“Ars Poetica” by Archibald MacLeish Assignment

1. A poem should be palpable, mute, dumb, silent, and wordless.

2. According to the second section, poetry should not actively occupy the mind but

should linger in the back of the mind. This comparison is a metaphor.

3. Rather than be true, a poem should be “equal to.” Rather than mean something a poem

should be something.

4. Dumb, silent, and wordless are all adjectives that can be used to describe a mute

person. A poem can be palpable and mute if it puts an image inside the reader’s head

without a meaning or explanation. The circle controls the poem, and each stanza makes

an “S” shape.

5. The statement in line 1 is abstract since a poem printed on paper is not literally

palpable, other than in that the paper it is on is palpable. Since no poem literally makes

sound, a poem being mute is abstract as well because it implies that a poem can make

sound. The simile in line 2 clarifies because it conjures the idea of a still-life painting,

and intimates that a poem should have as much of an impression on a person as a still-life

painting has. The logic in the following lines is the same since each group of two lines

describe an instance where something leaves an impression but no meaning. In 7-8, it

means that birds’ flight leaves an impression but no meaning in people’s minds, though

he does not specify that. It is an ironic choice since the Greeks once believed the flight of

birds to be an omen.

6. Line 9 means that a poem should not have a dynamic force within the mind but rather

just be there with an impact as perceptible as the motion of the climbing moon. The poet

repeats lines 9 and 10 because they basically are the thesis of the poem and he feels them

to be the best simile for poetry.

7. The poet says the way to capture the history of grief or love is to write a poem that

paints a symbolic picture. In 17-18 he says a poem should attempt to be an image, not

convey truth. He singles out grief and love since they are two of the most common

subjects of poetry.

8. The poet invokes images of fruit, medallions, worn-out and moss-covered stone, birds

flying, the moon behind a tree, an empty doorway, a maple leaf, swaying grasses, and

lights above the sea. This makes for about 9 or 10 pictures in the poem.