Echoes Main Biography Sample Poetry Inspired Poems Bibliography

 

Sample Poems and Analysis By Marianne Moore 

Poetry
By Marianne Moore

I, too, dislike it: there are things that are important beyond
      all this fiddle.
   Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one
      discovers in
   it after all, a place for the genuine.
      Hands that can grasp, eyes
      that can dilate, hair that can rise
         if it must, these things are important not because a
 
high-sounding interpretation can be put upon them but because
      they are
   useful. When they become so derivative as to become
      unintelligible,
   the same thing may be said for all of us, that we
      do not admire what
      we cannot understand: the bat
         holding on upside down or in quest of something to 
 
eat, elephants pushing, a wild horse taking a roll, a tireless
      wolf under
   a tree, the immovable critic twitching his skin like a horse
      that feels a flea, the base-
   ball fan, the statistician--
      nor is it valid
         to discriminate against "business documents and
 
school-books"; all these phenomena are important. One must make
      a distinction
   however: when dragged into prominence by half poets, the
      result is not poetry,
   nor till the poets among us can be
     "literalists of
      the imagination"--above
         insolence and triviality and can present
 
for inspection, "imaginary gardens with real toads in them,"
      shall we have
   it. In the meantime, if you demand on the one hand,
   the raw material of poetry in
      all its rawness and
      that which is on the other hand
         genuine, you are interested in poetry.

 
 

          Analysis
Anju Kalagnanam

         

           By writing this poem with the name of Poetry, Moore enlightens her opinion on writing and reading different poetry. In this poem, Moore explains that it is mostly easier to relate to when reading them, than when writing them. Also, when writing poems it appears to be unimportant than when reading them, important and appealing. In particular, Moore wrote several poems that related to animals. Before, when Moore wrote those poems, she thought of them as unimportant yet life changing. But as we read them today, some people consider those poems as “important” because it may have a great affect on your life, or may change your opinion about a person, object or place.

In this poem, Moore relates the descriptions of a poem to the five senses so that the reader can actually visualize what Moore is saying about the art of poetry and understand the meanings. For example in the first stanza:

Reading however, with a perfect contempt for it, one
                 discovers in
            it after all, a place for the genuine.
                 Hands that can grasp, eyes
                 that can dilate, hair that can rise

            This explains basically what I stated earlier, that after reading a poem, many people think of it as different, but in a good way.
            Marianne Moore was a great poet and was known for writing amazing poetry and being an awesome teacher, which helped the world in many ways. Although she couldn’t follow her dreams of majoring in medicine, she followed others dreams by being a great poet.

 

Baseball and Writing
By Marianne Moore

Fanaticism?  No.  Writing is exciting
and baseball is like writing.
   You can never tell with either
      how it will go
      or what you will do;
   generating excitement--
   a fever in the victim--
   pitcher, catcher, fielder, batter.

 Victim in what category?
Owlman watching from the press box?
 To whom does it apply?
 Who is excited?  Might it be I?
 
It's a pitcher's battle all the way--a duel--
a catcher's, as, with cruel
   puma paw, Elston Howard lumbers lightly
      back to plate.  (His spring 
      de-winged a bat swing.)
   They have that killer instinct;
   yet Elston--whose catching
   arm has hurt them all with the bat--
 when questioned, says, unenviously,
   "I'm very satisfied.  We won."
 Shorn of the batting crown, says, "We";
 robbed by a technicality.
 
When three players on a side play three positions
and modify conditions,
   the massive run need not be everything.
      "Going, going . . . "  Is
      it?  Roger Maris
   has it, running fast.  You will
   never see a finer catch.  Well . . .
   "Mickey, leaping like the devil"--why
 gild it, although deer sounds better--
snares what was speeding towards its treetop nest,
 one-handing the souvenir-to-be
 meant to be caught by you or me.
 
Assign Yogi Berra to Cape Canaveral;
he could handle any missile.
   He is no feather.  "Strike! . . . Strike two!"
      Fouled back.  A blur.
      It's gone.  You would infer
   that the bat had eyes.
   He put the wood to that one.
Praised, Skowron says, "Thanks, Mel.
   I think I helped a little bit."
 All business, each, and modesty.
        Blanchard, Richardson, Kubek, Boyer.
 In that galaxy of nine, say which
 won the pennant?  Each.  It was he.
 
Those two magnificent saves from the knee-throws
by Boyer, finesses in twos--
   like Whitey's three kinds of pitch and pre-
      diagnosis
   Pitching is a large subject. 
      with pick-off psychosis.
   Your arm, too true at first, can learn to
   catch your corners--even trouble
 Mickey Mantle.  ("Grazed a Yankee!
My baby pitcher, Montejo!"
 With some pedagogy,
 you'll be tough, premature prodigy.)
 
They crowd him and curve him and aim for the knees.  Trying
indeed!  The secret implying:
   "I can stand here, bat held steady."
      One may suit him;
       none has hit him.
   Imponderables smite him.
   Muscle kinks, infections, spike wounds
   require food, rest, respite from ruffians.  (Drat it!
 Celebrity costs privacy!)
Cow's milk, "tiger's milk," soy milk, carrot juice,
 brewer's yeast (high-potency--
 concentrates presage victory
 
sped by Luis Arroyo, Hector Lopez--
deadly in a pinch.  And "Yes,
   it's work; I want you to bear down,
      but enjoy it
      while you're doing it."
   Mr. Houk and Mr. Sain,
   if you have a rummage sale,
   don't sell Roland Sheldon or Tom Tresh.
 Studded with stars in belt and crown,
the Stadium is an adastrium.
 O flashing Orion,

          your stars are muscled like the lion.

Analysis Two
Anju Kalagnanam

           Baseball and Writing was a poem written by Marianne Moore and illustrates the different phases of baseball. 
The way that Moore expressed her feelings towards baseball brought out this poem in a unique but ordinary way. Moore
was able to describe baseball in such a descriptive way that when others read this poem, they were able to get a taste of 
baseball from a different perspective. 
 
 --Fanaticism?  No.  Writing is exciting
and baseball is like writing.
   You can never tell with either
      how it will go
            or what you will do;--
 
            These first stanzas of this poem generally introduced the whole meaning of how you can take an ordinary sport or 
everyday object and use descriptions to transform it into a poem, or any kind of art. Throughout this poem Moore shows an 
actual baseball game taking place. The details bring out that fact that there could really be a game going on with the pitcher, 
catcher, batter and fielder. Although this poem is semi different from her other poems, Moore still found a way to write her award 
winning poems which were read all around the world.