Modernism was a time for experimentation in the 20th century. Gertrude Stein, Wallace Stevens, and William Carlos Williams were just three of the influential poets of this literary period. They altered the typical literature form. These three poets each presented objects differently in their works, varying in syntax and diction. Whether they proposed these objects in abstract or specific in their writing, you can see how Stein, Stevens, and Williams differed. Stein was vastly complex, Stevens created depth in easier to understand terms, and Williams used colloquial language and was very specific. These three poets were important to the modernist movement and it’s easy to see how they bent the rules in the form of poetry. Gertrude Stein’s …show more content…
While he was considered abstract as well, he favored the form of imagism. In his poems, he would present direct and objective treatment of the objects. In his poem, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” he gives multiple ways to discuss the bird. He uses simple language that is very pastoral in its tone. Some of the reasons he gives in this poem are: “Among twenty snowy mountains, / The only moving thing/ Was the eye of the blackbird” (1-3). Another is “A man and a woman/ Are one. / A man and a woman and a blackbird/ Are one” (9-12). Even though Stevens’ diction can be considered abstract, he presents his objects in a less confusing manner. It is odd to look at a blackbird in thirteen different ways but all thirteen still make some sort of sense. Even though “The river is moving. / The blackbird must be flying,” is able to be distinguished. The river is moving because the blackbird is flying. (48-49) While the idea is abstract, it’s easy to follow. His “Anecdote of a Jar” presents the universe from the perspective of a jar. The jar is in “Tennessee/ And round it was, upon a hill” (3-4). He takes a visual turn when describing his objects. His jar seems to be able to look around it and “take dominion everywhere” (9). He treats objects without as much emotion as Stein. They’re described in simpler terms (compared to the confusion in “Tender Buttons”) whilst using elegant text. He describes a guitar in “The Man with the Blue Guitar.” His description of this object is distinguishable and yet the guitar is described as “Things as they are/ Are changed upon the blue guitar.” His object presents new change and meaning. Stevens uses specific terms when he’s describing his objects. He’s specific yet object in his descriptions, especially in a “Study of Two Pears.” He uses very bland language in his poem, saying the pears are “composed of curves” (6) and “are yellow forms” (5) that
He thought poetry was an art of association, it inspires readers' imagination with symbolism rather than direct imitation of life, and hold the reader's feelings and arouse them to act with passion. His style throughout the 19th century formed the mainstream of American poetry”(1).
In a response of at least two paragraphs, provide an explanation of the steps you took to rewrite the Romantic poem you selected. Your explanation should point out at least three typically modernist qualities in your work with regard to elements such as language, style, literary elements, and themes. Here, as an example, is a brief explanation of the modernist rewrite of the first stanza of Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”:
Poetry as a literally work in which the expression of ideas and feelings is given strength has had great authors overtime who took different perspectives in this genre of literature. These poets used distinctive rhythm and style to express their styles, poetic themes, outlook on life, and had their share of influence on the American society. This paper uses the basis of these styles, themes, outlook on life and subsequent influence on the American society to compare three prolific poets who ventured into this literature genre: Robert Frost, Mary Oliver, and Maya Angelou. Robert Frost (1874-1963) holds a unique and almost sole position in the career span which mostly encompasses
Walt Whitman loved to experiment with form when it came to poetry. He used his verses to show his complete adoration of all things wild, and our role as beings in this infinitely complex and thought-provoking universe in which we exist. To say he had a bit of a “nature crush” would be an understatement – Whitman goes in to great detail of his love for the wildness and often describes his emotions in a viscerally sexual manner, using poetic devices to underline his immense feelings for environment and hammer in the imagery to readers of how majestic the world appears to him. “Romantic” poets loved the outdoors – if it wasn’t contained in four walls and a roof, they were all about it. They loved to praise the innate details that made our planet so incredible,
The birth of the modernist movement in American literature was the result of the post-World War I social breakdown. Writers adopted a disjointed fragmented style of writing that rebelled against traditional literature. One such writer is William Faulkner, whose individual style is characterized by his use of “stream of consciousness” and writing from multiple points of view.
Walt Whitman is a renowned American poet. He served as an example for all to follow. He put thoughts into peoples head. Whitman was very influential and had a very big effect on people. Langston Hughes was also a very influential American poet. He was known for changing others opinion of race and making their oppression evident to others. Hughes was very influenced by Whitman and he caused him to want to make a difference in people's thoughts on his race. Whitman wrote a poem called I Hear America Singing and some people believe that it influenced Hughes poem, I, Too, Sing America. Hughe builds on Whitman's poems in these categories; structure and technique, themes, and effect on people and society.
Modernism began around the late 1800s or early 1900s, with artists and writers in Europe producing many extraordinary and influential works. This period spans many events, including both World Wars and the Great Depression. World War I appeared to be a major event that helped to start Modernism; this was because of the destruction and ruin that came from it and events that followed. This poem is consistent with the values of Modernism because of alienation, time, and self- consciousness; however, it continues to resonate with readers today because isolation, change, and insecurities are things that humans may face.
Perhaps the most basic and essential function of poetry is to evoke a particular response in the reader. The poet,
Authors wanted to revolutionize arts and audience worldwide. This was done by the creation of tools that helped excel the “American Dream”. Some of the major authors in this time included T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and Gertrude Stein (Modernism). There are two different groupings of modernism, which are modernism and post modernism. In the beginning, “early modernists used elements of experimentation, freedom, radicalism, and utopianism” (Modernism). After the war, “post-modernists, however, rebelled against many modernist elements and instead depicted disillusionment and elements of dystopian ideas—dehumanized and fearful lives” (Modernism). Many different historical aspects influenced the upcoming of the modernist movement such as publications of scientific theories, technological inventions that globalized society, Sigmund Freud’s change in the discipline of psychology, new concepts of ethics, morality, and ideals, and artistic movements (Modernism).
William Carlos Williams and Robert Frost are known as two of the greatest poets of their time and still highly regarded as two of the best poets of all time. Robert Frost was born in 1874 in San Francisco, California according to The Associated Press. William Carlos Williams was born in 1883 in Rutherford, New Jersey, according to the poetryfoundation.org. Both men died just two months apart in 1963. Williams is the author of the poem “Spring and All” and Frost is the author of “Dust of Snow”. These two poems
Today, few would deny that Emily Dickinson is an important figure in American literature. The numerous ways to interpret her poetry draws more and more readers into her publications. It's as if everyone could interpret Dickinson's poems into his or her personal life; seeing the poems the way they want to see it. This is the effect "flexible" poems have on people.
Modernist Poets E.E. Cummings, Wallace Stevens, and T.S. Eliot Change the Face of American Poetry
Stevens makes this fact apparent from the beginning of the poem, when he notes not only “human revery” but also “the sexual myth” and the “poem of death” (1). Therefore, these defined formulations are only categories of a greater whole, which remains unmentioned in the poem. In deliberating on Stevens’s poems, we can come to understand this encompassing whole as the imagination, which impels an individual to make “eccentric propositions” about his or her life and fate (4-5, 10).
The nineteenth century produced many esteemed authors, including Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman who became two of Americas most popular poets. While vastly different in style and personality, both Dickinson and Whitman relate to many people on an emotional level through their poetry, even in the twenty-first century. The works of poetry by Dickinson and Whitman can be compared on levels of style and form and both writers composed beautiful verses of high quality. Through the following comparisons, it will become apparent how Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman influenced American literature and culture both in similar and diverse ways.
The Romantic Period centered on creative imagination, nature, mythology, symbolism, feelings and intuition, freedom from laws, impulsiveness, simplistic language, personal experiences, democracy, and liberty, significant in various art forms including poetry. The development of the self and self-awareness became a major theme as the Romantic Period was seen as an unpredictable release of artistic energy, new found confidence, and creative power found in the writings of the Romantic poets Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, and Shelley, who made a substantial impact on the world of poetry. Two of the Romantic poets, William Blake, and Percy Bysshe Shelley rebelled against convention and authority in search of personal, political and artistic freedom. Blake and Shelley attempted to liberate the subjugated people through the contrary state of human existence prevalent throughout their writings, including Blake’s “The Chimney Sweepers,” from “Songs of Innocence”, “London,” from “Songs of Experience” and Shelley’s A Song: “Men of England.”