5 FEBRUARY 2024 – Deep Shape Poems - Analysis

ANNOUNCEMENT: Chairman Joe is the winner of our poetry contest from a few weeks ago. Here is his winning entry:

The Orlandan mouse

Slips under the doors unseen

Snap! Missed him again 

The prize: A meal with yours truly at the Fickle Pickle in – of course – Wannaska. Joe was invited to ask another person of his choice to join us. We did have the meal a few days ago, but Joe’s guest, Teresa, insisted on paying for it. So, another get together is in order. 

GOING DEEPER INTO SHAPE POETRY – Part 3 of 3

We’ve been getting some chuckles from the last two posts as we explored Shape Poems, poetry  within artistic (sometimes) drawings. Even animal butts have had their (brrpp) say. Yet, we have barely scratched the surface of our recent focus, especially the examination and technical study bit. So, today’s post (third of three on the jolly shape poem) will make up for that with an in-depth analysis of just one shape poem written in the chape of a potted holiday pine tree. Yes, we will take the traditional tools of the trade and have at this untypical brand of poetry.

Get ready to trim that tree. After reading this post, see the first exploration at the bottom and think about creating your own shape magic.

POEM

George Starbuck’s "Sonnet in the Shape of a Potted Christmas Tree" is a concrete poem written in the shape of a potted Christmas tree. It explores the themes of social inequality and poverty with respect to the central image.

*

O

fury-

bedecked!

O glitter-torn!

Let the wild wind erect

bonbonbonanzas; junipers affect

frostyfreeze turbans; iciclestuff adorn

all cuckolded creation in a madcap crown of horn!

It’s a new day; no scapegrace of a sect

tidying up the ashtrays playing Daughter-in-Law Elect;

bells! bibelots! popsicle cigars! shatter the glassware! a son born

now

now

while ox and ass and infant lie

together as poor creatures will

and tears of her exertion still

cling in the spent girl’s eye

and a great firework in the sky

drifts to the western hill.

A Petrarchan sonnet is composed of a group of eight lines (octave) with two rhymes abba abba, and a group of six lines (sestet) with two or three rhymes variously arranged, typically cde cde or cdc dcd: the thought or theme is stated and developed in the octave, and expanded, contradicted, and the like.

Lines 1-8

*

(…)

all cuckolded creation in a madcap crown of horn!”

The poem has different facets; the most noticeable is the Christmas celebration. The compound words “fury-bedecked” and “glitter-torn” indicate the mood of the speaker. He is excited and, at the same time, critical about the appearance of the potted Christmas tree. This poem satirizes the nature of the rich people, and he wishes that some “wild wind” may open their eyes that are blinded by money and hypocrisy.

The junipers are the evergreen shrubs that grow in the hilly regions. Like the tops of mountains covered with these shrubs, the mind of rich people is masked with pride. The poet calls their decorated tree a “cuckolded creation,” which depicts their disloyal nature. They hide their true face under the “crown of horn.”

Lines 9-13

It’s a new day; no scapegrace of a sect

(…)

now

In these lines, the speaker ironically says that as it’s a new and auspicious day, none can find any cunning rich man tidying up their mess while listening to the “Daughter-In-Law Elect” opera of W. S. Gilbert. This indicates that rich people can’t keep their hands off on such an auspicious event. They depend on their servants to clean it up for them. The opera alluded to in this line talks about the misconduct of the royal people. Therefore, it is an apt reference in respect to the poem’s context.

The speaker continues to talk about different kinds of decorative items the rich people use to “fury-bedeck” their potted Christmas tree. The “bells,” “bibelots,” and “Popsicle cigars” symbolize the different forms of adornments the rich people assign to their stature to hide their true faces. The pomp and grandeur are the ways to conceal their inner nature.

In the last line of the octave, the speaker says, “Shatter the glassware!” This reference shows the speaker’s urge to shatter the facade to reveal their true identity. It can also mean that the rich are having their drinks as a part of the celebration. Suddenly, the news of the son’s birth (an allusion to Christ’s birth) is introduced in the poem.

Lines 14-19

while ox and ass and infant lie

(…)

drifts to the western hill.

The sestet begins with the word “while,” which shows the contrast of both sides. In the previous lines, the speaker talks about how wealthy people decorate and celebrate Christmas. After that, he explains the ground reality. In these lines, Starbuck alludes to the manger scene from the Bible and points out that the main message is about joy in the midst of struggle and poverty.

The “tears of her exertion” hint at the poor’s pain during winter and the problems they have to suffer. Though it’s Christmas, the joy is missing, and tears cling to the eyes of the poor. In contrast, the poet ends the poem with a great firework that drifts to the western hills. It can be an indication of the pole star that shone on the day Christ was born. The star drifted to the east to guide the Three Magi. However, in this piece, the firework drifts to the western hill, indicating that everyone is either misled or lost.

At the ending of the poem, the speaker comes to the main point. Through this section, he points out the real message. When Christ was born, shepherds were the first to receive the joyous news. Christ came to the world to help the poor, needy, and helpless people. However, the speaker indicates the reality of the situation and how the poor are still suffering while the rich people are busy decorating their potted Christmas tree.

Background – Historical Context

"Sonnet in the Shape of a Potted Christmas Tree" is written by neo-formalist poet George Starbuck. It was first published in the December 1978 issue of Poetry magazine and later included in the collection The Works: Poems Selected from Five Decades (2003). Starbuck is widely known for his use of wit, pathos, and intelligent wordplay in his poetry. He introduced his own neo-formalist style known as “SLABS” (Similar Length And Breadth Sonnets). He was not recognized initially. But after his death, his works gained popularity. In this poem, he talks about Christmas and comments on society.

The real message of the poem "Sonnet in the Shape of a Potted Christmas Tree" lies in the last stanza. Starbuck writes the poem in the shape of a potted Christmas tree and includes the real meaning of Christmas, which is distorted in today’s materialistic world. The use of the compound words indicates that as these words grab the attention of readers, the rich grab others’ attention by throwing unnecessary parties and showing off their wealth. While the poor continue to suffer.

The main themes of the poem are rich vs. poor, Christmas, and inequality. In this poem, Starbuck talks about the Christmas celebration in today’s materialistic world. He explores the grandeur of wealthy people and how the poor suffer during Christmas. The rich people are so occupied with decorating their Christmas tree that they are not concerned about the real message of Christmas. Therefore, to make them aware, the poet alludes to the fact that even Christ was born in a manger, not in a palace.

In the beginning, it seems the poet is talking about the joy of the Christmas celebration, but as one delves deeper, one can find the poet hinting at the real issues of society. He comments on the grandeur and hypocrisy of the rich. The last stanza depicts how the poor continue to suffer. Therefore, through this poem, Starbuck wants us to be sympathetic to their suffering and remind us of the real meaning behind Christmas.

Exploration 1: Draw an apple tree. Under the boughs stand a naked man and an unclothed woman. Write a shape poem within these boundaries of a conversation – between Adam and Eve. They might be pondering their singular existence, talking to the other animals, or getting ready to face the challenge of their lives, or a theme of your choosing.

Exploration 2: How hard do you think it is to write a Petrarchan sonnet?

Exploration 3: The person writing the interpretation of the sonnet ends his/her analysis of the sonnet with these words: Christ came to the world to help the poor, needy, and helpless people. However, the speaker indicates the reality of the situation and how the poor are still suffering while the rich people are busy decorating their potted Christmas tree.

Do you agree with the implied opinion(s)?

Artistic Elements of Concrete Poetry

The term “concrete” was used after a group of artists exhibited their poetry alongside artists in the National Exhibition of Concrete Art, lasting from 1956 to 1957. Despite the term’s modern origin, concrete poems date back thousands of years.

Concrete (sometimes called visual) poetry is a kind of writing that focuses on the shape words make on the page. Often, the visual impact of the poem is more important than the text itself.

Concrete poems are important because they use elements of literature as well as visual arts. They depend on a certain visual in a way that most other types of poems do not. The author is completely aware, while they’re writing and formatting their work, of the shape they want their lines to make.

The most important characteristic of a concrete poem is that its shape has something to do with the content. In some of these poems, the shape is even more important than the content.

This means that formal choices, like meter and the length of lines, are made in regard to the desired shape of the poem rather than the effect they’re going to have on the reader or the way they influence the content. Depending on the author, they may spend more or less time focused on the content. This could mean that there are some examples in which the poet didn’t only focus on the shape and truly did spend as much time as they could on the subject matter.

Poets write concrete poems when they want to explore and push their creativity in a new direction. These poems force authors to work within a new set of boundaries, but they are boundaries that they themselves create. An author might set themselves the challenge of writing a poem about an animal in that animal’s shape or a poem about emotion and then have to find a shape that would represent it. This is suggestive of the fact that concrete poems may vary in the challenge they present.

Most concrete poems are free verse; this means that the poems do not use a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. These two parts of poetry are incredibly hard to use when writing a concrete poem. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

Additional Technical Characteristics of the (Petrarchan) Sonnet

A fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter. An iamb is a poetic foot with a count of two syllables, where the second one is stressed. Pentameter is a poetic line with five feet: e.g., "Loving /in truth, /and fain /in verse /my love /to show."

Three stanzas — two quatrains and a sestet. A quatrain is a stanza of four lines; a sestet is a stanza of six lines. Traditionally the first quatrain introduces the subject, the second complicates the subject, and the sestet resolves or alters the subject in some way.

A rhyme scheme of abba abba in the quatrains, and cdc dcd with some variations in the sestet. Traditionally the poet seeks to make the rhymes in the seset as different as possible from the two quatrains. (cf. Petrarch's Sonnet # 61)

Conceit: an elaborate and surprising comparison between two apparently dissimilar things.

Metaphor/Simile: a comparison of two unlike objects or an idea and an object. A simile makes the comparison in a less direct manner, using "like" or "as." e.g., "The wind is a hammer upon the eyelids of this coastland." "The wind is like a hammer . . ."

Blason: a poem that proceeds detail by detail in either praise or blame of an individual, often an extended set of metaphors and/or similes that build on descriptions of the body: "I conjure thee by Rosaline's bright eyes,/ By her high forehead and her scarlet lip,/By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh."

Personification: an attribution of human qualities to an idea, an inanimate object, or an animal. E.g. "Love caught me naked to his shaft . . ." "Whereon the Sun in pity veiled his glare."