How to Read a Poem - Terry Eagleton

How does one glean the most of  a poem ? Did the poet only have the obvious meaning in his mind when he wrote his verses ? How do I as the reader get as close to the sentiments of the poet as I possibly could ? Besides this, what are the theory of Literature, Technicalities (if you will )  involved in writing poetry ? This has been one of the nagging problems, I've experienced when reading poetry. It was obvious that I was not "getting it all", when I realised that I don't derive the same pleasure from reading Ilayappaaracchchi or Kodituwakku, as much as I do when reading Amarasekara or Athukorala. The only book on poetry I was aware of was Amarasekara's and I wanted to postpone it till I read a more objective account. Frankly I could depend only on someone like Ranaweera, for a somewhat balanced account on this regard, and as far as I am aware he didn't have a book on poetry. Hence it was with much interest, and haste that I started reading this book once becoming aware of its' presence. True I have to bridge the gap, if any, between the English Poem ( an art even more distant to me, than the Sinhala poem ) and the Sinhala one, but I thought I'll take that chance - besides  it might give me a better foundation, to appreciate English Poetry, I realised.


So how does one read Poetry, as per Eagleton ?

"Isn't it part of the very definition of poetry that absolutely nothing  is out of place, that no word is idle or superfluous, that every element conspires with every other to form an integrated whole ?"

 Setting out to speak about "The Functions of Criticism" on chapter One,  the author starts in a foreboding tone, as he finds fault with the present trend in criticism, which dives into content analysis, disposing the language like "a kind of disposable cellophane", disregarding that, that the very language used is "constitutive of its ideas". Here, Eagleton means language in all "its material density" - the language used, its tone,  the metre. Guiding us through a detailed historical journey from the age of Rhetoric ( when it was synonymous with persuasive speech and a good education ), to modern times, describing  what came to be known as literature -  the most "privileged species" of which was poetry- with the author keeping up his foreboding tone that "literary criticism is in danger of breaking faith with its origins in classical rhetoric". The author, draws a parallel between the death of experience ( death of man, as per post-structuralists ) with the deathliness, epitaph-like air of unchangeability in poetry. Yet in this decay of experience, radicals like Walter Benjamin, saw the germ of new birth. A whole new poetics was possible, with Eliot's Wasteland, showing modern life's' new set of experiences. In places, Eagleton shows his sense of humour in combination with what he wants to get across. For example, winding up the chapter pointing out the essence of Imagination so essential for critics, he says:

"Literary Critics live in a permanent state of dread - a fear that one day some minor clerk in a government office, idly turning over a document, will stumble upon the embarrassing truth that we are actually being paid for reading poems and novels. This would seem  as scandalous as being paid for sunbathing or having sex."

The most misleading thing about this book is its' title. The blunt title couldn't be further suited from the writing style that Mr. Eagleton has employed, in describing his chosen topic. He utilises chapter two, to formulate an answer for another blunt question - What is Poetry ? He starts with an all-inclusive safe, albeit minimalist answer and develops upon it. "A poem is a fictional, verbally inventive moral statement in which it is the author, rather than the .... word processor, who decides where the lines should end". He develops this to define poetry as a moral statement - meaning morality as being about behaviour in general and not good behaviour in particular. He draws relationship between poetry and fiction - meaning to "remove from its immediate empirical context and put it to wider uses". Yet he stresses that poetry is necessarily non-pragmatic, unless the area of its pragmatism is in the rising of emotions in the reader.  The chapter concludes by stressing on the role that Language per se plays in poetry (i.e. "poetry is writing which flaunts its material being rather than modestly effacing it before the Holy-of-Holies of meaning."). Yet for all the importance that the author stresses on the language, he finishes off the chapter saying that, "it is not a question of experiencing the word rather than the meaning, but of responding to both of them together, or of sensing some internal bond between the two."

Chapter three ( The Formalists ) is a very interesting one,  with the author dwelling extensively on how The Formalists look at poetry in particular. Starting with the analysis that Literariness infers  a self-conscious use of language, in contrast to a transparent one. Going further then, they identified that Formalism is the poetics of an alienated society ( "'Anaesthetic', which means 'unfeeling', is the opposite of 'aesthetic', a word which originally refers not to art but to sensation and perception ), and implied "that creativity is nowhere to be found in everyday language and experience." Eagleton focuses particular on the ideas of Yuri Lotman, who identified each of the formal aspect as a system, and poetry as an interplay between these system of systems. The Aesthetic effect then is result of conflict between these semi-autonomous systems. Eagleton doesn't conclude the chapter before he warns us of the incarnational fallacy. The incarnational fallacy revers  words as densely populated objects which actually contain the characteristic of the object they represent. These are the instances when Eagleton let's himself go on a tangent, trying to drive his point home, resulting in a lengthy discussion by itself. For example this fifteen page chapter devotes six pages to this "incarnational fallacy" - very interesting by itself upon reading, but almost not tangible and a difficult area to comprehend on a first reading. ( I did a googling of these two terms and all hits pointed to our good professor )

In The next chapter, "In pursuit of From", the author begins with the inseparable relationship between Form and Content, although they are different entities. It is stressed that although in daily life we see through the signifier, to take note of the signified, in poetry it is a combination at play. In fact it is not essential that they work in unison, Eagleton notes before beginning to explore the play between Form versus Content.

•  He highlights the child-like rhyme vs. the complex imagery of Blakes' Tyger. 
• Instances of elaborate form concealing  the lack of content ( 'A Refusal to Mourn the Death by fire,...- Dylan Thomas ),
• The form which suggests a sense of detachment from the content (Wasteland - T.S. Eliot), 
• The rapidity of heroic couples against an imagery that makes the linger on in each line ( Lamia - Keats ) and,
•  also how  heroic forms can be put to good use for distancing  feeling (Mary Montagus' The Small Pox). 

Next Eagleton demonstrate how Form can be used to transcend Content.

• The demonstration begins with  Shakespeare - on how the images randomly modulate across a wide range as Cleopatra laments' Anthony's death ; 
• on how Yeat's disproves the very tragedy he speaks of, in "Coole Park and Ballylee". 
• The author then captures Yeats, giving the impression of wandering off, after starting with a feel of a metaphysical theme, only to end up going after a rabbit ( The Man and the Echo ). 
• The author examples Yeats yet again, focusing on the rapidity and the expectation  in the young, of the tone,  in the first stanza of "sailing to Byzantium", whereas the supposed theme is the dying generation - an example of the form and content working against each other. 
• Derek Mahon's poem "A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford" is then shown as an example of how an analogy is used successfully ( a helpless set of mushrooms in a shed is being used to represent the unfortunate fate of  concentration camp victims. )

Still in the same chapter the poet offers a detailed insight on what is performative contradiction using examples from Auden, Eliot, John Donne etc. He illustrates this more extensively using Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". He explains how contrary to the content which speaks of the  mood to move on, even the very rhyme pattern suggests of taking a step back for every two steps forward.

Chapter Five of this book carries the title of this book. It begins by exploring as to how subjective Criticism, is. He points out that even in form, there are only a few objective aspects  that critics can agree on ( rhyme, metre,  and what it says literally), while the majority of the aspects are subjective. He takes as an example the poem "Porphyria's Lover"by Robert Browning, and coins the line "And yet God has not said a word!" - as to whether it was said in a scornful tone towards God,or whether it was in a tone of resentment.  The use of connotations in poetry, within margins of plausibility is discussed, before digging deep to explore the nuances of Tone, Mood and Pitch - the definitions of these are of import.
"Tone means a modulation of the voice expressing a particular mood or feeling....mood, which the dictionary defines as a state of mind or feeling... the pitch of a poetic voice, meaning whether it sounds high, low or middle-ranging." 

He shows us how enjambment as a device could be used to pace up verses (e.g. Shelly's Ode to the West Wind ). He defines texture of a poem as how it weaves various sounds into palpable patterns, the effect of sharp consonants in contrast to sibilant sounds. He uses such examples as Edward Thomas' "Old Man" and Yeats' "Coole Park and Ballylee", to portray the effect of  syntax and punctuation, and T.S. Eliots' "Whispers of Immortality" to demonstrate how grammar can function as a poetic device. Ambiguity, by nature of poetry being an important part of its' makeup, is reflected upon too. Examples to show this are Philip Larkin's Days, Shakespeare's 138th sonnet. Speaking of rhyme an important observation is made:

"Perhaps because modern life is felt to be somehow dissonant, a good many poets begin to abandon the use of rhyme as we enter the modern age," and goes on to show the use of para-rhymes, "words which almost chime in unison but don't quite", using Wilfed Owen's "Insensibility". A fine detail of contrast between Rhyme and Metre is next detailed:

"Metre is a regular pattern of stressed and unstresed syllables, whereas rhythm...means the irregular sway and flow of the verse, its ripplings and undulations as it follows the flexing of the speaking voice."

This all important chapter, is concluded by speaking a little about Imagery, and how similes and metaphors play a role there, and how thus, Imagery needn't infer a visual variety with regard to poetry.

This wonderful book ends with close critical analysis of "Four Nature Poems". The various ingredients that were explored are applied as appropriate in these four poems, to make this close reading exercise a success. Upon this exercise of close reading, the reader if patient cannot help but being awe struck by what these poems hold withing its verses. The two poems that most took my fancy (so much so that I now have a good mind to explore their other works) was Edward Thomas' Fifty Faggots and Wordworth's "The Solitary Reaper".

This then, is by no stretch of imagination a book to be "also" read, in spare time. This is a project or an exercise of application to glean the most out of. And  it is a book to be returned, into the very midst of the pages, once read from end to end, to recall some of the finer points of discovering how poetry work, and dwell on the nuances which are very likely to be missed by a less observant reader - the implication being that the practice of being observant when reading poetry is a lesson to be learned, taught by a fine, albeit by a florid teacher as Eagleton. To his credit it is unlikely that Eagleton has left any characteristic, trait or ingredient of poetry  "non-discussed". Yet it is not by a long shot,  "Poetry for Dummies", with a clear cut list of instructions on "How to Read Poetry". This is a journey, that the reader has to be patient enough, to make with her teacher, practice some, and return repeatedly to truly appreciate the Art. 

Finally, true, this is a book on English Poetry. And most of the techniques of form used in English Poetry are not used in Sinhalese Poetry, due to content analysis being given the centre stage. But this is not always the case. And understanding the nuances of tone etc. are important to read different poets. Already Illayappaarachchi seems to make more sense than he did a year or two ago. I could trace at least few tricks of form being used by Saumya Sandaruwan Liyanage.  This book is an eye opener to being sensitive to, the colour pallete at the disposal of a poet. Hence I feel, that while reading English poetry will be that much more a rewarding exercise now, than it ever was, I will possibly start discovering the nuances of our own poets, which  I was blind to, hitherto.