Poetry by Marianne Moore Summary and Analysis

 

Marianne Moore states that she too dislikes some kinds of poetry as it not genuine. She compares poetry to fiddle. Because, fiddle cannot create a complete form of music in isolation. similarly some poems are incomplete which can only produce sounds and cannot create any spark among the readers. There is no life in such poems.

The other forms of writings are far better than poetry. For example the literary forms like short story is much readable and accessible than poetry. Hence, she dislikes it.

Obviously, poetry offers a visual treat for the genuine readers. A true poetry can even instigate physically the readers by creating certain spark among them. It happens not because of the high sounding interpretation but it is useful for human kind as the Great poet William Wordsworth puts it poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge.
Useful poems are not an imitation of other works.

Readers cannot admire and appreciate something that is beyond the reach of their understanding. They admire what they can easily grasp.

 
Further the poet remarks that there is no such proper stuff of poetry. Anything can be a subject matter for poetry. Like the bat, holding on upside down, elephants carrying weights, movement of the wild horse, energetic wolf under the tree and so on. It is not possible to discriminate anything from the poetic circle. Each has its own values.

  One should capable enough to differentiate between poetasters (half poets) and genuine poets. They are fake poets and can't produce poetry. A true poet with a literal imagination can never be an autocrat. A genuine poet and find out the poetic pulse in everything and he/she   shall never approach poetry with disrespect and insignificance.

 

She presents a thought provoking analogy of garden with the process of writing or the approach towards poetry, "the imaginary gardens with real toads in them". The poet in fact creates an imaginary world with real life in it. This conceptual world created by the poet should reflect the real life.

 Thus, the raw material of poetry is the exact life with the true and genuine color of reality. Then the poetry will be interesting.

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