ENG354Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Al Purdy, Iambic Tetrameter, Crass
ENG354 Jan 9th
Al Purdy
-push back office hours til 2 o clock on Monday (Mondays 2-5)
-al purdy and masculinity: construction of the purdy persona
For Norma in Lieu of an Orgasm
-poem as penis metaphor
-the masculinity of writing is figures in the central metaphor in which poem
becomes the metaphor for a penis
-the poem is given to Norma to fulfill the sexual lack, to become the fleshly
coturier
-it is a type of seduction
-writing is potent: can satisfy by signifying
-yet, the poem is fundamentally unsatisfactory because it circles what the
experience is like but doesn’t quite capture it
-but poem also shows a level of sophistication and self awareness that moves it
beyond poem as penis
-last stanza: transformation of man into animal, then animal into woman (ivory
breast)
-fundamental animalistic nature of desire
-complicates conceptions of masculinity
-ambiguous rumour of love from the forest is far away from the bawdiness of the
poem’s crass opening
-more sophisticated: space of love that breaks down man/woman/animal
oppositions
-this space in the forest where man, woman, and beast meet
-this space has been unexplored in Purdy criticism perhaps bc it doesn’t look like
the Canadian wilderness that critics like to explore
-wilderness as space of transformation, where binaries resolve
-this idea becomes more popular in 1970s
-Like in Marian Engel’s Bear
-space of desire that is equalizing in it’s animalistic eroticism
Trees at the Arctic Circle
-more familiar Purdy as a national poet
-theme of survival is prominent
-empiricism of the 18 inch description
-trees portrayed as pathetic
-compares these short stumpy trees with the trees he sees more further south
-compares arctic trees with majestic southern trees
-the southern trees get iambic tetrameter while the arctic trees don’t get any fancy
phrasing
-the lyrics then begins to turn against itself and yet—and yet--
-uses similes to suggest the beauty of the trees
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Push back office hours til 2 o clock on monday (mondays 2-5) Al purdy and masculinity: construction of the purdy persona. The masculinity of writing is figures in the central metaphor in which poem becomes the metaphor for a penis. The poem is (cid:498)given(cid:499) to norma to fulfill the sexual lack, to become the (cid:498)fleshly coturier(cid:499) experience is like but doesn"t quite capture it. Yet, the poem is fundamentally unsatisfactory because it circles what the. But poem also shows a level of sophistication and self awareness that moves it beyond poem as penis. Last stanza: transformation of man into animal, then animal into woman (ivory breast) Ambiguous rumour of love from the forest is far away from the bawdiness of the. More sophisticated: space of love that breaks down man/woman/animal oppositions. This space in the forest where man, woman, and beast meet poem"s crass opening. This space has been unexplored in purdy criticism perhaps bc it doesn"t look like.
