Reading Poetry (9/7/7)

Posted by Sarah W., Block 3

"All art is incomplete and waiting to be completed." - Mr. B

[Editor's note: Actually, he stole that idea from Jacob Bronowski and an essay/speech published in his book The Visionary Eye.]

In the first part of class, Mr. B. informed us of three important bits of information:
1. This and the new resource blog (tviewlalabplus.blogspot.com) that we are all strongly encouraged to read regularly and submit comments to.
2. The upcoming learning opportunities at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth on September 26 and October 10. ( see Learning Opportunity Announcement on tviewlalabplus.blogspot.com)
3. The first meeting of the year of the Lupine Literary Luncheon League in the library at B Lunch next Wednesday, September 12. The LLLL is a book discussion group planning to begin the year with reading and conversation about Sophie's World byJostein Gaarder. (see
When we came back from lunch, we were given copies of a poem called "To an Athlete Dying Young" by A.E Housman. Mr. Benton read the poem aloud, and explained to us that the first thing you ought to do when you read a poem is to read it aloud. This technique, I learned, makes much more of an impact on the reader. We then went around the room and many people gave their insight on how it made them feel.

Nana said it made her feel "very sad" and she immediately connected the feelings she had for the poem to how she felt about a student who died at Summit High School on September 6th.

John's feelings about the poem differed from Nana's, as he stated he felt "calm and peaceful," after hearing the poem spoken aloud. The second time Mr. Benton read the poem, John said his feelings changed when he realized "they were taking his body (the deceased athlete) to his grave."

Sloane said she felt "sullen" and attained a "strong negative feeling" in the poem.

When I listened to Mr. B read the poem, I felt a sense of extreme loss and hopelessness voiced in the poem. I also felt somewhat like Sierra did because I did not quite understand what the author was trying to portray and what he meant in several sentences. When Sierra voiced her concern about this, Mr. B explained that not even he understood it fully and that part of interpreting and understanding poetry is that it is indeed difficult and that poetry is complex. Writer's do what they do for a reason, especially in poetry, when every word counts and is important to the meaning and affect it has on the reader.

This made more sense to me. Poetry takes time to understand. However, when one is willing to take the plunge and try to interpret it, they may be able attain the meaning and understanding that the author intended to bestow on his or her reader.

After we discussed how the poem made us feel, Mr. B explained that once you begin to want to piece the poem together, you should read it sentence by sentence. We began with the first sentence:
The time you won your town the race / we chaired you through the market-place; / man and boy stood cheering by,/ and home we brought you shoulder-high.

Mr. B wondered why the author used the word “chaired”. This word seemed weird and uncomfortable. We then speculated that the author may have used this word as opposed to others to leave an impression and image in the reader’s mind. To see a chair, to hear how close is a cheer, to condense the image of someone hoisted on the shoulders of others who are cheering with joy in a single word. We found in the dictionary that "chair" is used this way in British English, and we wondered if it was used that way before Housman. We learned that the Oxford English Dictionary would let us know.

For the reader to stop, and re-read, and wonder exactly why the author would use that word instead of another, is an essential step in reading poetry or any other literature. This further supports the idea that authors choose their words extremely carefully when writing because they do want to make the reader think and wonder and contemplate.

By this time, the bell had unexpectedly rung, and we had to wrap up this intense conversation. Hopefully, we will pick up on this Tuesday, because I found this discussion quite interesting and I feel it will help me immensely in my creative writing when we start to write.

Hey Mr. B, Sometimes I don’t think you realize how much your lessons really do change the way we think about poetry [and other stuff]. Just wanted to let you know I did get something out of today's lesson. I'm glad I'm in your class this year.