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"Love Poem"

Biographical information about the poet

John Frederick Nims was born on November 20, 1913 in Muskegon , Michigan . He attended college at DePaul University , the University of Chicago , and the University of Notre Dame. He received his Ph.D. in comparative literature at the University of Chicago in 1945. Nims, at this time, was already a well-known name in the literary community thanks to his contributions to Five Young American Poets in 1944. While Nims was a distinguished poet himself, he was also considered a prestigious literary critic of others’ works and a world-class Latin translator. To support himself, Nims taught English at numerous colleges and universities throughout his life, including Harvard, the University of Florence , the Bread Loaf School of English, the University of Toronto , Williams College , and the University of Missouri . Nims also was editor of the Poetry magazine from 1978 to 1984. Throughout his life, Nims was author to eight books of poetry. These books included: Zany in Denim, The Six-Cornered Snowflake and Other Poems, The Kiss: A Jambalaya, Knowledge of the Evening, A Fountain in Kentucky, and The Iron Pastoral. Nims also comprised numerous collections of his Latin translations one of which was Sappho to Valery: Poems in Translation and authored the widely-used textbook, Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry which has been published in several editions. Knowledge of the Evening, written in 1960, was nominated for a National Book Award. Nims has received an American Academy of Arts and Letters award, a National Foundation of the Arts and Humanities grant, the Aiken-Taylor Award, the O.B. Hardison Award, the Harriet Monroe Memorial Prize, and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, The Institute of the Humanities, and The Guggenheim Foundation. Nims died suddenly on January 13, 1999 in Chicago , Illinois . A funeral mass to celebrate his life was held at St. Clement’s Church in Chicago January 23. To honor John Frederick Nims, the Board of Trustees of the Modern Poetry Association created the John Frederick Nims Memorial Prize to be presented to a poet whose works appeared in the magazine Poetry in December 1999 (Sherod Santos took the prize). Nims was well loved and known for his jovial and quick-witted nature. His personality was showcased in many of his works, but mostly in his letters of rejection to those who submitted poetry to Poetry and were not accepted.

Outline of Major Presentation Points

• Traditional Love Poetry
• Ask students to give input as to what sort of message these words send to the reader out of context: clumsiest, shipwreck, bulls, burs, fidgeting, refugee, drunk clambering, terror, apoplectic, misfit, wrench, traffic, forgetting, spilt bourbon, smash, wry, empty, and break
• Ask students to consider what sort of diction they might want used to describe them if someone was to write a love poem about them
• Demonstration- ask a boy and girl to come to the front of the class and compose a love poem for one another in a set period of time
• Explain Petrarchan style poetry to class and Post-Modernism style poetry
• Post-modernistic writing used much narrative, but simple and general diction, to communicate message (flat statement- out of context words and phrases sound very unpoetic)

• Nims’ “Love Poem”
• Read aloud together (assign stanzas for reading)
• Overview general message of the poem
• Read aloud Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 and compare the two poems
• Ask class which poem they would rather receive

• Short Bio Overview
• Tell a bit about Nims’ character and include both literal and Nims’ translations of Catullus poems as examples of his jovial nature
• Include that Nims was a well-known analyzer of poetry and thus would have paid special attention to all literary devices in his own writings

• Literary Analysis
• Delve into literary terms, paying special attention to the sounds that Nims uses to tie stanzas together
• Ask students to find their own literary devices and terms within the poem
• Introduce formalistic and feministic approaches to the poem

• Read poem written in honor of Nims’ after his death to the class

Literary Terms and Line Number Citations

Title-

Title (“Love Poem”) connotes a traditional style tribute to a loved one that expresses reasons for affection (beauty, character, etc.)

Contributes to the irony that Nims’ “Love Poem” is quite non-traditional in that it highlights the flaws of his lover as well as her positive qualities

General Notes- this poem lacks a consistent meter, but has a rhyme scheme of A B C B and alternates between 11 and 10 syllable lines (for the most part)

Tone- the poem's tone is one of playful criticism, but also respect for his loved one

Stanza 1:

Diction- superlative choice of words including “clumsiest” (1), “all” (2), “no” (4), “any” (4)

Synecdoche- “palms” (3) -- hands

Imagery- “bulls in china” (3), “burs in linen” (3), “hands shipwreck vases” (1)

Paradox- “clumsiest dear” somewhat paradoxical because it infuses a negatively charged word with a positive term of endearment (reflects the tone of entire poem)

Hyperbole- see Diction (use of superlative words to exaggerate the clumsy physical movements of the woman spoken of

Metaphor- “palms are bulls in china” (3), “[palms are] burs in linen” (3)

Personification- “whose hands shipwreck vases” (1) -- gives hands ability to “shipwreck”, which of course only humans are capable of doing

Apostrophe- “My clumsiest dear” (1) -- entire poem is addressed directly to lover

Onomatopoeia- “chip and ring” (2)

Anaphora- “whose” (1, 2, 3)

Alliteration- “burs” (3) and “bulls” (3)

Assonance- “burs” (3) and “bulls” (3), “quick” (2) and “chip” (2), “all”, “and”, “at”, and “glasses” (2)

End stopped- Lines 1, 2, and 3

Caesura- “dear, whose” (1), “china, burs” (3)

Enjambment- Lines 4 to 5

Internal rhyme- “cunning” and “thing” (4)

Stanza 2:

Diction- continued use of superlative words including “all” (5)

Denotation- “refugee” (6) – one who seeks safety

Imagery- “refugee” (6), “fidgeting people” (5), “drunk clambering on his undulant floor” (8)

Paradox- “ill-at-ease” (6)

Hyperbole- see Diction (use of superlative words to now exaggerate the grace with which she handles people and relationships)

Personification- “drunk clambering” (8) -- gives the action of “clambering” a human-like characteristic of inebriation

Assonance- “except” (5), “fidgeting” (5) and “deftly” (7), “ease” (5), “people” (5), and “refugee” (6), “drunk” (8) and “undulant” (8)

End stopped- Lines 5 and 8

Caesura- “make at home; deftly” (7), “china, burs” (3)

Enjambment- Lines 4 to 5

Internal rhyme- “cunning” and “thing” (4)

Stanza 3:

Diction- continued use of superlative words including “any” (12) and “never” (12), “misfit” (12), “apoplectic” (11)

Connotations- “misfit” (12) – reminds us of people who do not fit into community or are in somewhere different from others which hinders them

Denotations- “apoplectic” (11) -- Exhibiting symptoms associated with apoplexy; Sudden impairment of neurological function

Imagery- “pale” (10), “streetcars” (11) and “taxi drivers” (9)

Paradox- “shrinking […] yet leaping” (10-11)

Hyperbole- see Diction (use of superlative words to exaggerate the clumsy physical movements and unrefined nature of the woman spoken of

Simile- “pale as a dime” (10)

Apostrophe- “Unpredictable dear” (9) -- entire poem is addressed directly to lover

Anaphora- “dear” (9 and 1)

Alliteration- “dear” (9) and “drivers’” (9), “taxi” (9) and “terror” (9), “from” (10) and “far” (10), “streetcars” (11) and “space” (12)

Assonance- “drivers’” (9) and “terror” (9), “shrinking” (10), “headlights” (10), and “dime” (10), “leaping” (11) and “streetcars” (11), “misfit” (12) and “in” (12)

End stopped- Lines 9, 11, 12

Caesura- “dear, the” (9), “any space. And” (12)

Stanza 4:

Diction- restrictive choice of words including “only” (13) and still more superlative diction such as “all” (16)

Imagery- “traffic” (15), “move at ease” (14)

Hyperbole- see Diction (use of superlative and restrictive words to exaggerate the power of the woman over others and the lack of grace in her physical motion)

Metaphor- “a wrench in clocks and the solar system” (13)

Apostrophe- “[…]you move at ease” (14)

Anaphora- “ease” (14 and 5)

Alliteration- “wrench” (13), “with” (14), “words (14), and “wit” (15)

Assonance- repetition of “o” sounds such as “only” (13), “words” (14), “love” (14), “move” (14), and “devotion” (16), “people” (14), “ease” (14), “keep” (16), and “knees” (16)

End stopped- Lines 14 and 16

Caesura- “system. Only” (13), “keep us, all devotion, at” (16)

Internal rhyme (slant)- “love” (14) and “move” (14)

Stanza 5:

Diction- “grinning” (18), “gaily” (19), “heaven” (19), “souls” (20), and “glory” (20) all help to contribute to the very love-struck and peacefully blissful tone of this stanza

Imagery- “coffee spreading on our flannel” (17), “lipstick grinning on our coat” (18), “our souls on glory of spilt bourbon float” (20))

Euphemism- “coffee spreading on our flannel” (17) expresses that the woman has spilled coffee in a very light and positive way, as well as “lipstick grinning on our coat” (18) which implies that she has stained someone’s coat but still is presented in a positive light

Hyperbole- “unbreakable heaven” (19) – “unbreakable” very strong diction

Personification- “lipstick grinning on our coat” (18), “souls on glory of spilt bourbon float” (20)

Apostrophe- “your lipstick grinning […]” (18) -- entire poem is addressed directly to lover

Anaphora- “our” (17, 18, 20)

Alliteration- “forgetting” (17) and “flannel” (17) and “float” (20), “lipstick” (18) and “love” (19), “gaily” (19) and “glory” (20), “souls” (20 and “spilt” (20)

Consonance- “forgetting” (17), “spreading” (17), and “grinning” (18)

Assonance- “coffee” (17) and “knees” (16), “spreading” (17) and “heaven” (19), “souls” (20) and “bourbon” (20)

End stopped- Lines 17, 18, 20

Stanza 6:

Diction- superlative choice of words including “all” (24), “extreme” diction such as “early” (21) and “late” (21)

Imagery- “smash glasses” (21), “hands drop white and empty” (23), “toys of the world would break” (24)

Paradox- “be with me, darling, early and late” (21) – you cannot “be” both “early” and “late”

Hyperbole- see Diction (use of superlative words to exaggerate effects of woman’s social power and grace)

Symbol- “white and empty” (23) – symbolizes death or change in character, “toys” (24) – represents all the joy of the world and the things that make us laugh and smile, “music” (22) – represents woman’s clumsiness with material objects, which creates a cacophony of noises

Apostrophe- “be with me, darling, […] for you sake […] for should your hands drop […]” (21-23) -- entire poem is addressed directly to lover

Onomatopoeia- “wry” (22)

Anaphora- “glasses” (21 and 2)

Alliteration- “study” (22) and “sake” (22), “white” (23), “wry” (22), “world” (24) “would” (24)

Consonance- “be” (21), “me” (21), and “early” (21)”, “empty” (23) and “study” (22)

Assonance- “smash” (21) and “glasses” (21), “sake” (22) and “late” (21), “will” (21), “with” (22) and “white” (23), “world” (24) and “would” (24)

End stopped- Lines 21, 23, 24

Caesura- “late. Smash” (21)

Web links to helpful sites

http://www.poetrymagic.co.uk/critiquing.html

http://oldpoetry.com/author/John%20Frederick%20Nims

http://www.frostfriends.org/meter.html

Works Cited

Critical Approaches

Formalistic Approach:

Nims’ “Love Poem” relies much on the use of imagery throughout the text. Extended metaphors run throughout, and are especially prominent when the “darling” (21) of the speaker is being depicted as clumsy. The personification of her “hands shipwreck[ing] vases” (1) and the metaphors “whose palms are bulls in china, burs in linen[…]” (3) exist all within the first stanza of the poem. Nims also refers to his “dear” (1) with simile such as the one in stanza three (“[…]pale as a dime” (10) ). Though she is a “wrench in clocks and the solar system” (13), another metaphor, her ease with people is often described in terms of “traffic” (15) and smooth movement.

Superlative adjectives and adverbs are often used in the poem to emphasize the two extremes of the addressee’s adeptness with people and lack of grace with material things. She is addressed as the “clumsiest [,…] at whose quick touch all glasses chip and ring” (1-2). Also, she has “no cunning with any soft thing”. The words “no” (4), “all (2, 5, 16, 24), “never” (12), “any” (4, 12), and “only” (13) all have prominent places in the poem for this same purpose. A tone switch occurs, also, between each paragraph that coincides with the change of subject of the stanza. Every other stanza discusses the awkwardness of the girl physically, but then switches to her grace with love and relationships. Several interesting uses of caesura are also notable, such as “misfit in any space. And never on time” (12) and “and keep us, all devotion, at your knees” (16).

Feministic Approach:

“Love Poem” can be quite interestingly investigated from a feminist’s point of view. Though this post-modernistic poem does not follow the conventional love poetry template of many of those written in the romantic and Shakespearean age, it could be perceived as a very subtle attack on the expectations of women. Nims purposely points out all of the positive features that his “clumsiest dear” (1) lacks rather than only accentuating those positive qualities she possesses. By addressing her as “clumsy” (1), “pale” (10), and a “misfit” (12) , Nims indirectly suggests that these characteristics of a woman are ones that women are usually expected to possess in society in order to be considered appealing and attractive. His over exaggerated metaphors and use of superlative diction (see formalistic approach for details) also might be seen from a feminist’s perspective as demeaning and unnecessary.

The tone, too, patronizes the woman spoken of to some extent by giving Nims an omniscient sort of view of his loved one’s life. His terms of endearment that surround words of passive criticism may lead one to believe that he is indeed attempting to make the woman of the poem sound inferior to himself by degrading her character slightly but then stating that he is still able to love her (making him somewhat of a “heroic” figure). I personally would not feel offended in anyway if a man had written this poem for me, but by looking through the eyes of a feminist, I can certainly see how some aspects of the poem could be taken negatively.

Interactive activities

1) Read Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 and compare it to Nims' "Love Poem". How does Shakespeare's traditional Petrarchan style contrast with that of Nims' unconventional post-modernism standpoint? Which do you find more effective and why?

2)

___________ (adjective) dear, how __________ (adjective) thou art to me!

How ________ (adverb) your cheeks _____ (adjective), and how ______

(adverb) do your lips _________ (verb)!

I _______ (verb) you, and your beautiful ________ (plural noun) of shining

glory! We will be together forever, and nothing could ever _________ (verb) our

bond!

Do your own Mad-Lib! Knowing ahead a time that this is meant to be a love poem, choose your own words to substitute in to the paragraph. How are the words that you would choose for a traditional love poem different from those that Nims chose? Why do you think he chose to go beyond the traditional style and use unique diction for his own "Love Poem"?

3) Read Nims' "Love Poem" again, but this time paying special attention to assonance, alliteration, consonance, and the sounds of his diction in general. How do the sounds in Nims' poem help tie all of the stanzas together?