Modernism is being more modern with the way you express yourself. It's breaking away from the status quo, and developing a since of self and originality, kind of like the plane. It can be expressed in art such as architecture, writing, movies, plays, paintings, sculptures, speech, and even more. Oh yes, did I include poetry? Thanks to people like Edgar Allen Poe, who's considered the forerunner of this genre, we have a genre that speaks to your heart personally, has no ideal structure, is creative, and can talk about virtually anything. This genre likes putting turns and twists in modern ideas, though. So altering the structure would be one of the ways this is done. Symbolism and cliches are also beaten up pretty badly in this genre.
One reason why Edgar Allen Poe is seen as the originator of this genre is because his poetry focused not only on the words, but how they were written. This includes rhythm, figurative language, assonance and consonance and alliteration, rhyming, and all those things. It's also a very deep, reflective kind of poetry where your conscious is deeply examined and applied to the poetry you want to create. Edgar Allen Poe was very good for this because his life influenced his poetry, its depth, and style. He even wrote about the death of his wife - generally his poems were conscious-stricken and a result of his tumultuous life. Though since the past 25 years many critics will acclaim he was far from his poetry. If this is true, he still examined the depths of the darkness of the human soul and used this to influence his poetry style. Just like him, these poets get into the things that make them feel a certain way, or whatever they care about. They write how and whatever they want.
One reason why Edgar Allen Poe is seen as the originator of this genre is because his poetry focused not only on the words, but how they were written. This includes rhythm, figurative language, assonance and consonance and alliteration, rhyming, and all those things. It's also a very deep, reflective kind of poetry where your conscious is deeply examined and applied to the poetry you want to create. Edgar Allen Poe was very good for this because his life influenced his poetry, its depth, and style. He even wrote about the death of his wife - generally his poems were conscious-stricken and a result of his tumultuous life. Though since the past 25 years many critics will acclaim he was far from his poetry. If this is true, he still examined the depths of the darkness of the human soul and used this to influence his poetry style. Just like him, these poets get into the things that make them feel a certain way, or whatever they care about. They write how and whatever they want.
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird - Wallace Stevens
I Among twenty snowy mountains, The only moving thing Was the eye of the blackbird. II I was of three minds, Like a tree In which there are three blackbirds. III The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds. It was a small part of the pantomime. IV A man and a woman Are one. A man and a woman and a blackbird Are one. V I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of inflections Or the beauty of innuendoes, The blackbird whistling Or just after. VI Icicles filled the long window With barbaric glass. The shadow of the blackbird Crossed it, to and fro. The mood Traced in the shadow An indecipherable cause. VII O thin men of Haddam, Why do you imagine golden birds? Do you not see how the blackbird Walks around the feet Of the women about you? VIII I know noble accents And lucid, inescapable rhythms; But I know, too, That the blackbird is involved In what I know. IX When the blackbird flew out of sight, It marked the edge Of one of many circles. X At the sight of blackbirds Flying in a green light, Even the bawds of euphony Would cry out sharply. XI He rode over Connecticut In a glass coach. Once, a fear pierced him, In that he mistook The shadow of his equipage For blackbirds. XII The river is moving. The blackbird must be flying. XIII It was snowing And it was going to snow. The blackbird sat In the cedar-limbs. |
Main Idea. The speaker has 13 different ways to look at a bird.
The imagery that made me picture movement, or motion, one of his perceptions of a blackbird, are: *"The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds." *"Icicles filled the long window With barbaric glass. The shadow of the blackbird Crossed it, to and fro." *"The river is moving. The blackbird must be flying." *"It was evening all afternoon ...It was going to snow The blackbird sat In the cedar-limbs." Some other imagery describes the appearance of the blackbird, and makes me imagine its presence. And also lets me imagine the people its around. "O thin men of Haddam, Why do you imagine golden birds? Do you not see how the blackbird Walks around the feet Of the women about you?" "He rode over Connecticut In a glass coach. Once, a fear pierced him, In that he mistook The shadow of his equipage For blackbirds." This also goes into mood. For example, the last quote is kind of scary. To mistake all your baggage and belongings as blackbirds is like a thief coming into the night and taking something, replacing it with something different. You don't expect it. And its not pleasant, either. Above, the blackbird is like something common, and welcoming, which the men of Haddam reject. But its more precious than the golden birds who never get to see the people, or that have less communion with or admiration from the women surrounding the blackbirds. This poem has such a weird structure because as a part of Modernist poetry; people rejected the status quo, the past perception of things, and added a new twist to it, as if it had never existed before. This scared a lot of people. But it gave many artists and inventors a voice of their own, unlike post-modernism, though many can argue that there's a line between the two. This poet in general was known for his out-of-this-world views, and this poem and its form shows his voice really vividly. In structure and in word/topic choice. Figurative Language. It's used for every aspect of this poem, and so is diction. He chooses descriptive words and verbs like "pierced" "bawked" "euphony" and bigger words like "equipage" and "innuendo" and "inflections" and "indecipherable" and "pantomime" that show he at least had a college education. Which he did. But he also wrote a lot., giving him a huge vocabulary. In the end, this guy wanted to write a poem about something that mattered to him. It was a weird topic, but he didn't care. He wrote about how blackbirds encompass everything, and they're everywhere. and there's many ways to look at one. (Post-modernists if they read this would be like, Oh my God, why did you write a poem about blackbirds? In this format?! And why do they seem so welcoming and awesome and beautiful though scary at the same time?) |