Original poem reprinted online here: "Outside Fargo, North Dakota" by James Wright
Originally read: December 29, 2012 (Am I missing a day? Too lazy to go back now)
More information about the Poet: James Wright
So in my notes I write that this poem works on two levels -- Internal and Meta:
"Internal: The next lines "'onely / and sick for home.' the images above feel[s] like a representation of internal strife: white horses, going into the shadows, a sprawled body derailed."
"Meta: The poem turns from observational to internal -- nothing too surprising. But the line 'I nod as I write good evening' is the only physical response of the speaker to anything -- and his physical response turns inward to the poem and the speaker."
Past me, I don't think you fully describe meta that well. So the speaker of the poem writes about the creation of a poem. And all the symbols and images lead to how a poem is created. And I could see it in this poem -- the match, a representation of an idea; the play of white and shadow, a Jungian aesthetic; a physical call/a written response.
However, if this poem is meant to be read as meta -- well that's another story all together.
I didn't notice this on the first read or when writing my notes, but I picked up on this when reading this again: "I strike a match slowly and lift it slowly" Now, on one hand, "slowly" is a waste of words. Grammatically, isn't an adverb used twice here redundant? Yeah, I guess so. However, the focus is on every individual action. Not an observation per se, but one action at a time in the first stanza.
I write this because I wonder to write individual tasks through adverb without being overly redundant. I'll still wonder.
Originally read: December 29, 2012 (Am I missing a day? Too lazy to go back now)
More information about the Poet: James Wright
"Internal: The next lines "'onely / and sick for home.' the images above feel[s] like a representation of internal strife: white horses, going into the shadows, a sprawled body derailed."
"Meta: The poem turns from observational to internal -- nothing too surprising. But the line 'I nod as I write good evening' is the only physical response of the speaker to anything -- and his physical response turns inward to the poem and the speaker."
Past me, I don't think you fully describe meta that well. So the speaker of the poem writes about the creation of a poem. And all the symbols and images lead to how a poem is created. And I could see it in this poem -- the match, a representation of an idea; the play of white and shadow, a Jungian aesthetic; a physical call/a written response.
However, if this poem is meant to be read as meta -- well that's another story all together.
I didn't notice this on the first read or when writing my notes, but I picked up on this when reading this again: "I strike a match slowly and lift it slowly" Now, on one hand, "slowly" is a waste of words. Grammatically, isn't an adverb used twice here redundant? Yeah, I guess so. However, the focus is on every individual action. Not an observation per se, but one action at a time in the first stanza.
I write this because I wonder to write individual tasks through adverb without being overly redundant. I'll still wonder.
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