Sunday, February 10, 2008

Can One Draw a Poem?

I know we're not supposed to address poems that were discussed in class, but hey, I'm a rebel. This is relating to the E. A. Robinson poem "Miniver Cheevy." I was immediately drawn to the oddity of the short (five syllable) final line of each quatrain. Then it occured to me that as a result of this, I was able to assign shape to this poem. If I put the book down and look at it from a slight distance, each stanza looks like a funnel. On top of that, if I read the poem aloud, rhythmically each stanza sounds like a funnel. Now comes the coolest part! As I read the poem, the content follows the funnel pattern too. The events or thoughts of each quatrain dwindle to an abrupt end and filter into the next, where a tangent or temporally successive thought begins. For example, stanza two describes his nostalgia for the "days of old" and how thoughts of knights with swords on horses would "set him dancing." The next stanza picks up with that thought turned into saddness because it is not reality for him. The stanza ends with Miniver Cheevy now dreaming of ancient Greece and Camelot. This channels into the next stanza where he mourns the loss of courtly romance and chivalry that were representative of the times and places he was just dreaming of.
Or, It could all just be visual and auditory halucinations from the fever that's currently cooking my brain. I guess time will tell.

1 comment:

Laura Nicosia said...

Yay! Shape comments. I agree. This element is neglected by many readers. With the advent of typesetting, poets work diligently to present the form to follow function.

Cool reading. Thanks.
-LN