Have you ever known somebody who won't watch a sad movie or listen to sad songs, just because they don't want to experience sadness? I know a few people like that, and I haven't ever been able to fully understand their mindset. I like experiencing different genres of art to see exactly how they will impact me, for better or for worse.
Now, why would I start a post with so personal? Well first of all, it's what I do. Second, I found that William Carlos Williams' poem "Memory of April" and Joanne Monte's poem "The Betrayal" are both poems that I personally found pessimistic, but the beneficial type of pessimistic. Both of these poems portray mankind in a dark light, and the nature of humans isn't much brighter for either author, though the degree is pretty exaggerated.
In "Memory of April", Williams discusses the idea of love. The poem reads:
You say love is this, love is that:
Poplar tassels, willow tendrils
the wind and the rain comb,
tinkle and drip, tinkle and drip--
branches drifting apart. Hagh!
Love has not even visited this country.
This poem paints a very pessimistic idea about love. At first, Williams is entering into the poetic discussion on what love is, and you can tell from the very beginning that he's going to state his own view at the end. Instead of the pleasant examples from poets past that Williams uses, Williams' own approach is the opposite. Love hasn't even visited the country, he says. Obviously, Williams is portraying a pessimistic view of love in this poem, but it's also obvious to see that he's exaggerating this pessimism. What I find interesting is that the poem ends there. There is no explanation provided for why love hasn't visited or how it hasn't.
In "The Betrayal", Monte uses a similar approach. Actually, all of her poems I read were very pessimistic in the same way that some of Williams' poetry were, but "The Betrayal" definitely shows some of the strongest pessimism. The last stanza of this poem reads:
The room abandoned
and the drapes drawn, but still clinging
to the one ray of light in the window
as though it could reach into those dark corners
and deflect the desire for vengeance.
This poem's style is more similar to other Willams' poems, but the main things that bring these two together is the dark overtones of the poetry. Williams has a dark overtone about love, and Monte has a dark overtone about vengeance. The darkness is symbolized in Monte's poem from the dark room, with only one small sliver of light coming through the blinds. The dark corners are where the desire for vengeance resides in the room. Both Monte and Williams exaggerate their pessimistic views into these two poems in a way where you know it's not completely real. I like poems like this, as long as I know the author isn't acting based on these views that they're penning.
Helpful post of the week: http://www.italianamericanwriters.com/monte.html
Bert, I like how you take the poems one step further and comment on human nature. I think that's an excellent connection that I never could have made and it is enlightening to read. I also like that you asked follow up questions---the answer to question the poem asks.
ReplyDeleteYou make both poems very relatable by opening on a personal note, which is always appreciated.
Thanks for shedding light on Williams' poem!!
Dude! great observations. Like you, I definitely feel the darker overtones of the poem. I really liked that you pointed out that Williams never explains himself, nor does he intend to. He just says that love has never visited. It's interesting for sure, not knowing why it didn't. Though Id have to disagree with you when you say they have a pessimistic view of love. I think its more of the absence of love that creates the that pessimistic view, not love itself. But I don't think I could've gotten there without you pointing out that Williams never answers his question! Thanks Bert!
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