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Analysis of "Transgressing the Real (Passages 27)" by Robert Duncan

Original poem reprinted online here: "Transgressing the Real (Passages 27)" by Robert Duncan
Originally read: December 12, 2012
More information about the Poet:  Robert Duncan






Poet as prophet. I think I took a class that analyzed the idea as the Poet as prophet.  I say "I think" because it was one of those classes where we read a lot of poetry that had to deal prophetic writers like Robert Duncan, William Blake,Allen Ginsberg, Walt Whtiman but not necessarily prophetic speakers in the poem.  I think the assumption was that the poet and the speaker were one in the same.

At least, this line of thought would make sense with this poem.  I didn't write too much on this poem on the first go through.-- some comments like "Nice kind of pun flowing through[:] a person who studies -- the eye of an individual" ... what does this mean past me?

Oh I'm missing a punctuation here -- posthumously added a semi-colon.  If I remember how the poet/prophet works is by taking the grandiose (war for example) and addressing the audience -- assuming that there's an audience for poetry -- (hahaha) with the poet/prophet thoughts (not images, not perceptions, not description) of the grandiose.

Usually speeches have a prophetic overtone; however, in this poem -- I feel there's a clear separation between the speech rehetoric and the musings of a prophet.  Speeches are meant to persuade.  Poetry is meant to lament, overthink, reimagine, maybe with a bias, but not say "think my own way." 

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