Monday, April 4, 2011

Thinking about "Cloud of Witnesses" by G.C. Waldrep

In continuing to read Waldrep's poems in his collection titled Disclamor, I took particular interest in the work "Cloud of Witnesses."  I enjoy Waldrep's sophisticated and vague imagery that creates a multi-sensory experience for the reader.  I could see the sun setting, hear the insects noising, and feel the coolness of the summer evenings, when he writes, "I crave the aftersilence. Angry buzz as night falls: that artificial sun, ...."

While most of the poem responds to obscurities and symbolism, he sticks to a very modern approach to writing.  There is also an interesting spacing and line-break arrangement.  These examples are shown below...

"...and I think the phone will ring. It always has. It is not ashamed of      this, ..."

"seeking their gilded herm, their bone-skep pene-
trate and stop at one single point, as light in certain media."

 Waldrep, in "Cloud of Witness," continues to present ideas in a very new and original way.  He writes in an unpredictable way that inspires the reader to research the meaning of his style and work.

4 comments:

  1. I like your comment about the "multi-sensory" response. I agree that Waldrep's poems are very in depth and not only have multiple interpretations but also force the reader to respond in multiple ways. Each time you read a given poem it can feel different.

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  2. I agree with you about the feeling this poem evokes. It's very slow and calming, I think. The way you described it was very accurate in my opinion. It might have been interesting if you had talked a bit more about the form but overall a good commentary on the piece.

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  3. I question whether it's actually meant to encourage research, after all a unique style would be difficult to actually find much about.

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  4. I don't think I'm a big fan of poetry that encourages research. I feel that a poet needs to maintain some responsibility for creating a piece of art that can be understood on some level without drawing on a ton of obscure sources. However, I'm not accusing Waldrep of completely doing this. I agree that this poem evokes a "multi-sensory response," and from our discussion in class I realize we had a lot to say about it without doing outside research.

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