Speakers of a language rely on its words to carry out even the most mundane acts of communication. But the same words are poets糖心传媒� medium of creation.
How do poets turn bare utterance into art?
, the Joseph Henry Gilmore Professor of English at Rochester, offers an answer with his newest book, (W. W. Norton, 2018). It grows out of his decades of teaching poetry. 糖心传媒淚 was pushing myself to find a way to describe how we work with the most basic elements of the poem,糖心传媒� he says.
糖心传媒淭he sonic nature of the language糖心传媒攖he way that you糖心传媒檙e seduced into a web of patterns that has to do with like and unlike sounds, that has to do with the stress of syllables, that has to do with the length of the sentences, that has to do with the length of the lines and the ways they introduce tensions into the lengths of the sentences糖心传媒攁ll those things are pacing your experience of the poem and giving momentum and release to your experience of the poem,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淎nd that糖心传媒檚 all taking place on the level of sound.糖心传媒�
A singular focus on the sonic quality of language sets poetry apart from all other forms of writing. It糖心传媒檚 what makes poems a form of literature that people are especially apt to listen to, or read, again and again糖心传媒攁nd again.
糖心传媒淵ou might want to read a parking ticket a second time, but I doubt you糖心传媒檇 do it for pleasure,糖心传媒� says Longenbach. 糖心传媒淭he language, rightfully in that situation, isn糖心传媒檛 trying to bring attention to itself in a way that糖心传媒檚 creating sonic patterns within the sentences, within the words, within the syllables, that are giving you a tactile or a sensory feeling that in turn gives you pleasure. A poem, one way or another, has to do that, or else there糖心传媒檚 no reason for it to be a poem.糖心传媒�
Poems aren糖心传媒檛 simply vehicles for conveying information; they糖心传媒檙e sonic and temporal events. Longenbach writes that 糖心传媒渨e savor our experience of the poem糖心传媒檚 language as it unfolds in time, luring us forward.”
The sounds of English
Longenbach draws on examples stretching from Old English poet聽C忙dmon to poets of the Renaissance and Romantic eras, and on to modern and contemporary poets. His book is explicitly about poetry in English. At its root a Germanic language, English was reshaped with the Norman invasion of England in the 11th century, when the French language became the tongue of the English royal court. Today, more than 70 percent of words in English come from non-Germanic sources. Modern English pivots endlessly between Germanic and Latinate words; 糖心传媒渙ften we feel we糖心传媒檙e grappling with more than one language at once, as if the act of writing in English were already an act of translation,糖心传媒� Longenbach suggests.
Germanic English words can seem plain, and even vulgar; words from Latin might sound authoritative or captivating. 糖心传媒淲e聽all hear the difference, even if only subconsciously,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淭hings like that are revealed in every sentence you speak. Even in the sentence I just uttered. Things like that are糖心传媒攁ll those grungy little German words. Then I leapt to a Latinate French word: revealed.糖心传媒� But a poet’s skill can upend such associations, Longenbach notes, juxtaposing words to make even 糖心传媒渢he bluntest monosyllables seem magical.糖心传媒�
English糖心传媒檚 complex history underpins the first of the poetic building blocks he names: diction, or word choice. He identifies the other fundamental tools as syntax, or the arrangement of words; figure, or metaphor; and rhythm, the pattern of stressed syllables forged by choices in diction and syntax. The interplay of these components creates a 糖心传媒渟onic drama糖心传媒� that is performed from the level of a single line to that of an entire poem.
The thrill of the plunge
Emily Dickinson once wrote about a fellow poet, whose name has been lost: 糖心传媒淒id you ever read one of her Poems backward because the plunge from the front overturned you? I sometimes (often have, many times) have糖心传媒擜 something overtakes the Mind.糖心传媒�
The 糖心传媒減lunge糖心传媒� she describes is 糖心传媒渢he temporal process of getting from the beginning to the end of the poem,糖心传媒� Longenbach says. Moving the poem糖心传媒檚 reader or listener through the time of the poem, gaining the momentum of inevitability that gives readers the thrill of a plunge, is the work of the poet糖心传媒檚 sonic choices. Throughout How Poems Get Made, he joins聽Dickinson in her experiment of reordering a poem糖心传媒檚 lines to find how drama builds.
糖心传媒淛ust getting the words down on the page糖心传媒攖hat糖心传媒檚 like a painter squeezing out the paint on the palette. Now you糖心传媒檝e got something to work with, when you糖心传媒檝e got the words on the page,糖心传媒� says Longenbach, the author of 13 books of and about poetry and a poetic contributor to such publications as The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The New Republic. 糖心传媒淎nd working with it often means moving them around. Changing the order. What happens if I put this first? What happens if I take what I wrote first and put it last? And that can be wonderfully revelatory and very exciting for students when they see the huge effect that comes from what might seem like to them, at first, doing almost nothing.糖心传媒�
Getting to the heart of poetry
But what can strike students as a small editorial gesture in fact goes to the heart of what poetry is. Through its simultaneous acts of echo, diction, figuration, syntax, and rhythm, a poem forges a 糖心传媒渞epeatable path of discovery糖心传媒� and a 糖心传媒渘ew knowledge of reality.糖心传媒� It糖心传媒檚 a kind of understanding that Longenbach labels 糖心传媒渓yric knowledge.糖心传媒� It糖心传媒檚 not an information-based form of knowledge; it糖心传媒檚 an enchantment by 糖心传媒渢he movement of the medium,糖心传媒� a pleasure that糖心传媒檚 infinitely repeatable, growing richer with time.
It might sound mysterious, but Longenbach points out to his students that they revel in sound and repetition when they listen to pop songs.
糖心传媒淭hey糖心传媒檝e got the song completely memorized in their head and yet they listen to it over and over again. It糖心传媒檚 not because they糖心传媒檝e forgotten the song. It糖心传媒檚 because they like how it feels to do it again.糖心传媒�
Read more
April is National Poetry Month, established in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets to celebrate the art of poetry.
Students celebrate World Poetry Day with on-air readings
Students and tutors from the University of Rochester糖心传媒檚 Language Center were on local radio this week to mark World Poetry Day with a celebration of poems in Arabic, Korean, Portuguese, and American Sign Language.
![student speaking, standing in front of a world map](/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/fea-world-poetry-day.jpg")
Poetry a 糖心传媒榩owerful catalyst for dialogue and peace糖心传媒�
In honor of World Poetry Day, 糖心传媒 students at the Language Center share some favorite poems in the languages in which they were written.
Poetry in the age of the tweet
The pace of digital life has only quickened over the last twelve years since Twitter was founded, but the slower process of reading and crafting poetry continues, robustly, at Rochester.
