The Wild Cherry

The Wild Cherry- Malcolm Lowry

We put a prop beneath the sagging bough
That yearned over the beach, setting four stones
Cairn-like against it, but we thought our groans
Were the wild cherry’s, for it was as though
Utterly set with broken seams on doom
It listed wilfully down like a mast,
Stubborn as some smashed recalcitrant boom
That will neither be cut loose nor made fast.
Going-going- it was yet no bidder
For life, whether for such sober healing
We left its dead branches to consider
Until its sunward pulse renewed, feeling
The passionate hatred of that tree
Whose longing was to wash away to sea.

This poem caught my eye because it seemed so story-like in its free verse form. It really could be argued, perhaps, that this poem may just be prose in disguise, but I am definitely not a mastered critique, and would not myself make that argument. I found it really interesting that this poem only had two end-stopped lines, and the rest flows with enjambment. This is obviously why is has such a narrative feel to it. I enjoyed how the cherry tree was personified, and described as being "stubborn" and that it "listed wilfully". The images used to describe the tree as interesting, although I’m not sure if I fully understand them. The phrase "for it was as though utterly set with broken seams on doom" caused some confusion for me as to what this really means in relation to the poem. I interpreted this as the roots being the broken seams that perhaps are uprooted, causing potential doom for the life of the tree. Yet, in response, the tree "listed wilfully down like a mast". This simile seems very realistic, and painted the image of a tree that is awkwardly grown in an unsymmetrical position. I enjoyed the "Going-going" movement of the poem that was ironic, as it is clear that the tree is not moving . What I was truly unclear about, however, was the speakers "passionate hatred of that tree", perhaps because it was not fully upright, nor gone, rather, "whose longing was to wash away to sea". I really didn’t get the overall significance of this poem, however, it was the free verse and imagery of the tree that caught my attention. Perhaps someone can give me a clearer analysis of this poem if you happen to read this blog, because I’m out of ideas!

Distortion of Atwood

This is a Photograph of Me- Margaret Atwood

It was taken some time ago.
At first it seems to be
a smeared
print: blurred line and gray flecks
blended with the paper;

then, as you scan
it, you see in the left-hand corner
a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree
(balsam or spruce) emerging
and, to the right, halfway up
what ought to be a gentle
slope, a small frame house.

In the background there is lake,
and beyond that, some low hills.

(The photograph was taken
the day after I drowned.
I am in the lake, in the center
of the picture, just under the surface.

It is difficult to say where
precisely, or to say
how large or small I am:

the effect of water
on light is a distortion

but if you look long enough,
eventually
you will be able to see me.)


This poem caught my eye because of its shape on the page. Its theme is distortion, and similarly, so is its structure. The most interesting thing is that half the poem is in parentheses, giving the impression that it is less important that the other information given, yet this is where truth is revealed. The image of the photograph is described as being "smeared" and "blurred" , and in fact, so is the poem as a whole. The first line is very factual, perhaps contextualizing the poem: "It was taken some time ago" , straight away giving the picture an ancient, mysterious feel that is further emphasized by the description of distortion. The free verse of this poem gives it a strong narrative feel of the speaker in private conversation with the reader. The poem is broken up into stanzas that include breaks on the page that add to this conversational feel as though the speaker was taking a break and allowing the reader to take it all in. Finally, the poem gives an eerie feeling when the reader realizes that the speaker is dead, and is speaking from what seems to be from ‘beyond the grave’. This is mentioned off-handedly in parenthesis, as if it makes no difference in the description of the picture, yet obviously, has a large impact on the poem as well as the reader. The speaker says" the effect of water on light is a distortion", yet the poem as a whole is a distortion as well.

The Wasteland and Chaucer

During one of my other lectures in English, it was pointed out to me that Eliot's "The Wasteland" alludes to Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales". I found this comparison truly interesting, and thought it would make a good blog, so here it is!

"The Wasteland" by Eliot

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.....
What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water...

From the Canterbury Tales "The General Prologue" by Chaucer

What that April with his showres soote
The droughte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed ever viene in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendered is the flowr;
What Zephyrus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
the tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath the Ram his halve cour yronne,
And smale fowles maken melodye
That sleepen al the night with open ye-
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgramages...

Both poems examine the month of April, however, Eliot’s poem distorts the images that Chaucer examines. April, for Eliot, is a cruel month, a painful reminder of infertility, while Chaucer’s April is a lusty, fertile rebirth of animal and man. Eliot uses images of decay, analyzing a "dead land" that includes "dull roots" and "roots that clutch" out of "stony rubbish". His view is menacing and pessimistic, a "heap of broken images" that uses fragmentation and discord. The overall feeling of this passage in "The Wasteland" is dismal and hopeless, summed up in the line "and the dead tree gives no shelter". Chaucer, on the other hand, paints a portrait of April that is filled with unity and wholeness. His April his inspired by Zephyrus’ sweet breath, and has power to regenerate. The birds sing in melodious tones, and the overall feeling is optimism and rebirth.
The comparison of the two solely relies on the idea of April and spring, yet their ideas are so starkly contrasted. Eliot takes the images of rebirth found in Chaucer’s poem and shatters their images, causing a drastically different view of the world during a change of season. Rather than "April with his showers sweet with fruit" as with Chaucer, Eliot states that "April is the cruellest month".

Yeat's Utopia

The Lake Isle of Innisfree- William Buttler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the mourning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day,
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

Yeats provides beautiful images of peace and serenity in this poem. Reading it, you cannot escape this overall sense of calm and wish that you yourself could visit a place as beautiful as this. By his use of personal pronouns, Yeats takes the reader to his innermost thoughts and dreams, almost to a point were I felt like I was intruding into a personal diary and stealing its secrets. Yeats juxtaposes so realistically escape vs. reality by informing the reader of his real surroundings on the roadway, and pavements grey. He seems to be influenced by the Romantics in that he rejects the urban in this poem and embraces nature by idealizing it and making it a pure, safe place, one that is to be aspired to. The overall tone is gentility and tranquil that seems to use Innisfree as a metaphor for Yeats’ own personal utopia. The repetition of the word ‘go’ really creates a sense of escape and movement to a place of harmony and balance of nature. Yeats also puts all of the readers senses to work while reading this poem. Not only can the reader visualize this cabin by the lake, but you can also hear the honeybee in the "bee-loud glade" and the veils "where the cricket sings". Yeats also masters alliteration in this poem. The phrase "lake water lapping with low sounds" really captures the sound of the water itself. Finally, what makes this poem so wonderful, is this natural haven in contrast to Yeats’ urban reality. It creates a stark contrast to the greyness of the pavement, and a realization that Innisfree is merely in Yeats’ "deep heat’s core".

Hardy's Hap

Hap- Thomas Hardy

If but some vengeful god would call to me
From up the sky, and laugh: “Thou suffering thing,
Know that thy sorry is my ecstasy,
That thy love’s loss is my hate’s profiting!”

Then would I bear it, clench myself, and die,
Steeled by the sense of ire unmerited;
Half-eased in that a Powerfuller than I
Had willed and meted me the tears I shed.

But not so. How arrives it joy lies slain,
And why unblooms the best hope ever sown?
-Crass Casualty obstructs the sun and rain,
And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan….
These purblind Doomsters had as readily strewn
Blisses about my pilgrimage as pain.

Hardy unveils his determinism in this poem as a refreshing start to the Twentieth Century. This poem seems to take the shape of an altered sonnet. Divided into the three stanza, the poem has a scientific feel due to the start of each stanza sounding like an equation: “if”, “then”, “but not so”. The first two stanzas are very formulated in an abab rhyme scheme and are very direct. This structure seems to contradict the theme of the poem quite nicely by contrasting form versus the random. The third stanza, however, feels much more colloquial, and is more abstract and personal than the first two stanzas. Hardy uses a caesura, an ellipses, and a rhetorical question to add to the scepticism contained in his argument, and to make the stanza feel more conversational that the other two.

The first stanza creates an imaginary being by arguing that IF there was a god to blame for wrongs against him, it would be a vengeful god that rejoices in pain, rather than the opposing notion of a benevolent god. In this poem, Hardy rejects the religious standard of God, and imagines one who delights in loss and suffering. It seems to pervert the previous notion of a divine god by imagining one who states “know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy”. By using “if”, Hardy seems to be wishing for such a god, for reasons explained in the following stanzas.

In stanza two, Hardy describes the presence of this imagined vengeful god as a relief by ‘knowing’ the truth as to why he is allotted pain. It is because of this ‘knowing’ that Hardy would be able to “bear it, clench myself, and die”… “half-eased”. His mention of the unmerited seems in reference to religion again, as it is believed that God’s mercy is unmerited to the human race, just as Hardy’s vengeful god’s anger is unmerited to him.

Finally, in stanza three, Hardy seems to give his own world view in a colloquial nature. The image of ‘unblooming’ symbolizes hope falling to pieces as a rose may unbloom. Hardy also names fate “Crass Casualty”: chance, and “dicing Time” : either meant as fragmented time, or a gambling of time. Hardy states that the “Doomsters”, or half blind judges of fate (Crass Casualty and dicing Time) randomly allot both pain and pleasure, and with that, he accepts the uncertainty of fate.

Pound's River Merchant's Wife

The River-Merchant’s Wife: a Letter
While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead
I played about the front gate, pulling flowers.
You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse,
You walked about my seat, playing with blue plums.
And we went on living in the village of Chokan:
Two small people, without dislike or suspicion.
At fourteen I married My Lord you.
I never laughed, being bashful.
Lowering my heard, I looked at the wall.
Called to, a through sand times, I never looked back.
At fifteen I stopped scowling,
I desired my dust to be mingled with yours
Forever and forever and forever.
Why should I climb the look out?
At sixteen you departed,
You went into far Ku-to-yen, by the river of swirling eddies,
And you have been gone five months.
The monkeys make sorrowful noise overhead.
You dragged your feet when you went out.
By the gate now, the moss is grown, the different mosses,
Too deep to clear them away!
The leaves fall early this autumn, in wind.
The paired butterflies are already yellow with August
Over the grass in the West garden;
They hurt me. I grow older.
If you are coming down through the narrows of the right Kiang,
And I will come out to meet you
As far as Cho-fu-Sa.
By Riaku 1915
Pound does an excellent job of showing progression through this poem. The young narrator takes the reader on a progression from childhood to young adulthood that shows her transformation from innocence to resistance, to finally submission. Through this progression, Pound is able to show a definite power struggle between the male and female; but more relevantly, man and wife. It shows the subservient role of the wife to her husband, yet also sheds light on the eventual acceptance and appreciation of this role through the absence of the husband. However, through maturation, the wife (narrator) is also able to find emotional attachment to her husband, yet it is gradual, and involves not only an emotional connection, but also a physical and spiritual connection. This is evident in the line “ I desired my dust to be mingled with yours/forever and forever and forever.” It is unclear to me whether this “mingling” refers to a sexual connection, but I mostly feel that the narrator is referring to a more spiritual or emotional connection. The longing of the narrator for her husband is apparent through the imagery of the last stanza. Her description of the moss that is overgrown is a strong image of the time that has past in his absence, and she states, “I grow older”.

Adam's Curse

Adam's Curse - William Butler Yeats

We sat together at one summer's end,
That beautiful mid woman, your close friend,
And you and I, and talked of poetry.
I said, "A line will take us hours maybe;
Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought,
Our stitching and unstiching has been naught.
Better go down upon your marrow-bones
And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones
Like an old pauper, in all kinds of weather;
Is to work harder than all these, and yet
Be thought an idler by the noisy set
Of bankers, schoolmasters, and clergy men
The martyrs call the world."


---And thereupon
That beautiful mild woman for whose sake
There's many a one shall find out all heartache
On finding that her voice is sweet and low
Replied, "to be born woman is to know-
Although they do not talk of it at school-
That we must labour to be beautiful."

I said, "It's certain there is no fine thing
Since Adam's fall but needs much labouring.
There have been lovers who thought love should be
So much compounded of high courtesy
That they would sigh and quote with learned looks
Precendents out of beautiful old books;
Yet now it seems an idle trade enough."

We sat grown quiet at the name of love;
We saw the last embers of daylight die,
And in the trembling blue-green of the sky
A moon, worn as if it had been a shell
Washed by time's waters as they rose and fell
About the stars and broke in days and years.

I had a thought for no one's but your ears:
That you were beautiful, and that I strove
To love you in the old high way of love;
That it had all seemed happy, and yet we'd grown
As weary-hearted as that hollow moon.

Yeats' ballad "Adam's Curse" caught my eye because it seemed to be such a realistic and everyday tale. It read very nicely due to its rhyming couplets and smooth simplistic language that is straightforward, and yet eloquent. The most enjoyable portion of the poem for me was the social comments on poetry, beauty, and love. Firstly, the narrator's comment on the hard work of poetry that is unrecognized by the 'layman' was not only very realistic, but very well articulated, that to "articulate sweet sounds together Is to work harder than all these"- 'these' referring to the manual labours that he lists previous to that line. Secondly, the "beautiful mild woman" abruptly makes a comment on beauty, and women's unwritten task of labour to be beautiful. It seems this comment comes out of the blue, however, it does add to the social comment that the narrator is trying to portray. Thirdly, the narrator speaks of trivial duties of love that are based on "high courtesy" as the labour of man. In general, this poem speaks of trivial labours in three seperate circumstances, in order to perhaps reveal Truth in each case. This poem is a fine example of social commentary in an arbitrary fashion. I enjoyed it thoroughly!

The Definition of Love

My Love is of a birth as rare
As 'tis, for object, strange and high;
It was begotten by Despair
Upon Impossibility.

Magnanimous Despair alone
Could show me so divine a thing,
Where feeble Hope could ne'er have flown
But vainly flapped its tinsel wing.

And yet I quickly might arrive
Where my extended soul is fixed;
But Fate does iron wedges drive,
And always crowd itself betwixt.

For Fate with jealous eye does see
Two perfect loves, no lets them close;
Their union would her ruin be,
And her tyrannic power depose.

And therefore her decress of steel
Us as the distant poles have placed
(Though Love's whole world on us doth wheel),
Not by themselves to be embraced,

Unless the giddy heaven fall,
And earth some new convulsion tear,
And, us to join, the world should all
Be cramped into a planisphere.

As lines, so loves oblique may well
Themselves in every angle greet;
BUt ours, so truly parallel,
Though infinite, can never meet.

Therefore the love which us doth bind,
But Fate so enviously debars,
Is the conjunction of the mind,
And opposition of the stars.


Andrew Marvell's poem The Definition of Love has a very interesting portrayal of Fate as a feminine character with human characteristics such as love. By personifying fate, Marvell places the onus of the relationship on Fate, and blames any hinderances on Fate itself. I found it interesting that Marvell would chose Fate to be feminine. Firstly, it made me thing of Greek mythology. Now, I really don't know Greek mythology, so I decided to google and see what I could find. The Fates were three goddesses that determined human life and destiny, according to MSN encarta. This seemed to fit rather nicely, whether or not Marvell had this in mind, I'm not quite sure. The poem surely speaks of Fate's interaction between the two lovers "But Fate does iron wedges drive/And alwasy crounds itself betwixt" (12). Another perhaps more modern interpretation I had of the feminine figure of Fate was that of a jealous ex lover. Jealousy for some reason seems to more oftenly fall on the side of the woman-lover, rather than the man. Marvell speaks of the lover's being parallel, yet never able to meet, due to Fate's intervension. This poem also had me thinking about what defines a 'soulmate' , and whether or not this poem could be a truth about it. The question that arose in my mind was if everone does have a soulmate, what happens if fate does intervene and you never meet? or what if you do meet and do not realize that it is your soulmate that you see face to face? It is quite harsh to believe that some people indeed to have a soulmate, yet never have the opportunity to meet that person that perhaps could complete them. I certainly hope that won't be the case for me!