Reading of Modern Poems

Here I’m trying to read modern poems and try to give my interpretation of the poems. This is task related to my study and here is the link of that task… http://dilipbarad.blogspot.com/2016/06/modernist-poems-activity-identify_25.html?m=1

While reading this modern poems it takes too much thinking and sometimes we can not get the core meaning of the poems. This poems are very short but meanings are difficult to get. Though I tried here to get some meaning of poems.

1) “The Embankment” by T.E Hulme

(The fantasia of a fallen gentleman on a cold, bitter night)
Once, in finesse of fiddles found I ecstasy,
In a flash of gold heels on the hard pavement.
Now see I
That warmth’s the very stuff of poesy.
Oh, God, make small
The old star-eaten blanket of the sky,
That I may fold it round me and in comfort lie.

T.E Hulme was an influential poet and thinker in the first years of twentieth century. He was an aesthetic philosopher and “father of Imagism”. The starting line of poem says it is fantasy of fallen gentleman on a cold, bitter night. Normally in west the nights of winters are terrible with freezing cold. The gentleman is fallen and he himself admits that once he enjoyed the life but now he has to face hard life of poor people. People who don’t have basic needs like food, cloths, shelter. So the old man asking God to have some mercy and make blanket of sky which he can wrap and can have warmth in cold. The stars are not beautiful in this poem. To poet it seems stars have eaten blanket. “Star eaten blanket”,  “Fallen gentleman” are modern metaphors.

2) “Darkness” by Joseph Campbell

Darkness.
I stop to watch a star shine in the boghole –
A star no longer, but a silver ribbon of light.
I look at it, and pass on.

Joseph Campbell was an Irish poet, American professor of literature. He writes similar kind of poetry to Humle at around the same time though they were working independently of each other.Title it self presents negativity. The combination of darkness and boghole negativity in the air but then there is a star which is shining in boghole. Star in boghole may be symbolize as modern civilization in boghole, and no chance to rescue from that boghole that is why poet says a star no more. A silver ribbon may be as a symbol of hope. But when he just look at it and pass on it signifies disinterest, or may be with only hope poet don’t want to stay there and wait he wants his life to go on.  “Boghole” is modern metaphor.

3) “Image” by Edward Storer

Forsaken lovers,
Burning to a chaste white moon,
Upon strange pyres of loneliness and drought.

Edward Storer was an English writer, translator and poet. He was clearly influenced by Japanese forms such as the haiku.The poem has love theme and talking about abandoned lovers. Whom society cast off because of all beliefs of purity. Chaste white moon here symbolize the purity. Because they are abandoned they are suffering from loneliness and facing drought like life. It also can be about modern and new generation, whom past puritan generation don’t accept, they are burning because of their ideas about purity and they are alone and the life has become like drought. White moon normally pursuit as symbol of peace but here this moon is burning. “Forsaken lovers”, “burning chaste white moon” are modern metaphors.

4) “In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on wet, black bough.

Ezra Pound probably the most famous modernist poet, major figure in early modernist poetry movement and considered the poet most responsible for defining and promoting modernist aesthetic in poetry. Poet here talks about the life on a metro station. The crowd of people in which no one is clear to eyes everyone is looking like a ghost. Poet here connects the nature and modern busy life by comparing petals with crowd of people. After being for so long time in water the bough of tree become black same with constant crowd of people the station has also become like black sick bough. “Black bough” is modern metaphor.

5) “The pool” by H.D

Are you alive?
I touch you.
You quiver like a sea-fish.
I cover you with my net.
What are you—banded one?

H.D was a poet, novelist, and memoirist and one of the main practitioners of Imagism. The title “pool” suggest something which has boundaries. May be here poet talking about lack of freedom and the first question is “Are you alive?” which can be interpret as the death of someone in shackles. Then it refers to sparkle of sea fish may be here poet wants to say the capacity of person is like sea fish but the person has to be in cage. Cover with net also symbolize restriction. At last poet ask “What are you – banded one?”, by that we can say the person is treated like cast off.

6) “Insouciance” by Richard Aldington

In France (1916 – 1918)
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 doves.

Richard Aldington was a writer and poet, best known for war poems. This poem has effect of world wars also have picture of war. The location is France. Then poet talks about the trenches which are on borders though all soldiers live in trench then even poet feel it like lifeless. In this lifeless trenches soldiers are marching cheerfully under the stars which means they have only one shelter, sky. On borders all soldiers are together but far away from family, here poet to entertain himself make poems. The soldiers are tough like rock but the poems created by him is as delicate as flock of doves which stays for a while and then fly away. The poem also symbolize the hard life of soldiers like live in trenches without shelter on head, how they feel lonely and how they die, same like doves fly away suddenly.

7) “Morning at the Window” by 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 housemaids
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.

T.S Eliot was an essayist, publisher, play wright, literary and social critic and one of the twentieth century’s major poets. This poem has effect of world war and the poverty which war has bring to the nation. The jiggling plates in kitchen, the edges of the street which is injured because of its over use. Souls of housemaids are wet, poverty increases without any hope. The fog is also brown. Twisted faces, as poet is looking through window on the streets faces twisting up to look at him. Passer by has dirty cloths and tears in eyes, smile is also aimless which vanished in few seconds. Normally the view of morning in poems are pleasing to eyes, the chirping of birds are described newly sprouted flowers and all but here the sound of rattling plates and hopelessness is sprouting. From the very beginning everyone has sorrow and misery in life. “rattling plates”, “brown fog”, “twisted faces”, “aimless smile” these all are modern metaphors.

8) “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

William Carlos Williams was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. This poem is quite difficult to understand. I am not getting the meaning of it but may be it seems to say that too much dependency on anyone should be avoided. May be the example of wheelbarrow that it can not move by it self, it is fully dependent on someone. Last lines are so confusing. “wheelbarrow”  is modern metaphor.

9) “Anecdote to the Jar” by Wallace Stevens

I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness

Surround that hill.

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.

Wallace was an American modernist poet. This poem first published in 1919, this is Stevens one of best known short poems. Tennessee is state of U.S.A. Poet is talking about hills and jar upon the hills. Here he is mixing nature and culture. Here jar is doing dirty wilderness it surround the hill. May be the jar is transparent and as it is placed on hill it can reflect everything in it self. Now it more spread out, it is not wild but it is on ground. Jar has its dominion everywhere it did not spare anything in Tennessee. The poet here may be talking about government or any other nation and then 'I' becomes the people as we can assume by voting someone is selected, then hill here consider as crown or highest authority. Slovenly wilderness can be dirty politics. Then from that highest authority it took control over everything. At last poet says bird and woodlands are also under the control. “Jar on the hill” is modern metaphor.

10) “I(a” by E.E Cummings

l(a

le

af

fa

ll

s)

one

l

iness

Cummings was an American poet, painter, essayist, author and play wright. Structure of poem also suggest fall by loneliness as many characters are separated from each other and for make a word they have to be together. Here poet talks about leaf which is lonely means all other lives are already left the tree. Tree is barren and the only leaf is remain which also falls because of loneliness. This poem also shows that how a lonely human can not survive. It also reminds me the short story by O’ Henry, “The Last Leaf” that how the last leaf is symbol of hope and it falls the hope also dies. May be here poet also wants to talk about dead hope. 

Thank you.