Group+C+Paper

Group C Professor Bishop American Literature 2132 November 14, 2010

__Meaning is Subjective __

Is it possible for any modernist poem to relay only one definitive meaning? After providing a close reading of the works written by modernist poets, including Robert Frost, Marianne Moore, Hilda Doolittle, Wallace Stevens, and William Carlos Williams, one could easily attempt to determine the author's intentions, as well as construct a plethora of interpretations of the given poem. However, the belief that modernist literary works contain multiple messages is highly frowned upon by the New Critics, who focus on discovering only one unbiased meaning of a poem by solely examining its context. New Criticism theories, on the other hand, create a direct battle with the modernist tenet that meaning is subjective, a characteristic that is exceedingly recognizable in the poems written by the aforementioned authors. The application of literary devices in these poems, including imagery, symbolism, and allusion, illustrate evidence for subjective meanings and thus provide grounds for analyzing these works with the New Critical approach.

New criticism:

During the emergence of the 20th century the idea of Realism had begun to fade. Americans breaking away from the conservative ideals and began to form new ways of understanding and expression through their art, music, and literature. However these new ways of enlightenment alone were not the defining principals of the era, it was the newly evolved ways of criticism that shaped the mind frames of Americans during this time. This New Criticism would not just skim the surface, but rather drill deep to the very core of the text providing the reader with a precise yet universal understanding. Though major developments and criticism were found throughout all of the emerging “arts”, the New Critics found a particular niche in that of literature, more specifically poetry. The major concept they stressed was that in viewing works such as poetry, that you must treat it as if it were “self-contained”. By only viewing the work you do not take into consideration the authors intentions, nor the readers, even the historical and cultural contexts a dismissed. Eagleton states that “attention is to the ‘words on the page’ rather than to the contexts which produced and surrounds them”. By focusing only on the text the reader was able to eliminate all the “outside noise” and focus on the works one true meaning. With this criticism gaining more and more followers, a rift within the community of critics began to arise. Though they still all agreed that the “notion of ambiguity” was a key component of New Criticism, it was their way of analyzing that that caused the divide. Some believed in the Intentional Fallacy, neglecting all of the “intended meaning” behind the work. Observing outside factors could prove distracting, and all that mattered were the words on the page. Even stating that “there was not need to examine the work in its historical context, or even discuss the structure of ideas on which it drew” (Eagleton). However others believed in the Affective Fallacy which proposed that in order for a poems final and ultimate meaning to be significant it must take into account the readers response. This proposed the “what it is vs. what it does” factor. Even thought it was widely popular there were many that opposed the ideas of the New Critics. Stating that to get the full comprehension of a poem the reader must take more into consideration than the rhyme and meter, the characterization, setting, and theme, but also look at the author, the time and place. They believe that these were all key parts of this poetry puzzle, and that the reader would not benefit by stripping a piece of work of its history. Despite the opposers, New Criticism carried on. By breaking down line by line, word by word, analyzing poetry became almost a science. Eliminating theories of what meaning could be, they began to form what could be considered “laws”; a definite understanding of works. They knew that only by separating author and work could new and real life be breathed into the “lungs” of the passage and therefore bringing it to life. Eagleton states that: “The poem itself was as opaque to rational enquiry as the Almighty himself: it existed as a self-enclosed object, mysteriously intact to its own unique being. The poem was that which could not be paraphrased, expressed in any language other than itself: each of it’s parts was folded in on the others in a complex organic unity which it would be a king of blasphemy to violate.” By making a defining stamp on the critical analysis of literature, New Criticism has brought new understandings to surface. By intertwining with the various tenets of modernism it proved to be a corner stone in this new time. By breaking the traditions of classic reading and comprehension they played on notion of a fragmented world. The new critics challenged subjective understandings and stressed that rather looking outside the box, focus only on the box, the lines that make the box, the corners within the box, the box in terms of a box; because only then will its grand picture be revealed.

Poem Analysis: William Carlos Williams "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus"

History is the cornerstone of subjectivity in Williams' "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." This poem starts off, however, with multiple objective elements. In the first stanza, for instance, the persona states, "According to Brueghel / when Icarus fell / it was spring" (Williams 1-3). The first line of the poem represents the conveyance of a historic event rather than a present situation, as it receives support from past tense verbs such as "fell" and "was" in lines two and three, respectively; in addition, the second and third lines reveal basic facts that surround any historical event, such as the name(s) (in this case, Icarus) of anybody involved and date (spring) of the occurrence. On the other hand, subjectivity, mainly through the application of imagery, ascends shortly after the beginning of the poem. For example, in the second stanza, the persona says that "a farmer was ploughing / his field" (Williams 4-5) during the event. This clearly demonstrates the assumption that this person was a farmer just because he/she was performing farm-related duties. Another instance occurs immediately afterwards, as the persona states that "the whole pageantry / of the year was / awake [and] tingling" (Williams 6-8); these lines illustrate an automatic opinion that the setting was beautiful solely because the event transpired during the springtime. Perhaps the most subjective statement throughout the poem, although it possesses no correlation to imagery whatsoever, exists in the sixth stanza, where the persona simply states, "unsignificantly" (Williams 16). Labeling this historical event as rather inconsequential would constitute as highly judgmental, especially since the persona acknowledges in the closing lines that the story expressed in this poem " . . . was / Icarus drowning" (Williams 20-21). Another persistent factor throughout this poem, besides imagery, that can establish a relatively subjective tone, even throughout stanzas that display the objective aspects, is the lack of punctuation. The opening stanza of this poem provides the best example of this concept; for instance, rearranging lines 1-3 in any random order, such as, "According to Brueghel / it was spring / when Icarus fell," or, "it was spring / when Icarus fell / According to Brueghel," would generally supply the same notion that is already invoked in its permanent position (Williams 1-3). Based on the balance between the subjective and the objective in this poem, the overall message is that history can appear just as, if not more, opinionative as it is factual.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Critical Article Summary: William Carlos Williams

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">In //William Carlos Williams and Modern Poetry: From Modernism to Modernisms//, John Lowney explains the significance of Williams' poetry during the modernist era from both critical and positive standpoints. The most notable criticism of William Carlos Williams was his desire for originality and uniqueness. Apparently, he acquired an "insistence on distinguishing his work from more widely recognized modernist peers such as T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound" (Lowney 39-40). In regards to the actual context in his publications, Williams was highly known for allowing open form in his poetry; this could possibly clarify why current criticisms of his publications possess "a correspondence to challenge . . . his dismissal of formal verse" (Lowney 45). In some instances, however, this journal article also praises the modernist poet for his creativity. For example, while discussing one particular work titled //Paterson//, Lowney states that Williams' publication "dramatizes consciousness as action rather than meditation and requires active participation from the reader in making sense of its multiple points of view" (Lowney 44). Finally, the article expresses the symbolic achievement of William Carlos Williams by stating that his "significance as a modernist poet is perhaps most notable where the concept of modernism is most intensely debated" (Lowney 52). Ironically, the majority of the aforementioned characteristics directly correlate to one specific poem Lowney failed to reference titled "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus."

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Poem Analysis "The Mending Wall" -- Robert Frost

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">“The Mending Wall” starts off describing the nature in which the poem takes place. Following after the narrator describes how the Rabbits demolish the stones placed below the wall trying to escape the hunters and their dogs. Frost also gets in the habit of using “wall” to create a setting of something being sealed off entirely. As the poem continues one would realized the “wall” Frost discusses would be better visualized as a fence. As they walk and talk to one another they maintain their own side making sure not to cross one another’s path. The passage: “He is all pine and I am apple orchard. My apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pines, I tell him. He only says, “Good friends make good neighbors.”” Meaning one another will keep to them-selves and will never get into one another’s business. The narrator seems confused as to why the fence is put up, thinking that a fences only purpose is to keep subjects like animals in or to keep them out. The main idea of the poem overall expresses the need for privacy and goes in to detail about people and their passion for privacy.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Critical Article summary: Authors: Morrissey, L.J

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Morrissey speaks of Frost’s //The Mending Wall// as seemingly amicable poem, since the speaker discusses spells, elves and walking apple trees, the reader wouldn’t assume its real context is the destruction of social barriers. The critic also informs the audience that the “wall” indeed acts like a “visual icon” that all men create for themselves; it also explains how one side of the wall resides light and life, and the other dwells darkness and evil. Morrissey expresses throughout the article that it caught him by surprise that Frost who usually keeps to himself and would be considered immensely private would construct a poem that contained such social issues. As the narrator tries to establish practical reasons for this wall, despite the strong feelings of the moral ignorance the wall accommodates, he tries to visualize both sides. “The art of gossip in “Mending Wall” has three clear stages, first the speaker establishes common grounds with the reader/listener, second he dramatizes a past event to invite the reader/listener empathy, finally he challenges the reader/listener as he has been and dismisses the challenge.”(Morrissey 60) Gossip is said to set barriers by insisting on a relationship between writer and reader. Morrissey lets his opinion be known when he speaks that the message of brotherhood is achieved from the exaggerated stance of gossip.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Poem Analysis The Emperor of Ice-Cream

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The poem “The Emperor of Ice-Cream” by Wallace Stevens uses many symbols to illustrate to the reader that meaning is subjective and that the greatest truths can come from what society believes to be insufficient, unclean, and ugly. He uses the line 3, “In kitchen cups concupiscent curds” illustrate that curd, fat part of milk, is ugly and makes the milk unclean thus unusable while in all truth, many dairy products made from curd (such as ice cream, cheese, and yogurt) are enjoyed on a daily basis. Wallace Stevens uses the term concupiscent which means lust or desire to introduce lines 4-6,“Let the wenches dawdle in such dress /As they are used to wear, and let the boys /Bring flowers in last month's newspapers”. These lines are uses to symbolize that woman will wear dress that make them fell attractive and boy will use their limited resources to impress the attractive woman. Wallace Stevens writes “The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream”(line 8) to imply that the most important thing is the small things or the intentions behind them. This line also illustrate that society only cares about frivolous things. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">After the completion of the first stanza Wallace Stevens changes his focus from the living and how they interact, to the dead and how the living feel about losing someone. Wallace starts by describing the woman “Take from the dresser of deal, /Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet /On which she embroidered fantails once” (line 9-11). The term deal means plain, this means that the woman being described is plain and maybe ordinary. The next line “Lacking the three glass knobs” (line 10) refers to the lost of glamour or fanciness. This concept comes from the glass knobs, this type of knob was reserved for fancy furniture during the 1920’s. this same line and line 11 “that sheet /On which she embroidered fantails once” refers that she at one time was more than plain but was beautiful and noticeable. This lays down the work that leads to the finale half of the stanza, “And spread it so as to cover her face. /If her horny feet protrude, they come /To show how cold she is” (lines 12-14) these three lines introduce the fact that she is dead and that all attempts to bring her back to life or restore her to her former glory will always show the damage and the coldness of her body.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Critical Article summary “Steven’s The Emperor of Ice Cream” Arthur Bethea

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Arthur Bethea’s article “Steven’s The Emperor of Ice Cream” deals with the sexual symbolism of the poem and how many of the past critics have failed to expand on the symbols that Wallace Stevens used to explain the sexual nature of this poem and relays heavily on the literal translation of the works to explain what is going on but fails to look in depth to what are the intentions of each word or action of the poem. Further along in the article Arthur starts on analyzes the woman depicted in the second stanza and the possible meaning of the literal meaning of Wallace’s poem.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Poem Analysis Leda and Helen by Hilda Doolittle

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Leda was written by Hilda Doolittle and published in 1919. If you didn’t know the story of Leda then it would be very easy to misunderstand what the poem was regarding. It is a poem about the mythological woman Leda, a mortal raped by the god Zeus. He did so in the form of a swan. However, Doolittle’s poem doesn’t seem to talk about a rape; it is more like a beautiful, symbolic, form of sexual intercourse. There are many forms of imagery in this poem. The lily represents a woman and the swan a man. She states, “The slow lifting of the tide, floats into the river and slowly drifts” she is describing the act between Zeus and Leda. The discussions of the water could also mean that she was raped by the water. Doolittle says “… no more regret…the gold day-lily outspreads and rest…” this is talking about how she is feeling mentally during the act. She finally feels a peace and since of ease because it was over and she was thankful. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Doolittle’s poem, Helen was published in 1924 after Leda. Helen was the daughter of Leda and Zeus when he raped the mortal Leda. It was believed that Helen is what caused the Trojan War. The poem describes the statue of Helen and the hatred from the Greeks towards her. They hate her for causing the war and it is a constant reminder when they look at her. Doolittle writes, “The still eyes on the white face… where she stands…” She continues to explain how their hate for her grows because they have to see her, remembering past enchantments and past ills”.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Critical Article summary “Making it Really New: Hilda Doolittle, Gwendolyn Brooks, and the Feminist Potential of Modern Poetry”

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Gertrude Reif Hughes’ article, “Making it Really New: Hilda Doolittle, Gwendolyn Brooks, and the Feminist Potential of Modern Poetry,” she discusses the authors listed above and why they are important to modernism and feminism. Hilda Doolittle is a marvelous example of a modern writer. She uses her feminism and imagery to show examples of her modernism. Hughes tells us this in her article published in American Quarterly. She also states that another good example of Doolittle’s modern writing is her way of “merging subjects with objects.” We see this in Leda when Hilda talks about the rape using Zeus as the swan and Leda as the Lilly and her description of the waters actions. While reading her poem you can tell the subject is about sexual intercourse by the objects she describes. Doolittle was a very smart and talented writer and she wrote about mythology in a way that makes you re-think the story and the people involved and challenges people to read into things better. According to Hughes “Hilda Doolittle was prominent intellectual and expatriate known for her early contributions to imagism and for her relationships to male mentors… She performed intense romantic relationships with both women and men and was a spiritual quester who enjoyed a variety of esoteric religious traditions.”

// Poetry Analysis //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> "Poetry" Marianne Moore-

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The poem entitled “Poetry” written by Marianne Moore explores the necessity of poetry, and how it “bobs-and-weaves” through what we believe to be reality, and what we know to be imagination. As the poem opens it relates to the reader by showing a common distain for poetry. It even goes as far to call its nonsense “fiddle”. However before coming to a complete agreement of dislike with the reader it notes in the first stanza that “reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, once discovers in it after all, a place for the genuine.” (Moore 3-5). The dictionary defines genuine as “free from pretense, affectation, or hypocrisy; sincere”. Knowing that, it leaves a question in the readers mind asking how; what had once been called “fiddle” now be a place for the genuine? By breaking it down to its mores simplistic nature, the poem states that poetry can be as natural as the dilation of eyes, or the raising of hairs. These allusions, like poetry, are not important because of a deep philosophical meaning, but because they are important simply because they are part of everyday life. The poem goes on to say that “these things are important not because a high-sounding interpretation can be put upon them but because they are useful” (Moore 8-11). By stressing the notion that when the most necessary of literature sits so far intellectually over the head of the “common-man” he loses sight of why it was ever important or relevant to start with. The poem even makes claim to this stating “that we do not admire what we cannot understand” (Moore 14-15). By giving imagery of “the bat holding on upside down, or in quest of something to eat” (Moore 15-17) the poem shows how our ignorance of many things is simply the way of life for others. By not understanding the bats need for shelter, or that animals need for food we strip these things of its importance and relevance. In the case of literature, specifically poetry can be viewed in the same way. And it is only when we view poetry in all of its “rawness” as the poem mentions that the reader admires and respects that beauty of poetry.

// Critical Analysis //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> //“Marianne Moore and the Women Modernizing New York//”

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">In Christanne Miller’s essay //“Marianne Moore and the Women Modernizing New York//” written in 2000 the topic of the “female movement” is brought to light, more importantly their influence in literature. By quoting one of Moore’s earlier poems entitled “New York” she says that “what draws one to the city, is not its commerce, its scholastic philosophy of the wilderness, but rather it’s accessibility to experience.” Being a male dominate society up until this point the female “public experience” up until this point had been little to none and now at the turn of the 19th century women began to take a more bohemian lifestyle. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Miller states that Moore was part of two types of emerging revolutions within the country during this time; one aesthetic and the other social. This was shared by many of the writers during this time to adapt a “make it new” attitude and cause their readers to re-think the world and broaden the imagination. This was do so that the once stagnate ideals would breath new “fresh” life. Miller notes that as Moore moved to New York she wanted to be “an active and public player in the shaping of modernist aesthetic and art”. This moved her into becoming a more public figure using not only her experiences, but the “realness” of what she viewed around her. This modernism approach brought back truth in literature what had up until that point been downplayed. By representing life in it’s most simplistic form you find truth, and how like New York, literature “can be both the shackles and keys of understanding.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Frost, Moore, Doolittle, Stevens and Williams were at their prime during the era of "New criticism" which by definition would state “it’s a closed analysis of a text” and explains that the meaning can always be subjective. Literary criticism was so important during this time for the fact that it gave the audience a clearer image to what the writer is trying to express. Now each reader would share the same interpretation instead of having different opinions as to what they were reading. For the first time poets and writers got the chance to have their work viewed, knowing the opinion they would extract from the audience. Thus changing poetry and literary work forever!

**__ Works Cited __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Bethea, Arthur F. "Stevens's The Emperor of Ice Cream." Explicator 62.2 (2004): 103-106. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 8 Nov. 2010. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Doolittle, Hilda. "Helen." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 7th Edition. Vol. C. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2007. 1518-1519. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Doolittle, Hilda. "Leda." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 7th Edition. Vol. C. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2007. 1516-1517. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Frost, Robert. "Mending Wall." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 7th Edition. Vol. C. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2007. 1390. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Eagleton, Terry. __Literary Theory.__ Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 2003. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Hughes, Gertrude R. "Making it Really New: Hilda Doolittle, Gwendolyn Brooks, and the Feminist Potential of Modern Poetry." American Quarterly. 42.3 (1990): 375-401. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Lowney, John. "William Carlos Williams and Modern Poetry: From Modernism to Modernisms." A Decade of Books. Spec. Issue of William Carlos Williams Review 25.2 (2005): 39-54. Web. 3 Nov. 2010. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Miller, Cristanne. "Marianne Moore and the Women Modernizing New York." Modern Philology 98.2 (2000): 339. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Moore, Marianne. "Poetry." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 7th Edition. Vol. C. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2007. 1532. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Morrissey, L.J. ""Mending Wall": A Structure of Gossip." English Language Notes 25.3 (1988): 58. Web. 5Nov 2010. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><http://web.ebscohost.com/>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Stevens, Wallace. "The Emperor of Ice Cream."The Norton Anthology of American Literature. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Ed. Nina Baym. 7th Edition. Vol. C. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2007. 1475-1476. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Williams, William Carlos. "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 7th Edition. Vol. C. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2007. 1475-1476. Print.