Separate Poems Research Articles

Computing the Sound–Sense Harmony: A Case Study of William Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Francis Webb’s Most Popular Poems

Poetic devices implicitly work towards inducing the reader to associate intended and expressed meaning to the sounds of the poem. In turn, sounds may be organized a priori into categories and assigned presumed meaning as suggested by traditional literary studies. To compute the degree of harmony and disharmony, I have automatically extracted the sound grids of all the sonnets by William Shakespeare and have combined them with the themes expressed by their contents. In a first experiment, sounds have been associated with lexically and semantically based sentiment analysis, obtaining an 80% of agreement. In a second experiment, sentiment analysis has been substituted by Appraisal Theory, thus obtaining a more fine-grained interpretation that combines dis-harmony with irony. The computation for Francis Webb is based on his most popular 100 poems and combines automatic semantically and lexically based sentiment analysis with sound grids. The results produce visual maps that clearly separate poems into three clusters: negative harmony, positive harmony and disharmony, where the latter instantiates the need by the poet to encompass the opposites in a desperate attempt to reconcile them. Shakespeare and Webb have been chosen to prove the applicability of the method proposed in general contexts of poetry, exhibiting the widest possible gap at all linguistic and poetic levels.

Singular poeta acadêmico: António Serrão de Crasto (1614-1685)

Poet António Serrão de Crasto (1614-1685) was a member of the Academy of the Singular Ones (Academia dos Singulares) from 1628 to 1665, and penned two tomes of academic poetic works in 1665 and 1668. This article aims to briefly present the 72 poems contained in those academic publications, and two occasional speeches given as he presided over academic sessions. It also includes some separate poems found in handwritten form or in books authored by others. In this article, I seek to put forward a short bibliography of Serrão de Crasto by collating several bibliographical sources known to date. Generally, the rhetorical artifice present in the texts lies in switching around serious and jocular styles, as the poet shifts between the seriousness of the subject and the playfulness of the concepts, ornaments and words with which he treats the argument or, conversely, as he clothes a trivial or low subject with high ornaments. Most of his romances, sonnets and gloses feature this shifting between serious and facetious styles.

On the two genetically related jātakastavas from Lalitavistara and Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā-sūtra

This paper examines two poetic fragments from two Buddhist texts: one – from Lalitavistara and another – from Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā-sūtra. As the study reveals, both passages demonstrate certain genre characteristics that allow considering them as samples of jātakastava (lit. “jātaka-praise”). This genre is represented by only two extant separate poems. However, one can also find poetic passages with similar characteristics in several voluminous Buddhist monuments. Jātakastava is a type of poem consisting of the frame and the main part. The frame has much in common with standard frames of ancient and medieval Indian religious hymns – in it, the author of the poem tells us that he is not talented enough to describe the deeds of the Buddha himself, and informs us about the benefits that one can get by reading and distributing the work. The main part of the poem describes the deeds of the Buddha performed by him in his previous births. Both of the passages under consideration demonstrate a number of similarities in the content as well as in the form. This allows us to make an assumption about a common source of origin for them. Having determined the genetic relationship of the two texts, we proceed to analyze the composition of large poetic fragments, which include the verses in question. It appears that individual stanzas of the poems, getting inside a large Buddhist text, could scatter, find a new place for themselves, obeying the structure that underlies the corresponding passages of newly created or expanded monuments.

Трагизм самосознания человека культуры в «Трилистниках» И. Ф. Анненского

The paper suggests new interpretations of the final “Trefoils” from the poetic book of I. F. Annensky “Cypress Chest”. The author emphasizes that the issue of self-awareness of a contemporary and, accordingly, the task of comprehending the origins of the tragic worldview of human culture of the late 19 – early 20 century is a structure-forming in the final work of Annensky. This work does not touch upon the contents and composition of the book published after the death of the poet, but proposes a general concept of the interpretation of “Trefoils” and — in general terms — the entire “Cypress Chest”, in lyrical form generalizing the cultural, sociological and philosophical reflections of the author, appearing as a deep intellectual and sensitive symbolist lyricist. To capture the multifaceted and rationally verified accuracy of Annensky's lyrical works, combined on the principle of including them in large cycles (“Trefoils”, “Folders”, “Marked Sheets”) and mini-cycles (three and two poems each), is possible involving the artist's entire heritage. Interpreting motifs and individual images that gain additional meaning at each new level of the book's structure, and within the framework of a separate poem sound self-sufficient and full-fledged, is necessary primarily in the context of literary criticism of Annensky and his works in terms of the study of antiquity. The confessionality of the poet's tragic lyrics lies in а complex representation of the inner world of a man of culture at the turn of the century, who conquered the spiritual peaks of the world of “ideas”, but lost direct perception of the world of “ideas”, without which love, beauty and virtue born in torment become conditional categories.

Miłość i poezja w Elegii 2.30 Sekstusa Propercjusza

Elegy 2.30 has been considered to be one of Propertius’ most difficult poems due to its complicated sequence of thought and distant associations noticeable in the discourse, which was often the reason for dividing the text into two separate poems. The article is an interpretative proposal aimed at demonstrating the integrity of 2.30, which was obtained by the poet by combining the concept of love with the concept of love poetry, as well as by using subtly constructed mythological references.

“A Sea Symphony” by R. Vaughan Williams and its literary source

The purpose of the article is to identify the features of the artistic concept of “A Sea Symphony” by R. Vaughan Williams and the key role in its formation of the literary source of the work. The methodology of the work is based on the application of analytical, structural, comparative and intertextual methods, which makes it possible to expand the horizons of cognitive search and identify intertextual semantic connections within the studied phenomenon. The scientific novelty is that for the first time in Ukrainian musicology the literary source of “A Sea Symphony” by R. Vaughan Williams receives analytical coverage as an important component of the holistic artistic concept of the work. Conclusions. As a result of the work carried out, it was established that the poetic texts by W. Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” became the literary source of the symphony. They are both separate poems of the poet and fragments from his poems. Combining them, the composer builds his own compositional and dramatic logic, subordinate to the idea of revealing the significance of the mythological image of the sea, which appears in the symphony as a polysemantic archetypal complex. Features of the composer's work with a poetic text, the validity of certain notes, replications, transpositions while maintaining and accentuating its key role in building the musical and artistic whole are revealed. The specificity and principles of the distribution of poetic texts between parts of the work, as well as vocal parties, solo and choral, are determined.

Lyrical object and other lyrical characters in J. Brodsky’s cycle “Part of Speech”

The object of this research is the poetics of J. Brodsky's cycle “Part of Speech” as literary unity. The subject of this research is the subjective organization of poems included in the cycle “Part of Speech”. Special attention is given to the nature of value attitude of the lyrical object towards other characters depicted in poems of the cycle. Such attitude is viewed as an aspect of authorial artistic reflection and assessment of depicted reality. Following the footsteps of S. N. Broytman, the author interprets the lyrical object as a speech bearer, as well as the main (encompassing other) perspective on the world in the poem. The lyrical character is a supported character, being assessed by the lyrical object (lyrical characters include a “lyrical addressee” and “lyrical You”). The scientific novelty of this research consists in viewing the nature of value attitude of the lyrical objects towards other lyrical characters in the “Part of Speech” as an aspect of poetics of the cycle as literary unity (previous studies were dedicated only to separate poems of J. Brodsky’s cycle). The analysis of selected texts of the cycle indicates the specific nature of the relationship between lyrical object and other characters depicted in the poems: 1. the relationship of the lyrical object with other characters (the lyrical heroine, “You”, etc.) is built as an anti-dialogue, demonstrating total loneliness of the lyrical object; 2. The theme of loneliness in the cycle also intersects with the artistic images for yourself; 3. in the “Part of Speech”, the forms of indirect representation of the lyric object (when the lyrical subject refers to himself as another) also point at his self-centeredness, loneliness, and disruption of ties with others.

La Belle Dame qui eust mercy & Le Dialogue d'amoureux et de sa dame: A Critical Edition and English Translation of Two Anonymous Late-Medieval French Amorous Debate Poems ed. by Joan Grenier-Winther

Reviewed by: La Belle Dame qui eust mercy & Le Dialogue d'amoureux et de sa dame: A Critical Edition and English Translation of Two Anonymous Late-Medieval French Amorous Debate Poems ed. by Joan Grenier-Winther Glynnis M. Cropp Grenier-Winther, Joan, ed., La Belle Dame qui eust mercy & Le Dialogue d'amoureux et de sa dame: A Critical Edition and English Translation of Two Anonymous Late-Medieval French Amorous Debate Poems ( MHRA Critical Texts, 60), Cambridge, MHRA, 2018; paperback; pp. lxxi, 99; R.R.P. £12.99, US $17.99, €14.99; ISBN 9781781882856. Alain Chartier's La Belle Dame sans mercy (1424) generated controversy and imitative works now called the Belle Dame cycle, from which Joan Grenier-Winther has edited two short debate poems, contained in the manuscript Paris, BnF, MS fr. 1131, fols 184r–189v and 195r–201r respectively. La Belle Dame qui eust mercy (378 lines) has already been edited, with English translation, by Joan E. McRae: Alain Chartier. The Quarrel of the Belle dame sans mercy (Routledge, 2004, pp. 20–21, 453–84), on the basis of Paris, BnF, MS fr. 20026. Attested in twenty fifteenth- and sixteenth-century manuscripts, three incunabula and early printed editions containing collections of works, it was more widely known than Le Dialogue (414 lines), which is found in only four manuscripts and three incunabula and early printed collections, and is edited here for the first time. In all the witnesses, the texts follow Chartier's poem and are single and separate from one another. Like the courtly partimen and jeu-parti, and Chartier's poem, both texts consist of alternating sequences, here of three stanzas, exchanged by an unhappy suitor and a courtly lady. In the first, surprisingly, the lady decides finally to relent and show favour, reversing the outcome of Chartier's debate. In the second, a merciless lady sternly dismisses the pleading lover, telling him to look elsewhere. In the introduction Grenier-Winther has set out material, stylistic, and thematic evidence supporting her claims, concerning the bipartite structure, authorship, and dating of the texts, based in part on those proposed by Arthur Piaget in 1894, which he subsequently did not pursue. The versification of both texts changes about midpoint, from eight- and ten-lined stanzas respectively to unusual thirteen-lined stanzas with a different rhyme scheme, which suggests that in each case two originally separate poems might have been combined. Accordingly, in this edition each text is divided into Poem 1 and Poem 2. Material evidence and the development of the argument in each text are considered. Although Poem 1 of both texts is a coherent entity and might stand alone, it is not so attested in manuscripts. Furthermore, as had Piaget, Grenier-Winther attributes Poem 1 in both instances to Oton de Granson (d. 1397), whose poetry she has edited. This attribution has, however, the disadvantage of situating the composition of Poem 1 of both texts [End Page 252] in the fourteenth century, before Chartier's La Belle Dame. There is insufficient evidence to determine authorship and dating of the two sets of treizains, which remain anonymous (pp. xix–xxxi). Despite Grenier-Winther's wish to attribute partial authorship to Oton de Granson, the edition's subtitle describes the texts as anonymous. A list of all witnesses, a full description of the base manuscript, shorter descriptions of other manuscripts and early printed editions, and their affinities are included (pp. xxxi–xlix). J. C. Laidlaw's system of identifying Chartier's manuscripts (The Poetical Works of Alain Chartier, Cambridge University Press, 1974) has been adopted, and supplements information on the order of poems in collections. Sections on titles, language, versification, stylistics, rhetorical elements, and a bibliography complete the long introduction. A few oversights occur: foliation of manuscript Qd should be '57r–63v' (p. xxxv); omission of a section number '§7' (p. xlvi); the date of Piaget's article on Oton de Granson should be '1890' (p. lxii). The text has been established according to sound principles and is complemented by copious variant readings (pp. 54–77), tables of rhymes (pp. 78–92), and a glossary (pp. 93–99). English translations on...

“DAVID PSALMS” BY TARAS SHEVCHENKO AND LINA KOSTENKO IN THE ASPECT OF INTERTEXTUALITY

The article discusses intertextuality as a specific feature of fiction of the XIX-XXI centuries, is a peculiar communication code of the author with the reader, helps him to understand not only himself, but also the world in which he lives. Intertext appears in works of literature in the form of citations, allusions, reminiscences, parodies and imitations of other people's stylistic properties. Scientific intelligence analyzes the features of the structure of the Book of Psalms, which is one of the books of the Old Testament of the Bible, addresses the problem of authorship of a monument to world culture. The article analyzes separate poems from the cycle David of Psalms, which both artists have. Of course, each of the poets can trace the interpretation of the biblical text of an outstanding literary and cultural attraction. In the process of analysis, it was found that T. Shevchenko’s works are characterized by deep connections with ancient culture, Slavic mythology, and many European literatures. The “David Psalms” cycle of modern Ukrainian poetess Lina Kostenko is full of modern realities, acute social conflicts, which is a feature of the poetess’s creative manner. It is defined as the original features of the biblical text copying by each writer, and the presence of common features. It is established that in the works of both poets, despite the difference in time, metaphysical ideas take place, reflecting universal moral and ethical principles, opposing the concepts of “good – evil”, “truth – untruth”, “glory – hula”, are widely used Church Slavonic dictionary, there are elements of introspection. The works of Taras Shevchenko and Lina Kostenko are full of deep feelings about contemporary being, creating a unique image of a literary hero, which is a reflection of the author's position. Entering into the main text the motives of intertextuality allows you to create a unique idiostyle of both artists at different levels of literary reception.

Thinking with Brothers in Sappho and Beyond

The recent publication of the “Brothers Poem” (P. Sapph. Obbink 1–20) reminds us that Sappho is more than a love poet. The stories of Sappho’s two brothers, Charaxus and Larichus, were well known in antiquity and are attested in a number of sources. Several accounts imply that Sappho’s brothers were mentioned repeatedly in her poetry, a claim that appears to be supported by fr. 15, which may represent a separate poem about Charaxus. Unlike the ancients, we modern scholars need not assume that these “biographical” snippets reflect a poet’s lived experience, and rather than simply claiming that Sappho had two brothers, we must consider the reasons for this focus on brotherhood and sibling relationships in her work. This article discusses the role of brotherly relationships in archaic poetry and the use of the brother to shed light on moral issues. It considers famous brother-pairs such as Hector and Paris and Agamemnon and Menelaus in the Iliad, and Hesiod and Perses in Works and Days. It argues that brothers are characteristically used to explore ideas to do with preserving the oikos and familial duty and shows how Charaxus and Larichus fit into this pattern. It further suggests that Sappho adapts this trope by creating a sibling triangle, rather than the traditional pairing of two brothers. By including herself (and possibly also her mother) in this scenario, she explores domestic morality from a different, female-oriented perspective, showing the responsibilities that men bear toward their female dependents.

The Promised and Awaited Imam Mahdi (may God Almighty hasten his reappearance) from the point of view of modern Persian poets

Waiting for the promised deliverer is one of the doctrinal beliefs of the Imami Shiites, and this belief sows hope and happiness in the hearts of Muslims as it revives hope in their souls to reach happiness in the near future, and since literature, especially poetry, is one of the arenas that can pave the way for humanity to know the promised one, and waiting for the deliverer who fills the earth with justice as it was filled with injustice and oppression, was the praise of the Prophet (7). ) and his family (F) are among the common content in the collections of Persian poets most of the time, but we rarely find a poet who directly and in a separate poem praised the Promised Imam Mahdi; Rather, those praises came through other contents, so the Mahdist poetry and the talk about the Awaited Imam is a topic that poets rarely touched in their poems independently, and as for the ancient poets, we find

Prevajanje Ko Unove poezije iz korejščine v slovenščino

Pišem v zrak je zbirka pesmi korejskega pesnika Ko Una, ki je bila avgusta lani prevedena v slovenščino. Zbirka zajema izbrane pesmi, ki jih je pesnik napisal v zadnjih petnajstih letih. Ko Unova poezija je na videz enostavna, a pesmi pogosto vsebujejo skrita sporočila, ki jih avtor želi predati bralcu. Pesmi se dotikajo različnih tem, med njimi najdemo pesmi o naravi, budistične pesmi, pesmi, ki namigujejo na politično situacijo v sodobni korejski družbi, kritiko sodobnega človeka itd. Oblikovanje pesmi kaže na to, da jih Ko Un ne želi postavljati znotraj forme. Verz je svoboden, zdi se tudi, da pesnik ponekod načrtno prelomi verz na dve vrstici, to naredi ravno zato, da kljubuje normam poezije. Zapletene metafore, prepletanje tradicionalnega in sodobnega jezika ter besedne igre so bolj pomembni kot sama oblika pesmi. Nemogoče je našteti vse težave, na katere smo naleteli med prevajanjem zbirke, saj bi morali analizirati vsako pesem posebej, zato smo v tem članku obravnavali le najbolj očitne in največje probleme, ki smo jih imeli pri prevajanju poezije iz korejščine v slovenščino. Večina jih je nastala zaradi strukturnih razlik med korejskim in slovenskim jezikom, veliko pa jih je nastalo tudi zaradi besedišča in kulturnih razlik. Večkrat smo se spraševali, koliko svobode imamo kot prevajalci in do kolikšne mere lahko pesem spremenimo in hkrati obdržimo vse namige, ki jih je pesnik poskušal prenesti bralcu.

MICROPOETICS OF KHARKIV POETESS KATAEVA`S LYRICAL CYCLES

The article deals with the investigation of role played by ;lyrical cycles as an independent genre in poetess` works and the analysis of separate components of micropoetics (for example: the rhythm, the phonics, the poetic meter), that facilitate the most complete and accurate embodiment of author`s intentions in the text. The question about independence of lyrical cycles was the object of numerous investigations and arguments. Representatives of the first theory regard lyrical cycle as an inseparable text, where each poem is its part, a stanza. Another group of scientists proclaim that the unity of the lyrical cycle depends on the structural autonomy of its components. So the lyrical cycle is characterized by the high level of derivableness of its components. The most appropriate definition of lyrical cycle from our point of view is represented in the third theory, whose author considers lyrical cycles as the unity of numerous independent poems that realize split-level textual connections. Which produce new semantic complexes indistinctive to semantic structure of each separate poem. This particular theory is an object of our investigation. Using method of comparison authors of this article succeeded to distinguish two types of poetic lyrical cycles in Kataeva` s works. One of them unites poems basing on the inner author`s emotion. Another – reflects main theme of all poems of the cycle. As a consequence, each cycle has its peculiar micropoetics` components. That feature leads us to further investigation of the impact that micropoetics has on the motive, the theme and the structure of the poems.

THE PLAUSIBILITY OF PROVERBS 31 AS FINAL PARENTAL (MOTHERLY) INSTRUCTION

Proverbs 31 has been viewed as two separate poems: 31:1-9, the words of Lemuel's mother, and 31:10-31, an acrostic poem on the capable wife. Careful analysis of the two poems shows that these were juxtaposed by the redactor as a single composition through lexical and thematic links. It is equally observable that there is no title between the two compositions. Other than the shift in style where the first nine verses are prescriptive and the final 22 verses are descriptive, there is no indication to treat the two as separate. From these indicators, this paper seeks to argue for the plausibility of the final chapter as the final parental (motherly) instruction in which these formerly independent compositions are juxtaposed by the redactor for that specific purpose. This view will obviously yield some interpretational implications on the book of Proverbs that we would like to table for ongoing analysis.

METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES OF THE SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF POETRY (the use of semantic differentials in sociopoetics)

In sociology, literature, along with the study of the content of works of art and social characteristics of characters it is important to study the creative process. Here is an attempt to look at the poetry writing and its results through the prism of the behavioral approach on the basis of the poetry content analysis. Creation of the poem is considered as a behavioral creative process of self-actualization of creative potential, interactions of the system of requirements and social situations verbally expressed by means of language. During the framing actualized thoughts and feelings of the poet translated into poetic form. The main hypothesis is that the emotional dissonance express itself poetically. Semantic differential (SD) technique provides a clue to the text. Content analysis of poems (cycles, books) of separate poets through SD method could provide the understanding of similarities and differences of successive stages of the creating creative process of the same master, or explain the dissimilarity of poets compared to each other. The analysis of separate poems of Blok, Gumilev, Yesenin, Akhmatova ect. may demonstrate style features, the individual originality of each poets considered in terms of the dialectic opposition. The article discusses the possibilities of the SD method and the antonyms scales search in the author’s text in the study of the creative process, based on the characteristics of the poetry of classical Russian poet Alexander Blok.

FUSING THE VOICES: THE APPROPRIATION AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE WASTE LAND

Although T. S. Eliot’s masterpiece, The Waste Land , is a defiantly enigmatic and bewildering poem, the text still occupies a central place in the literary canon nearly a century after its conception. Eliot’s initial idea was to publish the work as several separate poems, yet despite this, The Waste Land is still studied as a unified whole with a unifying voice and an identifiable “message”. In this paper I argue that the poem’s reputation today rests upon a mass of critical discourse which insists on interpreting “meaning” at the expense of considering the poem’s musical, allusive and hypnotic power.

The History of Perception and Studying of D. E. Minh’s Creative Works in the Russian Literary Criticism

The review of the materials connected with studying and perception of works of the poet-translator Dmitry Egorovich Minh (1818–1885) in the Russian literary criticism is for the first time presented in the article. It is noted that D. E. Minh's activity connected with the creation of the first poetic translation of "The Divine Comedy" by Dante and new interpretations of separate poems of F. Schiller steadily attracted attention of modern to the translator Russian writers and critics, in particular, S.P.Shevyrev, I. I. Panayev, A. V. Druzhinin, N. G. Chernyshevsky, M. L. Mikhaylov, N. A. Nekrasov, A. V. Nikitenko, N. A. Dobrolyubov, Ya. N. Turunov, etc.; thus other aspects of Minh’s creative works, first of all, of his interpretation of English poetry didn't cause interest, except the translations of fragments of J. Krabb’s poems that was caused by specifics of public life of the second half of the 1850th in particular, relevance (in connection with cancellation of a serfdom) of a country question and growth of social contradictions. Essential strengthening of D. E. Minh’s literary reputation was promoted by a posthumous appearance in 1902-1904 of a full translation of "The Divine Comedy" and Pushkin award for it in 1907; subsequently the given translation became a reference point for new generations of the writers addressing to interpretation of Dante’s immortal creation (V. Ya. Bryusov, M. L. Lozinsky). The considerable interest shown to Minh's creative works by bibliographers and authors of reference books of the end of the XIX-XXth centuries (D.D.Yazykov, A. V. Mezyer, I. V. Dobrolyubov, S.D.Yakhontov, S. A. Vengerov, M. M. Kowalewski, I.F.Masanov, N.P.Smirnov-Sokolsky, I. M. Levidova, V. T. Danchenko, etc.), for a long time was combined with a certain limitation of attention to it from the literary critics generally briefly mentioning the translator’s activity at judgment of boundary problems, such as the Russian reception of U. Morris (M.P. Alekseev), perception of Shakespearean dramatic art in Russia in 1870 – 1880s (K. I. Rovda), Dante's creative works and his influence on the Russian and world culture (A. K. Dzhivelegov, I. N. Golenishchev-Kutuzov, A. A. Asoyan, etc.) strict censorship at the edition of the translations of the Italian literature in Russia (R. M. Gorokhova), Russian translations of R. Byorns’s poems (Yu. D. Levin), etc. The general idea about the translator’s activity and his achievements was offered in Yu. D. Levin's review included in his book "Russian Translators of the XIX Century and the Development of a Literary Translation" (1985), however its further development (in respect of analytical judgment of Minh’s activity, the analysis of his translations) this subject didn't get. At the same time in a number of the dissertation works prepared in 2000s under the scientific management of D.N.Zhatkin, the called perspective was fragmentary mentioned in connection with works of certain English authors – V. Wordsworth (A. A. Ryabova), J. Krabb (E.I.Ilyazova), T. Campbell (E.V.Komoltseva) and A. Tennyson (V. K. Chernin). DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s4p106

The Need to Re-evaluate: Identity in Robert Penn Warren's Or Else: Poem/Poems 1968-1974

In the first poem of Or Else: 1968-1974, Robert Penn Warren presents riddle for his readers. In particular, of Mirror offers confident understanding of the relationship between time and the individual: Time / is the mirror into you stare (16-17). The conclusion, however, is undercut immediately by the collection's first interjection, in Time / is only mirror in the fun-house (Warren, Interjection 1 1-2). This dichotomy frames the question, Is this really me? (Interjection 1 1), question initiates the quest for identity that runs throughout the collection. (1) However, the structure of the collection is problematic: how can Or Else attempt to answer the question of human identity when its own identity poem is in doubt? of Mirror was written years before Interjection #1: The Need for Re-evaluation, (Millichap 27) and yet the two are not clearly presented separate poems--they are both listed under the same Roman numeral, and the interjection by definition well by content necessarily relies upon Nature of Mirror. While they could be considered two separate poems, the two could also be considered parts of the same poem. This dichotomy is problem in the collection itself, which, according to its subtitle, is poem/poems. Therefore, the problem of the speaker becomes the problem of the collection, and both seem unsure of their own identity. This riddle of the poem/poems' structure must be resolved--or at least explored--before the question of the speaker's identity can be addressed, for the structure of Or Else is tied up in Warren's search for identity. This essay will argue that the structure of Or Else enables the collection to become dramatic enactment of the process of discovering one's identity. The first few poems of the collection provide the necessary framework for both the collection's speaker and readers, with the heart of the collection's structure contained within the imagery of the crushed rock in Interjection #2: Caveat. Several critics have already noted the problematic structure of Or Else. James Justus, for one, accepts that is both poem and poems. He argues that the collection is an internal dialogue, in the governing tone is set by its weakest poems, those nakedly structured premises, conclusions, objections, second thoughts, stripped of much specific context and dominated by unconciliating skepticism (Justus 97). Charles Bohner suggests that the interjections' presence is as if to point up the underlying unity of the poem whole (127). However, regarding this unity, he similarly reads the collection's subtitle, Poem/Poems call[ing] attention to [Warren's] ambivalence about the ultimate coherence of the total work (127). By contrast, Dave Smith emphasizes what he sees paneled structure in the collection, which form[s] loose sequential movement, tale both in and of time/space/history (40). While these and other critics agree that there is dialectic structure, the question still remains how exactly to utilize this structure while reading Or Else. Warren himself comments on the collection's structure: it can be considered long poem, or can be considered group of short poems. Some of the poems were written with my being unaware of their place in the sequence. It wasn't undertaken planned sequence; the true sequence grew. This kind of structure is to how you feel your experience--I couldn't tell you exactly how, but is related (Talking 236). However ambiguous that true structure might be, Warren does link the structure to experience. Thus, in order to understand the structure, one must understand the place of experience in the quest for identity. According to Warren, man gains his identity through knowledge, has both foreground and background (Knowledge 186), for man does not exist in fixed state. Rather, his identity is a continually emerging, an unfolding, self-affirming, and we hope, self-corrective creation (186-187). …

Reading the Helicon Collage: Hidden Stories in the Collected Fragments


 The present study sets out to show that the pastoral anthology Englands Helicon can be read as a compilation of separate poems or fragments, or of fragments interspersed with sequences of poems that form love stories here and there throughout the anthology. For this to be possible, the Classic models of Virgil’s Eclogues II and VII have been followed so that the reconstruction of the sequence will be based on an analysis of the above mentioned models, taking the sequence as an imitatio cum variatione of the two eclogues. Both possibilities were equally valid for seventeenth century readers who knew the literary tradition of the time. It all depended on how they chose to approach the text. This study also contends that most contemporary readers —unless specialists in Early Modern Literature— would need to be given the appropriate tools in order to be able to organise the fragments into love stories, that is, to read the Helicon poems in sequence.

Czytając Elegie Rainera Marii Rilkego

The article discusses the book Rycerz i śmierc written by Katarzyna Kuczynska-Koschany. The book includes essays on Reiner Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies published earlier that have been revised and updated. The poem cycle called the Duino Elegies is composed of ten separate poems written in 1912, 1913, 1915 and 1922, i.e. at the peak period of the poet’s imagination and mental activity. The reviewer provides a detailed analysis the first four chapters of the book in which three elegies written before the outbreak of the first war, and the fourth that originated when the war was raging on, are presented. The reviewer appreciates the author’s careful preparation for the book and the ambitious agenda of the author to describe in a synthetic form, for the first time in Poland, the whole cycle of Rilke’s elegies with their Polish translations along with their quality evaluation and comparison taken into consideration, as well as some presentations of German interpretations from prominent specialists in the life and the literary output of Rilke. However, the reviewer is not ready to buy all of the author’s claims and points at numerous, perhaps too numerous, errors, distortions in facts and erroneous reading of the original texts written in German, which, to a high degree, lowers the perceived quality of the discussed book.