Poetry Article.. (Quite long but please read) =)

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Written by Jerry Munkelwitz Tuesday, 26 December 2006 If I was ever asked the question “what makes a poem a poem?” the first response to come to my mind would be the use of metaphors. Most poems are dependant on their metaphors because without them they would be open, bland and lacking. The art of poetry is to intrigue the reader and push them to look further, deeper for the unseen meaning. Just imagine reading a poem and all the emotion, truth, and meaning of the poem is being laid out for easy understanding and no real thought is involved in interpretation. Without the metaphors poetry is an open book, while still beautiful, the mystery is gone and with it goes the main factor of why poetry is such a unique art. Poetry is, first of all, a communication - a thought or message conveyed by the writer to the reader. It is not only an act of creation, but an act of sharing. It is therefore important to the reader that he understands how the poet uses words, how he puts fresh vigor and new meaning into words. The reader's understanding is immeasurably increased if he is familiar with the many techniques or devices of poetry. Some of these are extremely simple; a few are rather elaborate. The simplest and also the most effective poetic device is the use of comparison. It might almost be said that poetry is founded on two main means of comparing things: simile and metaphor. We heighten our ordinary speech by the continual use of such comparisons as "fresh as a daisy," "tough as leather," "comfortable as an old shoe," "it fits like the Paper on the wall," "gay as a lark," "happy as the day is long, pretty as a picture." These are all recognizable similes; they use the words "as" or "like." A metaphor is another kind of comparison. It is actually a condensed simile, for it omits "as" or "like." A metaphor establishes a relationship at once; it leaves more to the imagination. It is a shortcut to the meaning; it sets two unlike things side by side and makes us see the likeness between them Poetry would be nothing without metaphors. Metaphors breathe life into poetry and add beauty and depth to all the words. Metaphors are used to vividly describe images to the reader and allow authors to give the reader a better sense of the verbal picture they are trying to paint. I will be doing more than just analyzing the use of metaphors in poetry, I will also be touching on a variety of related topics. One topic is to explain why poets use metaphors as frequently as they do. Another is why using metaphors can add to the difficulty of writing good poetry. I’ll also talk about how metaphors add to the pleasure of poetry. Yet another topic I’ll be talking about why interesting metaphors are called interesting. And finally I’ll speak of how metaphors contribute to the power of poetry to move us emotionally and to instill in us a sense of despair. Metaphors are used in poetry to describe everything and anything in a way that just using words in a language cannot. Metaphors draw a reader in to the poem and help the reader understand what message the poet is trying to convey. They are very descriptive and can help liven up any poem. Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem “Spring” is an outstanding example of this. To what purpose, April, do you return again? Beauty is not enough. You can no longer quiet me with the redness Of little leaves opening stickily. I know what I know. The sun is hot on my neck as I observe The spikes of the crocus. The smell of the earth is good. It is apparent that there is no death. But what does that signify? Not only under ground are the brains of men Eaten by maggots. Life in itself Is nothing, An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs. It is not enough that yearly, down this hill, April Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers. This poem is comparing April to a nonsensical human who is oblivious to what goes on in the world. The metaphor used in this poem is amazingly descriptive and really gets the reader into the poem. This why metaphors are so important in poetry, they add a whole new level of visual and mental depth. Poets use metaphors frequently because they liven up poetry and because they can better convey the exact idea or scene that the poet is thinking of. In Robert Francis’ “Pitcher,” Francis uses the aim of a pitcher throwing a baseball as a metaphor for the aim of an artist trying to convey certain ideas. His art is eccentricity, his aim How not to hit the mark he seems to aim at, His passion how to avoid the obvious, His technique how to vary the avoidance. The others throw to be comprehended. He Throws to be a moment misunderstood. Yet not too much. Not errant, arrant, wild, But every seeming aberration willed. Not to, yet still, still to communicate Making the batter understand too late. This poem’s main purpose is to show that one metaphor. This is an example of a short poem that is entirely a metaphor. Anyone can use metaphors, but it takes skill to create your own metaphor and to incorporate it into your poetry. There are many hackneyed metaphors out there that people use everyday, however, to really make new and unique poetry, artists come up with new metaphors that relate to what they are writing about. Ono no Komachi uses a unique metaphor in her poem “Doesn’t He Realize.” Doesn’t he realize that I am not like the swaying kelp in the surf, where the seaweed gatherer can come as often as he wants. She used a simile to explain that she is not like swaying kelp, and then used a metaphor for the situation in “where the seaweed gatherer can come as often as he wants.” She uses this metaphor comparing a man using her as often as he wants to a seaweed gatherer coming to harvest the same kelp over and over again. This metaphor is unique to this situation and Ono probably thought of it herself for this poem alone. Metaphors are beautiful, and can also be clever and funny. They enrich language and add depth to it. In this way they add to the pleasures of poetry. Some people enjoy poetry for these values. They appreciate how poets can take regular, everyday words and use them to create intelligent and pretty metaphors. Poets keep languages fresh, new, and always entertaining. Stephen Spender’s poem “Word” is an excellent example of this. 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 put it in To rhyme upon a dish? This poem paints a pretty picture using the premise of just the word “word.” It is a lively poem and just reading it makes you feel good as you try to interpret the meaning of the metaphor of the poem. Interesting metaphors are interesting because they relate to the poetry being written and combine two different aspects of life that most likely wouldn’t be paired together under any other circumstances. A superb example of this can be found in John Donne’s “The Flea.” Mark but this flea, and mark in this How little that which thou deny’st me is; It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be; Thou know'st that this cannot be said A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead, Yet this enjoys before it woo, And pampered swells with one blood made of two, And this, alas ! is more than we would do. Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare, Where we almost, yea more than married are. This flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is; Though parents grudge, and you, we're met And cloistered in these living walls of jet. Though use make you apt to kill me, Let not to that self-murder added be, And sacrilege, three sins in killing three. Cruel and sudden, hast thou since Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence? Wherein could this flea guilty be, Except in that drop which it sucked from thee? Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou Find'st not thyself nor me the weaker now; 'Tis true; then learn how false fears be; Just so much honor, when thou yield'st to me, Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee. This poem is using a metaphor to say that their being together is compared in some aspects to a flea biting them both in turn and their blood becoming mixed inside the flea. In normal terms, you could never compare two people’s love to a flea, but by using a talented metaphor, this poet has created a wonderful, yet arguably romantic, poem. Metaphors in poems dramatically add to the emotional impact that the reader will experience when reading the poem. They capture the exact kind of scene that the poet wants the reader to see when they read the poem. This brings the reader in more as they begin to grasp the scene vividly and understand what the writer is writing about. Once the reader becomes more interested and drawn in to the poem, they react more powerfully to what happens and what words and metaphors the poet uses. A poem that fits this description is Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death.” Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality. We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility. We passed the school, where children strove At recess, in the ring; We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun. Or rather, be passed us; The dews grew quivering and chill, For only gossamer my gown, My tippet only tulle. We paused before house that seemed A swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, The cornice but a mound. Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each Feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horses' heads Were toward eternity. This is a famous poem that many readers adore. The metaphors in it have captured the hearts of many readers. There is a large metaphor in this poem comparing from going through