| Author | Message | ||
| Howard Rosenberg
New member Username: writerhoward Post Number: 1 Registered: 01-2009 |
In another post, someone who left a comment wrote that a poem's author should try to add some resonance to his poem. What is resonance? An example or two would be appreciated. Thanks. (Message edited by writerhoward on January 16, 2009) | ||
| Will Eastland
Intermediate Member Username: dwillo Post Number: 896 Registered: 07-2006 |
Resonance in physics is a vibration that occurs at a particular frequency in one medium in close proximity to another medium that shares enough physical properties to be affected by the frequency of the first medium's vibrations to the point that it begins vibrating itself. This second vibration is sympathetic vibration. In poetry then, passages, the energy of which causes a sympathetic excitement in the reader, would be resonant. I use sympathy here in the technical sense not the common, emotional sense, although it can at times include that. Poems successfully resonate when they seem true to life while avoiding the 'old hat', or give us a greater, more deeply felt understanding of the world, or one person, or an object, or of a relationship, or whatever. Examples are hard to provide as what resonates for one may not resonate for another. The poet then must walk the line between ideas that resonate and those that are overused or so commonly accepted they no longer stir the reader. One passage that resonates deeply for me is from Kooser's "Mother" He vividly describes (to her) the year between the time she passed away and the day he wrote the poem, closing with, Were it not for the way you taught me to look at the world, to see the life at play in everything, I would have to be lonely forever. Walk carefully-- your shoe is what you shine your shadow with. ~Jessica Goodfellow | ||
| Fred Longworth
Senior Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 5314 Registered: 05-2006 |
My favorite example is from "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. Here is the entire poem: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Don't be surprised if an anti-intellectual or two shows up in this thread wimping that resonance has no definition, or can mean anything. For the purposes of this thread, I will ignore the Cravens and speak for the Bolds. First, here's a very simple definition of resonance: "It's that afterglow. It's what makes the poem stick in your mind." Read the Frost poem. Now, after you have read it, does your mind go, "Well, that's that"? Do you immmediately fold your hands and think about other things? Most people would say "no." Most people are initially somewhat in awe of the poem as a gorgeous construction of words. (As I am, having read the poem hundreds of times.) Then people think about all the decisions they've made in their lives, how they could've gone this way or that. Often, following Frost's lead, they note how they've sometimes made the unpopular or less-usual choice -- And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; -- and then they contemplate how choices unfold into consequences. Maybe they keep on thinking about these things all day. That's resonance. You put the poem down, but your head and heart keep rolling along. * * * * * Frost's use of the crossroads metaphor is also a perfect example of what T.S. Eliot called the "objective correlative" -- but that is another discussion. * * * * * Fred From Bambi: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." From me: "Even consciousness, a pastiche of recycled cans." | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 32910 Registered: 11-1998 |
Yep, Freddie. Old Frost gave us resonance and then some. Tricky, tricky poem, but then Frost was a master at that. This one will not only leave them thinking, but arguing for most likely centuries to come: Interpretations of "The Road Not Taken" Thanks for posting it here. Every time I read it, I change my mind about what he really might have intended. Love, M | ||
| Fred Longworth
Senior Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 5316 Registered: 05-2006 |
Yeah, my father interpreted the poem as choosing between Early Times and Jim Beam. Early Times was a trifle less popular, so he went with it. Fred From Bambi: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." From me: "Even consciousness, a pastiche of recycled cans." | ||
| Kathy Paupore
Moderator Username: kathy Post Number: 10685 Registered: 12-2003 |
M, very intersting interpretations on Frost's poem. A good example of how one poem can resonate differently for different readers. It depends what personal experiences and references we bring into a poem when we read it. Kathy You're invited to: Wild Flowers Free verse in not, of course, free.--Mary Oliver | ||
| Leslie J Root
New member Username: leslie_root Post Number: 14 Registered: 01-2009 |
Resonance, to me, is that part of a poem that strikes at my soul. It may be because of familiarity or because the writer has called up an image so vivid that it's impact affects me in some way. It is what gives the work substance no matter how distant the context may be from my own reality. It is the grain of truth that grows the imagination of the reader. "The best bread is deemed worthy by the butcher." | ||
| Howard Rosenberg
New member Username: writerhoward Post Number: 2 Registered: 01-2009 |
Thanks everyone for the helpful responses. Here's a poem that resonates for me (I love how, in it, Frost brings the horse to life): Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening By Robert Frost Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. | ||
| Will Eastland
Intermediate Member Username: dwillo Post Number: 899 Registered: 07-2006 |
Desert Places is my favorite Frostian Resonance Ray. Snowy Woods is a close second. Walk carefully-- your shoe is what you shine your shadow with. ~Jessica Goodfellow | ||
| W.F. Roby
Intermediate Member Username: wfroby Post Number: 568 Registered: 03-2008 |
Resonance can mean anything. | ||
| Will Eastland
Intermediate Member Username: dwillo Post Number: 900 Registered: 07-2006 |
Craven resonance is my favorite resonance, along with many other resonances. Walk carefully-- your shoe is what you shine your shadow with. ~Jessica Goodfellow | ||
| Fred Longworth
Senior Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 5317 Registered: 05-2006 |
I for one think we should tear down all boundaries, and just sink into amorphous blobs. Plasm From Bambi: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." From me: "Even consciousness, a pastiche of recycled cans." | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 32923 Registered: 11-1998 |
Since Ron is mysteriously absent from this discussion, I guess I'll have to do his part: Kooser is God. There. I feel better now. *pssssst . . . wake up, Ron. You're missing your cues* Love, M | ||
| Leslie J Root
New member Username: leslie_root Post Number: 18 Registered: 01-2009 |
Yet one more reason to love Robert Frost. Who could not understand what he writes and find it relatable to their lives. Purest honesty and, by far, the most significant if you believe that the writers true goal is to give something of substance to the reader. "The best bread is deemed worthy by the butcher." | ||
| Fred Longworth
Senior Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 5319 Registered: 05-2006 |
~M~, Ron is up there at the temple, sitting in that rude hut, reading Kooser's book of empty pages. Fred From Bambi: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." From me: "Even consciousness, a pastiche of recycled cans." | ||
| Howard R
New member Username: writerhoward Post Number: 4 Registered: 01-2009 |
What is Craven resonance? | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 32924 Registered: 11-1998 |
Dear Howard -- Craven resonance is Will's bad pun on Freddie's equally bad manners. Trying to control these coconuts (mainly Freddie, Will, Roby, Ron) means I am constantly visiting my gastro doc who must change my acid-reducing medicine because it's stopped working. Take everything the coconuts say with a grain of salt. If you are not on a reduced salt diet, that is. Sorry for the bad puns on your serious question. Forgive them. They do know what they do, but that doesn't mean they're going to stop. *sigh* Best, M (Administrator) | ||
| Fred Longworth
Senior Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 5322 Registered: 05-2006 |
Howard, that's an easy one. The Cravens are a legendary species of bird which are too fearful to take to wing. As a result, they are forever being eaten by hungry foxes. Resonance is the afterglow of a poem, the thoughts and feelings that keep running through your mind after the poem has been heard or read. * * * * * If we put them together using rigorous Robyllian logic, we come up with the following: (1) Resonance can mean anything; (2) Anything can be a poem. Hope this helps. Fred From Bambi: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." From me: "Even consciousness, a pastiche of recycled cans." | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 32925 Registered: 11-1998 |
See, Howard? What did I tell you? They're uncontrollable. *LOL* Love, M | ||
| W.F. Roby
Intermediate Member Username: wfroby Post Number: 569 Registered: 03-2008 |
resonance esonance sonance onance nance ance nce ce e | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 32926 Registered: 11-1998 |
If you two spent as much time writing "poems" or "not poems" as you do arguing about "poems" or "not poems," you both could have several published "poems or not poems" (take your choice) collections by now. Sheesh! Love, M | ||
| Will Eastland
Intermediate Member Username: dwillo Post Number: 903 Registered: 07-2006 |
Well, with that W.F. wins this round. We'll get you next time Roby! Walk carefully-- your shoe is what you shine your shadow with. ~Jessica Goodfellow | ||
| Kathy Paupore
Moderator Username: kathy Post Number: 10692 Registered: 12-2003 |
Oh, I took that Craven resonanance in a different way! Craven brought to mind Wes Craven who of course had something to do with that Freddie Kruger movie in the 80's, Nightmare on Elm Street, and all its sequels so either way we get to Freddie the image is just different legendary bird, or knives for fingers Kathy You're invited to: Wild Flowers Free verse in not, of course, free.--Mary Oliver | ||
| Fred Longworth
Senior Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 5324 Registered: 05-2006 |
And your little dog too! .............................. From Bambi: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." From me: "Even consciousness, a pastiche of recycled cans." |
