1. It seems like it's about writing poems on things you've never actually done - "I am more likely to be found In a room like this one-- ------- Trying to manufacture the sensation Of fishing on the Susquehanna"
Right? Maybe things you've imagined yourself doing. Like the guy in Support Your Local Sheriff who never made any secret of the fact that, basically, he was on his way to Australia... but he never actually got there. He kept reading a lot of books about it, though.
2. Enjambment! (If you were expecting something else from me, you were mistaken.) Lots and lots of enjambment. There's a narrator, the person (author) who's talking about how he's never been fishing on the Susquehanna.
I think it's about portraying feelings and sensations through writing, specifically poetry, that whether or not someone has actually experienced those feelings, they know exactly what the poem is talking about. In the poem he talks about things that are seen in the painting he's looking at, and things that even if you've never experienced fishing on the Susquehanna or fishing at all, you still can picture. I think what he's trying to get across is that even if a poet or writer is describing something completely unfamiliar, by also talking about something that is familiar, you're able to understand mostly what they're talking about.
I write all the time about things I've never experienced. I'm writing a book right now about a Civil War veteran who's had a leg amputated. I'm not a guy, I've never been a soldier, I've never been in a war, and I've definitely never lost a limb... but I can imagine all those things. And the person who reads it probably hasn't had any of those things happen to them either, but they can still relate. (And I can find a veteran and [hopefully ] someone who has suffered limb loss, and have them read the book and give me input on what I have portrayed inaccurately so I can fix mistakes...)
2. Enjambment, lots of alliteration. There's a narrator, and I guess there's a little irony of circumstance, not in the actual poem, but between the poem and it's title.
1. It seems like it's about writing poems on things you've never actually done - "I am more likely to be found
ReplyDeleteIn a room like this one--
-------
Trying to manufacture the sensation
Of fishing on the Susquehanna"
Right? Maybe things you've imagined yourself doing. Like the guy in Support Your Local Sheriff who never made any secret of the fact that, basically, he was on his way to Australia... but he never actually got there. He kept reading a lot of books about it, though.
Delete2. Enjambment! (If you were expecting something else from me, you were mistaken.) Lots and lots of enjambment. There's a narrator, the person (author) who's talking about how he's never been fishing on the Susquehanna.
ReplyDeleteThere MAY be a lot of poems in this course that involve enjambment because your teacher MIGHT really like that herself.
DeleteI think it's about portraying feelings and sensations through writing, specifically poetry, that whether or not someone has actually experienced those feelings, they know exactly what the poem is talking about. In the poem he talks about things that are seen in the painting he's looking at, and things that even if you've never experienced fishing on the Susquehanna or fishing at all, you still can picture. I think what he's trying to get across is that even if a poet or writer is describing something completely unfamiliar, by also talking about something that is familiar, you're able to understand mostly what they're talking about.
ReplyDeleteI dig it!
DeleteI write all the time about things I've never experienced. I'm writing a book right now about a Civil War veteran who's had a leg amputated. I'm not a guy, I've never been a soldier, I've never been in a war, and I've definitely never lost a limb... but I can imagine all those things. And the person who reads it probably hasn't had any of those things happen to them either, but they can still relate. (And I can find a veteran and [hopefully ] someone who has suffered limb loss, and have them read the book and give me input on what I have portrayed inaccurately so I can fix mistakes...)
2. Enjambment, lots of alliteration. There's a narrator, and I guess there's a little irony of circumstance, not in the actual poem, but between the poem and it's title.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I love the irony!
Delete