Poetry is a state of mind that changes our level of understanding or intimacy about something. This could mean an external structure forms words with a shape that leads to unexpectedly striking syntax, or it could be something we have not yet discovered and therefore cannot describe. Poetry doesn't have to make sense to change the way we use our brains, and that is a type magic.
In some poetry, mystery is unnecessary for the storytelling, but in others it is the specific images that leave us confused enough to actively wonder. The wondering is what can lead to a visceral experience of existence and emotion. In the Emily Dickinson we read this week there were many groupings of words that caused new things to exist in the reality that is imagined concepts. We discussed "Your Brain -- to bubble Cool--" and "When Winds hold Forests in their Paws --" but the magic in this piece for me came when lines such as "He stuns you by Degrees--" and "For the Ethereal Blow / By fainter Hammers -- further heard -- / Then nearer -- Then so -- slow--" In these moments, as in the whole thing, it felt like there were contradictory personalities or situations; one of the actual words, ethereal, faint, slow, a gentleness. But another that appeared when the words were read together, it felt aggressive. Perhaps that is how death thinks, this strange feeling of both glacial slowness, gentle but lethal yet tender, and also the inescapable subtextual feeling of aggressive entitlement, to life, to take life.
Hannah, I have to agree completely with what you mentioned above. It seems to me that the paradox between the words you have selected make the phrase evermore intimate. The association between the words, although unlikely, create a sense of believability for the reader in the situation, which one could also consider a sense of magic. Anytime a writer is able to convince the reader about something, I view that as a sort of magic. My real question to whoever reads this blog is: do you feel more magic happening when there is more visual and aural imagery used, or does the simple connection of two words that are usually not correlated provide a larger sense of "magic". While this opinion will differ from person to person, it is interesting to think about if there is a formula for achieving a better "illusion" or magic trick in general. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great question. For me which one is more magical depends on my state of mind. If the universe feels beautiful and surprising, then imagery heavy poems feel extremely magical because good ones manage to capture this reality. But more often the universe feels troubled and disappointing because things go wrong due to human error. In these times the poetry feels more magical if it is something new and untouched by the troubles.
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