Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"WHILE" by Bruce Andrews is a piece that exemplifies the poet's unique approach to language and form. Andrews is known for his avant-garde, language-centered poetry, which often challenges conventional grammar, syntax, and semantics to create new meanings and experiences for the reader.

In this poem, the fragmented and disjointed structure immediately stands out. The use of partial phrases and abrupt cuts creates a sense of disorientation and forces the reader to actively engage with the text to derive meaning. The poem opens with "were I idiom," suggesting a self-reflexive exploration of language and its capacities. The phrase "and the portray what on idiot you remarking" further disrupts conventional language, possibly playing with the idea of perception and interpretation.

The phrase "cessed to only up opt hope this was soundly action more engineer taut" appears to be a stream of consciousness or a collage of words and ideas. The unconventional juxtaposition of these words challenges the reader to find coherence or to accept the lack thereof. It reflects a modernist interest in the fragmentation and the non-linear representation of thought and reality.

The poem’s title "WHILE" suggests a temporal dimension, indicating an ongoing process or a state of being in the middle of something. This title, coupled with the poem's fragmented nature, could imply the continuous and evolving nature of language and communication, or the experience of time as disjointed and non-linear.

Overall, "WHILE" by Bruce Andrews offers a challenging and intriguing reading experience. It invites the reader to engage with language in a new way, to find meaning in fragmentation, and to consider the fluid and dynamic nature of communication and perception. Andrews’ work is characteristic of the Language poetry movement, which emphasizes the reader’s role in bringing meaning to a text and questions the traditional relationships between words, meanings, and things.

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