It is a crisp fall day as groups of people from around the world crowd into the Civic Center in downtown Great Falls, Montana. The excitement is high as each person settles into their seat and watches with breathless anticipation as the crimson curtain is drawn back to reveal a full orchestra. A cello begins the strains of Bach’s cello suite No. 1 and soon every instrument is moving together, creating such a blend of sound that the beauty captures everyone who listens. Thoughts of life and its troubles melt into the distant past as each person is caught up in the perfection of the moment. It never occurs to anyone to stop entering into the experience and ask “I wonder what the composer intended or meant by this piece?” or “What is the purpose of listening to this?” That is because they recognize the aesthetic quality that the music gives to each moment. Why is it that many people can understand this concept when it relates to music, and then stand in judgment of literature saying that if it isn’t true (such as history is considered), then it has no use? Just as Walter Pater writes, “all the arts aspire to the condition of music” (Glazer). Literature doesn’t have to mean something, teach something, or even be truthful. In fact, the beauty of literature is that it offers us a golden world, becomes the voice by which order is created, and it gives everything the best possible quality that it can have.
Before entering into a discussion on the arguments against literature, it is important to define what is considered literary. According to Northrop Frye, “All structures in words are partly rhetorical and hence literary, and the notion of a scientific or philosophical verbal structure free of rhetorical elements is an illusion” (Frye 350). Therefore, texts written on science and history alike would be considered literary. The difference that I would like to point out is that most people consider literature, such as these, to be very useful and “didactic.” When looking at poetry, fiction, etc. that does not necessarily fit into this definition, many people will claim that they serve no purpose. (For the purpose of this paper I am going to refer to all literature that doesn’t fall under this definition as “poetry.”) This argument has been around for a number of years. In fact, Plato himself considered the poet to be both “useless” and a “liar.”
When confronted by some peers, who are studying engineering, about my choice to pursue English, their response was quite unanimous and similar to this. Why study English? What is the point? They also like to imply that even if someone reads poetry as a means of enjoyment, it is still pointless because it is unrealistic and doesn’t teach you anything. On page 411 of the book Don Quixote by Cervantes, a similar discussion can be found. The canon describes his idea of books on chivalry (such as novels) and how that kind of writing and composition “belongs to the genre called Milesian tales, which are foolish stories meant only to delight and not to teach, unlike moral tales, which delight and teach at the same time” (Cervantes 411). In other words, he would agree with the engineering students that literature has no purpose if it only delights and does not teach. He also believes, as seen in later lines, that if someone is going to write fictional tales, they must “engage the minds of those who read them” (Cervantes 412) and restrain from exaggeration while also moderating impossibilities. The style of books that do not adhere to these constraints are considered by the canon to be-
“fatiguing, the action incredible, the love lascivious, the courtesies clumsy, the battles long, the language foolish, the journeys nonsensical, and, finally, since they are totally lacking in intelligent artifice, they deserve to be banished, like unproductive people, from Christian nations” (Cervantes 412).
This view may seem a bit harsh in its assessment, however, it is not unlike the flippant remarks made by those who fail to see what kind of a world the poet can offer, regardless of whether it imitates real life or not.
Consider a woman who is falsely accused of murder and is thrown into jail for life; within her womb, rests a child. Eight months later a baby girl is born, only she is without sight. Over the next ten years the mother and daughter live together in a small cell with cold stone walls, a worn mat, a rickety old bed, a nightstand, and a small candle. Their greatest treasure, apart from each other, is a tattered book of poetry that the mother has read to the little girl almost since the day she was born. As a result, the girl has grown up only knowing the world which was described and created for her through the poems. Despite her circumstances and the brazen world that she is a part of, she only knows the world as beautiful, complete, and perfect. Many people look at the world through a blindfold, they only see the imperfections, the harshness, and even if they do see beauty, it is only a shadow of what it could be. Sir Philip Sydney explains this by pointing out that nature only gives us a brazen world, whereas the poet delivers a golden one (Sydney). This is because the poet is not limited by reality, he gives us a world that expands the rises of imagination and is without constraints. To those people that claim that being didactic is the key to literature’s usefulness, I would agree with Shelley that imagination is often superior to logic and reason (Shelley). We have enough people in the world that allow themselves to stay in the arena of that which is reasonable and logical, yet there is a whole world of possibilities out there that we fail to comprehend without the poet’s help.
Not only does the poet give us a golden world, but through the poet’s words, things within life can take on more meaning and come into alignment and order. There is power in words. In fact they can create a whole new world, and things that previously had little meaning are given a purpose as they take on whatever characteristic the poet wants to give them. The poet is not unlike the woman in the poem “The Idea of Order at Key West,” by Wallace Stevens, who uses words to create her world.
“She was the single artificer of the world
In which she sang. And when she sang, the sea,
Whatever self it had, became the self
That was her song, for she was the maker”( Stevens ).
When she sang, objects that previously stood alone came together through her voice and became a part of the world that she was creating. Through her words, a transformation took place and even nature itself submitted its will to her voice.
Most people look at nature as engulfing-they feel that they are a part of it instead of it being a part of them. In other words, the general view is that nature is the container which holds every living thing. Northrop Frye suggests that, through certain levels of poetry, we can move into a new phase where-
“Nature becomes, not the container, but the thing contained……… Nature is now inside the mind of an infinite man who builds his cities out of the Milky Way. This is not reality, but it is the conceivable or imaginative limit of desire, which is infinite, eternal, and hence apocalyptic” (Frye 119).
The word apocalypse literally translates to “the lifting of the veil” (Apocalypse). In other words, who else but the poet gives us the courage to remove the veil or constraints and see things however we want- through the eyes of our desires which stem from the limitless supply of imagination. Through the voice of the poet, a whole new way of looking at things around us is realized; Wineskins become a giant’s head, peasant girls become noble maidens, and stinky fishing docks become “emblazoned zones and fiery poles” (as described in The Idea of Order at Key West). One can choose to look at this chaotic word, shielding their eyes from seeing order within it, or the choice can be made to read literature that removes the veil, and allows us to see a rose among the thorns, a crystal among the shattered glass, or order among the tangled mess of reality.
The truth of the matter is that we do live in a world that can be chaotic, bleak, harsh, and gloomy; people would love to see things change, yet they lack the conviction that things could ever be different. The historian tells us that things have always been this way, the philosopher tells us that according to our best knowledge we can’t change the way things are; yet the poet, offers an alternative. The poet paints the picture of the potential beauty that everything has. Without the poet we may never see this beauty because we are afraid to dream, afraid to imagine outside the realm of possibility- afraid to build our cities out of the Milky Way. That is because we live in reality; people only want to dream up to what is “realistic” and possible. Yet when we read a story, even if there is little reality to it, we can begin to look for the beauty and possibilities in every moment. Right now I wish so badly that I could stop writing this paper and instead go hike way up in the mountains, follow fresh tracks in the snow, build a shelter out of pine branches, start a fire, and sing until stars come out and dance across the sky; however, all of that requires time and a great deal of it. Here is where poetry finds its way into my hands and reminds me that I can dive into pages and pages of outdoor adventures, travel around the world and, in fact, live an entire lifetime, in the span of only an hour. A few words by William Blake describe this phenomenon perfectly:
“To see a world in a grain of sand
And heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour “(Blake).
Through poetry, I can experience eternity in an hour all while gaining moments that are at their best possible quality because they belong to a world with no faults. If I was to trek through the mountains right now I would be up to my knees in snow, and there would be the possibility of encountering numerous annoyances. By reading about such an adventure I not only cut down on time, but there would be no wet feet, cold wind, bugs, interruptions, etc. only an experience complete with all the beauty possible when not constrained by “reality.”
People need to stop asking what the use is of literature that isn’t true or “realistic”. They need to suspend their disbelief when reading and instead gain from everything they read, the aesthetic quality that it offers. When we enjoy music, we do not focus on what it is teaching us because it is not about the didactic quality, it is about the experience. This concept can be applied just as well to literature as it is to music. When I pick up a piece of poetry, I read it for the experience whether it teaches me anything or not. This experience takes place in a golden world; one that is created without constraints or limits placed on the imagination, it creates and reveals order in the midst of chaos, beauty in the midst of disaster, and gives our moments immortality and the very best possible quality that they can have. As Stanley Fish pointed out, “Poetry is that which one sees with poetry seeing eyes” (Mecklenburg); those who do not wish to smell the roses will walk right past them, just as those who do not wish to see the aesthetic quality that poetry gives to the world will not read it. We all have the choice to see poetry for its value or to turn our backs on it and call it useless; however, my English Professor Dr. Sexson would probably say that if you have an issue with a piece of poetry, the real problem lies not with the work itself, but with you.
"Apocalypse." Babylon. 18 Nov. 2008
Blake, William. "William Blake (1757-1827)." 2000. 20 Nov. 2008
Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel De, and Harold Bloom. "Chapter XLVII." Don Quixote. Trans. Edith Grossman. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. P. 411-12.
Frye, Northrop, and Harold Bloom. "Tentative Conclusion." P.350. “Theory of Symbols.” P. 119. Anatomy of Criticism : Four Essays. New York: Princeton UP, 2000.
Glazer, Lee. Reviewed work(s): Painting the Musical City: Jazz and Cultural Identity in American Art, 1910-1940 by Donna M. Cassidy. American Music, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Summer, 1998), pp. 230-232
Mecklenburg, Rosanna. "9 specific critics." Weblog comment. Decluing, vigilence and chalis. 3 Nov. 2008. 22 Nov. 2008
Shelley, Percy B. "A Defence of Poetry." Bartleby.com. 18 Nov. 2008
Stevens, Wallace. "The Idea of Order at Key West." 18 Nov. 2008
Sydney, Sir Philip. "The Defense of Poesy." Bartleby.com. 19 Nov. 2008
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