DDCPoetry

Go here for Bill Knott: http://www.billknottarchive.com/ Soon, it'll be 3 years since Bill Knott's death. It's odd to think about being able to e-mail someone and get a response from them.  I'm a nobody who e-mailed him out of the blue and he responded in kind.  But I don't regret trying to connect.  In any case, I'm reminiscing. "The way the world is not" is an interesting opening line fragment.  The line implies a deficiency.  The world is not enough, but then the enjambment leads to something personal, "Astonished at you" which comes off as a an insult which the speaker doubles down on, "It doesn't blink a leaf / When we step from the house". I think the usage of "we" changes the tone of the poem from casual insult to something curious -- as the poem has a plan from the comparison. Leads me to think That beauty is natural, unremarkable And not to be spoken of Except in the course of things The comparison is in the n...

Original poem reprinted online here:  "To Science" by Edgar Allen Poe Originally read: September 29, 2013 More information about the Poet: Edgar Allen Poe This Elizabethan sonnet has something to say -- at least a strong stance.  Well, the first line, "Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!" starting out with two exclamation mark indicates some sort of emotion.  Forced?  Yup.  In any case the speaker is creating a figure -- a "true daughter" to point out and describe. "Who alterest all things withy thy peering eyes. / Why prayest thou thus upon the poet's heart. / Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?"  So at the end of this quatrain the daughter is compared to a Vulture which is a strong sentiment; however, I think the key to this poem is the progression of the speaker who sees this daughter as someone who alters things, but then the speaker is the one who alters her at the end.  Also note that the "poet's heart" is no...

Original poem reprinted online here: "The Philosopher Savant Again Dreams of War" by Rustin Larson Originally read: February 20, 2013 More information about the Poet: Rustin Larson I can't believe I didn't catch it on my first read.  This poem is an Elizabethan Sonnet.  Does this change anything from the first read?  Well, not really.  I struggled with how this poem operates, and I wrote things like, "misconception when further inspected," but I didn't address what is further inspected or what the misconception is. Does knowing that this is a sonnet help me out as a reader.  Not entirely.  Yes, I know that there's going to be a volta somewhere, and there's going to be sections to think of; however, the style of this poem (white space, not entirely iambic, consistent rhyme scheme though) isn't the "typical" sonnet.  So, all I can take from the form, well is the form -- an expectation of a volta. The first four lines of the poem work ...

Original poem reprinted online here:  "The Teller" by David Mason Originally read: January 14, 2013  More information about the Poet: David Mason So this poem is tricky.  Yes, indeed that these is a narrative.  Also this is a Elizabethan Sonnet (even though the construction is separated in eight and six), so the volta in the poem is the couplet at the end.  So within the form already there's a bit of a sleight of hand. However, it's not really realized in the first eight lines.  The poem starts off like a regular narrative about how an Eskimo named Jack got lost at sea while fishing.  This all feels like back story, but what makes this poem work for me is that the back story is literally eight lines -- all I need to know is there. Then the next five lines, I believe, chronicle the five years the Eskimo took to go back home.  I write this: The anaphora matches the passage of time.  Technique wise, it's pretty brilliant. 1 [year one] Did the En...