ENG354Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Medieval Warm Period, Lake Superior, Mock-Heroic
ENG354 Jan 11
Country North of Belleville
-modern poet laments the disappearance of a way of life
-our suggests that the loss is collective, it’s our loss
-returns to the idea of building the nation
-the country of our defeat
-why are all these places disappearing?
-young people are leaving for cities
-difficult land
-and yet
-deep connection between farmer and land
-intimate bond that’s been formed after years of cultivation
-tells of more than two centuries of rural life
-by not indicating how the farmer plows, Purdy leaves the scene timeless
-the farmer’s immemorial struggle to impose order is projected against a difficult
background—awfully hard and awfully beautiful
-ultimately, the ambivalent nature erases all human efforts
-resisting this is both the farmer and the poet
-Purdy is creating a connection with the farmer himself—both of them are trying to
create meaning out of the land
-Purdy is trying to find a connection in the struggle
-trying to achieve a near-oneness with the land
-Purdy finds a temporary but satisfying connection
-not permanent: sense that it’s always going to be a struggle
-lament for these lost communities
-despite their hardships, they have achieved something: a deep albeit temporary
connection with the land
Lament for the Dorsets
-Dorset culture was a paleo eskimo culture 500 BC-14th C AD
-went extinct possibly because of a medieval warm period
-massive decline in sea ice of the medieval warm period would have had a
devastating impact on their way of life
-concentrated their settlements in the high arctic
-according to their legends, the first inhabitants were giants
-scholars believed the norse encountered them
-we only know about them through the artifacts they left behind
-at the beginning of the poem, the speaker contemplates carving of small ivory
swans
-all that remain of the dorset giants
-poem makes an imaginative leap into their era and history
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-follows with the admission that it is as impossible for us to imagine them in the
past as it is for them to imagine us in the future
-yet the poem continues to act out their lives
-attempts to imagine the Dorsets into life
-establishes a connection with one named Kudluk
-wounded artist is a common figure in Purdy’s work
-poem starts off with a lame attempt at imagining the Dorsets, but gets better when
he imagines an individual Dorset
-ivory thought is the carving
-Kudluk is taking what’s in his head, transmitting it through his arm, into a carving
-after 600 years, the thought that was transmitted, is still alive
-speaks to the power of art
-also speaks of the failure our failure, the speaker’s failure to achieve the
transcendence and poetic insight that he seeks
-the way he initially describes the end of the Dorset culture (~20) is very
materialistic, describes them as primitive
-awkwardly executed description
-pathetic fall almost trivializes the deaths of those to whom it intends to pay tribute
-after and died he shifts to a more humanistic portrayal
-signals impossibility of a true lament in the age of neon death
-how do we lament a lost culture without sounding trite?
-how do you not lapse into cliché when you’re talking about something as
monumental as the extinction of an entire culture
-the poem says that any attempt to imagine this civilization will fall short
-the mass extinction is impossible to represent
-failure caused by the limitations of the imagination of our time/culture
-hairy thumb portrait can be a commentary on the poet’s limitations rather than the
dorset’s limitations
-and yet, this poem is about the power of art
-poem closes on surer footing in its discussion of Kudluk
-he does better when focusing only on one person
-speaker’s language is now particularized and direct in describing the artistic
creation from brain to arm to hand
-parallel lines
-of the ivory figures
-the farmers
-the poet’s lines
-connection: speaker and Kudluk are both artists engaging in this transmission from
brain to arm to hand
-imply connection between past and present
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Modern poet laments the disappearance of a way of life. Returns to the idea of building the nation. (cid:498)our(cid:499) suggests that the loss is collective, it"s our loss. Intimate bond that"s been formed after years of cultivation. The farmer"s immemorial struggle to impose order is projected against a difficult background awfully hard and awfully beautiful. Purdy is creating a connection with the farmer himself both of them are trying to. Not permanent: sense that it"s always going to be a struggle create meaning out of the land. Purdy is trying to find a connection in the struggle. Trying to achieve a near-oneness with the land. Tells of more than two centuries of rural life. By not indicating how the farmer plows, purdy leaves the scene timeless. Ultimately, the ambivalent nature erases all human efforts. Resisting this is both the farmer and the poet. Despite their hardships, they have achieved something: a deep albeit temporary connection with the land.
