8 Steps to Follow and Questions to Ask
Ars Poetica by Archibald Macleish
1. Listening or reading the poem out loud without over-analyzing is a great way to start!
A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit,
Dumb
As old medallions to the thumb,
Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown-
A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds.
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs.
Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,
Leaving, as the moon behind winter leaves,
Memory by memory the mind-
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs
A poem should be equal to:
Not true.
For all the history of grief
An empty doorway and a maple leaf.
For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea-
A poem should not mean
But be.
2. Articulating expectations for the poem allows the reader to go into detail about how, where, or when the poem frustrates or fulfills your expectations
The title suggests to me that the poem will be about poetry itself, although I don’t really know what an Ars Poetica is, it seems to me to suggest some kind of list or description. Indeed, the poem details what a poem should be in ideal terms.
3. Analyzing the syntax of a poem allows the reader to truly understand what is being said.
The author uses plenty of metaphors and figurative language, and uses interesting stanza structure, where each thought is broken into two lines and one stanza, the first line being almost always shorter than the second. This creates an added emphasis to the more important thoughts.
4. Consulting reference works for anything the poemmay mention that you do not understand.
Ars Poetica means a poem that explains the "art of poetry" or a meditation on poetry using forms and techniques of a poem, etc.
5. Understanding who, where, when, and what happens is easier after you've come to a literal understanding of each sentence.
Who: Nobody but the reader and the author
Where: No particular location
When: No time frame is given, except to say that this poem (and all poetry that's good) is essentially timeless.
What: a description of what poetry really is, it's most important and complex attributes, what makes it special.
6. Addressing those questions allows us to ponder the bigger picture questions such as why does the poem matter and what does it mean?
The poem is important because it displays an authors view on what poetry really is. it is interesting because the poem says that a poem should not mean anything, but that it should be. I think, paradoxically, that this poem does mean something, and that is that all poetry should transcend meaning, because it should also be a work of art, and just as art is hollow without purpose, it is also not art without beauty.
7. How does the form of the poem contribute to it's effect and meaning?
The most powerful part of the poem to me is the ninth stanza because of how the lines in the individual stanzas are weighted. Normally, the first line is shorter than the last one, or of comparable length. But in this stanza that order is reversed, which adds a punch to the line: Not true. This is powerful stuff because it accentuates that poetry isn't as simple and math and other parts of the world, it is abstract and detailed and flexible and can be many things at once without equaling anything at all.
8. Consider the ways in which the poem both uses and departs from poetic conventions, especially those related to form and sub-genre.
The poem doesn't have a regular meter that is the same length for every line. it changes, even though there is a pattern. Yet the poem does adhere to a rather strict rhyme scheme, giving it some form of structure. The punctuation is a tad different than normal, with long, drawn out sentences mostly comprising of commas and such to showcase the winding and rhythmic pace of poetry in general.
