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Informal Journal: Graves
The poem "The Naked and the Nude" by Robert Graves immediately creates a contrast between the different connotations of words. For example, the word "naked" sounds very harsh. This is why Graves say that the naked "know defeat." The phrase "the naked and the dead" comes to mind, or in Graves' phrase the naked tread the "briary pastures of the dead." When someone is naked, they are stripped bare of everything, not just their clothing, but often their dignity and personal identity as well. A "nude" has much more positive and human connotations. For example, the famous statue of "Venus" is called the study of a "nude." Venus is beautiful, and not stripped of her dignity, rather the sculptor pays homage to her form by removing her clothing.
In contemporary society, which has a less respectful view of the unclothed body, the words "nude beach" often brings people to giggle. But no one would ever say a "naked beach," because the word...
or, as Graves writes: "The nude are bold, the nude are sly," because they have an unconcealed (no pun intended) pride about their lack of clothing and open sensuality and defiance of convention.
Graves writes these synonyms "should express/the same deficiency of dress" but the adjectives naked and nude clearly do not because of their cultural and linguistic associations, like 'naked as the day he was born,' or a 'study of a nude.' Other words that have similar cultural associations are "sex" and "lovemaking." Sex sounds like something clinical, because it also refers to the anatomical differences between men and women, but lovemaking sounds passionate, as it refers to an emotion of intense feeling. But one can engage in lovemaking with someone whom one does not love, or one can love a friend or love to play golf without any erotic desire for the friend or without associating the activity with one's sexuality.
Ezra Pound's Meditatio Meditatio When I carefully consider the curious habits of Dogs I am compelled to conclude That man is the superior animal. When I consider the curious habits of man I confess, my friend, I am puzzled. As one of the fathers of literary modernism, Ezra Pound reacted to classicism and romanticism and, in the poem, Meditatio, expresses the conflict between individual identity and the bestial nature of humankind. In fact, it is the social
She is also described as "magic in her nearness" (7) and "soft as spring wind" (10), and white as the birches bark. The poet does not waste any time getting to physical aspect of his love - or the imperfect aspect of it. This is the source of poet's conflict - his wants her but he does not want to stain her. His human desire is in conflict with
River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter In this poem, The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter, Ezra Pound paints a picture of a woman's plea to her husband. Her husband is shown as a merchant on a journey that has lasted for a long time. The core of the poem is the communication in depth and poignancy of a tormented wife about her sorrow at separation with her husband, the longing for a human
Imagery is one characteristic for which Ezra Pound's poetry is known. Through poems about trees, human beings, dogs, separation, the ancient gods, and society, Pound utilizes imagery to successfully convey his messages. Pound's poems are precise and clear, speaking volume with very little words. Pound also deviated from most traditional forms of rhyme and meter to further enhance the meaning of the poem. This paper will examine imagery, tone, mood,
Jewel Stairs' Grievance: Li PO / Ezra Pound We can assume from the poet's heritage that the speaker is an Asian woman. However, there are further contextual cues that aid in the understanding of "The Jewel Stairs' Grievance." For one, the opening line refers to "jeweled steps," which indicates a place of some wealth or importance. There is sexual innuendo throughout the poem: the dew, the gauze stockings, and the
Emily Dickinson and Ezra Pound Ezra Pound's poem "The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter" is inspired by Chinese poetry, and dramatizes the situation of the Chinese wife of a traveling salesman. In its empathetic portrayal of the life of a woman, it resembles poems by Emily Dickinson -- but the difference is, of course, that Pound's form is fundamentally dramatic. Pound announces, in his title, the speaker of the poem. Dickinson's lyric