Enjoy a conceptual approach to the sestina form by Creative Writing student Karlton Dardio, created for Carla Harryman’s CRTW 426: Contemporary Forms.
Karlton Dardio
In the rise of Modernist (and consequently Post-Modernist) styles of poetry
It has become something of a fashionable display of talent both to employ a traditional form
And to ameliorate those forms to better suit the author’s particular style, resulting in a renovated form
which is an homage to, and deviation from, the proclivities of another movement.
These renovations work to varying levels of renown, but are, in my opinion, successful
In illustrating precisely what it is that defines modern poetry as opposed to classical.
Ashbery’s sestina, Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape, is an appropriate example of this
manner of adaptation.
Ashbery, in his adaptation,
Does not adhere to the rhythms usually reserved in this form of poetry
(The decasyllabic meter popular in many classical
Styles. However, he maintains the most noticeable and distinct aspect of the form
By using the retrograde cross structure (ending each line of each stanza with the same six words in a
predetermined pattern) he is successful
In distinguishing his piece as a sestina in layout, if not necessarily rhythmic movement.
There is significance to the abandonment of arsis and thesis in the poem’s movement.
Which helps to differentiate the modern adaptation.
It allows Ashbery to establish the text as an assemblage of reference and tone. The successful
Allusions to both Popeye and ancient mythology alters the reading of the poetry,
And the ambiguous details of the story’s narrative structure force the reader to form
Their own opinion regarding the actual purpose of the tale. By straying from some tenets of classical
Poetics while still making a formal sestina, Ashbery both acknowledges the influence of the classical
Movement
On his own form,
And differentiates his adaptation
From them. Compared to an Alighieri sestina, Ashbery’s poetry
Is more organic, less rigid, and in establishing the poem as a more loosely defined object, Ashbery is
successful.
Berrigan’s sonnets are similarly free-flowing, and they are similarly successful,
Though there is no definitive classical
Sonnet (there already being many forms, such as the Shakespearean, the Spenserian, etc), Berrigan
crafts a renovation of the sonnet that leaves an indelible stamp on the poetry
Of the Twentieth Century. The relatively recent genesis of free verse significantly affected Berrigan’s
interpretation of modern trends and antiquated movement,
And his adaptation
Of the sonnet’s form
Would reflect not only the worldly influence of Shakespeare, but also the intensely personal,
autobiographical form
Of poetry favored by the then still-developing Beat scene. Berrigan is successful
In both relating the troubles of his own love with more timeless matters. His adaptation
Of the sonnet defies many of the classical
Rules regarding the structure, but he also imbues his sonnets with imagery and intimate feelings that
would resonate with more than one subsequent movement
In the field of poetry.
The two authors discussed here make, in their work, an argument for successful poetry
Being achieved not through the dogmatic adherence to classical form,
But through the willing adaptation of forms to the needs of a more modern movement.