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\J"'"" ~" ~ & Brooks, from Understanding Poetry (1938 edition) f ;"l}- ~J,+ ...

LETTER TO THE TEACHER

This book h:ts been conccivecl on the assumption that if poetry is worth teaching at all it is worth teaching as poetry. The temptation to make a substitute for the poem as the object of study is usually overpowering. The substitutes are various, but the most common ones arc:

r. Paraphrase of logical and narrative content. 2. Study of biographical ancl historical m:iterhils. 3. Inspirational and didactic interpretation.

Of course, paraphrase may be necessary as a preliminary step in the reading of a poem, and a stu<ly of the biographical ancl historic:il background may .do much to clarify interpretation; but these things should be consic.lerecl as means ancl not as ends. And though one may consider a poem as an instance of historical or ethical documentation, the _noem in itself, if literature is to be studied as literature, remains finally the

Cit object for study. Moreover, even if the interest is in the i- poem as a historical or ethical document, there is a prior con·

sideration: one must grasp the poem as a literary construct before it can oiler any real illumination as a document.

When, as a matter of fact, an attempt is made to treat the poem as an object in itself, the result very often is, on the one hand, the vaguest sort of impressionislie comment, or on the other, the study of certain technical aspects of the poem, metrics for instance, in isolation from other aspects aTJd from tlic total imcntion.

In illustration of these confused approaches to the study of poetry the editors submit the following quotalions drawn almost at random from a group of current texlbooks.

. The sole critical comment on "O<lc to a Nightingale" in one popular tcxlbook is: ,

"The song of Lhc nightingale brings sadness :rnd cxhil:ua· tion to the poet and makes him lung to be Hfte<l up :m<l

lv

LETTER TO TUE 1'EACIIER v

away from the limitations of life. The seventh stanza is particularly beautiful."

In the same tcxlbook a typical exercisr. reads: "What evidences of a love of beauty do you find in Keats's

poems?" llut one is constrained to voice the following questions: 1. Is not the real point of importance the relation of the

paradox of "exhilaration" and "sadness" to the theme of the ..:---poem? As a matter of fact, the question of the theme of the poem is never raised in this textbook.

2. The seventh stanza is referred to as "beautiful," but on what grounds is the student to take any piece of poetry as "beautiful"?

3. Even if the exercise quoted is relevant and important, there is a real danger that the suggestion to the student to look for beautiful objects in the poem will tend to make him confuse the mention of beautiful or agreeable objects in poetry with poetic excellence. ·

Some of the same confusions renppcar in another book: "These lyrics ["Ode to the West Wind" an<l "To a Skylark'•] arc characterized by a freshness an<l spontaneity, beautiful figures of speech in abundance, melody, and an unusually skillful adaptalion of the form and movement of the verse to the word and the idea. Their melodiousness is sometimes compared with that of Schubert•s music."

Uut in what, for example, docs a beautiful comparison con· sist? The implication is that the beautiful comparison is one which makes use of beautiful objects. Again, when a student has been given no concrete exposition of the "adaptation of form and movement •• • to the word and the idea" of a poem, :l!HI has received no inkling of what the "idea" of a particular poem is, what is such a statement expected to mean to him?

Or again: ccTo the simplicity and exquisite melodiousness of these earlier songs, Blake added mysLicism and the subtlest · kii{d of symbolism." One is moved to comment: In the first ' . .

' VI LETTER TO TIIE TEACIIER

place, the student can only be made to grasp the function of symbolism in poetry by the most careful investigation of particular instances; certainly, "the subtlest kind or symbolism" should not be flung at him with no fu rther introduction than is provided by this sentence. In the second place, what can the sentence mean on any level? Is it proper to say that any poet "adds'' mysticism to anything? And what sort of simplicity is it to which subtle symbolism can be added? Docs the melange remain simple? And what possible connection is implied here between the "exquisite melodiousness" and the mysticism and symbolism? In any case, the approach to poetry indicated in this sentence raises more problems than it solves.

To glean from another recent textbook: "Emily [Dickinson] the seer teases us into believing that she has dived into the depths where great truths lie and has brought up new and astounding specimens. Many of her bulletins from Im· mortality seem oracular. Shorn of her matchless imagery they turn out to be puritan platitudes or transcendental echoes. Her definitions of weighty abstractions arc tmphilosophical. They arc quick fancies, created out of a fleeting mood, an<l me therefore frequently contradictory. But when Emily foilc<l with logic, she succeeded with imagination." It is impossible, apparently, to determine from what principles of poetic criticism these remarks can be derived. The objection that Emily Dickinson's poetry when "shorn o( its matchless imngcry" would turn out to be platitudes could be raised with equal justification about the most celebrated passages of Shakespeare. The passage rests on a misconception of the relation of "trnth" to poetry, nnc.l on a confused notion of what constitutes poetic originality. Certainly, to clarify the issue of "truth" and poetic excellence, or of originality and poetic excellence, woul<l be a very ambitious undertaking; but that fact scarcely justifies a complete fogging of the issue.

Occasionally the writer of a textbook will attempt to deal •yith poetry as a thing in itself worthy of study; and ap·

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.. LETTER TO TIIE TEACHER Vll

parcntly hoping to avoid the sort of vagueness foun<l in the preceding quotation, will isolate certain aspects of poetry for special investigation. In its crudest manifestation this im· pulse leads to statistical smvcys of one kind or another. The student, for instance, is exhorted to count or to classi{y the figures of speech in a poem; or to define metrical forms. There is a more sophisticated manifestation of the same im· pulse, ns for exnmplc, in the following classification of mctri· cal ellccts:

"Some of the varied cff ects produced by meter arc illustrated in the following stanzns:

Sweet softness-Swif tly walk o'er the western wave,

Spirit of Night! Out of thy misty eastern cave, Where all the long ancl lone daylight, Thou wovest dreams of joy ancl fear, Which m:ikcs thee terrible, nnd dcar-

Swift be thy flight! -Shelley, 'To Night'"

Stark simplicity-Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul. -Henley, 'Invictus'"

The author has said flatly concerning these quotations that the eCTccts described arc "produced by meter." The statement is completely misleading and rests upon an imperfect under· .. standing of the relation of meter to the other factors in a poem, A clever sllldcnt would immediately confute the author by pointing out that the line, "Out of thy misty eastern cave," the meter of which is supposed to communicate "soft sweet· ncss," and the line, "Out of the night that covers me," the meter of which is supposed· to communicate "stark simplicity," have exactly the same meter. In fact, he might point out that m:p1y metrical cff ccts arc common to selections which com· municntc very cliff crcnt cmotionnl clTccts.

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vm LETTER TO THE 'fEACIIER

This ·is not to deny that meter is an important factor in poetry, but it is to deny that a specific emotional effect can be tied absolutely to a particular metrical instance. The selections cite<l <lo produce different emotional crTccts, but the basis for the effect c:m only be given accurately by a study of the relations existing among all the factors, of which meter is only one.

Another instance of the isolation o( one technical fc:iturc without regard for the whole context and for the particular poet's .method is the following observation in a recent text­book:

"Hamlet's 'take arms against a sea of troubles' is a classic instance of the poet's failure to visualize what he is saying. Longfellow's mariner, in 'A Psalm of Life' 'sailing o'er ' life's solemn main' and at the same time apparently examining 'footprints on the san<ls of time,' is another example of con­fosct! phrasing."

This passage might be taken as a classic example of the misapplication of an undigcste<l critical principle. We fre­quently sec in textbooks on poetry and in rhetorics the warn· ing :igainst the use of "mixed metaphor." llut, of course, in applying this principle one must, in every case, examine· the context of the instance, the psychological basis, and the poet's intcntion.1 These factors arc entirely ignored in the. present quotation. For instance, the dramatic silu:ition in the passage from Hamlet and the rclalion of die slylc to it arc dismissed by the high-hande<l ancl abslr:ict applicntion of this principle. ~nci<lcntally this method would eliminate the following well known passages, among many, from the work of Shakespeare:

Tomorrow an<l tomorrow :tnd tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from <l:iy to <l:iy To the l:ist syllable. • • • Macbeth

H the :1~~:mi11:ttio 11 Could trnmmcl up the consequence at~<l catch With his surcease, success • . • Macbeth

1 1'his matter of mixcJ mctnphor is discusml :it length on pp. 387-391.

•,

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LETTER 1'0 'l'llll 1'EACHER ix . W:is the hope drunk 'i)

Whcrcm you drcsmJ yourself? hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale , , •

Macbeth

The. criti~ ii~ qucs~i?n wou~d npp:irendy be embarrassed by the 1m:igmativc agility reqmrcd for rending much of Shake· spe~re'~, 1~oetry, especially the poetry of his so-called "great period, simply bec:iuse he places his reliance on the mcchani· cal and legalistic application of a single principle without reference to context.

As a matter of ironical fact, the image involved in the speech quoted from ~am/et can be visualized. One has only to remember the stones of Xerxes, and Cuchulain one who punished and one who fought the sea, to grasp

1

the point. Furthermore, in justice to "The Psalm of Life," which is on enough counts a very bad poem, one can indicate that a little more :ittentive reading will reveal the foct that the mariner who secs the footprints is not nctunlty on the high seas at the moment, but is, as the poem specifically says, a "shipwrecked brother."

The editors of the present book hold that a satisfactory l,. m:th?d of teaching poetry should cmbo<ly the following pnnc1ples.

1. Emphasis should be kept on the poem as a poem. 2 . The treatment should be concrete and inductive. 3· .A po;m should always. be trcatc<l as an organic ~stem of

relal1onsl11ps, and the poetic quality should never be under· stood as inhering in one or more factors taken in isolation

:Vith the hope of giving these principles some vitality the editors have undcrt:iken this book. j

This book must stand or fall by the analyus of indiviclu·al P?cms .which it contains. These analyses are intended to be cl1scuss1ons of the poet's adaptation of his means to his ends· that is, discussions of the relations of the various aspects of ~ poem to each other and to the total communication intended.

10bviously, .the :i11:1lyscs presented in the early sections of this hook :ire s11nplc anrl very incomplete accounts of the prob·

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x LETTER TO TllE TEACHER

lcms involved. llut the analyses become more dillicult as the • student is provided wilh more criLical apparatus and becomes

more acc'ustomcd to the method. The analyses, therefore, form pans of. an ascending scale and should not be studied haphazardly.

The general organization of the book is, likewise, de· tcrminccl by this scale of ascending difficulty. The book has seven divisions. Section I dents with poems in which the narrative element is relatively important. Poems of this general nature appear here because the nar~at~ve interest seems to aflord the broadest and most unspec1al1ze(l :ippeal to the ordinary student. The basic question behind the {lnalyscs in this section is: tuliat distingttishcJ tl1c poetic treat· ment of a story f ram the more twrnl f'rosc treatment? Sec· tion II deals with poems in which the narrative is merely implied or is suppressed in favor of some such interest as that in psychology or character. Section Ill takes up ~nother ap· proach, that of the poet as observer rather than as n:mat.or. The material in this section ranges from poems wluch ostensibly arc simple, objective descriptions to the last poems, in which description emerges with a definite symbolic force.

Section IV takes up one of the more specialized technical problems, that of the nature of rhythm and meter ns means of communication. The analyses in this section naturally emphasize the technical consiclcrations of verse, but the at· ter.npt is constantly made to indicate the relation of these considerations to the others which the student has nlrcady studied. In Section V arc considered some of the ways in which tone and attitude nrc communicated to the reader. The poems of Section VI present some special problems in the use of imagery as a device of communication, and those of Section VII raise questions concerning the !unction of · iclea and statement.

Although the poems nrc arranged in these groups, it is not to be understood that the topics which determine the arrange· mcnt arc treated in isolation. As a matter of fact, the analyses

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LlffTER TO THE 'l'EACilER .

Xl

and questions which arc nppcnded to ench poem aim at mak~ ing the student aware of the Q!gnnic rclations!tlrr existing among these factors in poetic communication. Obviously, :rny poem whatsoever would, finally, raise the questions associated with all of these topics. Questions involving imagery, for example, occur even in Section I an<l arc treated in the analyses. Pedagogical convenience, however, demands that special attention be focused on special problems; but, as has been said, it docs not demand that those problems be treated in isolation. A poem, then, is placed in any given section because it may he used to emphasize a certain aspect of poetic method and ofTers, it is hoped, an especially teach· able example. But these classifications must be understood as classifications of convenience. Indeed, it might be a fruitful exercise for the students to return to poems in early sections after they have acquirctl more critical apparatus.

The poems, as has been pointed out, arc arranged in a scale of increasing difficulty. Usually, poems o( the simplest method and of the broadest general appeal appear in the early sections. But such a scale, of course, cannot be absolute. For example, a poem like "The Ancient Mariner," which appears in Section I, is on absolute grounds more difficult than many poems appearing in later sections. But it docs offer a strong narrative interest. Furthermore, the poems in each section olTcr a scale of ascending difficulty in regard to the particular problem under discussion. Since this is the case, if poems toward the end of each of the later sections prove too clifficult in certain classes, they may be omitted without impairing the general method.

Although the arrangement of poems adopted in this book is one of convenience, it is based on two considerations: first, on aspects of poetic communicntion, and second, on pcdagogi· cal expediency. Therefore, it is hoped that the present ar.' rangement stands on a ground diflcrcnt from the. arbitrary anti irrational classifications frequently found in textbooks th,nt depart from simple chronological order-classifications

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xii LETTER TO THE TEACHER

l "l • f cl' • ti cl CC l' ' 1 ' II d IC sue 1 as yncs o me 1tat1on an re 1g1ous yncs nn poems of patriotism/' or "the sonnet," the ''Ode," the "song," etc.

If one accepts the principle that one must teach by a con­stant an<l analytical use of concrete cxnmplcs, then the na­ture of . the lntrodttctio11 will be reaclily understoocl. The Introduction docs not attempt to arrive at a "definition" of poetry or to explain, for instance, the workings of imngcry or meter. It altempts, instead, to dispose of a few of the basic misconceptions wilh which the teacher is usually confrontccl in the class room, and therefore to prepare the stu<lent to

1 enter upon an unprcjucliced .study of the actual poems. Like­wise, the Glossary of critical terms is based on the idea that the teaching of the book will be by concrete example. The (Jlostary docs not provi<le a set of definitions to be memorized all at once by the.stu<lent. Rather, it provides definitions :md an index of cross references to concrete applications of defini­tions, which the student can consult as the occasion. demands. Even the sd1emntie presentation of metrical terms, has been relegated to the Glossary, although there it is so organized that it may be studied, if dcsirecl, as a consecutive discussion. llut even in the case of metrical study, the editors suggest that the general principle of the book be applied. · . There arc two objections to the method of the p~cscnt book which. may occur to a teacher at this point. It may be ob-

1 jecte<l that this text by its number of analyses attempts to usurp the function of the teacher atHl to· clo by the written wor<l what can better be done by the spoken worcl. Or, second, it may be objected that the judgments of literary value which arc involved (and necessarily involved) in the analyses arc dogmatic an<l perhaps o(tcn in error.

In answer to the first objection it may be urged that : first, the analyses, if they arc at all cfTcctivc, relieve the teacher of a certain amount of preliminary <lrnclgery and free him for a critical and perhaps more advanced treatment of the un­analyzed poems in each section of the book; second, since no analyses here could pretend to final completeness, a ccr ..

LETTER TO THE TEACHER xiii

tain amount of explanation and extension will be required @ even in treating poems which arc analyzed; and third, the fact th:it a liberal number of analyses arc in printed form gives the student an opportunity for a careful private study of the poems in question. With regard to the secon<l objec- ~ tion-the objection that the judgments in the analyses are dogmatic-the editors can only say that no <logmatism is in-tende<l. Naturally, they hope that most of· their judgments nre reason:iblc, but even if a teacher disagrees with an in- · <lividual analysis, an explanation of that disagreement should dramatize for the student the basic issues involved. And in fact, the editors feel that disagreement is to be encoui:age<l. rather than discouragc<l in so for as pure impressionism can· be eliminated from the debate.

Just as the editors feel that disagreement and debate may be healthful in sharpening the critical instinct of the student, so they feel that the study and :malysis of bad and uneven poems will contribute to the snme end. A reasonable number of such poems have been included, and a few have been analyzed. The great majority of the poems included in the book, how­ever represent positive achievement. The modern poems in­cluclc<l have not been chosen at random, nor merely on the ground of current fashion. They are intended to represent some of the variom lines taken in the development of poetic method in this century. In general, it is hoped that the juxtaposition of goocl and bad poems, an<l of new and old poems, will serve to place emphasis on the primary matter of ·' · critical reading and evaluation •

Although this book is based on a principle, and is not a casual anthology, and although it is organized in the light of that principle, the final cfiect, it is hoped, will be to liberate rather than restrict the initiative of the teacher. By positing a principle and a definite objective, the book allows the teacher a great deal of liberty in devising correlative ap­proaches to the general end. Although the book docs suggest a variety of cxerdsci; for the student, such as analyses moclcled

xiv LETTER TO 'l'IIE 'lliACIIER

on those in the book, comp:irisons of Lhe prose :ind poelic 'Versions of the same m:iteri:il, comparisons of poems trcaling the same theme, etc., the possibility for development nlong this line is almost infinite an<l can Le ad:ipte<l to in<livitlual needs.1

· A last word: the editors of this book do not delude them• selves th:it they have here provi<letl, or could elsewhere pro­vide, solutions for any of the fontlament:il problems of poetic criticism. Nor, le:ist of nil, have they provided in this book neat criteria which can be :ippliccl in rule-of-lln1mb fashion. Rather, they hope to present to the student, in proper context nn<l after proper preparation, some o( the b:isic critic:il prob-

\ lcms-wiLh the aim, not of making technical critics, but merely of making competent re:itlers of poetry" At the least, they hope that this book will find some merit in the eyes of those who agree with Louis Cazami:m: "that all students of literature should be regarded as historians is an exaggerated ancl a pernicious assumption. Mure illlportnnt still, nnd much more fruitful than the problems of origins and development, are those of content and significance. What is the human matter, what the artistic value of the work?" So much for the general aim of this book. As for the general melhoc.I, to quote again from this critic: "it is rightly felt lhat if the .•• student of literature is to be capable of an intelligent apprecia-

1 A pnrticulnrly fruitrut source for the development of further exerci~cs will lie in the np1ilic:ttion of t>rinciplcs tlevclopcd in later $1·ctiom of the book to poems tre:ttc<l in <':lrlier sections. For example, the tcncher mny wish to return, n(tcr n study of 111ctrics nml rcl:Hctl 11mtters, to n poem like "The Rime of the Ancient Mnrincr" with such exercises as lhc followi11g:

Discuss the technical devices of lines 103-106, 382, nntl 386. Or he m:iy wish to rctun\ to ''i.n Belle Dnme Sans Merci" to nsk:

What is the e!Tect of the 111etricnl situntion in lines 4 :tml 32? For certain classes, the fact tlrnt this hook h:is conccntrntetl upon the intcrpre· talion nntl nn:ilysis of i1utivitlunl poems may prnvidc nn c:isy anti s111111estivc nppm:1d1 to matters of litcrnry theory anti history. After the lmok has been co111plctctl, exercises 111ny he fr:1111ctl, for i11s1:1nce, to rrlate Wordsworth's theories of diction to his nctual prnctice in "Mid1acl." The student 111ay he nsketl to discuss lines 89, 169, nn<l 434 in cunncction with the principle of the "real fon)!11n11e of men," Ami in this co1111cctio11 the tone of the entire poem rnay lie 11nnlyzc<l.

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LETTER TO 'J'IIE TEACHER xv tion, he must go beyond the passive enjoyment of what he reads; he must be instructed, partly at least, in the mysteries of the art. • • ."

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The American Review: "Lee in the Mountains", by Donald Davidson, reprinted by permissioi1 of The American Review.

1'/1e Atlantic Monthly: extract from "Science and Modern Life", by Robert Andrews Millikan, from The Atlantic Monthly, April, 1928.

Mr. Howard Baker: "Ode to the Sea". Chalto and Windus an<l Mr. Aldous Huxley: extract from

Vulgarity ;,, Literature, Clarendon Press: "Nightingales", by Robert Bridges, from

The Shorter Poems of Robert Bridges, Oxford (1931), by permission of the publishers.

Doubleday, Doran, and Company, Inc.: "Trees", by Joyce Kilmer, from: Trees and Other poems, by Joyce Kilmer copyright 1914 by Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc.

Harcourt Brace, ancl Company: "Preludes" :incl "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", by T. S. Eliot, from Collected l'oems of T . S. Eliot; "Portrait", by E. E. Cummings, from Collected l'oems of E. E. Cummings; extract from Queen Victoria, by Lytton Strachey; extracts from Practical Criti cism and On Imagination, by I. A. Richards, reprinted b] permission of Harcourt Brace and Company, Inc.

Henry Holt, and Company: "King David" and "All But Blind", by Walter De La Marc, from Collected Poems of Walter De La Marc; "Out, Out", "Dust of Snow0

, "After Apple Picking", "Desert Places", "The Death of the Hired Man", Ly Robert Frost; "Hell Gate", "To an Athlete Dying Young", "Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries0

, "The La<ls in Their Hundreds", and "188]", by A. E. Housman; "Two of You", hy Mark Van Doren.

Houghton Miillin Company: "Pear Tree''., and "Heat", by

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xvi /l.CKNOWLEDGMllNTS

Hilda Doolittle; "Patterns", by Amy Lowell; "Frescoes for Mr. Rockefeller's City", by Archibald MacLeish.

Alfred A. Knopf, foe.: "Winter Remembered'.' nnd "The Equilibrists", by John Crowe Ransom, reprimed by pcnnis­sion of and special arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., authorized publishers.

Liveright Publishing Corporation: "In a Station of the · Metro", by Ezra Pound; "At Melville's Tomb", by Hart

Crane. Little, llrown and Company: "The Soul Selects" and "After

Great Pain", l>y Emily Dickinson, from 1'/ic Poems of Emily Dicl(inson, Centenary Edition, edited by Martha Dickinson Bianchi and Alfred Leete Hampson. Reprinted by per­mission of Little, Drown and Co.

The Macmillan Company: "The Man He Killed", "In Tencbris, I", "Wessex Heights", "Channel Firing", by Thomas Hardy; "Flammondc", by Edwin Arlington Rubinson; "The M:iin-Dccp", by James Stephens; "After Long Silence", "A Deep-Sworn Vow", "Among School Children", "Two Songs from a Pby", and extracts from A Vision , by William llutler Yeats. By permission of The Macmillan Company, Publishers.

W.W. Norton and Company: extracts from English Pastoral Poetry, by William Empson, and from T/ie Scimtific Ottt· loo!(, by l3ertrand Russell.

Oxford University Press: exlract from B11glish l'octry and the H11glish Lang11age, hy F. W. Halcson.

l'octry: A Magazine of V crsc: exlracts from Correspondence between Harriet Monroe and Hart Crane.

Random House, Inc.: "Doom ls Dark", by W. H. Auclen,. reprinted by permission oE Random llouse, Inc., New York.

Charles Scribner's Sons: "The Last Days o( Alice" nn<l "Ode to lhc Confederate Dead", by Allen Tate; exlrncts from l'attcm and Variatio11 in Poetry, by Chard Powers Smith, and from "The Killers", by Ernest Hemingway.

Scrutiny: extract from "Shakespeare's Sonnets", by L. C.. Knights.

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CONTENTS

Asterisks (•) indicntc poems which nrc nnnlyzcd l'AGB

iv I

L11rr1m. rn TllR Tl!ACllP.R •

lN1'ROUUC'l'ION ,

Tu11 MAN Hn KJU.nu • A PMLM 01' Lll'l1

1'ho11111s Jlan/y • • • 7 . . //e11ry Warls1vortl1 Lo11c/e//0111 10

Exros1·uLAl'ION ANO R1n•LY , William Wortls111ortli 13

SECTION I: NARRATIVE POEMS fOREWORD

OuT, OuT . . Robert frost • fRANKln AND Ji>llNNY , l111011ymo11s • }F.SSI! ]AMF.S , . A11011ymo11s •

• JonNlt! ARMSTRONO A nonymoitS • Sm PA1·1ucK Sl'tNcn - . . Ano11ymo11s •

• Tllll W111n or Usurm's Wt!Lt. A11011ymo11s • HELr.N OP KmcoNNl\l.L A11onymor1s , Tnn DEMON LovF.J•. . . Anonymous • Tut! R1M11 or ·rnn ANcmN·r

MAl\INF.R. ' . . Samuel Taylor Coleridge LA D1:1.t.B DAMI! SANS MnP.r.t f olin Keats • . .

• M1c11Al'.f. . Wi/liam Won/sworth . Tun DeAm OP Tiii! llmno

MAN Robel"t Frost • . Tnn RF.vr.Noll Alfred, Lortl 1'e1111yson • TAM O'S11ANTl'.R • Robert B11rt1s . . Mo1rrn D'A1rruu1t Alf ml, Lortl 1'en11yson ,

SECTION II: IMPLIED NAimATIVE Fo111iwo111> • '1'1111 T1m1m IlAVllNS • • Lonn RANDALL.

EDWARI>

l'ROUll MAISH\

KtNO DAVID

U1.vm~s

Two ol' .You

A11011y111011s • A11011y111011s • A 11011y111ot11 • Sir Wnltcr &otl • Walter tie la Mare. Alfred, Lord 1'ennyson • Marl{ Van Vom1 ,

xvii

27 27 28 30 33 39 40 4G 47

49 69 71

85 !)I . 102 . 108

II7 , II8 , Ill

• 1.15 • 127 • 127 • 128 • 130

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"I h ti 1·· .~

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FLAMMONDll

LucY G11AY! OR SoLITUDI!

• PATI'l1,l\NS •

Tun LAs'l' Rum ToollTllBR

Hl!LLGA'l'll.

WALSINOllAMB

Tun Evn 011 Sr. AoNBS •

Lovn ;\MONO 11111 Rums CoRINNA's Como A-MAYINO

Tl!B PULLP.Y

APTEP.WORO

CONTENTS

rAOE

Edwi11 Arli11gto11 Robimo11 • x3t Willi11m Wortluvort/1 • • 134 Amy Lowell • 136 J~obcrt /Jrow11i11g • • 143 A. E. Jlo11sme111 • 146 Sir Walter Raleg/1 • 149' Jo!w Keats • 151 Robert /)row11i11g • lGt

Robert 1/erricl( 163 George Herbert • 165

166

SECTION Ill: OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION • 169

Fo11Rwon1> • Tun MAI('{ D1rnP •

• PEAR Tntm • •HEAT.

• IN A STAl'lON 01' TUB METRO

• Dusr ol' SNow • SPRINO

Wnmm To SPlllNO •

Wrnn.R Wrnos

IL }>1\NSF.ROSO

AnER Ar1•rn P1cK1No •

Ocl!AN T1mRonIN. To A WATF.R-FowL Poon WA·r.

• Dnsl!nT Pi.Acns ,

ALL BUT BLIND •

AuTUMNUS.

Sic VITA

MAllOAlllTAB SOP.ORI

A Drnon • N1011'rtNGALllS

Pun,oMntA • ON Wl'.STMINS'J'llll. BRll>Oll

l ' Rl!LUIJl!S

ON A DnoJ> 011 D1tw • Oun To 1·11n W11sr WIND

James S1cphe11s 11. v . . H. D .•

• 169 • 173

173 Ezm Pot111il • • 174 Robert Frost • 175 Willinm Slink,espcare • 177 William Shakespeare 178 William Blt1li_e • 178 Tames Tl10mso11 • 179 Jolin Milton • • 181 Robert Frost • • • 185 George Gordon, Lord Byron 187 George Daniel • 188 William Culle11 Drya11t • • 190 William Sl111li_cspeare • 191 Robert Frost • • 192 Walter de /II Marc • 195 f os!111a Sylvestt·r • 195 Henry King • • 196 William lfrncst Hc11ley • • 196 Jo/111 Webster • 197 Robert JJridges • 198 Mattlicw Arnold • • 200

William Wortlswort/1 • :202

1·. s. Wiot • A11tlrc111 M11r11ell • l'ercy Jlyssl1e Shelley

:201

205

• 206

.1

I

• CONTENTS

XIX

SECTION IV: METRICS

} :ol\F.WOIUI

Dt!A'l'll

• '1'1111 111•.1.1.s Ol' S11AN1>0N

• J\1•nm LoNo St1.1'.NCB •

J\nsl'.NT Y11r l'Rt!SJ\NT •

J\1151\NCB

FAlll. hrns • To H1v.v1rn Au, S1JNrLoWl!P. ,

A CllRISTMAS CAROL

Non ON Rnnro111cAL VAii.iA·

TION

SouND ANO S1rnse • ,

Non oN QuANTl'rATIVI! VARIA•

TION1 0NOMATOPOP.IA

Sr.ow, Si.ow, Fn11su FoUNT •

To AuruMN •

Tmt llLINl>Nl!SS OP SAMSON •

FUNF.RAL SoNo •

Nori! oN At.LITl!M'l'ION, Asso­NANCll, CoNsoNANcP., RtMB,

ANll STANZA

How Do J Lovl'. 'flll'.P. •

•ON 1'111! LA TB MA~MCIU\ IN

P11mMONT

CoNFl\SSION ol' fAl'fll •

MY LAs·1• Ducrrnss PRF.l'AMTION OP '1'111! PYRll

FOR PATROCJ,US •

Tm; R1n·1tMT A T11ANK5GIVJNO rn Gou Tur. J\1111R11ss ol' R1c11A1m Ill

To lit~ AnMY • D1scov1mv oP Pn·v FLOWl\l\S

J11m1.1.F.nun Rm;s TO SrP.AK •

Tim l lous11 oP Mont•m;us Nuvl!Mt1r.n Evl!NING

PAGE

• 209 l'crey JJysslic S!1cl/ey • 219 Fra11cis Malio11ey • 220 William IJ11tler Y cat/ • :2.24

Edward IJttlwer-Lytton, Lord Lytto11 • 23::i

Jo/111 Hoskim • 233 Thomas Hood 234 nc11 Jonson • • 236 William JJ/a!(e • 236 George Wither • i.37

Alexander l'opc •

IJm J omon • Joht1 Keats Jolin Milton • Jolin 1'/ctchcr

• 239 • 242

• :142 • ~45

246 • 247

248

• 249 Elizabet/, IJarrctt Browning • 252

Jolm Milton • Jolm Drydm Robert /Jrowning •

Alcxa11der l'opc /Ie111·y Va11glian Robert Ilcrric!(

William Sliakespearc William Shaf(CSf'Carc William S!ial(crpeare Jolin Milton • Edmmul Spe111cr • Robcl't JJ11r111

• 253 • 254 • 255

__________ ...,, _______ _

xx

Tun Dr.otNNINO OI' Lovn

Tun LAKn Ponrs •

0ZYMANIHAS

Tlll\nB SoNos

• Rosn AY1.Mnn. · •

•A Dtrnl'-Swol\N Vow

SADRI NA

Tun COLLAR ·

11'1 T1rnnnn1s, I 0011 ON Tllll DllATll OP TUll

DuKn oP WELLINGTON

Sun WALKS IN DMuT1t' •

Tun N101mNOALn

HYMN To Pnosnn1•1Nn •

FARF..Wl\LL • • • •

No Mons Du G1unvno •

CONTENTS

PAGE

Jolm Keats • • 265 George Gordon, Lorri /Jyrotl • 266 Percy lly.rshc Shelley 268 William S!takespmre • 269 Walter Savage Landor • • 270 William IJ11tler Y cats 273 Jolm Milto11 • 277 George llcrbert 278 Tl10111as /-lardy· 280

Alfred, Loni Tm11yso11 • 28r George Gordon, Lord llyro11 ,. 288 Sir Philip Sidney • • 289 A!gcr11011 S1t1inb11rne 290

Sir Tl10111as Wyatt • 291 William S/1a!(esf1enre • 292

SECTION V: TONE AND ATTITUDE FonEwono

• PORTRAIT

AN Er1TAPH ON SALATllll!I.

PAVY

AoDnnss TO ms DlltL •

A SONO OP ALB •

AN Et>ITAPU

Hts PRAYF.11. To DnN JoNsoN •

AN 0DB POI\ DnN JoNsoN

• CllANNl\L FIRINO •

P1or-rnv.nsl 0 P10Nn11nsl

Sot.ILOQUY OP Tnn SrANISll

CLOISTRR •

PAST RUINl!O Ir.ION

Tug SouL SnLncTs

To LucASTA, Gorno TO TUB

Wt.RS

•Tull INDIAN SrmnNAmi •

SuMMnn Nw111' •

CUPID ANIJ CAMl'ASPR •

DLAMn No·r MY C1rn1!KS

Ln Ma Nor TO TllB MAR·

RIACR OP TRUE MtNOS

E. P.. C11m111i11gs

1Jc11 Jo111011 • Robert /J11rt/J A 11011y111011s • 1'!1011111s CarctV Robert Herrick Rohcrt 1-frrricl( Tliomns Hnrdy • Walt W !1it111a11

Robert. 1Jro11111i11g • Walter Sar1age 1..nm/or • E111ily Dickinso11 •

Richart/ Lovelace • l'crcy lly11l1e Sl1ellcy Alfred, ]Jori/ 1'cn11yso11 • f 0'111 tyly 'Tlto111as Campio11 •

William Shakespeare

• 298 • 299

303 305

• 306 • 306 • 307 • 3u

• 319 319 323 323

• 324

CONTENTS

Tun PASSlONATl\ S11r.r111mu 1·0

lhs Lova

ANsWliR To MARLowr., AN

DF.ucnT IN Disol\DllR •

PRoTl!At.AMION •

• T1111 PIT.GRIMS

I11s LITANY TO Tiii! HoLY

Sl'mlT

AH1m Tiii! Bu111A1,

ON Hrs llLINllNMS

WnEN Lov11 MP.r.rs LoVR

ON LucRETIA D0Ro1A's I IAIR

• A LITANY •

Tnr. fAtl\rns' PARBWRl.L

1'1111 BAD SEASON MAKl\S Tiii!

Pol!TSAo.

CY NARA

WIN'rF.R RP.MRMl\F.RllO •

To l"llP. MBMORY OP M11. OL!>· JIAM

StR HunmRAS

PonTRAIT or ATncus •

To A MouNTAIN DAISY

• UuLuMn •

To Nw1rr •

Tm~ StEF.PF.I\

Tilt.RS, lotl! Tl!ARS

W!!ssl!x H1uc11rs •

• To B1.oss0Ms

• '1'1111 ll1.ossoM

To P1m11.1.A •

UPON A Dl!AD MAN'S I JP.AO •

01111 To Evr.NtNo •

011a TO EvnNtNo •

To S1>1uNo.

Cliristoplier Marlollle . Sir Walter Ralegh Robert II erriek • Edmund Spenser • Adelaide A1111e l'roctor •

Robert 11 erriek • f amcs Russell Lowell f ohn Mi/tort • Thomas Edward Jlrown JV alter Savage LAndor • Sir J>/1ilip Sidney RiehnrJ Corbet

RoberJ llerricl( . Ernest Dowson John Crowe Ransom

John Dryden Samttel D11tlcr Alexantlcr !'ope Robert D11rru Edgar Alla11 Poe • Percy Jlyss/1e Shelley Edgar A/1011 Poe • Alfred, Lord Tennysori • Thomas !lardy • Robert IJirrick · r olin Donne • • Robert Tl crrick • Jolm . Sl(clfo11 Willii1m Col/iru· /oseph W nrton William Stanley Roscoe.

SECTION VI: IMAGERY Fon11wo1111

•To AN Arnr.r.TI\ Dvrno YouNo

• Tn1ms

A. E .. llousman . • f oyee Kilmer

xxi

P.lGE

325 326 327

• 328 • 333

" 336 337 339 340

• 340 • 341

346

• 347 348

• 349

350 • 351 • 353 • 354

355 362

• 363 • 365 • 366

367 • 368 • 374 • 375 • 377 • 379 • 380

c:-0

.. XXll

CROSSING Tllll DAk

MY STAR •

ON 1·11n CouNTF.Ss DowAOl!R

01' PitMllllOKJ\ •

Tun Sor.tTAnY RnAPnR ,

LUCIPl!R

StNcn l.IRASS NoR S·roNI!

I w ANDERP.D LONELY AS A

CLOUD

Fm.L MANY A Gr.on1ous

MonN1No . L11<11 AS Till! \VAVl'.S

Tuus, P1rnous1.Y Lovn CLOSED

To Hr.tl!N ,

DAYS •

Pr.A en Trrn C11AMn1i1um NAUTILUS •

Tur. HouNo oP HnAVP.N

• 01m To A N101tTINOALB

Wm\N THR LAMP Is

SllAl'TllRl!D

EPITAPH ON AN ARMY OF

Mr.ll<;l!NAnillS •

ON F11tsT LooKrNo INTO

CrrAPMAN's I ·IoMnR ,

AuoNAIS

Vm-run Till! N1011T

Sw1mr Lovn, RrtNllW 'I'llY

Fonc11

As1A's SoNo

•Tull DnPINITION OP Lova

~ MY S1•n1Nos

SnAnows rN Tun WA1'llR

Till! THAR •

CoMll INTO THn GARUEN,

MAUllll

Tun GARlll!N

'fuus Is His CmmK ·rnn MAP

CONTENTS.

Alfred, Lord 1'e1111ysotJ Robert 1Jrot11//i11g ,

William Jlro11111c , William 1Voril11vortl1 f 0/111 Mi/1011 • William Shal(cspcarc

Willi11111 JV orilsrvort!t

William S/1(1/(cspcarc • William Shakespeare •

George Meredith • Hdgar A/11111 J>oe , Ralp/1 Waldo E111crso11 Henry V1111ghar1 . • Oliver 1Vc11dc/l Holmes Francis 1'/iompson f olm Kcatr ,

Percy 1Jyssl1e Sl1el/ey

A. I:. 11011s111a11

foh11 Kent! • Percy /Jyssl1e Shelley George llcrbcrt , l!c11ry Va11gha11 ,

William Shal\espcarc l'crcy llyu/1e Shelley A11drnv Marvell • Sidney f_,1111it:r 1'/10111111 1'rnl1cmc • Richard Cmsha1v •

Alfrcrl, Lord 1'c1111y1011 A l//lrct11 Marvell , William Sha!(c!pcare ,

• 391 • 392 ..

• 39.3· 39J: 394

• 395-

396"

• 397 397

• 398 • 399 • 399 • 400

401 • 402

407

• 417 417

• 431 431

434 435 436 440

• 445 . 447

• 449 451

• 454

CONTENTS

LtKn AS To MAKE Oul\ AP-

l'E'ITfl!S , ,

I N 1·1111 I Ior.y NAnvrrv ol'

OuR I .c>lln Gon

ON T1111 Mo1tNJNo 01• C111usr's NATIVITY.

Trn! JlunNtNo JlAnl\ •

A VALW1c1·10N Fol\llllllllNO

MounN1No • APTF.I\ GRP.AT PAIN

Mvs·rnnY

PooR SouL, Till! CP.Nl'ER OP MY SINFUL EA1m1 •

CLv.or•ATRA's LAMY.NT •

To IIrs Cov M1muiss • , FoLtow T11v FAIR SuN, UN-

HAPPY SllADOW

•AT MnLv11.1.E's ToMn , AMoNo ScrrooL Cmr.JJl\P.N •

Tnn EQu11.111n1sTS DooM Is DAnK • . . T0Mo1111ow AND ToMOllROW •

. .. XXUl

l'AGB

William Shakespeare 454

Richard Cra1/1111v • 455

f ohn Milt01t • . 458 Robert So11tl1we/I • 465

Toh 11 Dot111e • 466 Emily Dicki11so11 • • • 468 Elizabct/1 /Jarrett fJrow11ing • 471

William Sha!(cspcare , William Sha!(cspcare Andrew Marvell ,

1'homas Campion • Harl Crane • William /Jut/er Yeats /olm Cro111e Rm1som W. 11. Auden William Sha~erpcarc

• 473 . 473 • 474

• 476 • 477

481 485

• 487 488

SECTION VII: THEME Fonl'.WORD

'l'rrll LAt>s IN Tmtll\ IIUN·

111\lll>S • • Luc1111\R IN Sun1.1011r

Trrn PALAcn 01• AnT •

CoM1>osrm nv Tiil! SRAsma •

Er.r.uv Wnn·rv.N IN A

CoUNTl\Y C11u11c11vA110

01111, TO SIMJ>UCITY LEE IN Tiii\ MOUNTAINS .

• II' POISONOUS MtNl\RAJ.S

DHATll

T11ANATOPs1s

Ln:P. ANO Dr.ATU •

1'11osr1cP. 1887 • I lo11ATIAN Ous •

A. E. Housman George Meredith • Alfred, Lord Ten11yson • William Wordsworth ,

Thomar Gray William Collins Donalt! Davidson • folm Donne, f ohn Donne • William Cttllt:11 1Jrya11t , William Sha!(cspearc • Robert /Jrow11ing • A. E. Ho111111at1 Andreu! Maruc/l •

• 490 493

• 500

• 509

• 510 515 517

• 520 • 524 • 525 . 527

528 529

• 531

·----~----------- ·-- .. - · ..

@

WJfS£ 1 tt I

. XXlV

A fAl\llWllLL

Tua VANtTY OP HUMAN

W1s11r.s • •Tun Sc110LA1i Gtl'SY

0011 TO Tllll SttA • Dov£1\ DEACll

IN MEMORIAM

Tun LAST DAYS 011 Aucn fnnscoES FOR Mn. RocKE•

l'l!LLl\R'S CITY •

TtNTlll\N AnnnY . • A Pon's Et>tTAPll

• Tnn ScoFl'ERS LONDON

HYMN TO lNTllLl.ltC'rUAL

DeAUTY •

•Tun Lovn SoNo 011 J. ALFRED

PRUl'l\OCK

RADnI DEN EzRA • RunAtYAT ol' OMAI\

KHAYYAM

LYCIOAS

Tun ANNtvr.nsARY

•Two SoNcs l'l\Ol'>C A PLAY •

DMllMA

To mn Accus1m .•

AND Dm Tuusn F1rnr iK

ANCIENT T1r-.ms

Oun TO TUil CoNl'l!DF.RATn

DMD

Oon oN A GnF.clAN UnN

CONTENTS

l'AC:lt

Sir Pliilip Sidney • 534

Sam 11cl / 0!1111011 • Mattlie111 Ar110/rl Howard /Jal(er Mattl1e1u Arno/cl Alfred, Lord 1'e1111yso11 • Al/(n Tate •

Arcliibalcl MacLeish William W ord1111ortl1 William Wordsworth • William Dlaf(C William n!t1T(c

Percy Byrsl1c Slic/lcy

T. S. Eliot • Robert DrottmiTlg •

Edward Fitzgaald /olin Milton • Jolin Donut • William 8111/er Y cotr Ral('li Waldo Emerson • William lJla!(C

Allc11 1'atc Jolin [(cats

• 535 • 538 • 549 • 554 • 555 • 561

. 563 572

• 576 • 578

582

583

585 596

603 Go6 613 614 621

• 622

623 626 629

• 653 • 673

GLOSSARY • • lNDl!X oP T1r1,ns, Au1·11ons, ANI> F111sr Lnrns INDP.:C oP STANZA FoRMS •

I I

·I

.. "

INTRODUCTION

Poetry is a form of speech, or discourse, written or spoken. To the person who is not well ncquainte<l with poetry the dif!cr· cnccs between poetic ~pccch an<l other forms may seem to be more important than the similarities, but these <lirlcrcnccs should not be allowe<l to obscure the fundamental resemblances, for only by nn un<lcrstanding of the rcsetnbbnces cnn one nppre· ciatc the meaning of the dif!crcnccs. Poetry, like nll discourse, is a communicntion-thc saying of something by one person to another person. llut what is thnt "something"? We usually itienti(y it with information. As practical people going :about our n!Iairs, we nsk directions, re:t<l ro:t<l signs, order n dinner from a menu, study football scores or stock m:trket reports. It is nltogether natur:tl, therefore, th:tt we shoul<l tend to think the important nnd central matter in nil discourse to be information. Dut, after nil, we m:ty <lo well to ask how much of the discourse of nn nvcragc man in nny given day is prim:irily concerned with in­formation for the sake of inCormntion. After he hns transacted his business, obeyc<l his road signs, or<lerc<l and eaten his dinner, nn<l read the stock mnrkct reports, he might be surprised to reflect on the number of non-practical functions speech ha<l fuHille<l for him thnt day. He ha<l tol<l the office boy a joke; he had com· 111entcd on the weather to the traffic officer, who coul<l observe the weather as well ns he; he hnd tol<l nn ol<l friend that he was gla<l to sec him again; he hn<l chatted with his wife on some subject on which there wns nlrcn<ly full knowledge and agreement. Even when he had been nt lunch with some business associates, with whom the talk ran on informational topics, the trcn<l in the stock market, for instance, he had not intcndc<l lo use the information for buying or selling. The interest in the conversation ha<l not been finally practical. This practical man might discover that n forge part of the business of dis· course h:t<l been conccrnc<l with matters which arc not ordinarily thought of ns really "pr:tctical," l>ut with his relations to other

I

1