THE STRUCTURE OF POETRY

by Elizabeth Bewell ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

What makes language into poetry"" is the theme of a thoughtful analysis by Elizabeth Sewell, Cambridge, England Ph.D. and Howald Research Fellow at Ohio State University. Dr. Sewell sums up the answer to this question, which is also the source of inquiry of the first part of her book, with the statement that ""language is a double relationship system; a sound-look system in constant and arbitrary connection with a system of reference. The former is stable, the latter variable within limits."" She goes on to examine the two of the mind- in their respective directions, one towards order, the other towards disorder, and the extremes these tendencies reach- logic on the one hand, nightmare on the other. The author illustrates this highly abstract and metaphysical system of argument with an unconventional but interesting approach to the poetry of Rimbaud and Mallarme, Rimbaud who was to express ""Everything-ness"", Mallarme- ""Nothing-ness""..... A brilliant but recondite book which deals with the intrinsic relationships of words and numbers and which will attract a small circle of practising poets, semanticists, lyricists and philosophers.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1952

Categories: NONFICTION