To What Extent Is a Focus on Metaphor and Symbol Central to an Analysis of Understanding of Douglass Dunn's Poetry?
To what extent is a focus on metaphor and symbol central to an analysis and understanding of Douglas Dunn’s poetry? (The Kaleidoscope/Sandra’s Mobile/Second Opinion)
It is considered more difficult for a poet to grab the attention and imagination of an audience than it is for an author. The use of metaphor and symbol in poetry means that the poet can say one thing and invoke a whole range of possibilities, be it love, anger, jealousy or envy; an old memory or a new wish. The use of metaphors and symbols enables the audience to see what they believe Dunn meant, by imaging his true meaning of a word. The three poems I have chosen to study are: ‘’The Kaleidoscope’’, ‘’Sandra’s Mobile’’ and ‘’Second Opinion’’. These are all part of the Elegies, a selection of poems written after his Wife died. As a result, much of the language used in the poems tends to signify memories or personal belongings.
The way that Dunn tells his poems are very emotive, and as it says in the Critical Anthology ‘It is typical that metaphors use concrete images to convey something abstract, helping to communicate what is hard to explain’. The first two poems, ‘The Kaleidoscope’ and ‘Sandra’s Model’ feature a lot of physical items that are metaphors for emotions and feelings. The doves representing love, the tray representing burden and it is through this conceptualisation that the reader can truly relate to Dunn’s imagery. There is, however, a problem with symbolisms; there is never a guarantee that what the reader reads is what Dunn means. ‘In Literature, the symbols employed by writers can sometimes be private or personal, and this can pose problems for the reader in the interpretation of what the writer actually means’. As a reader, we encounter this problem a number of times in Dunn’s poetry, because each poem symbolises a certain memory of his wife, and while Dunn was there, and experienced it, the reader didn’t, and, as a result of this, we don’t know what Dunn means. For example, in
It is considered more difficult for a poet to grab the attention and imagination of an audience than it is for an author. The use of metaphor and symbol in poetry means that the poet can say one thing and invoke a whole range of possibilities, be it love, anger, jealousy or envy; an old memory or a new wish. The use of metaphors and symbols enables the audience to see what they believe Dunn meant, by imaging his true meaning of a word. The three poems I have chosen to study are: ‘’The Kaleidoscope’’, ‘’Sandra’s Mobile’’ and ‘’Second Opinion’’. These are all part of the Elegies, a selection of poems written after his Wife died. As a result, much of the language used in the poems tends to signify memories or personal belongings.
The way that Dunn tells his poems are very emotive, and as it says in the Critical Anthology ‘It is typical that metaphors use concrete images to convey something abstract, helping to communicate what is hard to explain’. The first two poems, ‘The Kaleidoscope’ and ‘Sandra’s Model’ feature a lot of physical items that are metaphors for emotions and feelings. The doves representing love, the tray representing burden and it is through this conceptualisation that the reader can truly relate to Dunn’s imagery. There is, however, a problem with symbolisms; there is never a guarantee that what the reader reads is what Dunn means. ‘In Literature, the symbols employed by writers can sometimes be private or personal, and this can pose problems for the reader in the interpretation of what the writer actually means’. As a reader, we encounter this problem a number of times in Dunn’s poetry, because each poem symbolises a certain memory of his wife, and while Dunn was there, and experienced it, the reader didn’t, and, as a result of this, we don’t know what Dunn means. For example, in