3/15/2011

Exclusive Poetry

I've just read the part of chapter six, which contrasts a poem by e e cummings with a poem by Linton Kwesi Johnson in terms of musicality.
Even though I (think) that I do get the message, that the author wants to bring across, in saying that the poem by e e cummings cannot be read out aloud or be performed, whereas the other one can be performed, I think that this poem by e e cummings has the right to stay excluded from a performance because of its subject. Here is the poem:

I
I(a
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness


If you want to write it down for yourself, it says "I l(a leaf falls)oneliness"

"I loneliness" conveys a message, which leaves not much space for interpretation. The author is alone. Inserting "a leaf falls" in brackets and thereby dividing the word "loneliness" I find simply brilliant, this already is the poem's performance.
I immediately imagine someone being alone, watching this one particular leaf fall and experiencing both things at the same time. The simple observation that a leaf falls blends over the perception of loneliness like in a photograph, when you have forgotten to rotate the film.

1 Kommentar:

  1. This is to my mind an extraordinarily powerful poem, so compact, and thoug of few words, full of imagery.

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