Words: 1349
In simple words, New Critics take an intrinsic approach focusing on the form and text in which everything that is necessary in being able to interpret a piece of literature is solely hidden and interconnected in the poem (literary object) itself. This aids the reader to understand what the poem is communicating, as well as how the literary object is being communicated. This differs from the variety of extrinsic approaches, including history and biography.
Being able to define the role of the interpreter who is the New Critic permits the reader to interpret simple, yet endorsed poetry/ text with oblique phrases and/or sentences per stanza in poems such as, The Crate (El Caged) by Francis Pongee and A Dog After Love by Head McCain. As a result, the reader is able to properly interpret each piece of poetry which allows the value and radiance of the poetry to be seen and well appreciated solely through applying the standards while reading.
In contrast, a reader who is unfamiliar and knowledgeable of the obligatory principles and standards will find it difficult when attempting to read-between-the-lines of diverse poems. Some popular literary standards and principles utilized by New Critics during interpretation include terms such ambiguity, symbolism, metaphor, irony, tension, and paradox. The collection of these terms used in their individual context assist the reader to discover the harmony in the literary objects with the exclusive goal of achieving ambiguity.
In the following, I will use and evaluate various aspects to properly analyze each work of poetry, and then compare and contrast The Crate by Francis Pongee and A Dog After Love by Head McCain. The trademark of Francis Pongee’s many poems is zooming in on and highlighting ordinary objects that are not normally thoroughly examined or appreciated when first lanced upon by the human eye. In one of his famous works of poetry, The Crate, Pongee zooms the reader on a particular object called a crate, which is halfway between a cage and a “dungeon” (line one of stanza one, The Crate).
As the reader can see, the purpose of this “simple slatted case (container)” (line two of stanza one, The Crate) is to transport fruits are that sure to spoil or “give up the ghost” (line three of stanza one, The Crate) if slightly hinting suffocation or “shortness of breath” (line three of stanza one, The Crate) in the container. In lines three to six of stanza Pongee highlights to the reader that the life line of the crate is short-lived in the expression that it “is not used twice” (line five of stanza two, The Crate), since disposed after one single use.
In lines seven to twelve of stanza three, Pongee illustrates the glistening glow of the wooden crate that can be located “at the of every street leading to the marketplace” (line seven of stanza three, The Cry astonishment of this awkwardly positioned “spanking new’ crate meets its fat being permanently deserted in the street. It will always be cordially liked but gain the admiration it could, simply because our eyes find “little point (or purr welling” (line twelve of stanza three, The Crate) longer than they should.
It should not surprise the reader that irony of the crate’s eternal fate wool up in the deserted streets walked by normal shoppers of the marketplace. As mentions in the poem the crate is a “simple” (line two of stanza one, The Crate container solely serving its purpose of transporting nearly spoiled fruits. Who purpose is served, the wooden crate returns back to Mother Nature from hen came. Furthermore, it is awkwardly positioned and small enough to barely be recognized for its glistening new wooden body.
This reminds me of similarly s an Gideon in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible Judges 6-8), who cam the frailest clan in Manses and was barely recognized by his family saying was the “least” Judges 6:15). Although the ironies of their fate are predictable human eye, the author Pongee, like Godson’s God captivates the crate’s unique It is dejected that people find “little point (or purpose) in dwelling” (line twelve stanza three, The Crate), but for Just a few seconds on the deserted crates. The theme of the poem is woven together from line to line per stanza as suggests crate to be of little importance leading to a short lived life.
By recognizing the the reader is able to properly view the harmonious relationship between the and non-humane object, the crate, and yet open up to a new appreciation for unnoticed piece of life among us. In the same way, the reader is introduced to another non-human, a dog of purpose in the poem A Dog After Love by Head McCain. Unlike crates which their permanent residence in the corners of the market place and are practice ignored by humans, dogs are popularly owned and have a superior relations humans.
They are not thrown in the street like crates and are hardly short live act, when they have served their purpose of being loved and protecting their they are properly buried and sometimes mourned over. The poem draws the into a startling situation as expressed in the inaugural lines, “After you left m dog smell at my chest and belly’ (lines one to two of stanza one, A Dog After L the last couple of lines of the first stanza, the reader discovers that the dog is out” (lines two to three of stanza one, A Dog After Love) to find the man’s lover enormously engaging in sniffing at the man’s chest and belly.
In the second SST the poem, it is obvious that the man is filled with Jealous rage, and rightfully s pinion. In fact, he suggest plotting a poetic revenge as the dog goes to find hi He even expresses his inward thoughts and daydreams of his dog will “tear the testicles” (lines five to six of stanza two, A Dog After Love) out of the woman’s and “bite of his penis” (line six of stanza two, A Dog After Love), or at the very minimum bring back the woman’s “stockings between his teeth” (line eight of stanza two, A Dog After Love).
The man expresses nearly murderous anger in the first stanza leading to the satisfy revenge of his woman’s lover paying his rightful dues. Like this mom, many people can relate to a hinted breakup, but rarely to the sly humor of a fully expressed plotted revenge. With the expressed emotions, it can be understood that the theme of this poem is revenge and the story that lead to such an emotion. The reader can also arrive to the irony that paralleled between the emotions of the man and the fate of the lover.
The reader is able to see this in its purest form by understanding that the dog is a “him” (line eight of stanza two, A Dog After Love) and is an intelligent dog and has been trained similar to a German Sheppard trained by police to search out drugs. By doing this, the reader is able to again relate to this non-human as the reader realizes the personality of the dog through the man’s expressed thoughts. We are also able to conclude that the dog is not obviously the one in love or “after love” as stated in the title.
Through the graphic and gruesome wording, the reader is able to sense the heart behind the man after his lover. In conclusion, after learning the standards and principles of New Criticism, the reader is able to properly interpret each piece of poetry, in addition to comparing and contrasting the differences and similarities between The Crate by Francis Pongee ND A Dog After Love by Head McCain. The hope is that the value of this pair of poetry seen beyond the surface.