Comments on: Modernist Poetry

By: Lacey Babekuhl

Lacey Babekuhl — Sat, 03 May 2008 21:01:17 +0000

The modernist poetry we read for class was extremely well thought out and beautiful. I found it to be amazing in that it does challenge one to think more extensively than the normal “Roses are red violets are blue” poems. It wasn’t all about peace love and happiness, it was about causing the reader to call into question different things, which is something that people ranging all the way back to Aristotle have been doing.

By: Hannah Prentice

Hannah Prentice — Fri, 02 May 2008 21:37:10 +0000

The modernist poetry lead to an influx of similar writings. At this time, writers quit being so outwardly focused. They wrote less about what they noticed about nature with their senses and more about feelings and emotions. This poetry can be very emotional if you think about it. These writers were trying something new and starting a new genre. They wanted they writing to be fancy like fashion and art. These poems are difficult because they deal with raw emotions. Many people don’t even like to discuss their own emotions let alone read those of other people. It is impossible for the reader to feel what the author must have been feeling when he or she was writing these poems which makes it that much more difficult for us to understand them.

By: Amy Jarding

Amy Jarding — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:20:19 +0000

Since reading Stein, I am amazed at how much I am noticing references to her. Honestly though, hated her writing. It’s not so much that it was difficult to read, but rather it was just irritating. I felt no emotion in her writing and wanted to throw the book halfway through. I will say that I appreciate her attempt at producing a new style of writing, though. It was quite imaginative and I respect her for producing a completely different piece of literature.

By: Sam Matzke

Sam Matzke — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:27:21 +0000

I think what people find challenging to undestand in these poems is the fact that they deal with human emotion. It is easy to describe what the color of flowers and sky are. what smells there are. but it is very difficult to portray what emotion someone is going through. Not only is it hard in that way but the fact that different people will look at emotions differently. these writers were on the front line because they were the first to present these emotions in poems before people were really ready to look at themselves to try to connect with what was being said.

By: Cory Haisch

Cory Haisch — Fri, 02 May 2008 06:03:34 +0000

I really enjoyed the modernist poetry, especially that of Pound and Frost. First off, Ezra Pound. I really enjoyed him because i feel that while his poems, at first glance, seem very bland and simple, you know that they are also quite complex. This is evident in his poem, “In a Station of the Metro.” While it is only two lines, it has endless meanings. The simplicity of the poem, is obviously, the two lines, but there is also a complexity to this poem, and that comes in the form of the poems large number of possible meanings. So, I really enjoyed Pound’s simple, yet complex poems.
I really also enjoyed Frost’s poems, particularly, “The Road Not Taken.” I really enjoyed this poem because of the fact that it is usually viewed as a positive poem, but as soon as an individual really reads into the poem, it is actually the opposite. I think that the fact that the poem, has a simplicity about it, when compared to Eliot or Robert Burns, is the reason for the misconception about the meaning of the poem. Both Frost and Pound seem to have a common theme of complexity and simplicity. Overall, I really enjoyed this modernist poetry.

By: Trenton Mendelson

Trenton Mendelson — Fri, 02 May 2008 04:23:31 +0000

Modernist Poetry is unlike any previous form of poetry for a number of reasons. The language is inwardly focused than in previous periods. There is less of an emphasis on nature and relationships, and more of a focus on personal feelings and thoughts. I find this form of poetry much more rewarding and difficult to write. To express emotions in words is a very difficult task. People can easily say they are mad, or happy, but to fully explain the depths of that anger, or happiness is an admirable trait. While Pound seemed to focus more on the emotions of anger and irritability, I found him most enjoyable.

By: Chris Berke

Chris Berke — Thu, 01 May 2008 23:21:20 +0000

I am not a big fan of poetry to begin with and Stein’s writing didn’t help with that. All of the repetition made it more difficult to want to continue and when you get bored, it’s harder to absorb the information. I get that symbolism is a big part of his writing but the uninteresting-ness outweighs the meaning. Pounds, “In A Station of the Metro” was genius though. Short, sweet, and simple with plenty to leave up to the imagination. That is the kind of poetry one can enjoy. It’s something that you can memorize and take with you and I like that.

By: Adrienne Evans

Adrienne Evans — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:15:51 +0000

I think it would be a mistake to interpet The Emperor of Ice Cream as a lament of lost love. Poetry is subjective up to a point, but I think this poem has much more to do with loss of life than loss of love. The absurd images and diction in this poem reflect how crazy all the motions of life are in the context of death’s inevitability. I read it as saying that life has all these distractions and they are absurd when compared to death. And even when one expires the distractions continue just the same.

By: Ashley Schleusener

Ashley Schleusener — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:34:16 +0000

Poetry is not my favorite piece of literature, but I did like Lowell’s “September 1918.” The descriptiveness maybe reminded me slightly of the war that is going on now, and the uncertainity that is present. Frost’s poems are alright in the sense that i think that i can figure them out and understand them. I did like “Mending Wall” because it reminds me of the everyday routines we sometimes feel we are just going through with, without knowing why. I also liked finding out the true meaning behind the poem “The road not taken.” Just goes to show how some things can be interpreted so differently.

By: Kevin G. Myrmoe

Kevin G. Myrmoe — Thu, 01 May 2008 01:37:55 +0000

I am not a huge fan of poetry, but I do not mind reading it. I have not read most of the poems that we read for class, so it was interesting to me because of the fact that most of these were new to me.

In Pound’s poems, he uses imagism in several instances, such as in “In a Station of the Metro”. In this poem, the images that he wants the reader to think about include the faces and petals. I liked the poem, “A Pact” because it is hard to make amends with a rival, and in his case he was able to do that.

I enjoy Williams poetry because of the description that he uses in his writing. I especially enjoyed “Spring and All” because it reminds me of the spring that we are about to experience. When he goes into great detail in his poetry, the reader can imagine in their mind the picture that he is trying to paint with words. “The Red Wheelbarrow” however is a piece of writing that is unusual in its own way. It makes sense, however, why did he write this? It could be possible that Williams wanted to write something that would eventually be talked about in order to find the meaning behind it.