Poetry: Playing with Language
“Beautiful Woman” by A.R. Ammonds
The spring
In
Her step
Has
Turned to
Fall
ü How do you read this? Like a sentence? With pauses between lines and stanzas (in free verse, lines and stanzas dictate pauses since there is no rhythm scheme)? With rhythm?
ü Theme is rather simple: decay of beauty (an elegy with a touch of regret).
ü Playful & cunning use of language
ü Relationship between verbs and nouns – ambiguous meanings
o Spring & Fall are seasons
o “The Spring” sort of matched, but not completely matched by “Fall.” Why not “the Fall”?
o One verb = “has turned to” = has become, has been transformed to – indicates “Fall” is a noun as the object of a preposition. However, “turned” also suggests that “Fall” is a verb – to fall. “Spring has turned for the purpose of falling.” Indicates that the inevitable progress of human aging has been allied to the seasons of nature.
ü Title suggests any beautiful woman. Not “A Beautiful Woman,” not “The Beautiful Woman.”
ü Matching female beauty with nature suggests (doesn’t mean the author specifically intended it) themes of Greek mythology: The beautiful woman could be Persephone or
ü “Beautiful Woman” is described by the entire poem – she is still beautiful even after her fall, her aging.
ü Foot stands for the whole woman – Synecdoche.
posted by Jeffrey @ Wednesday, November 30, 2005
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