Need help for Literature essay

[carina_gino20]

Hi, I need help for an essay for my literature class. we have to answer one of these questions:

1. How do images contribute to the structure of a poem?
2. How important is context in writing and reading a poem?

Hope to get some views from you guys. I would appreciate it if you could use some lines of a poem to illustrate your views.

thanks!

[Nightwalk]

Hello Carina. Shouldn't you be finding the answers to these questions yourself so as to learn something from the lessons in your class?

[carina_gino20]

actually, i'm trying to use Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn to answer no. 1. i think the obvious role of images is to actually create a vivid picture and thus, make the poem more 'alive.' on another level, the images also help to build up the thematic structure, or the poem's 'plot' as it progresses. hope my ideas are not too far off.

[mono]

Hello, carina_gino20. Your questions do not necessarily have a right or wrong answer, not necessarily appearing based on opinion, but more from differing perspectives on poetry. I will try, regardless.

1. How do images contribute to the structure of a poem?
To the structure of a poem? I have no idea, but images can contribute an immense amount to a poem's meaning in use of analogies, and even as the central object of the poem. In more and more contemporary poetry, I see the use of concrete, tangible, and realistic objects (rather than abstract or Romanticized objects). For an excellent utilization of objects in poetry, see Mending Wall (http://www.online-literature.com/frost/747/) by Robert Frost.
In terms of the use of other images, such as scenery, again, whether imaginary or actual, this can either make up the poem (seeming the central theme) or contribute greatly to a more narrative poem. All of the words of any piece of literature (whether poetry or otherwise) will make up what the reader sees; any disclusion of scenery, images, people, or plots will lead to decreased understanding from the reader, due to the communication of the writer. For an example as scenery images in a poem, see Kubla Khan (http://www.online-literature.com/coleridge/640/) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

2. How important is context in writing and reading a poem?
In writing, it really depends on the poet (as some poems merely tend to proceed nowhere, but consist of repetitious descriptions - see almost any poem by Billy Collins, for an example).
In reading poetry, context means almost everything. From the beginning of a poem, a reader will not precisely know what the poet desires to communicate, how the poem will read, where it will proceed, and what a reader shall understand; context makes up comprehension in a poem, including if the poem has no definite destination, consisting mostly of descriptions going nowhere (as described earlier).
Good luck, and I hope I have helped!

[carina_gino20]

thanks so much, mono! i agree with most of your points especially for Q2. For many narrative poems, context is almost everything. The first time I read The Bard by Thomas Hardy, I couldn't understand anything at all. Thank you for your insights!

[bazarov]

Well done Mono, that's very polite and friendly from you.