MCP: Poe and Ransom

I completed this reading assignment:

Edgar Allan Poe
"The Bells"
"Annabel Lee"
"The Raven"
"For Annie"
"To ---- [Violet Vane]"
"[Lines on Ale]"

John Crowe Ransom
"Bells for John Whiteside's Daughter"
"Here Lies a Lady"
"Piazza Piece"
"Dead Boy"
"Painted Head" [scroll down]

Here are my reflections:

Except for "The Raven," of course, "The Bells" was the first Poe poem I read. I recall my English teacher using it in junior high as an illustration of several concepts, including onomatopoeia and alliteration. The sound of the words, she pointed out, reminds the reader of the sound of bells ringing. Reading the work now, I am struck by the importance of rhythm to the success of that effect. For me, the poem does not capture the tone of the bells as much as their beat and the psychological effect they produce. This works particularly well in the second stanza, in which the irregular meter of the poem suggests the uniquely syncopated rhythm of wedding bells, and the third stanza, in which the irregular meter suggests the panic and confusion of an emergency. I do not find the technique as effective in the first or fourth stanza.

"To ---": Let's just be good friends . . . 'cause we've already got lovers. Somehow, I think, the sentiment would have seemed more convincing if it had not produced a poem.

In "[Lines on Ale]," the author's attitude toward the intoxicant in question reminds me more of typical reactions to absinthe than of common literary reactions to ale. Unlike most of the writing I can think of that involves ale or beer, this poem has a very solitary feeling to it. I doubt that the author was drinking in company. For some reason, I am reminded of G. K. Chesterton's statement in Heretics (chapter 7) that alcohol is best taken not medicinally but recreationally:

Never drink when you are wretched without it, or you will be like the grey-faced gin-drinker in the slum; but drink when you would be happy without it, and you will be like the laughing peasant of Italy. Never drink because you need it, for this is rational drinking, and the way to death and hell. But drink because you do not need it, for this is irrational drinking, and the ancient health of the world.

In this case, unlike most of the ale literature I can think of, the poet's drink seems to be a replacement for, not a seal of, human fellowship.

| Posted by Wilson at 13:06 Central | TrackBack
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