Throughout a lot of verse, or at least the verse I love to read and try to write, poetic leaps are crucial. In fact, the success of a poem often hinges on whether its pivotal syntactic leap makes to the other side of a semantic abyss.
By my use of the term "poetic leap", I mean a connection that must be unexpected, revelatory and inevitable once made, just like line endings in syllabics, just like word order, just like poetry, full stop.
The fifteenth poem in our Palestine Advent series is Seeds in Flight, by
Khaled Abdallah, translated by Sara Veghefian with … More
It's an issue that interests me. I've been trying to collect examples of various types of leap (one being the equivalent of a stage dive). It's impossible to make them appropriately "unexpected, revelatory and inevitable" for all readers. Poets tackle that issue in various ways (not caring; offering alternatives, etc). Some notes are on http://litrefs.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/tweening-larkin-and-rupert-bear.html
ReplyDeleteHi Tim,
DeleteThe success of poetic leaps also depends on the reader's subjective tastes and prior experiences, but the poet's task is to achieve a believable coherence.
Me again. Your post has spurred me to get on with my article - a draft is at http://litrefsarticles.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/poetic-leaps.html
ReplyDeleteAnd it's an excellent read. Thanks for the link!
DeleteAnd Tim has now developed your idea here: http://litrefsarticles.blogspot.dk/2016/01/poetic-leaps.html
ReplyDeleteI myself used your idea yesterday to explain to a class what's happening at the start of the second verse of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne":
And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower...
For me the poetic leap chimes with the concept of the conceit as applied to the Metaphysical Poets. A conceit is an extended poetic leap.
Hi Duncan,
DeleteThanks for commenting. I do agree with you re: conceits. Suzanne is a great example. I might be a heretic, but I have to admit to preferring the Neil Diamond cover version!
Dear Matthew
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you! One of my favourite poetic leaps occurs in Sylvia Plath's poem 'Daddy'. 'The black telephone's off at the root,/The voices just can't worm through.' It is a striking image that feels totally inevitable once you have read it.
Best wishes from Simon R Gladdish
Exactly, Simon, That's another terrific example. Thank you!
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