Blackmur RP Form And Value In Modern

Poetry Essay, Research Paper

Blackmur R.P., Form and Value in Modern Poetry, Doubleday, 1957.

Justification

This critique was first published as a journal article in The Southern Review, 1936 and later reprinted in the text entitled Form and Value in Modern Poetry. The author of the critique describes the meaning behind Yates poetry. He also describes Yates view of the world and explains how this influences the poetry and the response by many readers towards the work.

Blackmur uses a comparison with other poets of the same era. Blackmur also describes in a way that is easily understood, the poetic devices employed by Yates in his works.

Position of the writer

The position of the writer, is that Yates is a great poet who combines technique with imagination. However, the content of his work and its symbolism is confronting to many readers and may not therefore appreciate the greatness of the poetry.

The critics argument

The poet (and, as always the reader) has to combine, or fuse inextricably into something like an organic unity the constructed or derived symbolism of his special insight with the symbolism animating the language itself. It is, on the poet s plane, the labor of bringing the representative forms of knowledge home to the experience which stirred them: the labor of keeping in mind what our knowledge is of: the labor of craft. With the poetry of Yates this labor is, as I say, doubly hard, because the forms of knowledge, being magical, do not fit naturally with the forms of knowledge that ordinarily preoccupy us.

What Blackmur is arguing, is that magic and the interpretation of this, is dependent on the reader s knowledge of magic. He continues the argument, by implying that Yates believed that imagination was as valid a way of understanding the world as was logic. Blackmur also argues that because Yates has a view of life, that many readers do not share, the poetry is often interpreted as sterile .

Exposition of the critics ideas and relevance

Following the line of Blackmurs argument one can only appreciate the greatness of Yates poetry by understanding more about magic as a force in real life. However Blackmur claims that use of magic as a tool for poetry has two radical defects. The first defect is a lack of conventional authority outside the poem. The other defect is that Yates understanding of magic was not and could not be given in the words of the poem.

Use of appropriate technical language

Blackmur does not critique Yates work in terms of its metre or rhyme but rather offers an analysis of the themes and content. The language used is appropriate to this analysis.

Evaluation of the critique

Blackmur gives a feel for the emotions that he experiences in studying Yates poetry. That emotion is probably confusion or perhaps disbelief. While this is an interesting study, Blackmur points out that this is only one approach to understanding the poetry and it should be combined with others for a more comprehensive analysis.

Blackmur R.P., Form and Value in Modern Poetry, Doubleday, 1957.

Justification

This critique was first published as a journal article in The Southern Review, 1936 and later reprinted in the text entitled Form and Value in Modern Poetry. The author of the critique describes the meaning behind Yates poetry. He also describes Yates view of the world and explains how this influences the poetry and the response by many readers towards the work.

Blackmur uses a comparison with other poets of the same era. Blackmur also describes in a way that is easily understood, the poetic devices employed by Yates in his works.

Position of the writer

The position of the writer, is that Yates is a great poet who combines technique with imagination. However, the content of his work and its symbolism is confronting to many readers and may not therefore appreciate the greatness of the poetry.

The critics argument

The poet (and, as always the reader) has to combine, or fuse inextricably into something like an organic unity the constructed or derived symbolism of his special insight with the symbolism animating the language itself. It is, on the poet s plane, the labor of bringing the representative forms of knowledge home to the experience which stirred them: the labor of keeping in mind what our knowledge is of: the labor of craft. With the poetry of Yates this labor is, as I say, doubly hard, because the forms of knowledge, being magical, do not fit naturally with the forms of knowledge that ordinarily preoccupy us.

What Blackmur is arguing, is that magic and the interpretation of this, is dependent on the reader s knowledge of magic. He continues the argument, by implying that Yates believed that imagination was as valid a way of understanding the world as was logic. Blackmur also argues that because Yates has a view of life, that many readers do not share, the poetry is often interpreted as sterile .

Exposition of the critics ideas and relevance

Following the line of Blackmurs argument one can only appreciate the greatness of Yates poetry by understanding more about magic as a force in real life. However Blackmur claims that use of magic as a tool for poetry has two radical defects. The first defect is a lack of conventional authority outside the poem. The other defect is that Yates understanding of magic was not and could not be given in the words of the poem.

Use of appropriate technical language

Blackmur does not critique Yates work in terms of its metre or rhyme but rather offers an analysis of the themes and content. The language used is appropriate to this analysis.

Evaluation of the critique

Blackmur gives a feel for the emotions that he experiences in studying Yates poetry. That emotion is probably confusion or perhaps disbelief. While this is an interesting study, Blackmur points out that this is only one approach to understanding the poetry and it should be combined with others for a more comprehensive analysis.