Poetry Essay

Major Essay: Poetry

Poetry is an ancient literary art form which continues to have a strong following today. Scholar I.B. (Bunny) Iskov wrote an enlightening piece called: ‘Why Poetry is so Important’. Iskov spoke of the idea that poetry can relate to all types of people, as a “literary vehicle” bringing the words “alive in the mind of the reader” (Iskov, 2014). This further introduces the idea of poetry being a vital language throughout time. This essay, will closely explore three poems of love and/or death to illustrate Iskvos’s observations of the pleasure, importance and function of poetry. The chosen poems are: I Cannot Live With You, by Emily Dickinson, Finished, by Kate Lewellyn and Dulce Et Decorum Est, by Wilfrid Owen.

Iskov observes that poetry relates to many different types of people, as it is “eagerly read or listened to - by all kinds and condition of people” (Iskov, 2014), from farmers to philosophers, clergymen to queens. One reason people may find poetry pleasurable to read is that they can relate a poem’s theme back to their own lives. For example, both I Cannot Live With You and Finished are about love; a concept that readers around the world can connect with. However, I Cannot Live With You is about a forbidden love, whilst Finished follows the evolution of a relationship as it descends into abuse. In the first stanza of this poem Dickinson presents, ‘love’ presented as hidden or forgotten “And life is over there-/behind the shelf” (Dickinson, 1830 – 1886), this is the first hint that the poem s about forbidden love. As the poem progresses it becomes clear to the reader that the main theme may represent Dickinson’s love life.

As, Iskov says poetry is a reflexion of the writer’s feelings, and that everyone has the personal experiences required to write poems (Iskov, 2014). All who relate to Dickinson’s situation of forbidden/hidden love, will not necessarily write poetry themselves, but due to their shared experiences with the author they are able to find a “unique value, and something that makes them (us) feel better”. This is what Iskov regards as “central to each individual’s existence” (Iskov, 2014).

Llewellyn’s poem takes the reader through the evolution of a relationship. Within each stanza the reader experiences a new stage of the development, from new love, settled love, and sexual love to stanza four where it’s revealed that the relationship is has progressed to an abusive one. “There’ll be no more/ hits across my mouth love/ and crawling on the floor” says Llewellyn (Llewellyn ,1936). Iskov believes that poetry’s primary concern is with experience (Iskov, 2014). It is in this fourth stanza where readers can either experience the writer’s feelings as something new, or they could be getting in touch with their own feeling and delving into memories.

Unlike the last two poems discussed Dulce Et Decorum Est is about death. The title of Owen’s poem is Latin for ‘it is sweet and honourable’. The poem takes the reader into the world of a soldier and reveals how unglamorous war is. Although most readers would not have experienced war, through Owen’s poem they are able to lose themselves in each word, relying on their senses, intelligence, emotions and imagination (Iskov, 2014) to connect with the poem. Iskov believes that poetry is “concerned with all kinds of experiences” (Iskov, 2014), which explains how a range of people, with their own varied backgrounds, can relate to, and even find pleasure, within the words.

Iskov identifies a major paradox of human existence when she states; “all experience, when transmitted through the medium of art, becomes enjoyable” (Iskov, 2014). Death, the theme of Owen’s poem Dulce Et Decorum Est, is not romantic, but the way in which it’s written, and the techniques used, give the reader a visual and almost dream like experience. Owen’s opening sentence “bent double, like old beggars under sacks” (Owen, 1893-1918) is an example of how poetry can be visually evoking. But when you unpack the meaning behind the words it is not romantic at all, even though that opening line flows so gracefully with its use of imagery and metaphor. Iskov is aware of this when she states that a “poem can turn the elephant from a museum specimen into the highest concrete visual image that comes alive in the mind of the reader” (Iskov, 2014). This is clearly illustrated within Dulce Et Decorum Est, as each stanza elegantly transports the reader into the world of a solider, however horrible the theme.

Iskov lists quite a few techniques used to romanticise poems, which are far removed from romance. These include sound, rhythm, repetition and irony. All of these methods “involve the reader’s senses, intelligence, emotions and imagination” (Iskov, 2014). These devices are clearly illustrated in Owen’s second stanza:

“GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling

And floundering like a man in fire or lime.—

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning”(Owen, 1893-1918).

The repetition of the word gas and the rhythm of the words create a sense of urgency. This illustrates Iskov’s belief that “even painful experience is pleasurable when poetry romanticises hard labour, poverty and even death” (Iskov, 2014).

Lewellyn’s poem also brings in the techniques described above by Iskov. From the title Finished to the last stanza “there’s no more/love love” (Lewellyn, 1936) the poem uses these romantic techniques to describe the non-romantic qualities of an abusive relationship. The poem first appears to be so innocent and written so nonchalantly when Llewellyn says “there’ll be no more/ drinking on the verandah love/ or eating roasted veal”, escalating onto the passion of “there’ll be no more/ my legs around your neck love/ and howling at the moon” until this is quickly followed by “there’ll be no more/ hits across my mouth love/ and crawling on the floor” (Lewellyn, 1936). This vividly contrast the relationship, from intimacy and pleasurable ecstasy to such a fierce and personal negative with no warning signs or bridging gap for the reader.