PO3 - Lesson: Modernist Poetry

Modernist Poetry

Modernist poetry, emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, represents a radical departure from traditional forms and themes, reflecting the profound upheavals in society, culture, and technology during this period. Characterized by a rejection of conventional norms, modernist poets sought to capture the fragmented, chaotic nature of modern existence through innovative language, form, and themes. Influential figures such as T.S. Eliot (pictured to the right), Ezra Pound, and W.B. Yeats played pivotal roles in shaping the movement, pushing the boundaries of poetic expression and challenging established literary conventions.

Qualities of Modernist Poetry

Here are some qualities of Modernist Poetry:

• Fragmentation and Discontinuity: Modernist poetry often employs fragmented and disjointed structures, reflecting the disordered and chaotic nature of the modern world. Poets sought to capture the fractured experience of reality through unconventional forms and discontinuous narratives.
• Ambiguity and Complexity: Modernist poets embraced ambiguity and complexity in language and meaning. Their works often resist straightforward interpretation, inviting readers to engage with multiple layers of meaning and encouraging a more active role in the interpretation of the text.
• Alienation and Loss: Modernist poetry frequently explores themes of alienation and loss, mirroring the disillusionment and upheaval of the time. Poets grapple with the aftermath of World War I, industrialization, and the erosion of traditional values, conveying a sense of disconnection from the past and a search for new meanings.
• Experimentation with Language and Form: Modernist poets experimented with language, syntax, and form, breaking away from traditional poetic structures. Free verse, stream of consciousness, and unconventional use of imagery became common, allowing for a more fluid and dynamic expression of thought and emotion.

Modernist Poetry Examples

Modernist poetry needs to be read to be experienced, and after you’ve read some of it, you will probably need to read and re-read and look things up. Some can be very simple on the surface but can require some more analysis to see what the poet is trying to accomplish. Notice that all three are trying to push the boundaries of what poetry can do and that experimentation and originality are often valued more than meaning. After you’ve read each poem, ask yourself how did the poet push boundaries with each work.

Let's explore three different levels of Modernist Poetry:

The Simple-Level Modernist: Ezra Pound's "In a Station of the Metro"

Yes, this is the entire poem:

The apparition of these faces in the crowd:
Petals on a wet, black bough.

The Mid-Level Modernist: e.e. cummings's "[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]"

The poet e.e. cumming's was famous for challenging conventions, such as capitalization, spacing, and punctuation (note the odd bracketing in the title). Here's the text of his poem:

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
                           i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

The Boss-Level Modernist: T.S. Eliot's "The Waste-Land"

This is only the first two stanzas. You can “read” and “analyze” the entire poem online at a site like Poetry Foundation (just search TS Eliot's "The Waste-Land" and you should find a complete version of the poem).

‘Nam Sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent: Σίβυλλα τί θέλεις; respondebat illa: άποθανεîν θέλω.’

                                                                                                             For Ezra Pound
                                                                                                                        il miglior fabbro.

I. The Burial of the Dead

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm’ aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the archduke’s,
My cousin’s, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
                      Frisch weht der Wind
                      Der Heimat zu
                      Mein Irisch Kind,
                      Wo weilest du?
‘You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;
‘They called me the hyacinth girl.’
—Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,
Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not
Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,
Looking into the heart of light, the silence.
Oed’ und leer das Meer.

If you would like a different experience, you can also listen to the entire poem. We would strongly suggest that you follow along with a printed copy, but it is often beneficial to hear poetry being read.

Audio recorded by Nathaniel Krause and released under a Creative Commons share-alike license.

Reflection

Modernist poetry, characterized by its fragmented structures, ambiguity, exploration of alienation and loss, and daring experimentation with language and form, reflects a radical departure from traditional conventions as poets sought to capture the complexities and disordered nature of the modern world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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