Poetry · Question
How does Poetry develop the theme of Art and Poetic Vocation?
Answer
Poetry by Henry van Dyke Jr. develops Art and Poetic Vocation across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
The role of the poet and artist is celebrated as a noble calling, with poems honoring figures like Milton, Shelley, and Aldrich, and reflecting on the purpose and power of creative expression.
Tennyson is celebrated as a 'brother of the greatest poets,' true to nature and art, whose soul grew to music.
The poem reflects on the nature of poetic creation, contrasting master-singers with humble, simple verses that still hold value and bring pleasure.
Music is celebrated as a divine art form that transcends words, with the poet invoking its power to express the inexpressible and to serve as a 'Pentecostal speech' for love.
Evidence in the book
- Tennyson
Tennyson is celebrated as a 'brother of the greatest poets,' true to nature and art, whose soul grew to music.
- To My Lady Graygown: With a Handful of Verses
The poem reflects on the nature of poetic creation, contrasting master-singers with humble, simple verses that still hold value and bring pleasure.
- Music
Music is celebrated as a divine art form that transcends words, with the poet invoking its power to express the inexpressible and to serve as a 'Pentecostal speech' for love.
- Victor Hugo
Hugo's life as a poet, his joyful quest for beauty, and his work as a 'Dauntless Toiler of the Sea' highlight the poet's vocation.
- Portrait and Reality
The poem explores the tension between an idealized mental portrait and the living reality, a theme of artistic representation.
- To James Whitcomb Riley
The poem reflects on Riley's poetic craft, emphasizing that truth to life is the finest art and that his simple, old-fashioned songs resonate deeply with the human heart.
- To Mark Twain
Celebrates Twain's craft as a humorist and writer, whose 'breezy humour' and 'arrows' of wit defined his art.
- The Mocking-Bird
The poem explores the idea of true artistic expression versus mere imitation, as the bird finds its own voice at night.
