Original poem reprinted online here: "The Fable" by Yvor Winters Originally read: November 1, 2013 More information about the Poet: Yvor Winters The use of adjectives in this poem stands out for me, even from the first line, "Beyond the steady rock the steady sea" the adjectives don't add much to the image, but a lot to the line -- a forced alliteration, the redundancy of "steady" affirming the scene, but this is supported by the next line of "In movement more immovable than station." The juxtaposition and play of language with "move" and "immovable" brings a push and pull with the poem. Affirmation of both same and different language. "Gathers and washes and is gone. It comes / A slow obscure metonymy of motion" What does it mean in this poem? Note how there are two descriptors of it -- the physical (steady, movable/immovable, gather and washes) and the language (metonymy). So metonymy is a key word in...
Formerly the RetailMFA, This is the Poetry Blog of Darrell Dela Cruz