Monday, 4 January 2016

Poetic leaps

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.
at

8 comments:

  1. Tim Love5 January 2016 at 00:29

    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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matthew Stewart9 January 2016 at 07:58

      Hi Tim,

      The 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.

      Delete
  2. Tim Love6 January 2016 at 01:57

    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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matthew Stewart9 January 2016 at 07:59

      And it's an excellent read. Thanks for the link!

      Delete
  3. Danish dog6 January 2016 at 04:05

    And Tim has now developed your idea here: http://litrefsarticles.blogspot.dk/2016/01/poetic-leaps.html

    I 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matthew Stewart9 January 2016 at 08:01

      Hi Duncan,

      Thanks 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!

      Delete
  4. Poetry Pleases!7 January 2016 at 05:09

    Dear Matthew

    Happy 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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matthew Stewart9 January 2016 at 08:01

      Exactly, Simon, That's another terrific example. Thank you!

      Delete