Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Asphodel (After the Words of Penny Turner Nymphaion Greece)" is a poem by Alice E. Stallings. It was first published in 2001 in her collection of poems titled "Archaic Smile."

Explanation:

The poem is a meditation on death and the afterlife, specifically the ancient Greek concept of the Asphodel Meadows. The speaker contemplates the idea of what happens after we die and what it means to exist beyond the physical realm. The poem is divided into three parts. The poem is a reflection on the Greek myth of the Asphodel Meadows, a section of the underworld where the souls of the ordinary dead were said to reside. The speaker of the poem is visiting the meadows, describing the landscape and the souls she encounters.

Poetic Elements:

• Form: The poem consists of seven stanzas of varying lengths, with a total of 34 lines. The stanzas do not follow a consistent rhyme scheme or meter.
• Imagery: The poem contains vivid imagery, such as "the grasses stirring with the insects' frenzied joy" and "the landscape like a graveyard or a painting of a graveyard."
• Allusion: The poem alludes to the Greek myth of the Asphodel Meadows and the beliefs about the afterlife in ancient Greek culture.
• Diction: The language in the poem is formal and evocative, with phrases such as "in the sepulchral quiet" and "myriad shades of grey."

Conclusion:

"Asphodel (After the Words of Penny Turner Nymphaion Greece)" is a reflective and evocative poem that draws on Greek mythology and vivid imagery to explore the concept of the afterlife.

Poem Snippet:

"The light falls through the trees

the grasses stirring with the insects' frenzied joy

But there is nothing here to harm them, nothing here to touch

They swarm around me, air, all eyes and wings."