SOME NOTES ON ORGANIC FORM

Author(s): DENISE LEVERTOV

Source: Poetry, Vol. 106, No. 6 (SEPTEMBER 1965), pp. 420-425
Published by: Poetry Foundation
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40732772 .
Accessed: 17/05/2013 18:48

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Poetry Foundation is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Poetry.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 130.58.248.118 on Fri, 17 May 2013 18:48:00 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
POETRY

COMMENT

SOME NOTES ON ORGANIC FORM

Forme,backoftheidea of organicformis theconceptthatthereis a

formin all things(and in our experience)whichthepoet can discover
and reveal.Thereareno doubttemperamental differencesbetweenpoets
who useprescribed formsandthosewho lookfornew ones- peoplewho
needa tightscheduleto getanything done,andpeoplewho haveto have
a freehand- butthedifference intheirconceptionof"content"or "real-
ity" is functionallymore important. On the one hand is the idea that
content,reality,experience, is essentiallyfluidand mustbe givenform;
on theother,thissenseof seekingout inherent, thoughnotimmediately
apparent, form.Gerard ManleyHopkins invented the word inscapeto
denoteintrinsicform,thepattern ofessential bothin single
characteristics
objectsand (whatis moreinteresting) in objectsin a stateof relationto
each other;and theword instress to denotetheexperiencing of theper-
of the of
ception inscape, apperceptioninscape. thinking In of the process
of poetryas I know it,I extendtheuse of thesewords,whichhe seems
to haveusedmainlyin reference to sensory phenomena, to includeintel-
lectualand emotionalexperienceas well; I would speakof theinscape of
an experience(whichmightbe composedofanyandall oftheseelements,
includingthesensory)or of theinscapeof a sequenceor constellation of
experiences.
A partialdefinition, then,of organicpoetrymightbe that it is a
method ofapperception ofrecognizing
, i.e., whatwe perceive,and is based
on an intuitionof an order,a formbeyondforms,in whichformspar-
take,and of whichman's creativeworksare analogies,resemblances,
naturalallegories.Such a poetryis exploratory.
How doesone go aboutsucha poetry?I thinkit'slikethis:Firstthere
mustbe an experience, a sequenceor constellation ofperceptions of suf-
ficient feltbythepoet intensely
interest, enoughto demandof himtheir
equivalencein words:he is brought tospeech.Supposethere'sthesightof
the skythrougha dustywindow,birdsand cloudsand bitsof paper
flyingthroughthe sky,the soundof musicfromhis radio,feelingsof

420

This content downloaded from 130.58.248.118 on Fri, 17 May 2013 18:48:00 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 DENISE LEVERTOV

angerandlove andamusement rousedbya letter justreceived,themem-

ory of some long ago thoughtor eventassociatedwithwhat'sseenor
heardor felt,and an idea,a concept,he has beenpondering, each quali-
fying theother; together with what he knows about and
history; whathe
has beendreaming - whetheror nothe remembers it- workingin him.
Thisis onlya roughoutlineofa possiblemomentina life.Butthecondi-
tionof beinga poetis thatperiodically sucha cross-section, or constella-
tion,ofexperiences (in which one or another element maypredominate)
demands,or wakesin himthisdemand,thepoem.The beginningof the
fulfillment of thisdemandis to contemplate, to meditate;wordswhich
connotea statein whichtheheatoffeelingwarmstheintellect. To con-
templatecomesfrom"templum,temple,a place,a spaceforobservation,
markedout by theaugur".It means,not simplyto observe,to regard,
but to do thesethingsin thepresenceof a god. And to meditateis "to
keep themindin a stateof contemplation" ; itssynonymis "to muse",
andto musecomesfroma wordmeaning"to standwithopenmouth"-
not so comicalifwe thinkof "inspiration" - to breathein.
-
So as thepoet standsopen-mouthed in thetempleof life,contem-
platinghis experience, therecome to himthefirstwordsof thepoem:
thewordswhichareto be hiswayinto thepoem,ifthereisto be a poem.
The pressure ofdemandandthemeditation on itselements culminate ina
momentof vision,of crystallization, in whichsome inklingof thecor-
respondence betweenthoseelementsoccurs;andit occurs as words.If he
forcesa beginningbeforethispoint,it won't work.Thesewordssome-
timesremainthefirst, sometimes in thecompletedpoem theireventual
place may be elsewhere,or theymay turnout to have been onlyfore-
runners,which fulfilled theirfunctionin bringinghim to the words
whicharetheactualbeginningofthepoem. It is faithful attention to the
experience from thefirstmoment of that
crystallization allows those first
or thoseforerunning wordsto riseto the surface:and withthatsame
fidelityof attention thepoet,fromthatmomentof beingletin to the
possibilityof thepoem,mustfollowthrough, lettingthe experiencelead
himthroughtheworldofthepoem,itsuniqueinscaperevealingitselfas
he goes.
Duringthewritingofa poemthevariouselementsofthepoet'sbeing
areincommunionwitheachother,andheightened. Ear andeye,intellect
and passion,interrelatemoresubtlythanat othertimes;and the"check-

421

This content downloaded from 130.58.248.118 on Fri, 17 May 2013 18:48:00 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
POETRY

ing for accuracy",for precisionof language,that must take place

throughout the writingis not a matterof one elementsupervising the
othersbutof intuitive interaction betweenall theelementsinvolved.
In thesameway,contentand formare in a stateof dynamicinterac-
tion;theunderstanding ofwhetheran experience is a linearsequenceor a
constellation rayingout fromand in to a centralfocusor axis,forin-
stance,is discoverable onlyin thework,not beforeit.
Rhyme, chime, echo, repetition: theynot onlyserveto knittheele-
mentsof an experiencebutoftenaretheverymeans,thesole means,by
whichthedensityof textureand thereturning or circlingof perception
can be transmuted intolanguage,apperceived.A maylead to E directly
throughB, C, and D: butifthenthereis thesharpremembrance or re-
visioning of A, thisreturn must find itsmetric counterpart. It could do so
byactualrepetition ofthewordsthatspokeofA thefirst time(and ifthis
returnoccursmorethanonce,one findsoneselfwitha refrain - not
put
therebecauseone decidedto writesomething witha refrain at theendof
eachstanzabutdirectly becauseofthedemandofthecontent).Or itmay
be thatsincethereturnto A is now conditioned by thejourneythrough
B, C, and D, itswordswillnotbe a simplerepetition buta variation.. . .
Again, ifB and D are of a complementary nature, then theirthought- or
feeling-rhyme may find itscorresponding word-rhyme. Corresponding
imagesarea kindofnon-auralrhyme.It usuallyhappensthatwithinthe
whole,thatis betweenthepointof crystallization thatmarksthebegin-
ningor onsetof a poem and the pointat whichthe intensity of con-
templation has ceased, there are distinct of
units awareness; and it is- for
-
me anyway thesethatindicatethedurationofstanzas.Sometimesthese
unitsare of such equal durationthatone getsa whole poem of, say,
three-line stanzas,a regularity of patternthatlookslike,butis not,pre-
determined.
Whenmyson was eightor nineI watchedhimmakea crayondraw-
ing of a tournament. He was not interested in theformsas suchbutwas
grappling with the need to speak graphicterms,to say,"And a great
in
crowdofpeoplewerewatchingthejoustingknights."Therewas a need
to showthetiersofseats,all thosepeoplesitting in them.And out of the
-
needarosea formaldesignthatwas beautiful composedof therowsof
shoulders andheads.It is in verymuchthesamewaythattherecan arise,
out of fidelity to instress,a designthatis theformofthepoem- bothits
totalform,itslengthandpaceandtone,andtheformofitsparts(e.g.,the

422

This content downloaded from 130.58.248.118 on Fri, 17 May 2013 18:48:00 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 DENISE LEVERTOV

rhythmic ofsyllableswithintheline,and oflineto line;the

relationships
sonicrelationships of vowelsand consonants;therecurrence of images,
the play of associations, etc.). "Form followsfunction"(FrankLloyd
Wright).
FrankLloydWrightalso wrotethattheideaoforganicarchitecture is
that"therealityofthebuildingliesinthespacewithinit,to be livedin".
And he quotesColeridge:"Such as thelifeis,suchis theform."(Emer-
son says,"Ask the factfortheform.")The OxfordDictionaryquotes
Huxley (Thomas,presumably)as statingthathe used the word organic
"almostas an equivalentfortheword 'living'".
In organicpoetrythe metricmovement,the measure,is the direct
expressionof themovementof perception.And the sounds,actingto-
-
getherwiththemeasure,are a kindof extended onomatopoeiai.e., they
imitate,not thesoundsof an experience(whichmay well be soundless,
-
or to whichsoundscontribute onlyincidentally)but thefeelingof an
experience, itsemotionaltone,itstexture. varyingspeedand gaitof
The
different strandsofperception withinan experience(I thinkofstrands of
seaweedmovingwithina wave) resultin counterpointed measures.
Thinkingabouthow organicpoetrydiffers fromfreeverse,I wrote
that"mostfreeverseisfailedorganicpoetry,thatis,organicpoetryfrom
whichtheattention ofthewriterhad beenswitchedofftoo soon,before
theintrinsic formoftheexperience hadbeenrevealed".ButRobertDun-
canpointedoutto me thatthereis a "freeverse"ofwhichthisisnottrue,
becauseit is writtennot withanydesireto seeka form,indeedperhaps
withthe longingto avoidform(if thatwere possible)and to express
inchoateemotionas purelyas possible.There is a contradiction here,
however,becauseif,as I suppose,thereis an inscapeofemotion,of feel-
ing,it is impossibleto avoid presenting something of it iftherhythm or
toneofthefeelingis givenvoicein thepoem. But perhapsthedifference
is this:thatfreeverseisolatesthe"rightness" of each lineor cadence- if
itseemsexpressive, O.K., nevermindtherelationofitto thenext;while
in organicpoetrythepeculiarrhythms of thepartsare in some degree
modified,ifnecessary, in orderto discovertherhythm of thewhole.
But doesn'tthe characterof the whole dependon, ariseout of,the
character oftheparts?It does; butitis likepaintingfromnature:suppose
you absolutelyimitate,on thepalette,theseparatecolorsof thevarious
objectsyou are goingto paint;yetwhentheyare closelyjuxtaposedin
theactualpainting, you mayhave to lighten,darken,cloud,or sharpen

423

This content downloaded from 130.58.248.118 on Fri, 17 May 2013 18:48:00 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
POETRY

each color in orderto producean effect equivalentto whatyou see in

nature.Air, light,dust,shadow,and distancehave to be takeninto
account.
Or one couldputitthisway: in organicpoetrytheformsense,as Stefan
Wolpe speaksofit,is everpresentalongwith(yes,paradoxically) fidelity
to therevelations ofmeditation. The formsenseis a sortof Stanislavsky
oftheimagination: puttinga chairtwo feetdownstagethere,thickening
a knotof bystanders upstageleft,gettingthisactorto raisehis voice a
littleand thatactressto entermoreslowly;all intheinterest ofa total
form
he intuits.Or it is a sortof helicopterscoutflyingover the fieldof the
poem,takingaerialphotosandreporting on thestateoftheforestand its
creatures- or overthesea to watchfortheschoolsof
herringand direct
thefishing fleettowardsthem.
A manifestation of formsenseis thesensethepoet'sear has of some
rhythmic normpeculiarto a particular poem,fromwhichtheindividual
linesdepartandto whichtheyreturn.I heardHenryCo well tellthatthe
droneinIndianmusicisknownas thehorizon note.Al Kresch,thepainter,
sentme a quotationfromEmerson:"The healthof theeye demandsa
horizon."Thissenseofthebeator pulseunderlying thewholeI thinkof
as thehorizonnoteofthepoem.It interacts withthenuancesor forcesof
feelingwhichdetermine emphasison one wordoranother, anddecidesto
a greatextentwhatbelongsto a givenline. It relatestheneedsof that
feeling-force whichdominatesthecadenceto theneedsof thesurround-
ing partsand so to thewhole.
Duncan also pointedto whatis perhapsa varietyof organicpoetry:
thepoetryoflinguistic impulse.It seemsto me thattheabsorption in lan-
guageitself, theawarenessoftheworldof multiplemeaningrevealedin
sound,word,syntax,and theentering intothisworldin thepoem,is as
muchan experience or constellationofperceptions as theinstressofnon-
verbalsensuousand psychicevents.What mightmakethepoet of lin-
guisticimpetusappearto be on anothertackentirely is thatthedemands
of hisrealization mayseemin oppositionto truthas we thinkof it; that
is,in termsof sensuallogic.But theapparentdistortion of experience in
sucha poem forthesakeof verbaleffects is actuallya preciseadherence
to truthsincetheexperienceitselfwas a verbalone.
Formis nevermorethana revelation of content.
"The law- one perceptionmustimmediately and directlylead to a
further I've
perception." always taken thisto mean, no loading oftherifts

424

This content downloaded from 130.58.248.118 on Fri, 17 May 2013 18:48:00 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 DENISE LEVERTOV • SAMUEL MOON

withore,becausethereare to be no rifts.Yet, alongsideof thistruthis

anothertruth(thatI've learnedfromDuncan morethanfromanyone
- -
else) thattheremustbe a place in thepoem forriftstoo (neverto be
stuffedwithimportedore). Greatgapsbetweenperception and percep-
tionwhichmustbe leaptacrossiftheyare to be crossedat all. The X
factor,themagic,is whenwe come to thoseriftsand makethoseleaps.
in-
A religiousdevotionto the truth,to the splendorof the authentic,
volvesthewriterin a processrewarding in itself;butwhenthatdevotion
bringsus to undreamedabyssesand we findourselvessailingslowlyover
themand landingon theotherside- that'secstasy.
DENISE LEVERTOV

FINDING THE LOST WORLD

The Lost World,by RandallJarr

ell. Macmillan.$3.95.

RandallJarrell's new collectionofpoemsistheworkofhismiddleand

lateforties,a periodwhenone wouldexpecthim,withfivepreviousvol-
umesof poetry,to be closeto theheightof hispowers.The book does
not disappointthatexpectation.It more fullyachievesthe unityas a
book, the solid integrity as a whole,towardwhich The Womanat the
Washington Zoo (i960) was moving.It is neithermiscellaneous nor ar-
narrow;
bitrarily its unity is rich in motifs,
recurring containingmany
surprising recognitions. It is not the work of a scattered,opportunistic
mind,butofa mindwitha center.Itsclarityis alsoa continuing develop-
mentmorefullyachievedin thisvolume.We are no longerburdened
withthosenotes,whichoftenseemedto pointto an incompleteness inthe
poem.Now depthandsurface areopento eachotherwithoutsacrifice of
meaningor texture.
TheLostWorldand Thinking oftheLostWorldfocusbetweenthemthe
pervading theme, the theme of childhoodand age, of age mockingand
repeatingthemotifsof childhood.The strength visionis
of Mr.Jarrell's
veness,hisabilityto holdoppositestogether.
itsinclusi The darkforestof
mythand dreamis just outside,in the woods behindthe houses,the
"bottomof theworld" isjust beneaththelidsof sleep.It is thenatural

425

This content downloaded from 130.58.248.118 on Fri, 17 May 2013 18:48:00 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions