american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
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100 AMERICAN POLITICAL POETRY<br />
Victoria Frenkel Harris claims that <strong>the</strong> tone of this poem can<br />
“never be confused.” Despite its “sarcastic presentation,” she writes<br />
that Bly “exudes naked emotion, rage” (22). However, <strong>the</strong> tone can<br />
be confused, and Harris herself misreads it. The poem does not have<br />
a trace of emotion or rage; <strong>the</strong> voice is calm, cool, calculated, and<br />
slow. The first l<strong>in</strong>e is matter-of-fact, distant: “Let’s count <strong>the</strong> bodies<br />
over aga<strong>in</strong>.” Of <strong>the</strong> poem’s seventy-four words, fifty-six are monosyllables.<br />
These monosyllables greatly slow down <strong>the</strong> l<strong>in</strong>es. As <strong>in</strong> Pound’s<br />
“In a Station of <strong>the</strong> Metro,” <strong>the</strong> second and f<strong>in</strong>al l<strong>in</strong>e of which ends<br />
with three consecutive stressed monosyllabics—“petals on a wet,<br />
black bough”—that stand <strong>in</strong> stark contrast to <strong>the</strong> first iambic l<strong>in</strong>e,<br />
Bly’s poem relies on monosyllables both for sound and sense, with <strong>the</strong><br />
former echo<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> latter. When <strong>the</strong> speaker says “we could fit / a<br />
whole year’s kill <strong>in</strong> front of us on a desk,” <strong>the</strong> tone is slow, measured,<br />
and, most of all, deadpan. There is no melody or rhythm or rage. The<br />
parodic voice would not work if it were not detached and emotionless,<br />
dystopian ra<strong>the</strong>r than enraged. This is not a protest poem with<br />
authoritative agency; it is a satiric poem with a disengaged voice.<br />
Fur<strong>the</strong>r, Bly’s poem, <strong>the</strong> previous l<strong>in</strong>es especially, proliferates<br />
prepositions. In his assessment of his own <strong>political</strong> <strong>poetry</strong>, 12 he<br />
expla<strong>in</strong>s that he uses a “Smart-Blake-Whitman” l<strong>in</strong>e, which is “additive”<br />
and “monotonous” with an abundance of prepositions, often<br />
becom<strong>in</strong>g “swollen by <strong>the</strong>m” (Selected Poems 196). Not only do <strong>the</strong>se<br />
prepositions extend l<strong>in</strong>es while slow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>m, <strong>the</strong>y add to <strong>the</strong> absurdity<br />
of <strong>the</strong> speaker’s vision. With each additional prepositional phrase,<br />
<strong>the</strong> image grows more preposterous. The f<strong>in</strong>al l<strong>in</strong>e would be sufficient<br />
with <strong>the</strong> image of fitt<strong>in</strong>g “a body <strong>in</strong>to a f<strong>in</strong>ger r<strong>in</strong>g,” but <strong>the</strong> addition<br />
of “for a keepsake forever” makes it doubly absurd and st<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
Similarly, <strong>the</strong> image of mak<strong>in</strong>g a “whole pla<strong>in</strong> white with skulls”<br />
becomes more depraved with <strong>the</strong> consciously poetic phrase “<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
moonlight” added gratuitously.<br />
In much <strong>the</strong> same way, Bly’s heavy use of repetition and conditional<br />
statements, which grammatically signal <strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>tical, make<br />
<strong>the</strong> tone calmer, more measured. “If we could only make <strong>the</strong> bodies<br />
smaller” is repeated three times <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> brief poem; this perverse desire<br />
is none<strong>the</strong>less expressed <strong>in</strong> a hypo<strong>the</strong>tical, betray<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> speaker’s<br />
rationality <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> face of such absurdity. He knows that it is impossible<br />
to fit a year of dead Vietnamese on a desk. As such, it is not <strong>the</strong> vision<br />
itself that is grotesque, but <strong>the</strong> speaker’s wish that such a world were<br />
possible. This twist is Bly’s brilliant move <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> poem. It is relatively<br />
simple to create a grotesque vision of a brutal war; it is ano<strong>the</strong>r th<strong>in</strong>g<br />
altoge<strong>the</strong>r to get <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> psyche and hopes of a military mach<strong>in</strong>e.