What is Art?

 In ‘Delight in Disorder’ it is the promiscuous and sexy vibe from a woman. The telling is that you can be a mess and still be beautiful in any light. Yet, in ‘Still to be Neat’ it is quite the opposite, the author Johson likes women who are neat and basic in their beauty. The nature of art in this sense is that we share different views when it comes to art. For example, The Mona Lisa is a widely renown piece of art that people see in different forms. Some depict the Mona Lisa as smiling, while others see her as frowning or not having any form of expression. This can be greatly seen in how the two poets enforce different meanings and outlooks on how a woman’s beauty is portrayed.

 I’d say, ‘Delight in Disorder’ holds a better argument than ‘Still to be Neat’, in lines 1-2 “A sweet disorder in the dress Kindles in clothes a wantonness.” We can already see that the disorder is pleasing to the writer, how the second line opens us up to the sexual tension of how the woman looks, how he sees her and already wants to be with her sexually is the strength of this poem. The fact that he wants this woman so badly, with the use of diction and imagery helps us imagine how she looks. It makes us put up an image of a sexy woman not even trying to woo us over. Just because of how imperfect and real this is to us it shows that art doesn’t need to be precise and neat. It can be messy and hot and still garner our attention to continue watching, and staring. There also are the beats of these lines that go ba-bump, ba-bump, which bring rhythm into play. These ba-bumps are almost on how the speaker feels in this moment their heart is beating and reacting to how the woman is being expressed. It conveys this throughout the rest of the poem, and I think this is such a great play on rhythm since it continues to show the sound of that heartbeat getting faster as it goes on.

 As in ‘Still to be Neat’ in lines 5-6 “Though art’s hid causes are not found, All is not sweet, all is not sound” this tells us more that sometimes not everything in art needs to be conveyed, yes, we may not find the meaning in art, but we can see everything else surrounding it. The word sweet is usually associated with something delicious or pleasant here the writer uses it to show us that art doesn’t have to be vibrant or straight in your face. While this can be true, it generally depends on how you see it. With the last word rhyming to the next line, it also creates a rhythm and a setting of happiness and fun in the poem. Which doesn’t really play on that on the meaning of the poem for me, it creates almost a false illusion of playful writing. When its talking about the simple beauty of art and how it corresponds to the simpleness of a woman’s beauty when she isn’t trying to seduce.

 Art is a form of expression and how you choose to accept it, I like things more in my face and loud. While others may like the subtleties of art in its form. There are different ways to view art and judge it, a woman’s beauty can be the social standards of looking perfect all the time or being able to let loose and show her beauty without hiding anything on top. The fact of the matter is that one poem plays with our heart strings of desire and the other tells us to take things the simple way and not dig too much into it.

Kelly Flores

Feeling in Words

Okay, to start off, I don’t think I’ve ever read a poem that kept my attention like this one did. “Like This” by Rumi uses a mix of figurative language and repetition to make the poem seem as close and intimate as a loving and passionate relationship. Had this poem been originally written in any other language like English, I’m certain the meaning would have been lost on me, or at least not have been hammered into me as effectively.

The poem is meant to depict the love between two people in worded form, and does so in a way that makes the reader feel that they aren’t an observer, but part of that union themselves; for example, Lines 12, 13, and 14 are:

“or what God’s fragrance” means

lean your head towards him or her.

Keep your face there close

The aforementioned figurative language compares the scent of one half of the couple to something the other half is thoroughly enamored with, comparing it to God; the poem repeats this process with a variety of different phrases, but these different phrases all mean the same thing at their core: love.

I noticed that as the poem goes along, the words and meaning behind them grow in intensity and in intimacy, as indicated by the lines “slowly loosen knot by knot the strings” (Line 18) and “Kiss me on the lips” (Line 23). It becomes a crescendo of sorts, almost representative of a couple preparing for passion and the increasing feelings leading up to it.

There is a recurring element throughout the poem that consistently repeats itself after each paragraph: the words “like this”. I’m torn on what the real meaning of this phrase actually represents; on one hand, I get the impression it is the narrator’s thoughts, as he/she and their lover do what the paragraphs before each “like this” describe; we as readers follow along as the couple dance on the rooftop, kiss, enjoy quiet nights together, and do everything that being a happy couple implies. And, of course, regarding a more sexual aspect, “like this” could also be representative of the couple’s first time making love; fumbling with each other as they try to find out what the other enjoys.

Overall, the figurative language used in the poem comes together to help give a touching throwback to what a genuinely loving relationship is, or at least can be; it’s not just kissing and sex, but the emotional bonds that two people forge, bit by bit, everlasting.

 

By Daniel Amaro