Okay, so I’m going to put it right out in the open: I did not enjoy reading Elegy. I thought that I was going to enjoy it, that it was going to be a nice break after The Descent of Alette, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t enjoy it. I really wanted to like his writing style, how everything flowed so well, but the sprinkling of literary allusions was just too much. Yes, he did write some gorgeous imagery, but the whole book was so laden with references to other texts that they were just too overwhelming.
I didn’t stop and look up every single literary reference, but when I wanted to, I always had to stop, and rush to Google. I found the whole process to be very disruptive, and not in the same sense as Notley’s use of quotation marks. The quotations I was able to get used to by the end, but with these references I just couldn’t lose myself in the words; I was stuck on trying to find the meaning of every single phrase. I wasn’t even able to catch many of the references, like the “lake of fire at the end of it,” and the mulberry trees in “Boy in Video Arcade.” I feel that if either Levis had 1) made his literary references easier to spot, or 2) just used less of them, that his poems might have been much more enjoyable. I even got references wrong sometimes; I would try and look up the literal meaning, like the word “muir” in “Elegy with an Angel at its Gate,” and there was no way I would catch that Levis was actually alluding to a person, the author John Muir. Likewise, who would have really known that the title of the third section of that poem, “Stevens,” was actually an allusion to the poet Wallace Stevens? Would any of us had known that the grazing horses and gleaners mentioned in “Elegy with a Chimneysweep Falling Inside It” were an allusion to a painting? In order to truly make sense of Levis’ poem, it seems like one must have read every single literary work that Levis might have read, so that they could have been able to guess whenever Levis included a reference to some other poem or book. It got so overwhelming for me that by the end of the book, I had to stop constantly, wondering if every single word was referencing something else. Could the “price of freedom [being] eternal vigilance” come from some great work of literature that Levis had sitting on his shelf at home? Was I missing some great meaning of his poems, just because I haven’t read as much as he has?
Levis’ voice came out as almost pretentious to me in these poems. He was obviously writing for an audience of his contemporaries, who would enjoy finding all the little references in his poetry. He wrote his poems for everyone who had written all of those other works that he had read. They must have all been like inside jokes to him, little lines he could slip into his poems that would make his peers chuckle. But if he had wanted to write for a larger audience, which I sincerely hope he wanted to do, then all of these references were just idiotic, and, to put it bluntly, quite mean.
I kind of felt the exact same you way you did when it came to Levis' references. I couldn't help but become unbelievably frustrated when I found out that what I thought was a reference to one thing, turned out to be completely wrong. I would come to class thinking that I knew exactly what Levis' meant by something in one of his poems, and after discussion I was left with this lost feeling because I had no idea what the reference really was. Sometimes while I was reading, I would, at first, try to make sense of what his references were, but by the end, I was ready to give up on understanding anything.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the “inside jokes” part of your response. I think that you hit the nail on the head. His poems seem to only be completely understandable to readers who have like you said, read every piece of work that Levis had read himself. I don’t see any other way. I also agree that if he was trying to write for a bigger audience, he didn’t take what every one may have read or been reading into account, and that, at least, is what caused my confusion
Your blog entry is interesting, Brittany, because it does bring up an interesting point about the large amount of literary references used in Levis' poems. I found myself constantly trying to google the various allusions he made and, in time, Wikipedia became my best friend while reading "Elegy." At one point I remember wondering whether or not one could read these poems without having a laptop next to his or her side or, for that matter, possessing an extensive library like the one Levis presumably had. There were times when it was slightly annoying and cumbersome to have to constantly look up these references, but, usually, I found it somewhat interesting, like I was solving some kind of mystery (but I wasn't, I was just reading poetry). It's also interesting to think whether or not one can ignore the many references and "inside jokes" while still retaining some comprehension and appreciation of the poems. And, in some ways, I think it is possible since a lot of interpretation of poetry revolves around the differing responses of those reading it. I don't think one always has to look into every reference to still really appreciate the dense poetry Levis has written.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the constant need to look up allusions and references was exhausting. By no means do I believe poetry should be a carefree action where no work is required from the reader, but I do think Levis took it to an unnecessarily great extent. I can admire that his references are fairly brilliant and once laid out and interpreted are great, but I don't believe it is either fair or necessary to require each reader to pick it apart. I like the idea that these can be seen "inside jokes" among prestigious scholars but I wish there were a way to make it so but also allow any sort of interpretation by those who do not get the reference. Maybe if he had words that had double meanings, instead of direct and literal latin translations, a more universal audience could relate to his work. While I did find all of this a bit tiring, I did enjoy Levis overall and can admire his extensive knowledge of not only poetry, but so many other factors as he has shown us.
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