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Study Guide Prepared by Michael
J. Cummings..©
2008
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Type
of Work and Year Written
"Ars Poetica" (Latin for
"The Art of Poetry") is a lyric poem of
twenty-four lines. It describes the qualities a poem should have if it
is to stand as a work of art. MacLeish wrote it in 1925 and published it
in 1926.
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Theme
The central theme of "Ars
Poetica" is that a poem should captivate the reader with the same allure
of a masterly painting or sculpture—that is, it should be so stunning in
the subtlety and grace of its imagery that it should not have to explain
itself or convey an obvious meaning. Oddly, though, in writing that a poem
"should not mean / But be," Archibald MacLeish conveys naked meaning, namely:
Here is how you should write a poem. In other words, in "Ars Poetica,"
we are privileged to behold the strange phenomenon of didacticism
in the guise of ars
gratia artis. Nevertheless, "Ars Poetica" is a wonderful poem that
speaks with the quiet eloquence of Rodin's
Thinker
and da Vinci's Mona
Lisa.
Structure
and Content
 MacLeish
divides the poem into three eight-line sections, each explaining what a
poem "should be." The first section compares a poem to familiar sights:
a fruit, old medallions, the stone ledge of a casement window, and a flight
of birds. The second section compares a poem to the moon. If a poem has
universality, it can move from one moment to the next, or from one age
to another, while its relevance remains fixed ("motionless," line 9). Thus,
like the moon traveling across the sky, a good poem seems to stand still
at any given moment—as if it were meant for that moment. Its content remains
fresh and alive to each reader down through the years, down through the
centuries. The third section states that a poem should just "be," like
a painting on a wall or a sculpture on a pedestal. It is not a disquisition
or a puzzle, but a mood, a feeling, a sentiment—a work of art.
Figures
of Speech
Following are examples of
figures of speech in the poem:
Simile: Lines 1-8
use like or as to compare a poem to a globed fruit,
old
medallions, the stone of casement ledges, and a flight of
birds.
Alliteration: Line
5 repeats the s sound. (Silent
as the
sleeve-worn
stone.)
Paradox: Lines 9-16
suggest that a poem should be motionless, like a climbing moon. Obviously,
climbing indicates motion. However, the figure of speech is apt: A climbing
moon appears motionless when it is observed at any given moment.
Metaphor: Lines 9-16
compare the "motionless" poem by implication to universality, the property
of a literary work that makes it relevant for people of all ages and cultures.
(See "Structure and Content" for further comment.
Metaphor: Line 12
compares night to an object that can snare or capture.
Repetend (Anaphora):
The phrase a poem should be occurs five times in the poem.
Rhyme
and Meter
Couplets (rhyming pairs of
lines) occur throughout the poem except in lines 7 and 8, 13 and 14, and
21 and 22. The feet are mostly iambic, and the meter varies. (An iambic
foot consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable,
as in line 1:
A..PO..|..em
SHOULD..|..be
PAL..|..pa..BLE..|..and..MUTE
Source
MacLeish derived inspiration
for "Ars Poetica" from a book of epistles by the ancient Roman poet Horace
(65-8 B.C.). Originally entitled Epistle to the Pisos, the book later came
to be known as Ars Poetica. It offers advice to young poets.
.Ars
Poetica
By Archibald
MacLeish (1892-1982) |
A poem should be palpable
and mute1
Like a globed2
fruit,
Dumb
As old medallions3
to the thumb,
Silent as the sleeve-worn
stone
Of casement ledges where
the moss has grown4—
A poem should be wordless
Like a flight of birds.5............................
8
A poem should be motionless
in time
As the moon climbs,6
Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled
trees,
Leaving, as the moon behind
the winter leaves,
Memory by memory the mind—
A poem should be motionless
in time
As the moon climbs.7............................
16
A poem should be equal to:
Not true.8
For all the history of grief
An empty doorway and a maple
leaf.9
For love
The leaning grasses and
the two lights above the sea—10
A poem should not mean
But be........................................../......
24
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Notes
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Line 1—as well as lines 3, 5,
and 7—focus on inarticulation: A poem should be . . . mute . . .
dumb
. . . silent . . . wordless. Here. MacLeish seems to be saying
that a poem should not crassly announce what it is about. Rather, like
the smell of spices wafting from a restaurant, it should merely suggest.
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Use of globed rather
than round enhances euphony while also suggesting largeness. Perhaps the
object is a melon or grapefruit
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Medallions are large medals.
The adjective old suggests that the medallions have stories behind them—about
war or athletic accomplishments, for example.
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One can imagine here a man or
woman from a time past propping sleeved arms or elbows on a ledge while
he or she looks out the window on a scene of interest. If the stone ledge
could speak, what tale would it tell about the observer and the observed?
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The "wordless birds" can only
suggest what occupies them by the direction of their flight or, in the
case of vultures, their circular motion.
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If a poem has universality and
timelessness, it can move from one moment to the next, or from one age
to another, while its relevance remains fixed ("motionless"). Thus, like
the moon traveling across the sky, a good poem seems to stand still at
any given moment—as if it were meant for that moment. Its content remains
fresh and alive to each reader down through the years, down through the
centuries.
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Lines 15 and 16 repeat lines
9 and 10, creating a frame for the imagery in lines 11-14.
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A poem is not a newspaper account,
an essay, or a historical document. It is a work of the imagination; it
discovers truth by presenting impressions and interpretations, not hard
facts.
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A poem can concentrate an entire
story into an image. Here, the empty doorway suggests the absence of a
person who once stood in it—a mother, for example, as she greets a son
or daughter. But now the mother is gone, and the gloom of autumn (suggested
by the fallen leaf) has replaced the bright cheer of summer.
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Here is one interpretation:
After death separated two lovers, the cemetery grass grew tall and now
leans against a tombstone. Like the two lights in the sky, the sun and
the moon, the two lovers will remain forever apart.
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Study
Questions and Essay Topics
1....Do
you agree with MacLeish's views on what a poem should be?
2....Write
a short poem that follows the principles of MacLeish.
2....Should
the language of good poetry be clear and direct, requiring no interpretation,
or remain mostly ambiguous and merely suggestive of a particular meaning?
3....Most
song genres today—rock, heavy metal, country, blues, etc.—use poetry
to convey a message. Select a song with lyrics that you believe are good
enough to stand alone as a worthy poem. Explain what makes the lyrics good.
4....Write
an essay that elaborates on the last two lines of MacLeish's poem.
5....Write
an essay that interprets lines 9-12.
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