Modern Poetry ∫ The MOD Blog

 One of the goals, described in Ramizani’s headnote, of Wallace Stevens Poetic purpose is to “rediscover the earth.” The headnote also mentions Steven’s constant questioning of his works significance in relation to the rest of the world. The Planet on the Table looks to answer this never-ending question of individual artistic importance by describing the singular relationship between the poet and his poems. It explores the notion that art is important to the creator because it represent a feeling or a desire they had at the specific point and time. Stevens writes that the poet’s words “Were of a remembered time, Or of something seen that he liked.” He goes on to further construct this image of spiritual singularity the poet feels with his work by introducing the earthly symbol of the sun. “His self and the sun were one, And his poems, although makings of his self, were no less makings of the sun.” In this third stanza of the piece Stevens compares the natural singularity of the sun to the unadulterated individual expression of poems. The longevity of the words is not what is important; the value instead lies in the poet himself. The simple fact that the poet noticed something and decided to reflect and document it is the important outcome of writing it. The poet is one with his world when he is writing. The sun is one with the earth as it is it’s only source of light. Steven’s use of naturalistic themes helps the reader to redefine their place on earth as they read his piece.

Robert Frost’s poem “The Silken Tent” is in all ways very “Frost-y”, if you will. It is calm and collected, relying heavily on imagery to convey meaning. However, this sonnet, seems to offer something different. In comparison to other modernist poems, this one is much lighter in tone. “She is as in a field a silken tent / At midday” (lines 1-2), are the first lines of the poem which frame the rest of the piece. How sweet and refreshing, a lovely simile that compares a woman to a silky tent in a field on a warm day. The poem is one long sentence that further continues to reveal more and more about the image of the silken tent as compared to the woman.

And its supporting central cedar pole,
That is its pinnacle to heavenward
And signifies the sureness of the soul,
Seems to owe naught to any single cord,
But strictly held by none, (5-9)

Although it seems as a simple admiration of a woman on a summer day, with her spine the pinnacle to heaven, “The Silken Tent” reveals something subliminal through its next continuing lines that could be taken in several ways. After a breezy description of the woman’s image glowing and flowing gracefully on this summer day, we reach a turning point. “And only by one’s going slightly taut / In the capriciousness of summer air /Is of the slightest bondage made aware.” (12-14) These final lines suggest that this woman is not the perfect and pure pinnacle that she seemed to be from a distance; that the hot air reveals the ties that are holding together the what appeared to be graceful and floating tent in the breeze. So what does this mean for the poem? Could this have a sort of demeaning tone to it; as if women are not as beautiful and graceful as they appear? I believe that “The Silken Tent” had no intentions to demean or point out women’s flaws, I think that it rather reveals something true and raw about a woman. Yes, women are seen as graceful and elegant, however, when made comfortable (like on a hot summer day) women are allowed to reveal themselves as something more human. However, without the ropes supporting the woman tent, then there would be no graceful swaying in the wind. I think that this poem is simple and raw in the way it shows no bias towards the way a woman is composed. We women are complete with the binding that ties us down, nothing more nothing less.

Upon receiving his graduate degree from the University of California, poet Robinson Jeffers and his wife moved to a small coastal village in California, Carmel. This place would pose as a muse for one of his acclaimed poems, “Carmel Point.” The scenic element a specific area in this village is the subject matter that Jeffers attends to in the poem. “Carmel Point” is a meditative piece, and while very lyrical and pastoral in nature, moves with the structure of a traditional sonnet, presenting the reader with a breaking point that contrasts the subjectivity of human nature with the objectivity of nature; albeit the poem has one extra line than the traditional sonnet.

Jeffers begins with a reflection on the exquisite landscape that is Carmel Point. It is untouched by things that are impure, but its tragic downfall is the invasion of civilization. This is an issue that does not rest easy with the poem’s speaker.  Humanity has been intrusive to this virgin sanctuary, but nature has a permanency about it, and a strength that is able to withstand the ebb and flow of mankind.  The speaker notes that the beauty of this place, however, will not be affected eternally as its “image of pristine beauty lives in the very grain of the granite” (10-11). As a whole, the nature of this piece can be read with an annoyance towards humanity for it’s invasive nature, but sheds a romantic tone on the pastoral elements of the piece, which can be seen in the poem’s first six lines.

The poem concludes with the poet’s speaker giving a call to action to the reader, that “we must uncenter our minds from ourselves” (13) and finds way to “unhumanize our views a little” (14). The speaker intends for these ideas to be in the best interest of the land from which humanity was created, and that man can find a way to be harmonious with the earth’s landscape.