant to be sung

  30. POPULAR BALLADS • omissions • ellipses • not so descriptive (omitting key details) • NO SHIPWRECK • told in flashes, quick glimpses • photo slide show • little description • photo show • omitted details, scenes (ellipses) • some dialogue

  31. POPULAR BALLADS • 4-line stanzas • ABAB rhyme scheme (typically unrhymed) • 1st, 3rd lines = 4 accents • 2nd, 3rd lines = 3 accents The king sits in Dumferling toune, Drinking the blude-reid wine: O quhar will I get guid sailor To sail this schip of mine?

  32. POPULAR BALLADS • Belong to the Oral Tradition • not written down • until 18th century • multiple versions • Enlightenment (frowned upon) • undignified • lacks decorum • Romantics (resurgence) • poetry of the people, masses • Old ballads = written down • New ballads = composed (“literary ballads”)

  33. “Sir Patrick Spence”

  34. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” BACKGROUND • Written • @ 15th century • Published • in 1765 • Thomas Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry • (famous collection of folk ballads)

  35. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” BACKGROUND • possible (though never verified) historical allusion • 1281 marriage: • of Margaret, daughter of Alexander III of Scotland • to King Eric of Norway in 1281 • on the return voyage, many of her noble escorts were drowned • 1290 succession: • the death of Margaret's daughter, "the Maid of Norway," • while she was being brought back to Scotland in 1290 • to succeed her grandfather, who died in 1286.

  36. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • Dumferling: • Dumferline, a town in Fife, on the Firth of Forth • an early residence of the Scottish kings • “sits”: • reigns, rules AND is stationary, seated BUT will make others move • “blood red”: • mighty power, power over life & death, foreshadowing

  37. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • “wine”: • party (Eros in “Love Armed”) • suggests the ease with which he wields such power • suggests that the question (sailing mission) = not well-thought, casual • that the one who takes this mission will die • “The Lottery” • win BUT lose by winning • typically an honor to be chosen by the king • BUT this is an impossible, dangerous “suicide mission”

  38. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • “good” sailor: • skillful sailor • brave • decent human • loyal, obedient to king

  39. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • Elder Knight: • elder = respected • (“respect your elders”) • favored, respected by king, yields political power • (sits at king’s right knee) • line 14: • suggests Elder Knight = enemy of Sir Patrick Spence (“ill deid”)

  40. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • alliteration & stanza #3: • repetition of sound • “s” • sounds like snake, waves crashing on beach • (foreshadows SPS’ death) • Long Letter to SPS: • written, signed, sealed by king • = royal decree • MUST be obeyed • SPS must sail the royal ship

  41. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • Sir Patrick Spence: • 1st meeting = reading king’s letter, walking on the beach • at leisure • his 1st reaction, 1st line = laugh • modest: laughs at praise • humor: thinks the mission is a practical joke • his 2nd reaction = cry • realizes this mission will be his death • but he cannot refuse the king’s command • feels set up/betrayed by someone • “O who is this who has done this deed / This ill deed done to me” • (repetition = for emphasis in Oral Tradition - foreshadowing)

  42. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • “done deed” to deed done”: • repetition • certainty of death • Mirror World: • Court vs. Ordinary, appearance vs. reality • true friends • court politics, stab in the back, set up for death • Blinded by tears: • tears = water = waves, storm,…his death • blind seers of old – see the future, his future is death

  43. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • merry men: • good men on leave • at leisure, as SPS was on the beach • at leisure – yet dutiful to SPS • from merriment to death (Contrast) • bad signs: • bad moon rising – omens, harbinger • new moon with the old moon in its arms • dangerous weather = bad sailing, danger, death

  44. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • repetition: • “I fear, I fear” • stresses the danger • stresses the switch from “merry” to “fear”

  45. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • nobles: • Nobles don’t want to ruin their expensive shoes • IRONY • b/c SPS knows they will drown anyway • CONTRAST • Nobles’ nobility • (b/c of family inheritance) • SPS’ nobility • (brave, loyal, follows orders on suicide mission)

  46. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • Shipwreck = play: • play = game (“like flies to wanton boys, they kill us for sport”) • humans = at the mercy of fate, the fates, the gods • play = drama, to be watched by nobles • IRONY: • their hats swim while they drown • their hats are symbols of their wealth BUT all the money won’t save them from death • perhaps drowned by the weight of their opulent attire

  47. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • hands: • CAUSE-EFFECT – • King signs letter w/hand, sending them to their deaths • Women hold fans in their hands, awaiting in vain the men to return

  48. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • Fans: • used to control the weather (when it’s too hot) • BUT • cannot control the weather at sea • CONTRAST: • women = hot • men = drenched • women stand for their men’s return (tension) • king sits to send them to their death (ease)

  49. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • gold combs: • symbols of opulence, richness • misplaced focus b/c worldliness/materialism = meaningless to Death • their hair will turn gray as the combs stay gold – • IRONY • Danse Macabre • Their own dear lords: • not “theirs” any more – belong to Death, the Sea • they wait to see them again (alive) BUT don’t • reader sees them again (dead)

  50. “SIR PATRICK SPENCE” • Mirror World: • ironic twist of social class – IRONY • the lords sit at SPS’ feet • he knew they were going to die • had no illusions • they had vanity, materialism • Will he go to heaven before them?

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