Dissolution

                Throughout the class we have weaved together information, insight, and intelligent thought through our discussions on the various poems of the class. To thread together our experience I chose to represent the discussions and thought process of the class in one word, dissolution. The OED defines dissolution as such, “separation into parts or constituent elements; reduction of any body or mass to elements or atoms; destruction of the existing condition; disintegration, decomposition.” Here the “destruction of the existing condition” really strikes a resonating cord with the way our class worked through these, often difficult, poems. We needed to understand the poems on more than just there surface level, so instead we broke them down to get a feel of the different parts that worked together to create the emotional, literal, historical, and metrical aspects of the poems.                           

                “The Truth the Dead Know” was one of the first poems discussed by the class. In particular a post by Sarah Sanders captures many of the “elements” that make up the poem. She begins her post by discussing by defining the poem itself as an elegy as well as giving the historical context of the poem itself; the poem being about the death of Saxton’s father. She also uses a key word here to describe a particular part of them poem, however it involves more of the entirety of the poem, “disconnected.” Here disconnectedness describes the speaker of the poem trying to disconnect herself from the emotions of her father’s death, but in a way this is also happening to the reader who is becoming disconnected to the idea of death along with the author as well. Here we begin to dissolute the poem to understand its significance and effect on the reader itself. By picking it apart we get to the essence itself and understand the poems significance which can be summed up using a quote from Sarah herself, “She is alone for the moment, alone in her sorrow, and alone physically. Her parents are both gone and I felt a pang in my own chest as I read the final stanza where she speaks of how the dead are more like stone than the sea if it stopped.” (Sarah Sanders) The emotion Sarah felt here was in reaction to herself being able to dissolute the poem and understand it on more than just an aesthetic level.

                Emily Dickinson’s “340” is a great poem to break down because the poem itself breaks down in some pretty interesting ways. The poem here does some of the work for us in that within the confines of the text things are already breaking down on a surface level. However, this means that breaking it down further allows us to see smaller details and get a better feel of the emotional and metric drive of the poem. In the confines of the class we discussed with our peers the effects of the poem as well as meaning associated with it. In turn many fantastic blog posts were composed on the subject and give insight into the poem and the collective thoughts of the class. In a post I composed on my group’s thoughts on the poem, I discussed the effect of Dickinson’s spiral into depression and her mind breaking down into it. Breaking poems into their core also involves looking at the devices used by the author to convey meaning beyond the surface of the words. Rebecca Hohn’s group discussed the repetition within in the poem saying, “This repetition strikes the speaker "like a drum" and instills in them a sense of numbness. What is being repeated? Why is it numbing?” (Rebecca Hohn) Her group noticed that this device was being used to create an effect for the reader. In this case, as indicated by their questioning, the reader only become numb to the poem and creates confusion. This leads us to believe that Dickinson is using her ability as a writer to try and stop the reader from digging too far and creating a numbness to thought. However, as analytic readers it is our job to look past the tricks the author uses, and instead open them up and understand why they are using them, which is to create emotional effects on the reader. Here we see the dissolution actually being used to break down the poem itself before the reader even has to put in any work. Instead Emily uses the surface of the poem to break down her own mind and spiral into depression.

                In this class we discussed much on the topic of birds, in particular the symbolism as well as the history of use in literature and poetry. We separated the birds away from just being birds, and instead broke them down into meanings that expanded and exemplified certain poems. One book in particular, as the title might indicate, discussed birds in surplus, “Raptor.” In the blog I composed a post discussing the second poem of Raptor as we discussed it in my group. Andrew Feld, who is very knowledgeable on the subject, uses birds to describe his world and his interactions with the physical embodiment of the birds as well. The poem entitled “Cascade Raptor Center: Capture” puts us in the shoes of two different groups of people. In using this method Feld is breaking down a real life scenario into the actions that built up and led to the emotional perceptions of those involved. Here we see a “destruction of the existing condition,” or the ability to perceive humans differently than that of animals. In the post I mentioned that if humans we don’t know die, then we usually have little emotional attachment to their death. Yet if we hear of an animal being abused, in this case I referenced dogs, then we tend to get upset no matter the animal because we can relate to all animals of the same type. Humans, however, are a different story because we disassociate ourselves from other humans and break the larger social group down into tighter groups therefore bringing about different emotional connections. However, Feld also uses form to break down the emotional connections even further. The poem is split into two sections, the first being Feld reacting to a situation with a dying bird, and the second the interaction between father and son on the car ride bringing the bird to Feld. In this way Feld explores the different aspects of human connection and tries to understand, and get the reader to understand, Feld’s point of view. Andrew Feld, who works very closely with these birds, sees the majority of them to same and to him it is a duty to maintain the life of all the birds within his care. However, when it comes to the connection between father and son, suddenly Feld has less connections to them as he does with the bird. This is because Feld has a general idea as to what the birds actions may indicate, yet humans remain a mystery. In a Journal entitled Zyzzyva there is an article by BinhNguyen discussing Andrew’s book. He even discusses this second poem saying, “a boy’s apologies for shooting down a red-tail hawk with his new gun are rendered meaningless, leaving him alone to deal with the shame exacerbated by his father’s fury and with the psychosomatic castigation silence can provoke.” This again references to the writer’s, and readers, ability to dissolute the situation by separating the emotions out using the form and tone of the poem itself.

                Authors can also use poetry to break down other forms of medium as well. For instance Rekdal uses her poem Arctic Scale to express her emotions involving a group of pictures involving graphic hunting traditions of a particular culture in Alaska. Alé Velázquez posted a great blog discussing and presenting the pictures Rekdal saw that inspired the poem. To quote Alé, “Rekdal takes the reader on a visual journey. The way she describes her experience seeing these images, inevitably forces the reader to look through her eyes.” (Alé Velázquez) She goes on to speak about how Rekdal uses Western terms to describe a non-western society. We discussed in depth about this in class, in particular the way in which it sets Rekdal apart from the society as well as the images and possible the readers. In an article called Violence and Warmth, CamillePack has this to say about Rekdal’s book of poetry, “Despite these griefs, despite the dying salmon and gutted caribou, her poetry is vibrant, exciting, and full of pleasure.” Indeed, within this poem, despite the gore, Rekdal is trying to take her reader to a deeper place. Perhaps she is trying to draw our attention away from the paintings themselves, but develop a different ambiance entirely for the reader and a meaning outside the literal paintings themselves.

                Through the course we have developed methods for prying open the poems in front of us. Instead we dissolute them into their raw sub-parts, understanding each and then piecing them back together. Using meter, form, wordplay, and even nature as a medium, poets are able to take readers on an emotional roller coaster the forces them to think and dissect meaning. Often we would combine ideas and feed off each other’s intelligence to extrapolate the meanings and reasoning’s of the material. This, in conclusion, has led us to a point where we have come to realize poetry is not just the surface, but something that requires separation and contemplation to feel the brunt of the poems effects.

Citations

"dissolution, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 14 May 2015.

"What We Do to Ourselves, and to the Wild: ‘Raptor’ by Andrew Feld." ZYZZYVA. N.p., n.d. Web. 

      14 May 2015.

"Paisley Rekdal's Animal Eye." Paisley Rekdal's Animal Eye. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2015.