Poetic Imagery and Political Realities

20^th century poetry changed what the idea for what was proper poetry. During this time imagery was one of the main focuses while writing poetry. Many authors made this a main focus in their works. Some of those authors were Carl Sandburg, Amy Lowell, and William Carlos Williams. Using imagery these authors discussed several different topics including their political views and insight on what was going on in the time period.

William Carlos Williams used imagery in many of his poems. One poem that is a good example of his use of imagery while discussing his view on the politics at the time is “Tract”. In this poem he vividly describes a funeral and the traditions of the funeral service. He describes each aspect of the funeral with a sense of disgust. Throughout the poem readers get the idea that he is not only talking about the formality of a funeral but also the routines of people in the society at the time, as if they are not being genuine. For example, when he is discussing the driver of the hearse it seems like he could be talking about the leaders in America, “For heaven’s sake though see to the driver!/ Take off the silk hat! In fact/ that’s no place at all for him-/ up there unceremoniously/ dragging our friend out to his own dignity!...” (Williams, 1916, p. 1563). This insinuates that he thinks in some ways the government does that to its people.

Amy Lowell is another poet that used imagery in a large part of her poetry. In the poem “Patterns” she describes a women walking in a garden thinking about her “pattern” in the society that she lives in. As she goes through the garden she paints a picture of the person that she is supposed to be in society’s opinion. “My dress is richly figured,/ and the train/ makes a pink and silver stain/ On the gravel, and the thrift… The dripping never stops./ Underneath my stiffened gown/ is the softness of a woman bathing in a marble basin…” (Lowell, 1916, p. 1533). As she describes her pattern and then how it contrasts to the background it makes the reader see that she has a more harsh reality then what society thinks she has.

Lowell continues her imagery throughout the entire poem. About halfway through she starts to discuss the main characters fiancé that was killed as a soldier. This part shows how much the war during the time effected people and their lives. It emphasizes that because of this, and the pattern her fiancé was expected to keep he died and she could not be with him anymore. “In a month he would have been my husband./ In a month, here, underneath this lime,/ We would have broken the pattern/…/Now he is dead.” (Lowell, 1916, p. 1534).

Another poem by Lowell that she uses imagery describing the time period that she lived in called “A Decade”. In this poem she describes how she views the decade in a small amount of words. Even though the poem is short it gives the reader a very vivid picture of her view of the decade that she is describing. “When you came, you were like red wine and honey,/ And the taste of you burnt my mouth with its sweetness./…/ (Now) I hardly taste you at all for I know your savour,/ But I am completely nourished.” (Lowell, 1919, p. 1535). In this small amount of words the reader understands how bitter sweet the decade that she lived in was.

Carl Sandburg is another author that uses imagery to describe the time after war. One poem is called “Fog”. This is a short poem that talks about a cat in the fog, it’s shortness makes the reader see that the time after the war is like the cat in the fog just coming and going. “The fog comes; on little cat feet./ It sits looking/ over harbor and city/ on silent haunches/ and then moves on.” (Sandburg, 1916, p. 1464). As the reader reads the poem they can clearly imagine the cat coming and going in the fog just as the time of peace came and went for the people.

            Another poem that Sandburg wrote that he uses imagery to describe this decade is “Grass”. In this poem he discusses how grass covers all of the signs of war, including the bodies of the dead. “Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo./ Shovel them under and let me work-/ I am the grass; I cover all.” This part shows that the grass does not care what it covers and where it grows. Even though people do care nature does not. In these short stanzas the reader understands that. “Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor: What place is this? Where are we now?/ I am the grass./ Let me work.” (Sandburg, 1918, p. 1465). In the last part the reader sees that the time passes and that a place that was once significant, no one in the present knows that significance anymore.

            “Southern Pacific” is another poem that Sandburg wrote using imagery describing the time period. In this poem he discusses the difference between classes and the similarities. Sandburg shows in form and in imagery how alike and how different the two men from the time period. “Huntington sleeps in a house six feet long./ Huntington dreams of railroads he built and owned… Blithery sleeps in a house six feet long./ Blithery dreams of rails and ties he laid.”(Sandburg, 1918, p. 1466). In these lines the reader gets the image of how similar and how different the classes of this time period were.

            William Carlos Williams, Amy Lowell, and Carl Sandburg were all very talented imagery poets. The imagery helped readers understand the time period and how to envision life during that time. It also made how people felt during the time period clearer. Because these poets expressed themselves in this way, people of today are still able to experience and better understand how things were in that time and learn from it.

References

Lowell, A. (1916). Patterns. In G. Perkins, B. Perkins, J. Phelan, & E. Renker (Eds.), The American Tadition in Literature (12th ed., pp. 1532-1535). New York: McGrall Hill.

Lowell, A. (1919). A Decade. In G. Perkins, B. Perkins, J. Phelan, & E. Renker (Eds.), The American Tradition in Literature (12th ed., p. 1535). New York: McGrall Hill.

Sandburg, C. (1916). Fog. In G. Perkins, B. Perkins, J. Phelan, & E. Renker (Eds.), The American Tradition in literature (12 th ed., p. 1464). New York: McGrall Hill.

Sandburg, C. (1918). Carl Sandburg, “Southern Pacific”. In G. Perkins, B. Perkins, J. Phelan, & E. Renker (Eds.), The American Tradition in literature (12th ed., p. 1466). New York, NC: McGraw Hill.

Sandburg, C. (1918). Grass. In G. Perkins, B. Perkins, J. Phelan, & E. Renker (Eds.), Grass (12th ed., p. 1465). New York: McGrall Hill.

Williams, W. C. (1916). Tract. In G. Perkins, B. Perkins, J. Phelans, & E. Renker (Eds.), The American Tradition in Literature (12th ed., pp. 1562-1563). New York: McGrall Hill.