Hello Everyone! Today I am focusing on the rhetorical question in poetry. By inference it brings us closer to the poet, as effectively we become attendants to that enquiry. Sometimes the questioner shares inner thoughts and feelings, or challenges us to think in a new or different way, or by turning statement into question, employs a device for softening what might otherwise sound too didactic.
In her ‘Letter to Noah’s Wife’ Maya C. Popa transposes her own concerns with the environment by questioning the biblical wife who lived through just such an environmental disaster:
“My children, will they exist by the time
it’s irreversible? Will they live
astonished at the thought of ice
not pulled from the mouth of a machine?
Which parent will be the one to break
the myth; the Arctic wasn’t Sisyphus’s
snowy hill. Noah’s wife, I am wringing
my hands not knowing how to know
and move forward. Was it you
who gathered flowers once the earth
had dried? How did you explain the light
to all the animals?”
In ‘Ash Wednesday’ Eliot employs one question after another and yet uses no question mark. As it is a liturgical piece, I think the poet is posing propositions rather like zen koans:
“Who walked between the violet and the violet
Who walked between
The various ranks of varied green
Going in white and blue, in Mary’s colour,
Talking of trivial things
In ignorance and knowledge of eternal dolour
Who moved among the others as they walked,
Who then made strong the fountains and made fresh the springs”
As novice poet, I find such lines of questioning a much-needed starting block for inspiration. When Neruda’s “I’m explaining a few things” opened with this:
“You are going to ask: and where are the lilacs?
and the poppy-petalled metaphysics?”
it inspired me to write a poem: ‘Mournful in Lilac’
“I’ve neither imagination nor Mediterranean mind
for such a question – only the Norse notion
that pastel and bold never mix
that Syringa Springs are all the more sweet
paving the way where papaver blazes with desire
and a kind of fire stolen from Olympus” …[more]
In his prompt ‘The answer is 42’ (dVerse 19/9/17) Bjὄrn asked us to write a question poem, citing Neruda’s ‘The Book of Questions’(El libro de las preguntas) as example. And it is to these poems I turn to again; each one comprising a lightly linked set of enquiries, to which there is no reasoned answer. For these are more imponderables than preguntas.
For today’s prompt I have picked 6 lines of Neruda’s at random. The challenge is to choose ONE of them and write a poem as riposte, retort, rejoinder. Be as tangential as you wish. Perhaps you will seek an answer, or pose more imponderables, or simply pick up the thread and run with the sights and sounds into your imagination. Use the chosen text in your poem or as title, if you like. Just think of the question as a quest – fare forward voyager!
- Where can a blind man live who is pursued by bees?
- From where does the thundercloud come with its black sacks of tears?
- Do you know what the earth meditates upon in autumn?
- Who sings in the deepest water in the abandoned lagoon?
- Why did the grove undress itself only to wait for the snow?
- Where can you find a bell that will ring in your dreams?
Once you have published your poem, add it to the Linky widget and leave a comment below. Follow the links to other contributors as visiting, reading and sharing thoughts with each other is half the fun of our dVerse gatherings.
Further reading:
The full Spanish/English text (PDF) of Pablo Neruda’s “Book of Questions”
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Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Hello Laura, what a wonderful idea to use the question for your own poetry… it actually made me question the question… some questions just leads to more questions.
Laura Bloomsbury said:
glad you liked it – I know you know this book from your previous dVerse prompt and now you have the chance to answer Neruda
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Laura Bloomsbury said:
Evening everyone – to help you ponder the imponderable you may need some alcoholic lubrication now being served at the bar…looking forward to seeing what you come up with
Grace said:
Laura, love your post which brings me to another world of poetry reading. This is a creative approach to poetry writing.
Laura Bloomsbury said:
it certainly got your creative juices flowing Grace – some Nerudaesque questions there in your poem
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Toni Hayes Spencer said:
I always loved the question in Ash Wednesday by one of my most favorite poets.
Laura Bloomsbury said:
We are a couple of Eliotphiles – could not resist the questioning he uses throughout that poem
kim881 said:
Good evening dVerse Poets and thank you for this wonderful prompt, Laura, I’ve enjoyed writing to it! I’ll try to read and comment on as many poems as possible, but it’s been one of those days and I will have to retire early or I may fall asleep at my laptop. 🙂
Laura Bloomsbury said:
Will be over to read it Kim- meanwhile have a nightcap and come back refreshed
kim881 said:
Thanks Laura!
lillian said:
I found this a fascinating prompt, Laura! Very fun to work with and just let the imagination glide!
It’s kind of a chilly day here so some refreshing and spicy Sangria would be most appreciated!
Laura Bloomsbury said:
you wove a dark adventure in your prompt – just the colour of Sangria so consider it served
Jade Li said:
Hello Laura and All. Laura, I very much enjoyed your poem that you linked to, but it wouldn’t let me leave a comment there. “scarlet and sanguine in a mass for the dead
requiems to paper thin mortality” are standouts in an exquisite pondering. I will need to shake loose the mindgrips for this prompt, which is a good thing.
Laura Bloomsbury said:
ah thank you for following up on my original poem ‘Mournful in Lilac – as that was 2016 comments are closed but I do appreciate you reading it
msjadeli said:
You’re welcome, Laura.
msjadeli said:
p.s. Alcoholic lubrication of choice today is O’Maras/Baileys in hot coffee please 🙂
Laura Bloomsbury said:
sounds like you need something warming – how is the weather?
msjadeli said:
Yes, I do, thanks! Temp about 50, gusting winds, sprinkles, overcast.
Laura Bloomsbury said:
bit like here then
Linda Lee Lyberg said:
Hello Laura and All. Thanks for hosting Laura and what a fabulous prompt. I will have to ponder this a bit.
Laura Bloomsbury said:
It took me a while to choose and I had a head start! look forward to reading yours when the Muse strikes
Linda Lee Lyberg said:
She struck! I went humorous.
Laura Bloomsbury said:
and gave question for question – well done!
Linda Lee Lyberg said:
Thank you!
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Glenn A. Buttkus said:
Well, there I go again, being all tangential and literal, posing a plethora of perplexing questions, making a poem of questions. Some of you suggested I misunderstood the prompt, and didn’t even see where I worked in the Neruda questions midst the rhetorical tapestry of inquiries. I just created a tangent, and ran with it, or chased it for a couple of pages. Sometimes, I guess, I just get too far out there. I did enjoy reading all your poems however.
Laura Bloomsbury said:
you certainly ran too fast for us to see it – if you had referenced the ONE chosen prompt I might have been able to follow. Nevertheless Neruda has that effect on some of us – ““As if you were on fire from within.
The moon lives in the lining of your skin.”
― Pablo Neruda”
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Na'ama Yehuda said:
I have me a bit of fun with this … 🙂
Na’ama
Laura Bloomsbury said:
you did and it was wonderful – thank you for joining in
Na'ama Yehuda said:
Yay! 🙂 It was fun and l’ve learned of an excellent resource besides! So, thank YOU! And thank you for hosting!
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Xan said:
Perfectly timely prompt, Laura, /and/ an introduction to the wonderful Book of Questions (which I did not know about). All my poems have been ending in questions lately, I seem to be working something out and looking for help (and answers!).
Laura Bloomsbury said:
Your poem proved that! Glad this resonated so well with you and produced such resounding sounds in your poem
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Jane Swanson said:
This is a great prompt so I had to write another. Can I post two?
Laura Bloomsbury said:
why not!
Christine Irving said:
Laura what a beautiful poem you’ve written in “Mournful in Lilac”. I’m so glad you included it. I’m particularly awed by the last verse – how your own train of thought led to an understanding of Neruda’s lines. It demonstrates so perfectly how writing poetry can open the poet’s mind to larger comprehensions and connections. And it also clearly shows the power of imagery to engage and include so that the reader gets drawn in, alongside the poet, to a wider vision of the world.
Laura Bloomsbury said:
thank you for reading it, Christine, and for such very nice feedback here (since comments are closed on that post as 2016 a long time ago). I remember reading up on Neruda’s original poem so as to include the flavour of him rather than just use the lines for my own springboard
Laura Bloomsbury said:
N.B. One thing I should have stressed is that if we use any of Neruda’s lines directly in our poems we must reference it as such – lest we err into plagiarism or worse
memadtwo said:
thanks Laura…Neruda is a treasure chest of inspiration, always. (K)
Laura Bloomsbury said:
yes indeed – a source of inspiration because his words do not quite fit expectations (and of course translated from Spanish they gain something too in English)
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Rob Kistner said:
A broken pipe and a bathroom full of water has made for some chaos here Laura. I forgot to thank you for hosting — so, thank you!
Laura Bloomsbury said:
Thank you for remembering Rob especially in the midst of plumbing crises
georgeplace2013 said:
Rob, I am not able to open your site. It says it is “waiting for response…”
Laura Bloomsbury said:
the avatar link does not seem to work but Rob’s Mr Linky link connects HERE
georgeplace2013 said:
Shoot, it still doesn’t work for me. Same message
Laura Bloomsbury said:
strange – is it a browser problem? I am using Chrome and can see it
georgeplace2013 said:
Maybe. It is aggravating. I’m not having a problem with anyone else.
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Margaret Elizabeth Bednar said:
Thank you. I visited a few but will have to finish up visiting and commenting Thursday evening.
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