intro to chapter 6

NOW TO CHAPTER SIX.

In this chapter we spend just a few days learning a little about

                "modernism at midcentury"

--in other words, what happens to the avant-gardist "revolution of the
word" when it got to the

                conformist
                anti-political
                suburbanite
                nuclear-annihilation-anxious
                poodle-skirt wearing

1950s. The above is an overstated characterization of "the fifties," but
it's a good place to start.

Some midcentury poets simply mocked modernist innovation, such as William
Jay Smith whose poem called "Poet" makes fun of typographical innovation:

        "Poet"

        After,each,word,he,places,a,comma,
        A,remarkable,effect,indeed,
        It,gives,you,jitters,when,you,look,
        It,gives,you,hiccoughs,when,you,read.

Other poets of this kind seemed to have ABSORBED modernist ideas and lyric
forms into a tamer more moderate poetry. Some poets didn't so much attack
modernism as quietly returned to more classical ideas about poetic
material, such as Richard Wilbur.

So let's begin with just one of Louis' great questions--about Wilbur's
"The Death of a Toad."

|
| "The Death of a Toad"
|
| 1) Why is it written the way it is (syntax and diction, especially)?
| 2) Is the poem intended to be funny, and if so, is it funny to you?

So, 88'ers, what do you think? Is it meant to be funny? Do you find it
funny? What's funny about the language? and/or the attitude Wilbur has
towards the toad?

--Al

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