Hello Readers,
I am going to sahre my view upon given task. This task was about modernism and modernist poem. We have to find modernist symbol, metaphor and imagery from the very short poem. Before starting let's know that what is modernism?
Modernist literature is quite difficult to understand and when it comes to the poetry, it even becomes more difficult. Though meaning of the words can be understood, meaning of the poem is difficult to understand. These ten poems demands thinking and their shortness makes us to think more.
About Modernism :
Modernism is both a philosophical movement and an art movement that, along with cultural trends and changes, arose from wide-scale and far-reaching transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among the factors that shaped modernism were the development of modern industrial societies and the rapid growth of cities, followed then by reactions of horror to World War I. Modernism also rejected the certainty of Enlightenment thinking, and many modernists rejected religious belief.
*20th Century English Poetry Characteristic*
1) Diversity variety of themes
Poetry today can be written on almost any subject. The modern poets find inspiration from railway, trains, tramcars, telephones and things of commonplace interest, the whole universe is the moderns poet's composition.
2)Realism
Realism in Modern poetry was the product of a reaction against the pseudo-romanticism of the last century over and above the influence of science. The modern poets sees life and paints it as it is with all its wait and ugliness. he tears the veil which the romanticism had hug between life and art.
3)Pessimism
There is a note of pessimism and disillusionment in modern poetry. the modern poets has realised the pettiness of human life and the tragedy and suffering of the poor have made him gloomy and sad.
4) Romantic element
The spirit of romance continues to rule the minds of certain poets like Yeats. The spirit of romance is as old as the life itself. Walter De Le Mare's poetry is full of true romantic spirit bordering on super-naturalism.
5)Nature
Nature attract the modern poets no less than the poets of the earlier ages. But for the modern poet, nature is not a mystic. He does not find any spiritual meaning in nature. he feels jolly at the sight of nature's loveliness. he gives a clear picture of birds, clouds landscape, sea and countryside in his poetry.
6) Humanitarian and democratic note
Modern poetry is marked with a note of humanitarianism and democratic feeling. The modern poet, more than Wordsworth interested in the life of laborers, workers etc.
7) Religion and Mysticism
The modern age is the age of science, but even in this scientific age, we have poems written on the subject of religion and mysticism.
8) Diction and Style
Modern poets have a preference for simple and direct expression. modern poets have chosen to be free in the use of metre. They have followed freedom from trammels of verse. There is free movement in 20th century English poetry.
Let us analyse and identify modernist metaphors/symbol/images from the given some interesting poem.
MODERNIST POETRY-
Modern Symbols and Metaphors
1) " The Embankment" by T.E.Hulme:-
(The fantasia of a fallen gentleman on a cold, bitter night)
Once, in finesse of fiddles found I ecstasy,
In a flash of gold heels on the hard pavement.
Now see I
That warmth’s the very stuff of poesy.
Oh, God, make small
The old star-eaten blanket of the sky,
That I may fold it round me and in comfort lie.
➡️He has placed the man at the center as a metaphor in the palatal poem. Man is always distracted by his work and lust. Man is never complacent. He is always looking for something. After that, when no one who is with him can ask from anyone or from anyone, he is asking from God. Man seeks refuge in God whenever he has trouble. Goes to God and God also gives him shelters. Man is always lost in lust. It doesn't work. Disappointed with not getting the thing I like. He is begging me to hide him with a blanket and protect me.
2)." Darkness" by Joseph Campbell:-
" Darkness"
" I stop to watch a star shine in the boghole,
A star no longer, but a silver ribbon of light.
I look at it , and pass on."
Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American Professor of Literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the human experience. Campbell's most well-known work is his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), in which he discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypal hero shared by world mythologies, termed the monomyth.
➡️In this poem the speaker takes the light as a metaphor. Light means a divine consciousness, positive power, the zeal to live life. While in this poem the poet experiences frustration. They
see darkness. Darkness has been used as a metaphor for death, sickness and negativity. So the speaker may not like to see the lightning of the stars. But he wants more light than that. This means that they like the same light that gives the same light than the twinkling stars.
3)" Image " by Edward Storer:-
Forsaken lovers,
Burning to a chaste white moon,
Upon strange pyres of loneliness and drought.
Edward Augustine Storer (1880–1944) was an English writer, translator and poet.
➡️In this poem, white moon is used as a metaphor. When it comes to the moon, love comes to mind. And a lover is not always one. The thing that connects the hearts of two lovers is the symbol of the moon. But modernist poets tend to point in the opposite direction in such poems. There are two lovers in this poem too but they feel loneliness from each other. That is, they are with each other, yet they are alone. So it can be said that we have as many people as we like but we are left alone in it. Which creates an image of grief.
4) “In a station of the Metro” – Ezra pound
THE apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
This is very short modern poem written by Ezra pound. It is considered as a first haiku written in English.
➡️In the poem, the Paris metro station is taken as a metaphor. Because there is always a crowd at the railway station. Crowd means people and people means people's faces. People are running at the metro station. There is a lot of people not paying attention to each other, though. Because everyone is busy with their own work. So that loneliness is experienced among the crowd. The second image that arises is that the metro is always within the cities. Hence the busy life of the people of the city. City life can be portrayed as inanimate. The use of which is indicated by the black on the petal of the flower.
5). "The pool"- by Hilda Doolittle
"The Pool"
Are you alive?
I touch you.
You quiver like a sea-fish.
I cover you with my net.
What are you—banded one?
A poem written by Hilda Doolittle. Hilda "H.D." Doolittle was an American poet, novelist, and memoirist, associated with the early 20th century avant-garde Imagist group of poets, including Ezra Pound and Richard Aldington. She published under the pen name H.D.
➡️A symbol of the pool to connect one bank to another bank. The river that is a symbol of things flowing in society. That people are being drawn by the gestures of others like the fish of the sea. They lack independence. The person is free in his own way, he has the freedom to think. People should have awareness. The speaker here also speaks of an existential crisis.
6) "Insouciance"- By Richard Aldington
. " In and out of the dreary trenches,
Trudging cheerily under the stars,
I make for myself little the stars,
Delicate as a flock of doves.
They fly away like white-winged doves."
Richard Aldington, born Edward Godfree Aldington, was an English writer and poet. Aldington was known best for his First World War poetry, the 1929 novel, Death of a Hero, and the controversy resulting from his 1955 Lawrence of Arabia:
➡️The pigeon is depicted as a metaphor in this row. The white-winged dove is a symbol of negligence. People at that time lived their lives carelessly and indefinitely. Because of the outbreak of World War II, people's hopes of survival were dashed. If he wanted to say something, if he wanted to express himself, he would try to express his feelings in literature. Modern culture came into the way of life. So there was more isolation among the people.
7). “Morning at the Window”-
T.S.Eliot : -
They are rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens,
And along the trampled edges of the street
I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids
Sprouting despondently at area gates.
The brown waves of fog toss up to me
Twisted faces from the bottom of the street,
And tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts
An aimless smile that hovers in the air
And vanishes along the level of the રૂફ્સ
This is a short poem written by T.S. Eliot it was imagist poem. This poem completed into 9lines.
➡️This window uses the window as a metaphor. The speaker wants to make it clear that he sees a bad scene when he looks out the window. Which leads to the realization of poverty. Because in modern times world war was going on. So people did not have enough wealth. There are always catastrophic circumstances in war. Which causes a lot of property damage. Which creates an atmosphere of poverty. Poverty and empathy are seen in this line. In which poor people have no food, no clothes to wear and their children are playing there. From morning till evening people are facing a lot of difficulties. It also has a lot of difficulties, especially for the poor.
8). " The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos :-
So much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
William Carlos Williams was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pediatrics and general medicine.
➡️Industrialization was very developed in modern times. Large industries and factories were also running. So the poet in this line draws our attention to the farmers of the farm through rain and chickens. That we should do agricultural work. At the same time it is also necessary. This shows a return to nature. And the rejection of industrialization is found in this poem.
9) “Anecdote of the jar”- Wallace Stevens
I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness
Surround that hill.
The wilderness rose up to it,
And sprawled around, no longer wild.
The jar was round upon the ground
And tall and of a port in air.
It took dominion everywhere.
The jar was gray and bare.
It did not give of bird or bush,
Like nothing else in Tennessee.
Wallace Stevens was an American modernist poet. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his Collected Poems in 1955. It was his best known short poem.
➡️In this poem the speaker depicts the jar as a metaphor. In which it is said that the jar is placed on the hill, i.e. nature and its beauty are talked about. Nature means a best creation, a best work. Art and nature are always the best work. Even in modern times the glory of retreat to nature is sung in poetry. And by using the jar as a metaphor, an attempt has been made to divert the post-war air to nature.
10) " l " by E.E.Cummings:-
"l "
" l ( a...( a leaf falls on loneliness)
l ( a
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness.
Edward Estlin "E. E." Cummings, often styled as e e cummings, as he is attributed in many of his published works, was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright.
➡️In this poem the speaker depicts the jar as a metaphor. In which it is said that the jar is placed on the hill, i.e. nature and its beauty are talked about. Nature means a best creation, a best work. Art and nature are always the best work. Even in modern times the glory of retreat to nature is sung in poetry. And by using the jar as a metaphor, an attempt has been made to divert the post-war air to nature.
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