| After analysis there is restoration. Not "reconstruction" which remakes
the meaning in our own image. Not remodeling which conveniently converts
it to our needs. Just like redoing an old house, you take the poem apart,
clean up all the parts so they are clear and understandable and, then, you
put them all back and learn how they work together to make the place livable
and enriching. Every time you say "we can't do that" you are making
it easier to misunderstand the poem. Don't make it harder for yourself to
understand the original as well as you can.
The purpose of the poem appears on several levels [This is a simplification
of St. Jerome's Understanding the Scriptures.]:
-
Literal - the true meaning of the words in their context.
["Jordan (I)," "Jordan
(II)"] Note: Don't read between the lines until you read the lines; understand them first.
-
Metaphorical or Implied - what is not stated but clearly suggested and alluded
to. [This is not what the reader infers, but what is unstated in the
poem. "Bunch of Grapes,"
"Josephs coat"] Poetic images communicate
on this level. ["The Bag," "The
Flower," "The Wreath"]
-
Symbolic or Allegorical - when Ideas become, act and talk like people. Not
all works have symbols, but when they are full of characters that converse
as ideas you have an allegory. ["Love Unknown,"
"Time," "Pilgrimage,"
"Quip," "Humilitie"] Not all works are allegories even when they
have symbols. ["The Rose"] {After you do this for
a while, you may see symbols in everything. It is fun and instructive, but,
before you give an interpretation, determine if the poem needs to be understood
symbolically.}
These different levels work together. Sometimes they are or at least seem
independent. If one contradicts another, the reader's understanding becomes
faulty. The tone, viewpoint of the persona or the emotion presented may be
dis-uniting the purpose. {Be careful that it is not the reader's misunderstanding
that separates the levels.}Even in an allegory, the images must support the
point, and the literal information must agree with the message.
Using the first stanza of "Pilgrimage," let's
examine these 3 levels:
| I travelled on, seeing the hill, where lay my expectation. A long it
was and weary way. The gloomy cave of Desperation I left on the one, and
on the other side the rock of Pride. [Written as prose.] |
-
Literal: The persona sees the hill where he/she wants to go. His way will
be long and hard. On one side is a cave and on the other a rock. He continues
on. [That's it. Nothing difficult to understand.] {Concerning "persona,"
which means the person, without name, acting in or telling the story. Do
not assume that it is the poet [even when it uses "I"] until evidence
in the poem confirms this. Writers use this to express opinions not their
own.}
-
Implied: The persona is on a life journey. [This is a reasonable possibility,
but not within the words of the poem. If this theory does not fit later on,
we will have to revise it.] He sees where he wants to go, but the way
is difficult. He must travel between a gloomy cave and a rock. [If Desperation
and Pride were written "desperation" and "pride," these would be understood
as images not symbols. This level would understand them in general terms as
"a desperate, gloomy cave" and "a prideful rock."]
-
Allegorical: The persona sees his goal in life, his final objective. He must
travel between Desperation (pictured as a gloomy cave) and Pride (seen as
a rock). {Herbert's version of a rock and a hard place.} Because Desperation
and Pride are capitalized, they become symbols of the ideas, and twin dangers
for the traveler.
| Final interpretation of the first stanza: The persona {We can not confirm
who it is, but conclude that it is a person on a meaningful or spiritual journey.} knows and sees his life's goal in the distance, but it is far
away, and the way is difficult. There are temptations on either side of his
journey toward that objective {We can not guess what that objective is from
what we have. We could infer that the goal is nobel because it is on a hill,
but this is going beyond the words of the first stanza.}. On the one hand
is Desperation, like a gloomy cave, that swallows all who enter it. {This
may be caused by the difficult way toward the goal in the distance, or it
may be the persona's own futile outlook.} On the other hand is Pride, hard,
insurmountable as a rock, which could drive him to the cave of Desperation
or challenge him to leave the path. If the persona yields to desperation
or pride, he will not reach his expectation. {Personal comment acceptable
at this point. For example: When we finally see our goal, even in the distance,
we may become depressed at the work yet ahead before we can hope to attain
our objective. On the other hand we may become proud that we have come so
far and know that the goal is there and that it is possible to reach it.
If we waste our time on either, we forfeit the prize.} The persona avoids
them both. |
All levels work together. The literal gives substance to a specific scene.
The Implied expands the reality into mental image and emotional feeling. The Allegorical gives
specific meaning to the people, places and actions of the story. They do not
contradict one another.
|
