My tea with Madame Descartes was very intriguing. I loved the authors (David St. John) use of similes and imagery; it could be seen consistently throughout the entire poem. The authors diction made the story come to life. He really painted a perfect picture of what was being discussed...for example "I noticed that the silver of her hair was laced with an astonishing gold, like those threads woven so deftly throughout a tapestry to trap the light"...as you read that you can almost envision the ladies hair and how it shone with the different colors of silver and gold. David St. John really gives you a crisp image of what the narrator is seeing.
Besides the beauty of John's usage of imagery and similes, I must admit (even though it may sound contradictory from the paragraph above), I did not fully understand the poem. I do not know if it was the way the sentences were broken up onto the different lines or if I am just not used to reading this type of writing, but I kind of got lost in the extreme intricacy of Johns writing. It is a rare thing to find people talking in such a way as this poem is written, and I feel as though because of this, it is difficult for my mind to grasp all that is being said. I personally feel as though the strengths and weaknesses of this poem are one in the same...the similes and imagery are fantastic, but at the same time my mind ends up going in a several different directions when he talks in such a way.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this poem. David St. John is a very talented writer and does a great job of really pulling his audience into his writings. I would definitely be interested in reading some of his other writings.
I liked your thoughts about detail, but I agree with you on that although detail and imagery can add alot to any story sometimes it is very distracting when your not used to interpreting it.
ReplyDeleteI got confused while reading the poem also. I think I got confused becuase of how the sentences were broken apart into many different lines. But I love how the author uses such amazing imagery to describe her beauty, it was fantastic! I too would like to read some more of David St. John's work!
ReplyDeleteYou're right in what you said about not really hearing people talk like this often...it got a little confusing to me too. But I loved his imagery that he used to describe Madame. More of this fellas work would indeed be intriguing to pick up.
ReplyDeleteAnd I totally just realized that my comment sounded exactly like Brooke's haha. SORRY!
ReplyDeleteI loved the poem too, the constant imagery was a big part of that. the great detail made me realize how completely unique and intriguing people can be. I realized the same when I went people watching this evening.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Heather, and with everyone above as well. It was easier for me to kind of ignore the way it was written and read it straight like a story. But good insight just the same! :]
ReplyDeleteThe poem was very well written and easier to understand than a lot of other things that we have read. I enjoyed it and it was very descriptive.
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