This blog is one of the activities of our academics. And this time it is
based on Modernist Literature. Here I have tried to interpret ten Modern poems
according to my understanding.
Before proceeding forward here I put a
brief description of what is Modernism??
->Modernism is a
philosophical 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.
Here below are given my interpretations-
1> “The Embankment”- T. E. Hulme
Once, in finesse of fiddles found I ecstasy,
In a flash of gold heels on the hard pavement.
That warmth’s the very stuff of poesy.
The old star-eaten blanket of the sky,
That I may fold it round me and in comfort lie.
Here the poet says that once he was in very good condition with gold
heels on the hard pavement. But now he is on pavement having flashbacks of his
well-beings facing hard times. He asks God for the old star-eaten blanket at
least to comfort himself in his hard times. Here the Star
is symbolised as a sign of sorrow and it can also be compared to a moth-eaten blanket which is unattractive.
In his grief he forgets the beauty of the romantic starry sky and also makes it
as an image to represent his sorrows.
2> “Darkness” - Joseph Campbell
I stop to watch a star shine
A star no longer, but a
silver
I look at it and pass on.
The title of the poem says everything
about the poem. This short poem of four (4) lines by Joseph Campbell shows
somewhat of ignorance of the Modernists for the Victorian Age. In this poem we
can visualize that how the poet just passes a glance on the sky and moves on
thinking that the star is no more a star now it’s just has become a mere image
of silver ribbon of light in the dark sky.
Here star as a metaphor indicates the deteriorated Victorian Age.
3> “Image”
- Edward Storer
Burning to a chaste white moon
Upon strange Pyres of loneliness
and
In this poem we can sense the
deteriorated position of the Victorian Age. Forsaken lovers the term can be
very rightly referred to the Victorian Age because the age after the World War
became abandoned and shattered utterly. The whole of Victorian ideas,
principles and everything got shattered in such a way that the Modernists
didn’t pay a heed to it and formed their own.
4> "In
a station of the Metro" - Ezra Pound
The apparition of these faces in the
Petals on a wet,
black bough
There were many developments in the
Modern Age and it becomes clear when we see the use of Metro as
a symbol used by the poet. Here the poet says about the ghost like faces
(apparition) of the crowd which has become because of their unenthusiastic
spirit due to their busy life. The line ‘petal on a wet, black bough’
represents people as petal which is increasing with the passing time and black
bough as society which is tolerating the burden.
5> “The
Pool”- Hilda Doolittle
You quiver trembling like a
sea-fish
What are you- banded one?
The title “The Pool” represents
water. Here the poet asks that are you alive? It is so because the water is
stagnant and whenever anything is asked to the people they shiver like a
sea-fish as if their life has got stuck in a net. It happened because of their
unenthusiastic and busy life and they seemed to be like living dead. At the end
the poet asks- “What are you?” Are you yourself or under somebody’s control?
6> "Insouciance"
– Richard Aldington
In and out of
the dreary trenches
Trudging cheerily under the stars
I make for myself little poems
Delicate as a flock of doves
They fly away like white-winged
In this poem there are many images
like “dreary trenches” which means a dark hole or dug in the ground, it is used
as metaphors for the ups and downs of life. There are other words like
“trudging” and “cheerily” which represents the image of a person who has to do
his work but he don’t want to do. Here poet focused upon the ups and downs of
life during the rough time of a person.
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 housemaid
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 roofs.
Morning
at the window is an image of poverty. The picture is that of a slum where
people lead miserable lives. The speaker is at the window. The images in the
poem correlate with the idea of poverty and feelings of sympathy. The
speaker says that he is aware of the condition of the household minds and souls
or their psychology. He also mentions about the people with sad faces and also
notices tear in the eyes of a passer-by with muddy skirt, which clearly shows
that the passer-by was not happy with her life. Then again he finds smiles in
very few faces which are also not so happy and it gets vanished till they walk
the street.
8> “The Red Wheelbarrow”
-William Carlos Williams
The speaker sees that wheelbarrow is
red. Red probably suggests things like life, blood, courage and zeal that are
part of what the farmer sustains and support. The wheel barrow is one thing to
us. The poet has separated the wheel and barrow here barrow consider as a body.
The barrow depends on the wheel. The wheel consider as a life. The theme of
dependence and interdependence can be extended in every direction. The chickens
are white, it suggested that it is pure and sacred. There is also peace in this
natural and simple mode of a farmer. It may also remind readers of innocence.
The word ‘rainwater’ is split into two to make us see them separately and in
turns, and appreciate them. The gazing wheelbarrow bathed with natural water of
rain and white chickens create a simple but significant imagery. If we look at
the poem with different angle that A Christian reader may interpret the red as
the blood of Christ. And the white relates with sacredness.
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
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.
Stevens explores the question of
superiority between art and nature. Is nature superior to human creations or
does human creativity surpasses nature in some way? This poem solves riddle by
recognizing the unique differences between art and nature. The poem begins by
telling us of an incident in the past. Once he kept a big and beautiful jar
upon an untidy hill in Tennessee. The jar is an art object made by a human
being, whereas the hill on which it is placed is natural. Stevens truly does a
wonderful job of portraying the relationship of humans to nature. By using the
jar to represent man, he was successful in creating an environment not only
expressed in the poem, but also felt by the reader. He used irregular rhymes
and role changes to express the complex relationship. The reader is left with
confusion but slight understanding of the relationship. Stevens expressed the
relationship of humans to nature very well in this piece of work.
10> ‘l
(a‘- E. E. Cummings
l(a... (a leaf falls on loneliness)
The title of the poem “A leaf falls on loneliness” shows itself the
state of being alone and solitude. There is a word “fall” which represents the
state of dullness. It can be fall of civilization, individual’s hope or fall of
anything else. If a leaf falls from tree then the fallen leaf become lonely. In
Modernist Literature we can see fall of spirituality and also fall of hope.
Loneliness represents the separation from the entire world. So here we can say
that this poem represents the state of separation from the entire world and
also represents the state of self centeredness.
