Hi, everybody--
I found myself flipping through some Robert Frost today--the semester is over and I can indulge myself-- and I re-read "Birches." It confirmed a suspicion I've harbored for a long time that I've never really articulated till now: I hate that last line. It's a very fine poem, of course-- but I honestly think that as a way to end it, one could do a whole lot better than be a swinger of birches. Way too cute for me. Strange verb usage, too.
This made me think of how effectively or ineffectively other well-known poems end. Some, I think, do so magnificently (e.g. "The Second Coming") while others tend to flop (maybe Sharon Olds's "Topography." I have never found it funny, which I think was her intention.)
Does anyone have any their own personal candidates for winners and losers in the "endings" department? Naturally this will depend heavily upon the sensitibilties of the individual reader, but I think it might be interesting to talk about them.
Marilyn
PS-- Many of you probably know that here's a wonderful book on this subject by Barbara Herrnstein Smith called POETIC CLOSURE: A STUDY OF HOW POEMS END (U of Chicago P, 1968-- unfortunately out of print, but libraries should have it.)
|
Threaded Mode
