Activity on Reading short Modern Poems

This blog is a part of Thinking Activity given by a teacher (Dept. of Eng. MKBU.) Click here to know more.

(1) The Embankment :-T.E.Hulme

Poet is recounting his past by using the words like finesse of fiddles, musical gathering and flash of
gold heels used for women star-eaten blanket is used as negative word. But now what all he need is
warmth; which he will get under the blanket of sky where he will get comfort, comfort from the
harshness of life.

(2) Darkness:- Joseph Campbell

Title itself reflects negativity. Here star is metaphor, by which poet actually means Victorian age , he
is not affected with the shine of Victorian age, he just looked at it and pass on.

(3) Image :- Edward storer

By the title of this poem may be poet wanted to present image of modern age people. White color
presents positivity but here it seems in negative sense. Other metaphor are loneliness and drought.

(4) In a station of the metro:- Ezra pound

Title itself says that its about Metro. Poet sees various faces and gives it metaphor ‘apparition’. This
means ghostly. He compares these faces to ‘petals on a wet black bough”- suggests that on the dark
subway platform, the people look like flower petal stuck on tree branch after a rainy night.

(5) The Pool:- Hilda Doolittle

speaker asking person that ‘are you alive?. Person shivers like a sea fish.
which indicates that someone is dying and presents liflessness.

(6) Insouciance:- Richard Aldington

Here poet have used metaphors like deary trnches, trudging cheerily flock of doves, white winged
doves.

(7) Moring at the window- T.S.Eliot

At first reading of this poem way feel that this poem is about everyday life. But we also can say that
this line:- ‘” tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts.”

(8) The Red Wheelbarrow – William carol Williams

This poem is difficult to understand. But f we go on by words like Barrow(stones raised over a grave)
Glazed (showing no liveliness) chicken(young man); these words indicates a young man’s death.

(9) Anecdote of the jar:- Wallace stevens.

Here in this poem metaphor is jar. And poem is about the Tennessee( a state of the united states of
America)

(10) I(a, :- E.E.Cummings )

A falling leaf is symbol of loneliness. The word ‘fall’ symbolized in any way. Fall means death, fall of
spirituality; fall word also presents the damage caused because of world war and its effect on
people.
Modernist literature is difficult to understand, it is absurd, there is hidden meaning, it becomes hard
to get the whole meaning of poem.