Some of you may have heard metaphors defined as “any non-literal comparison between two things or actions.” This definition is technically accurate, but it omits a host of examples of metaphor from literature in general, and poetry in particular, which is why the term “metaphor” is often displaced by the more generic term of “image” when we’re talking about poetry. This is because, in many bodies of poetic work, any visual or sensory representation can stand in for a number of ideas. So while some metaphors are a bit on the nose at times (like some of Moore’s titles, which establish the content that follows them as a sort of long-form metaphor, or “allegory,” as in “To a Steam Roller”) sometimes they can be a bit more obtuse. Plath did kill herself, but to write off “Lady Lazarus” as a suicide note is incredibly dismissive, and misses the entire point of the poem (while also being pretty disrespectful to the author as well). If, instead, we look at it as a metaphor, we can see a multitude of possibilities: it can become a poem about aging, about enduring trauma, about self-discovery, or all three at once.
Image and metaphor have the potential to mean many things to many people all at once, while seeming like they mean nothing at all. They’re the stock and trade of poetry. In fact, some people define poetry as writing that is occupied by a preponderance of imagery, or writing that focuses on imagery. So, for the start of our poetry unit, I’d like for you all to try to write about your feelings for something or someone without actually addressing that thing or person directly. Instead, try to show us how you feel by talking about something else entirely. Sure, you could just compare your dad to a Nazi, like Plath, or you could make fun of a friend who has trouble making decisions through a lengthy reflective poetic narrative, the way Frost did. As long as you feel like you’re on the right track, you’ll probably do fine. Just trust your audience to follow along with you.
Then only requirements for this assignment are that your response needs to be at least a page long (whether it’s one poem, or a few), and that it needs to be submitted before the end of the day on August 11th. We’ll be workshopping responses to this assignment on August 12th. And because poetry can be tough for folk, I thought I’d give you a prompt to help you along. A prompt is a word, phrase, or image that you can use to generate a piece of writing. It can appear in your piece, or just inspire it – heck, you can even omit it entirely, and you’ll do fine on this assignment.
So, if you have trouble getting started, try using this prompt to get started: Write from the perspective of a household object.
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