The following essay focuses on the topic literary meaning in regard of the extract “The Heresy of Paraphrase” by the New Critic Cleanth Brooks. Afterwards the theory of formalism is applied on the poem ʻIn time of the breaking nationsʼ by Thomas Hardy.
Cleanth Brooks: “The Heresy of Paraphrase”
The extract of the well-known book ʻThe Well-Wrought Urnʼ carries as main statement that poems cannot be paraphrased because a poem transfers its message through the combination of structure and meaning. As a result he emphasizes that structure or irony over meaning or subject matter. There is also a problem Brooks mentions on the first page is that we, the readers, incline to link poems or prose to external circumstances like tradition, time or politics. …show more content…
In the first of the three stanzas there is the introduction of an anonymous man and his horse in a not named country. Both are filthy, tired and walk slowly and weakly. The second stanza compares a process of burning grass with dynasties and their continued existence. The third and last stanza shows two, maybe young, lovers whispering words to each other. The time during the first stanza time seems to stand still. Everything transfers a slow atmosphere which reason could be, on the one hand, the second line of the poem: “In a slow silent walk” (L. 2), which implies that mood. On the other hand it could be the use of many vowels “a” and “o” in the whole stanza. Vowels mediate, by reading out, a slow tone formation, which reverberates a while in the space. The content with its figurative language gives the impression of a man who works on a field, as in traditional times and like his ancestor, with his cart-horse. Maybe he cultivates his field with an old plough. The second stanza illustrates the rural life again and maybe from the man in the first stanza. The metaphor “smoke without flame” (L.5) represents something which is perceptible for all but it does not leave a mark like a flame. It is just a sign on the sky but it is temporary. That is the same phenomenon as with the “Dynasties” (L.8). The term “dynasties” could refer to politics in general and the changes in the governments. To link it with the metaphor of the burning grass it could mean that there are changes in the government but it is not noticeable for the people on the country side. It is just temporary and the next dynasty follows after these. Also it creates a second meaning, too. The other point
Cleanth Brooks: “The Heresy of Paraphrase”
The extract of the well-known book ʻThe Well-Wrought Urnʼ carries as main statement that poems cannot be paraphrased because a poem transfers its message through the combination of structure and meaning. As a result he emphasizes that structure or irony over meaning or subject matter. There is also a problem Brooks mentions on the first page is that we, the readers, incline to link poems or prose to external circumstances like tradition, time or politics. …show more content…
In the first of the three stanzas there is the introduction of an anonymous man and his horse in a not named country. Both are filthy, tired and walk slowly and weakly. The second stanza compares a process of burning grass with dynasties and their continued existence. The third and last stanza shows two, maybe young, lovers whispering words to each other. The time during the first stanza time seems to stand still. Everything transfers a slow atmosphere which reason could be, on the one hand, the second line of the poem: “In a slow silent walk” (L. 2), which implies that mood. On the other hand it could be the use of many vowels “a” and “o” in the whole stanza. Vowels mediate, by reading out, a slow tone formation, which reverberates a while in the space. The content with its figurative language gives the impression of a man who works on a field, as in traditional times and like his ancestor, with his cart-horse. Maybe he cultivates his field with an old plough. The second stanza illustrates the rural life again and maybe from the man in the first stanza. The metaphor “smoke without flame” (L.5) represents something which is perceptible for all but it does not leave a mark like a flame. It is just a sign on the sky but it is temporary. That is the same phenomenon as with the “Dynasties” (L.8). The term “dynasties” could refer to politics in general and the changes in the governments. To link it with the metaphor of the burning grass it could mean that there are changes in the government but it is not noticeable for the people on the country side. It is just temporary and the next dynasty follows after these. Also it creates a second meaning, too. The other point