I responded to the poem “Charlie Howard’s Descent” by Mark Doty because of the excellent use of meter and the way the subject matter is revealed throughout the poem.
The first three stanzas of the poem each end with an incomplete thought that is finished in the next stanza. This pausing forces the reader to think and reflect. The first stanza ends with the line “it is not as if falling” and the next stanza begins “is something new”. Having the first stanza end with the term falling creates the physical impression of falling on the page and the next line creates a rhyme with “through” in the middle of the first stanza and “knew” in the middle of this stanza. There are few lines in this poem, but they connect these first two stanzas with regular frequency, creating a contrast between the remainder of the poem.
The termination of the second stanza uses a similar style. The separation of the lines “What others wanted” and “opened like an abyss” has two effects. First it creates a pause after talking about the expectations of others, allowing the reader to reflect on the heaviness of those expectations. Second, it creates a very physical empty, abyssal space for those expectations.
At the end of the fifth stanza the style of the poem changes. It is the first stanza to actually end with a complete thought and it comes with a change in subject matter. The poem begins to talk about the subject of the poem’s response to the treatment of the town and the slurs used against him.
I appreciated the imagery used in the eleventh stanza. After talking about the killers throwing him into the river it states they are “really boys now, afraid”, creating a contrast between the violence found in the previous lines. Here is a link to the story that inspired the poem.
I also appreciated the poem “Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting” by Kevin C. Powers. It is a small poem but I loved the imagery of the last stanza:
“I tell her how Pvt. Bartle says, offhand,
that war is just us
making little pieces of metal
pass through each other.”
This stanza trivialized the act of killing someone else in a way that the writer obviously does not believe from the previous stanzas. It is because of this trivializing and the casual, “offhand” way that it is said that it makes such an impact.
Doty, Mark. “Charlie Howard’s Descent.” Angelfire.com. Angelfire,
2011. Web. 16 June 2011.
Powers, Kevin C. “Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting.” Poetryfoundations.org. Poetry Foundation, 2011. Web. 16 June 2011
Image of “Katyn Medallion” by Stanislav Szukalski from http://varnishfineart.com/Artist-Detail.cfm?ArtistsID=685&StartRow=25&ThisPage=3&UniMediumType=
I really liked how you used a lot of literary terms including stanza, meter, rhyme and contrast, among others. When analyzing poetry, alot of people neglect the construction of the poem, which is awesome that you didn't. I usually forget, but I look at the meter of the poem, especially because it can key in on the feeling the speaker is looking for. You also interpreted the war poem different than I did, however it is interesting that you thought the writer didn't believe what the soldier was saying about killing. Nice work!
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ReplyDeleteWhen I read “Charlie Howard’s Descent” I did not realize that the writer would finish their incomplete thought in the next stanza. The poem did make me have to think about what I was reading and I had to reread some stanza's a few time. In the 2nd poem "Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting" I pretty much interpreted the poem in the same way and my favorite part was the last stanza because of the imagery that came to my mind wile reading it. Good Job!
Shelly
Lorin-
ReplyDeleteI just read your blog posting on your response to poetry of witness; I think that you did a great job! I too used ““Charlie Howard’s Descent” by Mark Doty for my post, but you thought of a number of things that I did not. The first thing that stuck out to me in your post was the emphasis on meter of the poem itself. I think it is true when you said that “At the end of the fifth stanza the style of the poem changes.” Without those final verses, I agree that the poem would not have the same effect. You also pointed out that the spacing of the stanzas was reflective, I did not notice that! As far as your thoughts on “Letter Composed during a Lull in the Fighting” I think that you did a great job there, too. You reflection about war being trivialized was rather deep, and made the reader think about war overall. Great post, and good luck with your paper.
Stacey
The poem "letter composed during a lull in fighting, is one that I also chose. Iv enjoyed your perspective on it, commenting that he trivializes the act of killing. A thought I completely agree with but hadnt thought to mention it that way in my post. I also like how you analyze hoe the end of the first few stanzas in the first poem, are finished in the following stanza. It was a simplicity I managed to overlook as I read through them. Overall very well written, maybe just a little more content analysis would have made it a bit more intriguing, good post!
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