Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Ars Poetica" by Paul Verlaine delves into the nature and philosophy of poetry itself, laying out what Verlaine sees as the key components and ideal characteristics of poetic form and content. It serves as a manifesto that outlines the poet's own preferences and convictions concerning the craft of poetry, which, according to him, should always prioritize "Music above everything."

The opening lines establish the primacy of musicality, advocating for "The Imbalanced" and the "Vaguer more soluble in air" over what is "weighty, fixed." This signals Verlaine's allegiance to a kind of poetry that defies rigidity and fixity, one that dissolves into the air like a fleeting musical note rather than remaining static like a solid object. Verlaine extends this idea by cautioning against the stringent selection of words, advocating instead for a "confusion of vision" that lends itself to "shadowy verse."

This opaque approach to poetry is further elaborated as Verlaine claims that "Nothing's dearer than shadowy verse / Where Precision weds Indecision." Here, the poet crystallizes his argument for ambiguity in poetry, where exactitude and vagueness coexist, creating a nuanced and multi-layered piece of art. This is poetry that shuns overt statements, preferring to linger in the twilight zones of meaning.

Verlaine employs evocative imagery to describe this kind of poetic balance. He mentions "beautiful eyes concealed by veils" and "the blue disorder of bright stars / In autumn skies, cool, with no moon!" to illustrate how a poem should strive for a sort of chiaroscuro effect, balancing light and darkness, clarity and obscurity. For Verlaine, Nuance, not Colour, is what should dominate, as "nuance alone can wed / Dream with dream, flute with horn!"

Rejecting what he sees as the gaudy excesses of "murderous Epigrams," "Cruel Wit," and "laughter impure," Verlaine advocates for a poetry that is stripped of vulgarity and insincerity. He condemns the clumsiness and predictability of traditional rhyme schemes, challenging poets to make "Rhyme a fraction wiser." His disdain for the "penny jewel" of bad rhyme reveals his desire for a more refined, ethereal quality in poetry-a quality that aligns with his preference for music.

The closing lines are a final clarion call to poets to produce work that is "a thing so light, / It feels like a soul that soars in flight / To new skies and fresh lovers." Here, Verlaine equates the poetic line with an adventure, an exploration into new realms of sensation and emotion.

With "Ars Poetica," Verlaine provides a compelling and somewhat radical rethinking of the poetic form. He insists on the primacy of music and nuance, of emotion over logic, and of ambiguity over clarity, all in service to a form of poetry that can be as fluid, elusive, and affecting as the music he so greatly admires. To him, anything short of this is merely "literature," not the exalted form of expression that he aspires to create and celebrate.

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