Download Poetry Safari exemplar

The below text is taken from an email conversation about the nature of
poetry between Y13 students taking the LT4 Synoptic Poetry and Drama paper.
Why did we do it?
To get a wider feel for different ideas about what poetry is/can be/can do
over time and different schools of thought. To enjoy reading opinions other
than our own and musing in response to them. To make it easier to see the
particular peculiarities of one poet we study and to read them fruitfully
together with other poetry for deeper enjoyment and understanding. To be
able to tackle the synoptic exam where we get to choose one unseen out of
five, compare with the work of John Donne and use questions which are about
the nature of poetry itself.
How did we do it?
We browsed books about poetry: James Fenton’s Introduction to Poetry, Ruth
Padel’s The Poem and The Journey, The Making of a Poem, ed Eavan Boland, The
Oxford Poetry Handbook, Don’t Ask Me What I Mean, ed Don Patterson – a large
selection of poets talking about their work – and a couple of books directly
about our focus school of poetry, The Metaphysicals, specifically John
Donne. As we browsed, we just looked for bits that interested, puzzled or
entertained us. Then we mused on them, considering the nature of poetry and
how that bit helped us understand Donne and blurbed our musings into an
email thread.
What can I get out of reading it?
An awareness of different ways of reading texts, a view of poems as situated
constructs, a good example of relaxed open minded reading and discussion,
and perhaps a little more idea of the continuum of ideas about poetry into
which Eliot and Yeats were situating themselves/the background against which
other critics read them.
Why’s it called the Poetry Safari?
We made up this metaphor to describe how we were like tourists going on a
safari, exploring an unfamiliar land and getting to know some new and exotic
creatures in their own habitat. We were taking snapshots and showing them
to each other in a relaxed yet interested and intelligent way. Lit crit
students as time/space travelers through the universe of critical books, but
without getting freaked out!
From: Emily
Subject: RE: Poetry Safari
Sorry this is so late!
I was doing some background research on Metaphysical Poetry and I came
across an interesting article. It covers not only the work of John Donne but
also the work of other leading Metaphysical Poets. The essay was written by
T.S Elliot in response to criticism of Metaphysical poetry and in an attempt
to bring Donne and his contemporaries back into favour.
Here is the link: http://personal.centenary.edu/~dhavird/TSEMetaPoets.html
Background information on the article:
Metaphysical poets were reacting against the deliberately smooth and sweet
tones of much 16th-century verse, adopting an energetic, uneven and rigorous
style (e.g. the rampant imagery and listing in Holy Sonnet VII).
Metaphysical concerns are the common subject of their poetry, which
investigates the world by rational discussion of its phenomena rather than
by intuition or mysticism.
The style etc of the metaphysical Poets was criticised.
Dryden criticized Donne in 1693, saying: 'He affects the Metaphysics... in
his amorous verses, where nature only should reign; and perplexes the minds
of the fair sex with nice speculations of philosophy, when he should engage
their hearts.' He disapproved of Donne's stylistic excesses, particularly
his extravagant conceits and his tendency towards hyperbolic abstractions.
Johnson consolidated the argument in 'The Lives of Poets', where he
described the far-fetched nature of their comparisons as 'a kind of
Discordia concors; a combination of dissimilar images, or discovery of
occult resemblances in things apparently unlike'. Examples of the practice
Johnson condemned include the extended comparison of love with astrology by
Donne.
The article was written in response to criticisms such as these. It was an
important essay and helped bring the poetry of Donne and his contemporaries
back into favour. As T. S. Eliot argued, their work fuses reason with
passion; 'it shows a unification of thought and feeling which later became
separated into a 'dissociation of sensibility'."
Miss Keyte’s contribution, after reading the thread:
Dear all,
I have enjoyed reading your comments on poetry very much. I just thought I
would share with you the lines from Auden that Lawrence Sail quoted twice
yesterday, as being his favourite statement of the purpose of poetry. It's
the last lines of Auden's poem 'In Memory of W.B.Yeats': 'In the prison of
his days/Teach the free man how to praise' (This may not be exact, because I
haven't got the poem beside me - do check it). This reminded me of Hopkins,
too, inspired by his Jesuit training as a priest, where his first motivation
in all his poetry was to praise.
The need and desire to praise - perhaps poetry fulfils this best.
Emily Keyte
Ellie's contribution:
One chapter in the book A Reader's Guide to The Metaphysical Poets by George
Williamson talks about 'The Two Worlds of Donne'. It says that these are
'the world of change or alteration, of the body of man' and 'the world of
the unchanging or constant, of the soul of man'. It suggests that by
understanding and defining these two separate worlds, Donne is able to
analyse the experience of man.
There is a similar discussion to the one we had one lesson about "The
Elizabethan World Picture" which is also referred to as 'the metaphysical
cosmology'. Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) in his Religio Medici describes
the existence of 'a large disproportion of nature.' He goes on to say that
this disproportion is "between plants, and animals or creatures of sense, a
wider difference; between them and Man, a far greater: and if the proportion
hold on, between Man and Angels there should be yet a greater." This seems
to support the conclusions we came to in the lesson when we discussed how
Elizabethans viewed the world in terms of its hierarchy.
Browne goes on to describe Man as 'that amphibious piece between a corporal
and spiritual Essence' ie: Man links Nature and God.
Donne seems to reflect on this in a Verse Letter to the Countess of
Huntington as he writes:
The soul with body, is a heaven combin'd With earth, and for man's ease, but
nearer join'd; Where thoughts the stars of soul we understand, We guess not
their language natures, but command.
I wondered if Donne could be trying to convey here an appreciation of Jesus
Christ as he was sent down from heaven to earth creating a direct link. When
Donne says 'for man's ease' he could be acknowledging the difficulty any
religious believer has in believing in a divine presence or God which they
cannot see.
There may be no link to Jesus at all though... not sure!
-----Original Message---From: Lili
Subject: RE: Poetry Safari
'Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its
origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.' William Wordsworth
This week I have been considering the process of writing poetry and whether
the poet chooses to write or if the poet is controlled by the writing.
If we take 'spontaneous overflow' to mean that the poet is controlled by
their writing then how do poets retain a sense of normality? How did Donne
manage to be both poet (a seemingly uncontrolled and passionate profession)
and priest ( a profession which requires vast amounts of self control and
where passion is supposed to be directed to god)?
Was it this need for Donne, as a poet, (and the metaphysicals in general) to
express passion that led to the sometimes seemingly erotic/romantic love
expressed to god? Repressed sexuality leading to confusion over godly and
ungodly love?
Also if, poetry is 'spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings' then how does
a controlled form such as a sonnet fit in to this? If it's spontaneous and
overflowing how does the poet force the 'overflow' in to the form of a
Sonnet???
Or maybe Sonnets were for Donne like they are for Don Patterson: Liberating
as they force editing.
So a bit of a ramble and lots of questions....
-----Original Message----From: Wilson, Susie (SHHS)
Subject: RE: Poetry Safari
Good job, Leila, well done. It can be useful for us to see a scattering of
ideas which other critics think representative of a certain school of poetry
and I really like the way you have then tested them out on your own reading
of our core poet, Donne.
Just one wrinkle - good spot noticing that the passion in Holy Sonnet VII
does not appear to be so measured, rather perhaps (at least in the octet)
almost bursting out of its skin, with the enjambment of "blow" and hasty
repetitions of "arise, arise" coupled with that literally breathtaking list
of man's ailments, BUT by saying that sonnets were frequently love poems,
this did not mean that the form was seen as uncontrolled in the Renaissance.
Rather they were ways of expressing love or exploring love relationships
within the tight constraints of the sonnet form rules. Isn't there
potentially something erotic about the force of passion working against
formal constraint, or restraint?
Look again and see to what extent Donne's passion really does burst out.
Where does he rein it in? Changes in tone? These are clues. Don't just
have an idea in response to a critic's notion, test it out within the actual
context of the details of the poem.
It is not necessarily the case that Renaissance concepts of love prized free
expression of passion - think about their incredibly stratified view of
order and disorder. Perhaps if we find poems which break out of these
'rules' or expectations then that is what we should see them as - poetic
disruptions?
See you all in Reception at 1.40 tomorrow and enjoy your safari before then!
Ms Wilson
________________________________
From: Leila
Subject: RE: Poetry Safari
Hi all,
I am reading a book about metaphysical poets and I thought I'd take just a
few quotes/ points and tell you what I thought of them.
'Four Metaphysical Poets - Second Edition'
'The Element of fire is quite put out; / The Sun is lost.'
Earthy/ natural/ elements
Dark/ haunting/ diminishing
Idea of nature being threatening (which we see with so many of Plath
and Dickinson's poems)
'Metaphysical poets use the natural language of men when they are
soberly engaged in commerce or in scientific speculation.'
between
Idea of isolation
Isolation from world/ isolation of a poet
A poet has a different relationship with the world
(Written about poets) 'freedom of the connections he is able to make
different elements of his experience.'
From reading a few Donne poems I found:
a sense of controlled passion
'He governs every inflection so as to convey the cold rage of
thwarted lust'
Contrasts in tone
Rhyme - sinister
Control
Vivid images
Trying to link this to the Donne sonnet we studied in class on Tuesday, we
do see this passion mentioned however it is definitely not as controlled as
shown in my metaphysical poetry book. This could be due to the fact that the
poem we studied was a sonnet and so is supposed to be unconstrained and
free, linking to the fact we said sonnets are 'love poems' and mentioned the
erotic element to it.
The contrast in tone mentioned above, can be seen in the sonnet we studied
together. We see this contrast in tone after the 8 lines. There was also use
of vivid and almost extreme images as he created images of blood, bodies
etc.
I wasn't sure which way to format my notes for the email, but this is how I
noted them down whilst reading so I'd thought I'd keep it this way. Let me
know if they're not clear or need more explaining.
-----Original Message----From: Wilson, Susie (SHHS)
Subject: RE: Poetry Safari
To Tammy - Thank you for kicking us off, and in such a reflective yet
concise manner. Well done. What do you think Donne would say in reply to
Whitman?
Ms Wilson
PS Please do reply to the latest email and indicate to whom you are speaking
if you wish to address someone in particular, as above. This will avoid
splitting the thread.
________________________________
From: Phoebe
Subject: RE: Poetry Safari
Hi,
I was reading about the background to metaphysical poetry, and the first
area I looked at was how the renaissance affected writing.
Background to metaphysical poetry
The Renaissance
From 1590 for 100 years metaphysical poetry was being written during a
significant change in many areas of English life.
There was a new interest in the classical literature and learning of the
Ancient Greeks and Romans
Metaphysical poets were particularly influenced by the ideas and literary
styles of the of the Roman Empire in c. 31BC when Octavian (Augustus)
defeated Mark Anthony
The development of printing allowed original texts to become widely
available and this translation led to imitation. Major themes of poetry, for
example love and war, existed before the Renaissance, but translations
provided poetic forms and had a powerful effect on the stylistic details of
writing.
I will post further notes on specific classical influences on metaphysical
poetry soon.
________________________________
From: Tamara
Subject: Poetry Safari
Hi Everyone,
I said I'd start the 'Safari' so here it is:
I was reading about the two extremes of poetry in my book 'Poetry: The
Basics', where it was looking at (in a very black and white way) the two
types of poems; one, which draws towards compression and the other towards
expansion. Then it argued that between these poles poetry uses conventions
to divide and organise a space for the words to dwell. The book used an
example, which I thought was good in order to explain the point more clearly
(you may disagree) 'Just as the structuring of a joke will have us listening
for and expecting a punch line, so the techniques of eloquence will have us
straining for the key points of the argument'. Walt Whitman said that he
sought to write 'as though there were no such thing as a poem' and therefore
just allowing himself to write without particularly thinking about structure
(I find this hard to believe) In practice, the very decision to write poems
presupposes some conception of what a poem is, and this will relate to the
space and sound that it is.
The game drive has begun.