posts/02-milkweed.poly.pm

#lang pollen ◊(define-meta title "Two Voices in a Meadow") ◊(define-meta doc-publish-date "2015-08-25 12:30") ◊(define-meta author "Richard Wilbur") ◊(define-meta summary "A pair of poems in very different voices.") ◊(define-meta series "series/poems.html") ◊margin-note{◊grey{◊newthought{Of the} two voices in this poem, the milkweed seems to have the better one: the sentiment is beautiful and the words have what you'd call a nice mouth-feel. The stone's verse is ugly and awkward, maybe almost seeming like a simple case of bad writing. Whatever the verse's origin Wilbur chose to preserve this contrast. In ◊hyperlink["http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/wilbur/imageinterview.htm"]{an interview}, he said "the milkweed's speech is indeed written in one of my voices and was used for the sister's funeral in a genuine and appropriate way. But the other voice --- the 'slob' voice of the stone, is also one of my voices."} ◊index-entry["excrement"]{} } ◊verse[#:title "A Milkweed"]{ Anonymous as cherubs Over the crib of God, White seeds are floating Out of my burst pod. What power had I Before I learned to yield? Shatter me, great wind: I shall possess the field.} ◊verse[#:title "A Stone"]{ As casual as cow-dung Under the crib of God, I lie where chance would have me, Up to the ears in sod. Why should I move? To move Befits a light desire. The sill of Heaven would founder Did such as I aspire.}