Andrey's questions about poems (split from the intro thread)

[rayheinrich]

My whole point is that I've always been mystified by a natural tug people have towards something that could be easily phrased in prose.

    There are lots of reasons I like to read it. But here are three or four of them:

-- I find it esthetically pleasing to speak it out loud -- it's rhythm, it's sounds.

-- Visuals are easier and sometimes unique.

-- Prose doesn't leave as much thinking up to the reader.

-- With poetry a writer can posit complex topics with just a few words and ask questions
    that in prose are quite difficult to ask.

I can't find a place on this website where people can discuss poetry penned by respectable/famous/whatever/people-that-aren't-us figures. Is there a thread for that?

    The "Poetry Discussion" forum?

I'm asking because I've come across this piece by Randall Jarrell:

From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

The book I'm reading suggests there's irony in the poem. I don't see any irony whatsoever. You are young, you are sent to war, you die. The end. Where's the irony ?

    Well... not wanting to go on forever, here are two obvious ironies:
    Violence can bring about peace.  
    Killing is morally justified if it's to prevent killing.
    No matter if the premises are true or false, they're still ironic.

    P.S. The interplay of "mother" and "State" with the three dichotomies: dream/wake, life/death, war/peace
    is good for generating boat-loads of it as well.

    This poem is commonly used in classroom exercises, just Google it and you'll find every explication your heart desires.

    I have a challenge for you:
    I dislike sea urchin sushi. Convince me that I like it.
    (Hint: I'm being metaphorically ironic.)