‘Also by Cleanth Brooks a
MODERN POETRY AND THE TRADETION THE WELL WROUGHT URN
THE HIDDEN coo STUDIES IN THE STRUCTURE OF POETRY
WILLIAM FAULKWER: THE YORNAPATAWPHA COUNTRY BY CLEANTH BROOKS
- AsnariNc jov
‘THE LANGUAGE OF THE AMERICAN SOUTHL e
Tetris leary
A HARVEST BOOK
HARCOURT, ING.&
CHAPTER ONE
‘THE LANGUAGE OF PARADOX
@
Yew of us are prepared to accept he daterent that
“The Jangonge of pony isthe language of pardon.
aoe ie language of sophie, aa, bi
Payee i harly the lnguage ofthe soul. We are
Yay alow dat pardon is» pemisible wexpon
Tine. Chater omy on occasion explo. We may
wesc ie in epigram, 2 special subvarey of poetry:
Pe ane, hich dough wel, we ate harly wil
i In on ye poetry at al, us prejudices force
fos td paradox at intellectual rater than emo-
Hons clever rather than profound, rational rather
than divinely rational a
Yat Were wave in which paradox she language
applopine and inevitable to poeoy. Its the went.
‘hose truth requires a language purged of every trace
anne apbareiy tie th which the poet UH
seepprenche only nts of paradOk. T Oe
ipa net be sure ti posible that the We
eri chaptr i vel tobe tented as merely para
eect cere are reasons for dining thatthe ove
er chic T propre may ight wp some eles
tage hcare at poeuy which tend to be overtoked.
the cae of Willan Wordsworth, for inance,
trv on ths pom Hs poetry would not appear
teres many example ofthe language of paradox.
Wee"Galy peters the divct attack He ins om‘ 1m WELL, wRovGY URN
simplicity, he distrasts whatever seems sophistial. And
yet the typical Wordsworth poem is baved upon a
[Paradoxical situation. Consider his celebrated
It is a beauteous evening, calm and free,
The holy time is quiet at ¢ Nun
Breathless with adoration.
‘The poet is filled with worship, but the giel who walks
beside him is not worshiping. The implication is that
the should respond to the holy time, and become like
the evening itelf, unlike; but she seems less worship:
fal chan inanimate nature ivell. Yet
1 thou appear untouched by solemn thought,
Thy mature is not therefore less ace
Thos let in brent Sotm ll he years
And worhipi atthe Temp inner in,
God Being with thee vhen we hnow nol
‘The underlying paradox (of which he enthusaste
reader may well be unconscious) is nevertheless thor
‘oughly necestary, even for that teader. Why does the
Jnnocent girl worship more deeply than the slfcon-
scious poet who walks beside her? Because she is filled
with an unconscious sympathy for alf of nature, not
merely the grandiose and solemn. One remembers the
lines from Wordsworth’s fiend, Coleridge:
He proyeth best, who loveth best
AU! things both grest and smal
Her unconscious sympathy is the unconscious worship.
She is in communion with nature “all the year,” and
Iher devotion is continual whereas that of the poet it
sporadic and momentary. But we have not done with
the paradox yet. It not only underlies the poem, but
‘tomething of the paradox informs the poem, though,
since this is Wordsworth rather timidly, The compati-
se a Oo toy
ca ce Fe Soa
re cer ee a
scree en ees ea
i eel
ie eas A ee rae
ce a et oe
er ae eee
ernie la
oo ee
ee Zee i a os
oe i Te et
te ee ae ae
tea
na tense br a
ie ome no nar bt
eae ae eee
sa Ps i a
a
at ee ee oS ae,
Taal pie te oe So
Se ata eae
Ae erie
cee eee aries
eps see ier mg
Seer
ie Sg ee cer
ares curso Ga dp
spre the
Se ee eee6 sew eno mt
tome tere of sed uprieIno the poem. Its
{te pot ha ey soa te ae “wee
yo the sang” ata, Mount Snowden hi
ein ot Bint ari yn bt
0 ny ee London Ths te ot
‘of the almost shocked exclamation: poe
ue iden mare boul te
In hs fit sled alee ch Bl
“The “emote at reve :
eal acy which the poet did
not tow eis mtn ate Lon a a a
fare too, sighted by the sn of tue dd igh
to as beautiful: ‘eect Canes
The river glideth at his oun sweet will.
A.siver bs he most “natural” thing hat one en
tue thas the ct, the ced In o are
hell The poet had never een able to regard his
one asa eal sver=now, unclttered by barges, the
river reves iuef as «natural ting ot at all dict
plined tno angi and mean pater: feo Ike
the dati, of he mown esky aes
‘whimsical, and “natural” as they. The poem cl
‘you will remember, as follows: , aon
Dear God the very hows sem esr
dnd all that mighiy beat ng a
ia roe car oee
Beta Ss re ne ety
a
oer ale
oa
i es rae hee a
Soot SE ao
they are “anleep” isto way that they are alive, that they
‘The Language of Poredox 7
parpate in the life of nature. Tn te se way, the
Pind cid metaphor which sees a great city as a puliat-
ing heart of empize becomes revived. It i only
viean the poet sees the city under the semblance of
Teeth thaeThe can see it an actually alive—quick, with
the only Kile which he can accept, the organic life of
nature.”
Te not my Intention to exaggerate Wordsworth’s
‘own consciousness of the paradox involved. In this
(Poem, he prefers, asi usual with him, the frontal
wonton is paradoxical here as in 90
many of| “in his preface to the second edition
Br tke Lyrical Ballads Wordsworth stated that his geD-
ral purpose was “to choove incidents and situations
ffomcommon life” but 10 to treat them that “ordinery
things should be presented to the mind in an wnusual
pect” Goleridge was to sate the purpove for Bim
sree in terms which make even more evident Wordle
North's exploitation of the paradoxical: “Mr. Words
Wehth owas to propove to himse as bis object, 9
{ve the charm of novelty to things of every day, and
wmexcite a feling analogous to the supernatural, by
Rratening the mind's atention from the lethargy of
‘Siioun, and dizectng it to the lovelines and the wen
Ger of the world before us..." Wordsworth, in
Sieve. was consciously attempting to show his audience
‘hat the common was really uncommon, the prose
‘was really poetic.
“Coleridge's terms “the charm of novelty to things of
‘every day," “awakening the mind,” suggest the Roman-
{ie preoccupation with wonder—the surprise, che reve
faciom which puts the tarnished familiar world in &
How light. This may well be the razon dre of most
Teentic paradoxee: and yet the neoclassc poets wae
paradox for much the exe renon. Consider Pope's
[ines from “The Essay on Man":8 ‘ace WELL WRovOHT URN,
In doubt his Mind or Body to prefers
‘Bor but to de, ond reasning but to errs
‘Alike in ignorance, his Reaion such,
Whether he thinks too litle, or too much «
Created half to rit, and hal to fll
Great Lord ofall things, yet « Prey to all;
Sole Judge of Truth, in endless Eror hurd;
The Glory, Jest, and Riddle of the world!
‘Here, itis rue, ce paradoxes init on the irony, rather
than the wonder. Bur Pope too might have claimed
that he wat treating the things of everyday, man bisa
self, and awakening his mind so that he would view
‘himself in a new and blinding light. Thus, there is a
‘certain awed wonder in Pope just at thete is a certain
face of irony implicit in the Wordsworth sonnets
‘There is, of course, no reason why they should not
‘occur together, and they do. Wonder and irony merge
fn many of the lyrics of Blake; they merge in Cole.
ridge’ Ancient Mariner. The variations in emphasis
are mumerout. Gray's “Elegy” uses a typical Words:
Worth “situation” with the rural scene and with peas:
fants contemplated in the light of their “betes.” But
in the “Elegy” the balance is heavily tiled in the dire
tion of irony, the revelation an ironic rather than a
starding one:
an storied urn or animated bust
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Gan Honow's voice provoke the silent dust?
~ Or klattry sooth the dull cold ear of Death?
‘But Tam not here interested in enumerating the por
sible variations; Iam interested rather in ut seeing
that the paradoxes spring from the very nature of the
Poet language: it isa language in which the conmota
[ Seo Ray meet Fart athe dso AMT do
arene
ut
igs ething eX
rn
‘The Language
ha pepe
‘oc
noe
Sano
ce creannot be kept out of
1 ed cond TI
ise aie wr
A oy nes ee
re tem,
mr ig
“Fo take a very simple ar
mn eins of We
cates ‘eauteous, calm, frees holy, 4
sean tons ae hay warlg
eae Jing is like a mun breat va
ti te ening ae we
thon, The ad he evening stat onl aut
‘aig Ti examen ee
that Kind of eal 4 Cor ogee. Butte post has
0 sat yaren it he had @ role we at
em ae pee in
em ems He eit work UY “
‘altoton
se pce
jem in this way: the POeE
ch the probe er uae of
nr =
aoa ale Me nly
moon hot fori expresion, THE ROR
“a be rae ‘There is a con-
wat by anne ey edge ol. The ee
sae ng of the lanes RECeY Ov