Analysis: George Eliot Clarke

             The art of poetry requires time and skill combined with practice and creativity. In George Eliot Clarke's Blank Sonnet the central theme revolves around the complexities of creating a well devised sonnet. Using different poetic tools, such as imagery, alliteration and sonnet style, Clarke writes through the eyes of an inexperienced poet demonstrating the difficulties of creating true poetry.
             There are several technical procedures that Clarke uses to demonstrate the struggles of the amateur poet. Clarke has written this sonnet in a blank verse, meaning the fourteen line poem is written in iambic pentameter with no rhyme scheme. Although blank verse is a very common style of poetic writing it contrasts with the idea of a sonnet, for a distinctive marking of a sonnet is its well known rhyme scheme. By Clarke settling on no specific rhyme scheme he gives the reader insight into the potentially uneducated mind of the amateur.
             As well, Clark uses alliteration as if almost to illustrate that the amateur poet is 'showing off'; over using what little poetic knowledge he may have.
             Watch white stars spin dizzy as drunks, and yearn (5)
             This one line filled with three alliterations seems almost to be overwhelming, much like the poets desire to create. Clarke is attempting to depict the young poet in his excitement of creating a work of art by showing the almost childish use of this poetic technique.
             The clearest of all techniques used by Clarke is that of strong imagery. The poet engages the reader with a fresh start making metaphorical references to new beginnings in Blank Sonnet:
             The air smells of rhubarb, occasional
             Roses, of first birth of blossoms, a fresh
             Undulant hurt, so body snaps and curls
             Like flower. I step through snow as thin as script, (1 – 4)
             These first four lines begin to draw the image of spring, representing birth and development, much like the inspired amateur poet as he
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Analysis: George Eliot Clarke. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 11:33, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/8863.html