"All American Sestina"

"All-American Sestina" by Florence Cassen Mayers

The "All-American Sestina" brings to light the materialism and consumerism of the American Dream and all that is associated with it. The form of the sestina highlights the numbers one to six, emphasizing the quantity, not quality, of All-American ideals. Americans value the biggest and the best of everything, from a "two pound lobster" to a "two- car garage."

However, American is "one nation, indivisible." Perhaps Mayers comments on the unity of the American people under the banner of these ideals, no matter the ethical standing of the ideals. The victorious tone of lines such as "three cheers" and "five-star general" reveal the idea that Americans are some sort of a master race, the best and the brightest. One might notice, however, that none of the listed words have a negative tone. Mayers could certainly have written the sestina with a negative view of America.

Mixed in with the modern facets of America, the "six-pack Bud" and the "five-karat diamond," are the old ideas associated with the young America: the lines "one-room schoolhouse," "four score and seven years ago, and "one-horse town." These images are inexpensive and seemingly archaic, however they represent the glory of America even better than do a "two-car garage" and "two tone Chevy."

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"Woman's Work," by Julia Alvarez

Julia Alvarez comments on the domestic lives of women and the dispute over their role in a household. Her conclusion, however, is unexpected. She writes that she "became [her] mother's child" and took up her own form of housekeeping. One might expect her to condemn "woman's work" as degrading or unjust, how­­ever, Alvarez seems to comment that "[scrubbing] the bathroom tiles" can be just as high an art as writing, or "housekeeping paper."

The repeated description of "woman's work" in the villanelle, "hard art" or "high art," seems mocking in the second stanza. However, her tone shifts after she works "at home on her [own] art." This change of meaning, though in like phrases, reveals the complexity of this villanelle.

Though Alvarez does not condone her imprisonment in her mother’s “housebound heart,” she comes to understand that housework is not inherently bad. Her mother’s housework revealed her pride and insecurity. This is evident in her “masterpiece”: her daughter. Alvarez became just another bathroom tile or wrinkly shirt for her mother to perfect and show off. This furthers a theme that the repetition highlights: the “heart” behind the “art.” The purpose behind one’s art determines its legitimacy. If a woman, or any person, enjoys serving his or her family through housework, it becomes an art. However, if one uses it as a means to gain popularity or status, it becomes a “prison” to oneself and to others. 

"Ode to a Grecian Urn," by John Keats

An ancient work of art in-hand, John Keats gazes on the beauty and paradox of the figures represented. He turns the urn in his hand, organizing his address to it by its physical attributes. Uniform iambic pentameter and semi-uniform rhyme dominate this apostrophe.

Comparing the Urn to an "unravish'd bride" and a "sylvan historian," Keats establishes his whimsical yet ultimately somber tone. The subjects of the Urn find themselves in passionate, "unwearied" frames. At first, Keats longingly describes these characters who do not age or grow weary of love. However, in the second and fourth stanzas, Keats describes two unfortunate situations where the characters are frozen in time: the first, a ""youth" awaiting a kiss from his lover, and, the second, a barren city "emptied of its folk" for a festival. Though these pictures are not inherently saddening, their inability to move in time deprives them of experiencing joy. On the other hand, Keats reflects on the frozen lover writing," For ever panting, and for ever young/All breathing human passion far above." Though the youth is unable to experience the kiss, he doesn't have to risk experiencing feelings of dissatisfaction or heartbreak.

This discussion of the characters’ position in time brings the ode to a deeper meaning. Though the idea of eternal youth and passion sounds enviable at first, Keats notes that the characters’ stagnation in time. Being frozen in youth means that the characters will not experience the wisdom and faithful relationships of old age. Being frozen in youth means that the characters “shlat remain in midst of other woe/than ours.” 

"A Poet! He Hath Put his Heart to School" by William Wordsworth

Not to be graded: This poem was fabulous.

To be graded:

William Wordsworth's "A Poet!" masterfully exemplifies a Petrarchan Sonnet. From the rhyme scheme to the deliberate division between octave (describing the problem) and sestet (describing the solution), Wordsworth utilizes the sonnet's format to expose the contrived poetry of fearful "grovelers." The octave voices Wordsworth's discontent with such poets, whereas the sestet praises nature's solution to this problem. Further dividing the two types of poetry--contrived (art) and natural (Art)--are the images of stagnation in the former and "vitality" in the latter. "Scorn," "fear," "grave," and "stagnant" describe the position of the critic-controlled poet. He "sips" the "stagnant pool" of his art, whereas the natural poet "the live current quaffs."

The poet Wordsworth describes in the octave only emotes on cue, following the "precepts" of his art. (Note the lowercase "a.") He relies on the rules of the Critics for security, eternally propped on the "staff/Which art hath lodged within his hand." Somewhat comically, Wordsworth writes that this poet fears death by the Critics' displeasure. This humor furthers the readers understanding of the poet's selfish and superficial purpose in writing.

The sestet brings in an image of beauty and freedom with the aid of nature imagery. The irony lies in nature's victory over the weary poet. Though simplistic, the flower's Art is "bold" and "divine," two traits which, Wordsworth holds, arise only out of freedom from the "roots" upward. Wordsworth juxtaposes the images of "free" and "divine vitality"  with the poet's "stagnant pool" to communicate his disdain for the man or woman who chooses to forgo his or her "own" Art for the sake of another's art.

"Upon a day, came Sorrow in to me."

"Upon a day, came Sorrow in to me." -Dante (1290)

Upon a day, came Sorrow in to me,

         Saying, ‘I’ve come to stay with thee a while’;

         And I perceived that she had ushered Bile

And Pain into my house for company.

Wherefore I said, ‘Go forth – away with thee!’

         But like a Greek she answered, full of guile,

         And went on arguing in an easy style.

Then, looking, I saw Love come silently,

Habited in black raiment, smooth and new,

         Having a black hat set upon his hair;

And certainly the tears he shed were true.

         So that I asked, ‘What ails thee, trifler?’

Answering, he said: ‘A grief to be gone through;

         For our own lady’s dying, brother dear.’

In “Upon a day, Sorrow came in to me,” Dante narrates an experience with two different, and seemingly opposing, feelings. He personifies Sorrow and Love in a manner that joins the two in some sort of camaraderie rather than placing them in opposition to one another. Though the speaker dreads the coming of the first, he gains a new perspective of it with the help of the second.

The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet highlights the last four stanzas. With this in mind, Dante directs much of the meaning of the sonnet and the reader’s attention to this section. Furthermore, these last four lines contain Love's only dialogue with the speaker. 

Dante's tone shifts when Love, characterized as male, "silently" enters the scene. Ironically, Love is dressed in mourning. His emotions are somber and respectful, whereas the Sorrow's "guile" trivializes the speaker's emotions. Furthermore, where Love is silent,  Sorrow argues "with an easy style." This shift involving seriousness of tone and noise imagery leads the reader, predictably, to detest Sorrow. However, unpredictably, Dante reveals Love's absolute compassion towards all things, including Sorrow. His genuine response to the speaker’s question leads the reader to question his or her understanding of Sorrow.

This revelation expresses the depth of one's need to experience both Sorrow and Love. Without the conjunction of the two, each emotion’s profundity is lost. For the speaker, hope was borne from Sorrow with the coming of Love.

Poetry Response #3 (Dramatic Monologue)

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot writes the poem through the banal, indecisive voice of the middle-aged J. Alfred Prufrock. He recounts an afternoon teetering between declaring his love for an acquaintance and sheepishly keeping his feelings to himself. Prufrock is not a memorable man, and he knows this. Resigning himself to a forgettable fate, Prufrock writes, “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be/Am an attendant lord, one that will do/To swell a progress, start a scene or two.” He acts out of insecurity and cowardliness, always believing “there will be time, there will be time.”

Questioning the necessity of revealing his feelings, Prufrock asks himself, “Do I dare/Disturb the universe?” His entire world consists of his social connections and interactions; therefore, one relationship out of balance might transform his world. The limited size of the world, which he has created for himself, indicates his cowardliness and resignation to boredom. In fact, the entire poem’s tone is that of a “patient etherized upon a table.”

The poem focuses on Prufrock’s inner dialogue. The reader sees Prufrock endlessly questioning his actions in the light of other’s opinions, surrendering himself to a “formulated phrase.” It is no wonder that Prufrock is unable to “disturb” his “universe with the proclamation, for he rarely considers his own opinion. When he recognizes this cowardliness, his tone is humorously, yet pitifully self-deprecating. One wonders whether this is another cowardly trick to evade feeling guilty for hiding in the background.

Though Prufrock recounts the tale as if he wishes his decisions were different, his tone and diction cause one to question whether, if presented the situation again, he would actually “force the moment to its crisis.”  Prufrock’s insecurity and indecision might convince one of his stagnation in triteness.