Sound & Sense
Chapter 1 & 2
Ch. 1 - What Is Poetry?
Ch. 1 - What Is Poetry?
Definition: Poetry is a kind of
language that says more and
says it more intensely than
does ordinary language
Poetry exists to communicate
significant experience
Ch. 1 - What Is Poetry?
Function:
A. Gives pleasure
B. Central to existence
Poetry is universal - all people,
all places, all ages, all times
The Eagle Example
Encyclopedia definition of an “eagle”:
Belonging to the family Falconidae,
characterized by imperforate nostrils, legs
of medium length, hooked bill, the hind
toe inserted on a level with the front three
ones, the claws roundly curved and sharp,
who usually build their nests in
inaccessible cliffs, their eggs are spotted
and don’t exceed three in number, and its
flight pattern is often described as soaring.
The Eagle Example
Lord Tennyson’s definition of an “eagle”:
He clasps the crag with crooked hands
Close to the sun in lonely hands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
What Is Poetry?
Poetry exists to communicate
significant experience
Its function is not to tell us about
experience but to allow us to
imaginatively participate in it
A.Broadening experience
B. Deepening experience
What Is Poetry?
A.Broadening experience
Making the reader aquainted with a
greater range of experience with
which, in the ordinary course of
events, he might have no contact
B. Deepening experience
Making the reader feel more deeply
and more understandingly the
everyday experiences he has
What Is Poetry NOT?
A. Poetry is NOT always beautiful
The function of poetry maybe to share
something ugly. The words maybe cold
and unpleasant, but it is poetry.
B. Poetry does NOT always have a moral
Moral-hunters see poetry as a kind of
sugar-coated pill - a wholesome truth or
lesson made palpable by pretty words. A
poem does not have to have a lesson,
message, or noble truth about life
The Radio Example
In radio two devices are required:
a transmitting station and a receiver
The completeness of the communication
depends both on the clarity of the
transmitter and the tuning and sensitivity of
the receiver
The purpose of this book is to
help you be a better receiver!
Poetry is Multidimensional
Ordinary language is one-dimensional - it
is aimed solely at the intelligence
Poetry is multidimensional - it is aimed at
the whole person (four dimensions)
1. Intelligence
2. Senses
3. Emotions
4. Imagination
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
William Carlos Williams
Ch. 2 - Reading the Poem
Ch. 2 - Reading the Poem
This book is designed to help
you understand and better
appreciate poetry
FIRST STEP IN THIS PROCESS IS TO
LEARN TO READ POETRY
STEPS TO READING A POEM
1. READ A POEM MORE THAN ONCE
2. KEEP A DICTIONARY BY YOU AND USE IT
3. READ SO AS TO HEAR THE SOUNDS IN
YOUR MIND
4. ALWAYS PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION TO
WHAT THE POEM IS SAYING
5. POEMS MUST BE READ ALOUD
The Man He Killed
Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!
He thought he’d ‘list, perhaps,
Off-hand-like - just as I Was out of work - had sold his traps
No other reason why,
But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.
Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You’d treat, if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown.
I shot him dead because Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That’s clear enough; although
Thomas Hardy
Questions to Ask a Poem
1. Who is the speaker?
2. What is the occasion?
3. What is the central purpose of the
poem?
4. By what means is that purpose
achieved?
5. SEE HANDOUT ON QUESTIONS!
WAKE UP!!!!!!
The most important advice
when reading a poem is to
stay mentally alert!
The Tennis Analogy