Sprung
From flaming breath does autumn spring,
From nervous steps, a run: she falls
From trees and sows herself in hearts.
From roots to stems, from valves to blood,
From soft impossibility.
From palms to grasps, she sings her spell:
From wings that play the windy nights,
From cracks in doors she saunters in,
From shadows, from warmth: such pause, now.
From autumn springs a time too slow,
From autumn springs a winter's bellow,
From autumn springs a fever. Also
From autumn: possibility.
I had to write using anaphora for Professor Miller's class. I find it really weird how having to do that took my typical writing style i.e., straight-forward is the game, and changed it into what-the-fuck-is-going-on. I'm not making sense anymore. Help.
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ReplyDeleteWow, there was just all kinds of incoherency in that first comment. Let me try again.
ReplyDeleteI like how all the seasons are present in this poem: autumn and winter are mentioned by name, but also summer (flaming breath), and "spring" used as a verb.
To talk about the form, I'm skipping to the last line, "From autumn: possibility". The use of anaphora--especially the repetition of "from"--gives a sense of continual growth throughout the poem that is confirmed in the "possibility" of the last line. I kept mentally placing the word "sprung" before the lines, which carried through nicely through most of the poem.
I took the "she" in the poem as a personification of autumn and really liked the idea of autumn "sauntering" in "from cracks in doors" (it's my favorite season). I followed the poem, but I did have trouble with the second stanza. Firstly, "From roots to stems, from valves to blood" are very life-giving images that I associate more with spring than autumn. I'm not sure if the setting has changed, or if this is still describing autumn. I was also not sure what "soft impossibility" meant--I thought maybe the improbability of life in general, but this description is very much couched in "from roots...to blood," so I don't think I can really understand the "soft impossibility" without understanding the first part. The most ambiguous part of the stanza for me was "from palms to grasps, she sings her spell"...I couldn't really get a clear image of this, but thought maybe it was sexy imagery that was playing off of the "soft impossibility". Overall I think this use of anaphora really makes sense. I couldn't quite get the second stanza but I'll reread again tomorrow and see what happens.
I revised it a little in light of your comments. I'm not sure if this makes it more difficult or easier to read.
ReplyDeleteSprung
From flaming breath does autumn spring,
From nervous steps, a run: she falls
From trees and sows herself in hearts.
From roots to stems, she settles in,
From valves to blood, she settles in.
From branch to branch, she settles in.
From floating leaves to kisses deep,
From soft impossibility.
From palms to grasps, she sings her spell:
From wings that play the windy nights,
From cracks in doors she saunters in,
From shadows, from warmth: such pause, now.
From autumn springs a time too slow,
From autumn springs a winter's bellow,
From autumn springs a deathly scene.
But also: possibility.
I like this revision, and I think it definitely makes things clearer (at least to me). I like the addition of the repeated "she settles in". It gives a sense almost of impending work to be done, which is a nice way to picture autumn.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I see in common between this and "Jibe-Ho!" is the reinterpretation of something ostensibly destructive into something formative. I like that kind of digging out of life from unexpected places. I hope to see more of this (and other) themes in your thesis.