Poetry 9
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POETRY 9: MEANING AND IDEA I.
Meaning--the experience the poem expresses A. Distinction between "total meaning" and "prose meaning" illustrated with "Little Jack Horner" 1. "Total Meaning"--the complete experience of the poem on all levels (chp 1): multidimensional, involving the whole person--senses, emotion, imagination--as well as intelligence 2. "Prose Meaning" a. that part of the poem's that can be formed as a paraphrase (a restatement of the poem's literal meaning) b. the prose meaning is no more the poem than a plum is a pie or a prune is a plum c. it may not necessarily be an idea but rather a (1) story (2) description (3) statement of emotion (4) presentation of human character (5) combination of these B. Examples 1. "Porphyria's Lover" (877) tells a story
2. "The Eagle" by Tennyson is primarily descriptive 3. "The Widow's Lament" (716) is an expression of emotion 4. "My Last Duchess" is an account of character C. The Point 1. None of these examples is primarily concerned with an idea 2. Message hunters beware II. Value and Worth of a Poem **** A. The idea of a poem is only a part of the total experience B. Value and worth of a poem are determined by the total experience, not by the truth or nobility of the idea 1. This is not to say that the truth of the idea is unimportant, or that its validity should not be examined and appraised 2. A good idea alone will not make a poem 3. An idea with which the reader disagrees does not keep the poem from being considered a good or even significant one C. We should be receptive to all kinds of experience, able to make what Coleridge termed "the willing suspension of disbelief" D. The primary value of the poem
1. does not depend so much on the truth of the idea presented 2. as on the power with which it is communicated and on its being made a convincing part of a meaningful total experience a. we must feel that the idea has been truly and deeply felt by the poet, and b. the poet is doing something more than merely ***moralizing c. the plum must be made a part of the pie III Application: distinguishing meaning of idea in a poem from its value as a poem: "Loveliest of Trees" by A. E Houseman and "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost A. Both poems present ideas 1. "Stopping": when faced with the choice of pursuing and appreciating beauty or with fulfilling the responsibilities of life, we must give precedence to maintaining our obligations 2. "Loveliest": beauty is of such supreme value that the speaker will make the pursuit of it his lifelong commitment. B. We will have to choose which idea is more in concert with our own personal world view, but we should be able to enjoy both
C. Even though we should be able to enjoy both of these poems, we also should be able to discern that they are not of equal poetic value IV Summary: Other things being equal, we tend to, and should, value more highly the poem whose idea we feel to be more mature and nearer to the heart of human experience, yet we should be sensitive that A. As readers of poetry, we should strive for intellectual flexibility and tolerance B. We may often like a poem better whose idea we disagree with than one whose idea we accept C. We will not confuse prose meaning with total meaning-we will not mistake plums for pies.
Meaning--the experience the poem expresses A. Distinction between "total meaning" and "prose meaning" illustrated with "Little Jack Horner" 1. "Total Meaning"--the complete experience of the poem on all levels (chp 1): multidimensional, involving the whole person--senses, emotion, imagination--as well as intelligence 2. "Prose Meaning" a. that part of the poem's that can be formed as a paraphrase (a restatement of the poem's literal meaning) b. the prose meaning is no more the poem than a plum is a pie or a prune is a plum c. it may not necessarily be an idea but rather a (1) story (2) description (3) statement of emotion (4) presentation of human character (5) combination of these B. Examples 1. "Porphyria's Lover" (877) tells a story
2. "The Eagle" by Tennyson is primarily descriptive 3. "The Widow's Lament" (716) is an expression of emotion 4. "My Last Duchess" is an account of character C. The Point 1. None of these examples is primarily concerned with an idea 2. Message hunters beware II. Value and Worth of a Poem **** A. The idea of a poem is only a part of the total experience B. Value and worth of a poem are determined by the total experience, not by the truth or nobility of the idea 1. This is not to say that the truth of the idea is unimportant, or that its validity should not be examined and appraised 2. A good idea alone will not make a poem 3. An idea with which the reader disagrees does not keep the poem from being considered a good or even significant one C. We should be receptive to all kinds of experience, able to make what Coleridge termed "the willing suspension of disbelief" D. The primary value of the poem
1. does not depend so much on the truth of the idea presented 2. as on the power with which it is communicated and on its being made a convincing part of a meaningful total experience a. we must feel that the idea has been truly and deeply felt by the poet, and b. the poet is doing something more than merely ***moralizing c. the plum must be made a part of the pie III Application: distinguishing meaning of idea in a poem from its value as a poem: "Loveliest of Trees" by A. E Houseman and "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost A. Both poems present ideas 1. "Stopping": when faced with the choice of pursuing and appreciating beauty or with fulfilling the responsibilities of life, we must give precedence to maintaining our obligations 2. "Loveliest": beauty is of such supreme value that the speaker will make the pursuit of it his lifelong commitment. B. We will have to choose which idea is more in concert with our own personal world view, but we should be able to enjoy both
C. Even though we should be able to enjoy both of these poems, we also should be able to discern that they are not of equal poetic value IV Summary: Other things being equal, we tend to, and should, value more highly the poem whose idea we feel to be more mature and nearer to the heart of human experience, yet we should be sensitive that A. As readers of poetry, we should strive for intellectual flexibility and tolerance B. We may often like a poem better whose idea we disagree with than one whose idea we accept C. We will not confuse prose meaning with total meaning-we will not mistake plums for pies.
