As I was going through my notes today, something grabbed my attention in a new way--the word "Apocalypse." In essence, this word means to "remove the veil." The more that we have studied literature and discussed it in class, the more I have come to see how poetry is essentially an apocalypse. This goes right along with our discussion on innocence, because poetry has a way of removing the veil of innocence from our eyes and allowing us to see things in a very new and revealing light. For example, in the movie "My Book and Heart Shall Never Part," the children new little of the world except for what they had seen or been told. When they learned to read and opened up books, however, they began to learn about lust, death, racism, etc. In other words, poetry (used as a metonymy here) slowly pulls away the veil that keeps a child innocent, and opens up their eyes to the reality of what really exists in the "real" world.
Spoken poetry also has a way of removing veils, giving us the ability to see the the true beauty of the world. This can be seen in the poem "The Idea of Order at Key West."
Ramon Fernandez, tell me, if you know,
Why, when the singing ended and we turned
Toward the town, tell why the glassy lights,
The lights in the fishing boats at anchor there,
As the night descended, tilting in the air,
Mastered the night and portioned out the sea,
Fixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles,
Arranging, deepening, enchanting night.
The question being asked here is why, after hearing her sing, did the town suddenly look so much more beautiful, enchanting, and magical. It seem as if, through her words, the town itself did not change, but the way that people looked at the town changed. The veil had been removed from their eyes and gave them the sight needed to see the real potential that the world can have when seen through the eyes of poetry.
1 comment:
Don't worry...it makes sense :)
Post a Comment