Understanding Poetic Sound

Understanding Poetic Sound

The following discussion/activity has been designed to begin a unit on poetic sound. The handout to which this refers is excerpted from Eliot’s statements re: the relationship between sound and sense. Emphasize the Chasin poem as a sort of hypertext – if you were to “click” on the word delicious in William’s poem, you’d get Chasin’s. In other words, delicious is the only rich, non-crisp word in “This is Just to Say,” whereas Chasin’s poem is entirely rich, non-crisp, etc. Also, emphasize Chasin’s use of sound mimicry, etc. to get across the richness of the word plum itself.

Part I: Defining Poetic Sound

It’s appropriate to end our discussion of poetic language with a discussion of symbol, because all language is symbolic. Words are symbols that stand for real-world things and ideas. They do, however, have another dimension: we hear them when we (or others) speak them. To consider a poem’s sound is to step (briefly) away from the symbolic dimension of language to consider its physical dimension.

Focusing Questions:

What kinds of things can be heard in poetry? [Make a list on board that includes rhyme, repetition, assonance, consonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm/meter (beats, stresses, pauses), breath, punctuated stops, dialects] What are some general ways to characterize the sound of a poem? [slow, fast, murmury, crisp, etc.]

Must a poem be heard to experience its aural dimension? Why/why not?

What does sound have to do with selfhood? What is the relationship between a poem’s sound(s) and its speaking self? [note concept of voice]

What is the relationship between the sound of a poem and its meaning? How can the latter contribute to our sense of the former? [handout: Eliot on poetic sound] Do you agree with Eliot’s take on the relationship between the two?

Part II: Analyzing Poetic Sound

Williams: “This Is Just to Say”

Focusing Questions:

What kind of voice is this? Who is speaking, and what is the occasion? How do you know?

What aural features do you notice about this poem? [crisp sounds, long vowels, short words] What word(s) would you use to describe the sound experience of this poem as whole?

How does the sound experience of the poem support its message? [handout: Chasin’s “The Word Plum”] How does the sound and message of this poem compare to the sound and message of Chasin’s plum poem?

The Word Plum

by Helen Chasin

The word plum is delicious

pout and push, luxury of

self-love, and savoring murmur

full in the mouth and falling

like fruit

taut skin

pierced, bitten, provoked into

juice, and tart flesh

question

and reply, lip and tongue

of pleasure.