The following poem was written by the postmodern poet John Wieners. Explore the conflicting parallelism presented by Wieners. What poetic devices (if any) are used? What makes the broken prose of Wieners' poem effective? Also explore the effectiveness of the poet's direct address to an unknown party.
"You Talk of Going But Don't Even Have a Suitcase"
(A series of Repetitions)
I will be an old man sometime
And will live in a dark room somewhere.
I will think of this night someplace
the rain falling on stone.
There will be no one near
no whisper on the street
only this song of old yearning
and the longing to be young
with you together on some street.
Now is the time for retreat,
This is the last chance.
This is not the last chance.
Why only yesterday I lay drugged
on the dark bed while they came
and went as the wind
and they shall come again
to bear me down into that pit
there is no returning from.
Old age, disaster, doom.
It shall be as this room.
With you by the sink, pinching your face
in the mirror.
Time is as a river
and I shall forget this night,
its joy.
13 comments:
Post Modernism typically deals with rational and historical factors, completely excluding all things scientific, as nothing is really incorporated to make logical sense. Wieners successfully writes his poem, "You Talk of Going But Don't Even Have a Suitcase" in the postmodern style, through his conflicting parallelism of youth and aging. Throughout the entire poem, it is evident that Wieners dreads growing old, but at the beginning he pledges he will never forget his youth and towards the end of the poem, his tone and attitude become more pessimistic as he closes the poem with, "and I shall forget this night, its joy". Through the use of broken prose, Wieners more effectively gets his idea across, as readers must pay more attention to what he is saying in order to understand the poem in its entirety. Also, this method symbolizes how the poem's main focus, getting older, is broken up into phases, yet the end is inevitable. Through addressing an unknown individual, readers are intrigued to read further into the poem. Personally, I assumed that he is talking to his love. He wants to spend forever with her, and it saddens him that one day he will grow old, forget some of their memories, and eventually die.
Postmodernism is the movement that often questions societal expectations and customs, and it is also associated with deconstruction, which tries to break down words into their true meanings on the foundation that all text can be interpreted in several different ways. I think it is apparent that deconstruction played a major role in the structure of this poem.
The line "This is the last chance./ This is not the last chance" reminded me a lot of "P or Not P" in the sense that there is a lot of indecisiveness as Wieners tries to expose the truth. The broken prose is extremely effective because it reveals a thought process that is very reminiscent of a stream-of-consciousness narration, which is very characteristic of the postmodern style.
Wieners talks about aging and how essentially once one has grown old, there is no longer hope because he will be completely isolated and alone in the world, and through repetition, he makes this point. By addressing an unknown party, he makes this message universal and further enhances the perspective he is trying to deliver to the reader.
The conflicting parallelism of the poem signifies the reader's indecisiveness and his different ideas of his situation. The author uses some personification by giving "yearning" and "longing to be young" the ability to be present with him, just like a person. The unpredictable, erratic structure of the poem adds to the effect of a narrator whose thoughts are very scattered. He also narrates in a stream-of-consciousness manner, further adding to this effect. By addressing his audience directly, the narrator is able to better draw in the reader and he makes himself more human and easier to relate to.
The conflicting parallelism in Wieners poem "You Talk of Going But Don't Even Have a Suitcase" is present through the postmodern stlye. Wieners uses the contrast between past and present to show his old and young age. He fears his rapid aging because of the lonliness and forgetfullness it will bring. He never wants to forget the past, and the memories of his youth, but eventually realizes that it is inevitable. "Time is as a river and I shall forget this night, its joy" (Lines 23-25). These final lines of the poem show his surrender to old age.
The broken prose of the poem, acts as scattered thoughts. Not only does it make the speaker seem more realistic and human, but also demonstrates how he is getting older and less able to function clearly. This broken prose makes the poem more effective, especially since it ties into the speakers point.
The poet's direct address to an unknown party, his message is univeral and can be applied to anyone and everyone. There is no specific person who is being spoken to, making anyone who reads the poem realize that one day, they too, will be in this same position.
Post-modernism is a movement that is based around social philosophy and deals with changes in states of being. Weiners uses repetition in "You Talk of Going But Don't Even Have a Suitcase" to convey the his conflicted thoughts of aging. The lines "I will be an old man sometime/ And will live in a dark room somewhere" is an example of repetition in this poem. He is predicting his future and assumes that it will not be as enjoyable as his youth.
Weiners also uses deconstructed prose to form a simple stream-of- conscious that truly expresses how he feels about old age. He doesn't force complex poetic patterns, which proves to be effective in this piece. The broken nature of this poem adds an authentic touch that sounds sincere and deeply personal.
The unknown party in that is addressed in the poem remains a mystery. This allows the reader to decide that party for themselves. Aging is a universal thing that inevitibly affects everyone.
The very disorganized, contradictory, ambiguous nature of "You Talk of Going But Don't Even Have a Suitcase" marks it as a classic example of postmodernist poetry. The poem addresses the speaker's fear of growing older and his futile attempts to hold onto his memories. Wieners uses many instances of repetition and parallelism to make his point more strongly. In the first three lines, he uses the parallelism of "sometime...somewhere...someplace" to suggest the ambiguity and hopelessness of the future. He also uses repetition and parallelism when he states "This is the last chance./This is not the last chance." These conflicting statements give insight into the speaker's unhappy and complex mind.
The poem uses a few poetic devices in addition to repetition and parallelism. The speaker uses similes when he says "they came/and went as the wind" and "Time is as a river". These comparisons make old age and the loss of time seem inevitable.
The broken prose gives depth and a pleading tone to the speaker's words. He feels hopeless to stop the onset of old age, and the broken nature of his speech reveals the turmoil within his mind. His last line of "I shall forget this night, its joy" is particularly effective at expressing the unhappiness of the speaker's plight. The direct address to an unknown person makes the speaker's words more powerful because he could be talking to anyone. Everyone, including the speaker, must grow old eventually, making the speaker's situation one we can all identify with.
WOOHOO! I finally remembered my password! We were going to have to use Tripp's again. Anywho... You all have done an excellent job identifying the postmodernist traits of this poem. Nearly everyone has commented on Wieners' lament of the inevitability of age and the passage time. There were some good comments on the contradictory nature of the poem (remembrance vs. oblivion, etc.). Those of you who have not yet commented, please expand upon why this aspect of Wieners' approach is effective. Which elements add a personal touch to the poem and evoke a sympathetic response from the reader?
John Wieners has written an extremely thought provoking and relatable poem in his "You Talk of Going But Don't Even Have a Suitcase" about the unavoidable of the passing of time. The use of the words "sometime", "somewhere", and "someplace" suggest the uncertainty that comes with the future. The broken prose style of the poet allows for mid-sentence pauses, seemingly the speaker pausing to contemplate his life and what will come from it. There is a definite contrast from the beginning to the end of the poem when the speaker states that he will remember this particular evening, but by the end of the poem he admits that he will not remember the night, just as people forget things as they age.
Wieners draws a parallel between I remeber discussing the postmodern concept of pastiche, which is essentially when an individual senses that their entire being has only been influenced by the sources around them, and not at all by themselves.
I guess it is basically like saying, " i have no sense of fulfillment i am only the product of society."
Wieners laments this by comparing his condition to that of the walls around him.
Wieners establishes a parallel between the decrepit condition of the room he's sleeping in with his lover and his aging. He uses spacing and repition, along with some assonance( particularly the O sound, throughout the poem it is used to elongate words). It kind of represents the actual aging process itself, along with the slow deterioration of the room the speaker is staying in.
Directly addressing an unknown party makes the poem ubiquitous. Any audience can identify with the speaker when they feel as though a direct address is being made towards them; they have to because they are being directly addressed in the case of this poem.
This poem evokes sympathy from the reader mainly because of the fact that aging is a process that everyone must endure. When Wieners writes, “time is as a river,” he means that life flows quickly and steadily. People can truly relate to this statement because life is short. Old age is inevitable and according to Wieners, it is lonely. Readers feel saddened by this poem because they are either experiencing old age or are going to experience it at some point in their lives. Therefore, Wieners uses the element of fear to gather the attention of the audience. The broken prose enhances this feeling inside the reader.
Postmodernism is the movement that most often questions societal expectations and customs. It is also associated with deconstruction, which breaks down words into their true meanings on the foundation that all text can be interpreted in several different ways. I think it is apparent that deconstruction played a major role in the structure of this poem.
Weiners uses repetition in "You Talk of Going But Don't Even Have a Suitcase" to convey the his conflicted thoughts of aging. The lines "I will be an old man sometime/ And will live in a dark room somewhere" is an example of repetition in this poem. He is predicting his future and assumes that it will not be as enjoyable as his youth.
In the poet's direct address to an unknown party, his message is univeral and can be applied to anyone and everyone. There is no specific person who is being spoken to, making anyone who reads the poem realize that one day, they too, will be in this same position.
Kudos, John for commenting on the first half of the entries!! :0)
Anne Stuart - great job with analyzing the pauses.
Coleen - Ah, yes - pastiche - very relevant!
Deidre, nice job discussing the feelings!
Channing, terrific analysis of repetition!
Classicism, Realism and Romanticism all deal with the outside world, whereas contemporary literature, by contrast, is commonly a retreat into the writer's consciousness — to make autonomous creations that incorporate diverse aspects of modern life (Modernism), or free-wheeling creations constructed of a language that largely points to itself (Postmodernism).The broken prose of the poem, acts as scattered thoughts. Not only does it make the speaker seem more realistic and human, but also demonstrates how he is getting older and less able to function clearly.
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