Monday, February 23, 2004

william stafford commentary

I love Stafford's take on poetry for many reasons. The main one is that it helps me not to despair when I don't 'get' a poem when i stare straight at it. I definitely feel that i am one of the those people who gets a poem when i look a little to the side. Next, I am very interested in the place where Stafford says that one can overanalyse a poem. I feel this is commonplace in the classroom setting-- and something that must be stopped! My favorite quote from this entire piece has to be, "A poem is a serious joke, A TRUTH THAT HAS LEARNED JUJITSU." wow! this guy is witty and brilliant! i definitely feel that once i understand a poem i am able to see all the truth in it- and there is usually a lot of truth to find! however, i rarely feel that a poem should be taken completely seriously-- or at least that one must be open to the chance that humor exists in the poet. A final interesting point that stafford brings up is the fact that poetry would dissapear if it truely fell into disfavor. i never realized that. i also never realized that i would actually feel a lacking if poetry did not exist-- even for all the complaining there is to be had about it. Posted by Beth Williams on 2/23/04; 6:44:27 PM from the dept. Discuss

commentary on Jim Daniels', "short-order cook"

this is one contemporary poem that i definitely enjoyed! this poem is full with an interesting plot, understandable surface reading, humor, and wit. i love the little detalils that daniels mentions: waiting to start cooking until the "average joe" pays for his thirty burgers and thirty fries. i never would imagine that a man making the burgers at a pay- berfore-you-eate- restaurant would enjoy his job enough to care about the process of making the burgures and fries.. maybe this short order cook doesn't care either-- he just has the process down so well that he recites how he is making the order. the touch of the girls at the counter laughing is a great one. either the girls are laughing at the short-order cook because he cares so much about his work, or the point is to show the completely separate world that the girls are in from him. either way, they are a great touch. i like the ending in which the short- order cook sums up what he just accomplished, "Pressure, responsibility, success." he was able to make ALL 30 CHEESEZBURGERS! and 30 fries too! i love poems that paint a picture of a facet of life as the poem does. oh! one other touch that i particularly enjoyed was the line, "It is a crucial point... my fingers shake as I tear off the cheese" what a great sequence that gets the reader into the mind of a stressed out short-order cook! Posted by Beth Williams on 2/23/04; 6:34:04 PM from the dept. Discuss