Here I am sharing my opinions on following ten modernist poems.
1.) ‘The Embankment‘ - T. E. Hulme
Once, in finesse of fiddles found I ecstasy,
In a flash of gold heels on the hard pavement.
Now see I
That warmth’s the very stuff of poesy.
Oh, God, make small
The old star-eaten blanket of the sky,
That I may fold it round me and in
comfort lie.
First, a short paraphrase of
the poem: on London’s Embankment , a ‘fallen gentleman’ reflects on his past
and how he found pleasure in worldly social activities and beautiful women –
probably courtesans or prostitutes. The phrases like 'hard pavement’, ' star-eaten
blanket' reflects the harshness of life seen by poet.
2.) "Darkness" - Joseph Campbell
Darkness
I stop to watch a star shine
in the boghole A
star no longer, but a silver
ribbon of light.
I look at it and pass on.
Poet says that Darkness is
itself symbolic. 'Star' is a symbol of prosperity and brightness means that
there was some goodness in civilization but now it's all dark. Star is
something which we comment with positive energy, great source of light n power.
But here poet takes it as A star no longer, but a silver ribbon of light.
3.) 'Image'- Edward Storer
Forsaken lovers,
Burning to a chaste white moon
Upon strange Pyres of loneliness and
drought.
Forsaken lovers are
portrayed here by poet. The lovers are aburning with this so called Victorian
good thoughts and belife. Here, poet says that the lovers are being burned by
white moon.
4.) "In a station of the
Metro"- Ezra Pound
The apparition of these faces in the
Crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough
Ezra Pound described Metro
station and people who are on this station. She says that how we become puppets
of feeling less life. It talks about the repetitive life of modern people like
a living dead.
5.) 'The Pool' - Hilda Doolittle
Are you alive?
I touch you
You quiver trembling like a seafish
I cover you with my net
What are you banded one?
Here water is in pool it's
not flowing which symbolises the rottenness of the civilization. Water in sea
or in river has life but pool has not. Sometimes we do not understand our own
feelings. First it was asked that are you alive or not. Very sarcastically, we
can see that no. It is not alive. Because now it is there in the net of
somebody. Fish after going in the net, cannot survive for longer.
6.) "Insouciance" – Richard Aldington
In and out of the dreary trenches
Trudging cheerily under the stars
I make for myself little poems
Delicate as a flock of doves
They fly away like whitewinged
Doves.
In this poem, poet compares
his poems with dove. Here the words like 'Trudging' and 'cheerily' gives
contrasting meaning. These words give the image of life where we are doing many
things unwillingly. Poems can not fly but here poet says he has made poems that
can fly away like white winged doves. It looks he want to be free.
7.) Morning at the Window- T. S.
Eliot
They are rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens,
And along the trampled edges of the street
I am aware of the damp souls of housemaid
Sprouting despondently at area
gates.
The brown waves of fog toss up to me
Twisted faces from the bottom of the street,
And tear from a passerby with muddy skirts
An aimless smile that hovers in the air
And vanishes along the level of the
roofs.
The whole poem has negative
words. The word 'Rattling' means vibrating, shaking plates and 'Damp' means in
low spirits from loss of hope or courage. The fog and twisted faces gives
negative glimpse and an aimless smile suggests artificiality of Modern
civilization. This poem gives images and symbols of the dead spirit in people.
8.) The Red Wheelbarrow- William Carlos
Williams
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chicken.
Poet has used many symbols
here. The first line is colloquial and open in its invitation; the second line,
the preposition “upon,” prepares the reader for the specifics to follow. The
whole poem is symbolical.
9.) Anecdote of the Jar- Wallace Stevens
I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness
Surround that hill.
The wilderness rose up to it,
And sprawled around, no longer wild.
The jar was round upon the ground
And tall and of a port in air.
It took dominion everywhere.
The jar was gray and bare.
It did not give of bird or bush,
Like nothing else in Tennessee.
The poem is all about Jar. When
we refer to the word 'Tennessee' it is connected with a state. It may be an
open related to this place. Art may be more beautiful than nature but it can
not be creative as the nature.
10.) ‘l (a‘E. E. Cummings
l(a... (a leaf falls on loneliness)
l(a
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness
Poet has beautifully
captured the image of falling leaves in the poem.. The fragmentation of the
word loneliness is especially significant, since it highlights the fact that
that word contains the word one. So here poet compares fall of leaf with life
of people.
