Tag Archives: poetry

Rankine on Rich

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Claudia Rankine (author of Citizen) recently wrote about the work of Adrienne Rich in the New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/adrienne-richs-poetic-transformations

An excerpt:

In answer to the question “Does poetry play a role in social change?,” Adrienne Rich once answered:

Yes, where poetry is liberative language, connecting the fragments within us, connecting us to others like and unlike ourselves, replenishing our desire. . . . In poetry words can say more than they mean and mean more than they say. In a time of frontal assaults both on language and on human solidarity, poetry can remind us of all we are in danger of losing—disturb us, embolden us out of resignation.

The Importance of Time

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In “The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S Eliot, there are a lot of references that are made which play an important role in the poem. The idea of “time” is very important in this poem. One question that I had while reading and analyzing the poem is how does the reference to time fit into the whole context of poem?

Eliot mentions the idea of time in a couple of instances in the poem, most notably in the middle of the poem. Eliot makes this reference at the beginning of two paragraphs near the middle of the poem. This is important because it shows that Eliot intended to use time as a main idea. Eliot starts both of the paragraphs with references of time with the sentence “And indeed there will be a time”. As noted in the footnotes this is a reference to a love poem by Andrew Marvell titled “To His Coy Mistress”. The paragraphs that follow this line go into detail about the inner thoughts of the narrator. He uses the reference of time in order to frame what he is thinking. For example the lines”There will be time, there will be time/To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet.” (542 line 26-27) and “Time for you and time for me, And time yet for a hundred indecisions” (542 line 31-32) help show us exactly what the author is trying to convey through his thoughts. The reference to time also shows that the narrator has a strong intent to complete his thoughts. These ideas are something that he really wants to pursue and achieve. This also shows that the narrator is very passionate about his thoughts.

The references to time are very important in this passage because they help the reader understand what the narrator is trying to say. Time helps put these ideas into context. The narrator’s ideas are ideas that he wants to accomplish as he uses the different time frames to lay out his thoughts. Throughout the poem, we see the many different feelings that the narrator is feeling, and time is just one of the many references that the narrator uses in order to convey what he is feeling.

Dickinson Assignment, Archives, and Resouces

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Emily Dickinson Archive: http://www.edickinson.org/

Includes manuscript versions of her poems, and a lexicon for definitions from her dictionary. After reading the assigned poems, choose two favorites, and look at the manuscript versions. In lieu of a quiz Wednesday, you should bring in a 1-2 paragraph response about looking the manuscript versions of the specific poems you chose (indicate which poems you looked at). Did it change your impression or experience of the poems at all? How so? If not, why?

This NYTimes article sums up some of the controversy surrounding her manuscripts and their digitization: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/books/enigmatic-dickinson-revealed-online.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1&

And finally, Dickinson’s place setting from The Dinner Party (the Judy Chicago project–we looked at Wollstonecraft’s early in the semester):http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/emily_dickinson.php