Possibly About Poetry

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“In an Artist’s Studio” by Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti was born in 1830 in London, England. She is most commonly recognized as a poet and as the sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the poet and painter. Rossetti served as a model in many of her brother’s paintings. She died in 1894 because of a relapse in breast cancer.

“In an Artist’s Studio” by Christina Rossetti

One face looks out from all his canvasses,

    One selfsame figure sits or walks or leans;

    We found her hidden just behind those screens,

That mirror gave back all her loveliness.  

A queen in opal or in ruby dress,

    A nameless girl in freshest summer greens,

    A saint, an angel; – every canvass means

The same one meaning, neither more nor less.

He feeds upon her face by day and night,

    And she with true kind eyes looks back on him

Fair as the moon and joyful as the light;

    Not wan with waiting, not with sorrow dim;

Not as she is, but was when hope shone bright;

    Not as she is, but as she fills his dream.

“In an Artist’s Studio” by Christina Rossetti is a Petrarchan sonnet about a painter and his model. This poem is written with fourteen lines of iambic pentameter and has the typical rhyme scheme of ABBAABBACDCDCD. Although the poem looks like one complete stanza, it is divided into an octave (first 8 lines) and a sestet (last 6 lines) with a volta. An octave is meant to express a desire, and in this case, the desire is the model portrayed in the paintings. Since she is a model for a male’s artwork, it shows that a male is capable of controlling and objectifying a female however he chooses. She is a “nameless girl” but is being recognized as “a queen… saint… angel”. The same face sticks out of every canvas and she is described in a majestic way, and yet she is always presented as “the same one meaning” in all of the pieces of work. This same meaning is the painter’s view of perfection. Line 9 is the turning point because it is the beginning of the sestet and because the mood changes from far away admiration of the model to an overly exaggeration of unreachable love. The sestet is where the reader realizes the true identity of the female figure and the first time the artist of the paintings is mentioned. The reoccurring female is not based off of a particular person but instead based on the artist’s view of a perfect female figure. The artist chose to draw her as a queen, saint, and angel and he drew her looking kind and joyful only to satisfy his own dreams.

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“One Perfect Rose” by Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker was born in New Jersey in 1893. Her mother passed away before she turned five and her father later remarried. This new marriage created uneasiness between Parker, her father, and her stepmother.  Throughout her life, Parker served as author, poet, critic, and screenwriter, becoming well known as a “wisecracker”. She was nominated for an Emmy, two Academy Awards, as well as a Golden Globe.

“One Perfect Rose” by Dorothy Parker

A single flow'r he sent me, since we met.     All tenderly his messenger he chose; Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet--     One perfect rose.

I knew the language of the floweret;     "My fragile leaves," it said, "his heart enclose." Love long has taken for his amulet     One perfect rose.

Why is it no one ever sent me yet     One perfect limousine, do you suppose? Ah no, it's always just my luck to get     One perfect rose.

In “One Perfect Rose” by Dorothy Parker we experience the realities of a relationship as told from a woman’s point of view. The poem as a whole is a metaphor to how everyone is oblivious to another’s needs and desires. Many times the actions we perform are done because we believe we are helping another, when in reality, we are causing more harm. The same scenario is present in this poem. Since the narrator is a woman in a relationship, her significant other believes that one rose is a universal symbol that all women want and need since she has only received “a single flower” since they have met. She makes it clear that she “knew the language” and has “always” received a single rose. By personifying the flower in lines 5-6, we see that the flower is more important than the person gifting the flower because the flower itself is the only thing that talks.  Also in line 6, “His heart enclose” is a metaphor because the gentleman’s heart is not physically enclosed in the leaves of the flower, but again, the flower continues to have more affect than the gentleman.

The repetition of the word “perfect” is ironic because the narrator describes aspects of the flower in a way that shows her admiration. However, the last stanza shows that the flower is not as perfect as described because it is lacking what other things seem to have (perhaps a limousine). To the narrator, the rose seems perfect because it is the highest amount of admiration that she will receive and it is the only “perfect” that she has ever received.  Although this poem was written in 1937, the same scenario can be present in relationships today.

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“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke

Theodore Roethke was born in Saginaw, Michigan. His childhood was filled with loss and abandonment. Roethke experienced loss with his father passing away from cancer and his uncle committing suicide. He earned both his bachelors and master’s degree from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor.  Roethke taught at the University of Washington and he won two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry.

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke

The whiskey on your breath   

Could make a small boy dizzy;   

But I hung on like death:   

Such waltzing was not easy.

 We romped until the pans   

Slid from the kitchen shelf;   

My mother’s countenance   

Could not unfrown itself.

 The hand that held my wrist   

Was battered on one knuckle;   

At every step you missed

My right ear scraped a buckle.

 You beat time on my head   

With a palm caked hard by dirt,   

Then waltzed me off to bed   

Still clinging to your shirt.

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is a poem filled with a series of events of an alcoholic father. Nowhere in the poem is the father mentioned directly; we know he is talking about his dad only because of the title. The title of this poem and the first line are complete opposites; as readers we expect a story about joyful dancing, not about alcohol and its affects. The rest of the poem is structured in a similar way where no negative words are used in response to a negative action. The narrator recalls a particular time of waltzing around the kitchen with his father. We would expect the narrator to be laughing and enjoying his time, but instead, the father is hurting both his son (“My right ear scraped a buckle”) and his wife (“…pans slid from the kitchen shelf”). Line 4 is where “waltzing” is defined: an act where someone is drunk and yet a loved one hopes to have a stronger affect than the alcohol. The word “waltzing” is significant because it contradicts the typical words used to describe a situation involving a drunkard.

This poem is written in past tense, hinting that the narrator is now an older man reflecting on his rough childhood. The negative diction used shows that the father is having more fun waltzing than the son but yet the son is still holding on. The simply formed stanzas and the conversational diction also show that this way of thinking is childlike. Each stanza has an ABAB rhyme scheme which adds to the innocence present in the child but unclear to the father. The narrator arranges his words in a way that does not blame anyone (in particular, his father) for the pains he and his mother suffered. Instead of faulting his father for his carelessness, the narrator casually states that his “right ear scraped a buckle”. Also, by the use of the word “you” the fathers fault is again minimalized and so is the effect of alcohol.

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“Morning” by Billy Collins

Billy Collins holds the titles professor, author, poet, anthologist, as well as Poet Laureate from 2001-2003. Collins was a professor at Lehman College where he taught English. Some of Collins most notable awards include Poet of the Year (1994), Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, and the Mark Twain Award for Humor in Poetry.

“Morning” by Billy Collins

Why do we bother with the rest of the day,

the swale of the afternoon,

the sudden dip into evening,

then night with his notorious perfumes,

his many-pointed stars?

This is the best—

throwing off the light covers,

feet on the cold floor,

and buzzing around the house on espresso—

maybe a splash of water on the face,

a palmful of vitamins—

but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso,

dictionary and atlas open on the rug,

the typewriter waiting for the key of the head,

a cello on the radio,

and, if necessary, the windows—

trees fifty, a hundred years old

out there,

heavy clouds on the way

and the lawn steaming like a horse

in the early morning.

 “Morning” by Billy Collins is a narrative poem where the narrator paints a picture of a typical morning. This poem was written in 1998 which properly resembles the modern language used in the poem. The use of simple and colloquial words gives the poem a sense of innocence which is parallel to the innocence present in mornings. This poem neither references anyone in particular, nor is speaking directly to someone; the narrator is simply professing his admiration towards morning settings. The poem only consists of two sentences and one of them is a question presented in the first two stanzas. This is significant because the narrator rants on about his love for mornings (possibly caffeinated from the espresso) and he relies on dashes and commas to connect one image to the next. The poem appeals to the readers visual (pointed stars, open dictionary and atlas), kinesthetic (cold floor, splash of water), auditory (buzzing around the house, cello on the radio), and olfactory (night with its notorious perfumes) senses.

Any morning could be able to recreate the same scenario present in this home: the home of a family, couple, or even a college student. From the narrator’s point of view, he seems to be content with mornings because he asks, “Why bother with the rest of the day…?” To him, one of the best feelings is “throwing off the light covers”. The dictionary, atlas, and typewriter could be present in order to show that the night before was rough and the narrator walked away from potential frustration. Mornings represent new beginnings and the narrator is now mentally and physically prepared to continue his work. Through the mess in the house, the narrator remains unfazed yet still positive about mornings. However, depending on the people presented with this scenario, some may see the morning and its cold floor, disorganized home, and heavy clouds not as comfortable as the night as its many pointed stars.

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“Paper Matches” by Paulette Jiles

     Paulette Jiles was born in 1943 in Salem, Missouri. Jiles received her education for Spanish literature from the University of Illinois. She is best known for her novels and poetry. Along with her husband, she currently resides in Texas.

“Paper Matches” by Paulette Jiles

  My aunts washed dishes while the uncles squirted each other on the lawn with   garden hoses. Why are we in here, I said, and they are out there?   That’s the way it is,   said Aunt Hetty, the shriveled-up one.   I have the rages that small animals have, being small, being animal.   Written on me was a message, “At Your Service,” like a book of paper matches. One by one we were taken out and struck.   We come bearing supper, our heads on fire.”

     The poem “Paper Matches” by Paulette Jiles is about a girl who is having difficulty understanding the gender roles society has created. The diction used throughout the poem is colloquial and childlike which leaves the reader to infer that the narrator is a young girl. The poem starts off with the females washing dishes and the males outside enjoying themselves. This creates the stereotypical image of the jobs males and females take on and quickly the young girl realizes that these jobs are not assigned fairly. She uses words like “rages”, “struck”, and “fire” to help arouse her anger in this unfair treatment. The narrator speaks in plural pronouns: we and they. By speaking with “we” and “they” the narrator is separating those who are washing dishes from those who are having fun playing on the lawn. In this case, the narrator uses “we” to represent the females and “they” to represent the group of males.

     In lines 9-13, the narrator uses an anthropomorphism (giving humans a characteristic of an inanimate object) and a simile to compare her life (the life of a female) to a box of paper matches. Both the anthropomorphism and the simile (“’At Your Service’ like a book of paper matches”) used by the speaker degrades the life of a female. She goes on to say, “One by one we were taken out and struck”. This line shows that much like a match, females are only around to provide service to males and once they have done their job, again like a match, they are tossed away and another one is chosen.

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“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden

Robert Hayden was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He lived a tough childhood with his parents and dealt with impaired vision. Hayden studied at both Wayne State University and at the University of Michigan. He was honored with the Academy of American Poet Fellowship and was later named as the first African American Poet Laureate in 1976.

“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he’d call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

 Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love’s austere and lonely offices?

     In “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, the readers are presented with a vivid description of a father’s morning routine as explained by his son. The majority of the poem is written with long sentences and with only one telegraphic sentence. This shows that talking about his father’s routine is something common for the narrator and he can rant on about it. When listening to this poem, the reader feels a sense of sorrow for both the father, because of the work he has done, but also for the son, because of the pain he suffers when thinking about his father.

    The first and second stanzas explain the actions the narrator’s father does before heading out to begin his Sundays work. The use of the telegraphic sentence, “No one ever thanked him”, establishes the tone of regret present in the remainder of the poem. Very often others help us in some way and yet we never end up showing our appreciation. In this case it seems that the narrator himself never thanked his father either and he regrets his lack of gratitude. The first two stanzas also establish a bitter tone. The line “...fearing the chronic angers of that house…” and “I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking” highlight both types of bitter: the narrators regret and the description of the cold weather.

    The last stanza contains a tone shift from regretful to nostalgic. Contrast to the first and second stanza, in this stanza the narrator speaks with appreciation towards the simple actions his father did for him such as polishing his shoes. By his tone, the reader can infer that the father has either passed away or is very sick. The repetition of “What did I know” sounds like the narrator is bracing himself not to cry. This repetition also brings back the tone of regret because the narrator is blaming himself for not behaving differently when his father was around.

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“A Found Poem” by Maxine Kumin

Maxine Kumin is an American poet who graduated in 1948 from Radcliffe College. Author of various collection books of poems and memoirs, Kumin served as Poet Laureate from 1981-1982. She worked alongside Anne Sexton to write four children’s book. Before she died, Kumin lived in a farm with her husband where they raised horses.

Ars Poetica: “A Found Poem”

Whenever I caught him down in the stall I’d approach.

At first he jumped up the instant he heard me slide

the bolt. Then I could get the door open while

he stayed laying down, and I’d go in on my hands

and knees and crawl over to him so that I wouldn’t appear so threatening. It took

six or eight months before I could simply walk in

and sit with him, but I needed that kind of trust.

I kept him on a long rein to encourage him

to stretch out his neck and back. I danced with him

over ten or fifteen acres of fields with a lot

of flowing from one transition to another.

What I’ve learned is how to take the indirect route.

That final day I felt I could have cut

the bridle off, he went so well on his own.

  Without looking at the title of this poem, the audience reads about the struggling efforts of regaining the trust of a horse and learning about the efforts in setting her free. The author’s connotation develops this idea that she is talking about a horse. She uses farm and horse jargon like, “down in the stall”, “he stayed lying down”, “to stretch out his neck and back” and, “over ten or fifteen acres”. With a title like “A Found Poem”, the readers understand that the narrator is not talking about a horse, but instead about the process of writing a poem. This extended metaphor compares the struggles of working with a horse to the struggles of writing a poem. The narrator personifies the poem she is struggling to write, calling it a “he”. She writes this piece as if the poem is a horse and as if working alongside the horse (poem) took much time and effort.

This poem is separated into two separate stanzas: trying to write a poem (working to befriend the horse) and successfully composing a poem (setting the horse free). The first stanza is longer than the second and this shows that it takes more time to develop an idea than it does to successfully execute it. Although consisting of only two stanzas, this poem is a narrative. It makes sense that this poem is not written to rhyme because it is written as a story. When read out loud, however, the poem has a smooth sound which helps exemplify the progression of events. This sound also builds up to the climax which happens to be the second stanza where the hardships the narrator faced have turned around.