On Grief and Reason - Joseph Brodsky

"On Grief and Reason" by Joseph Brodsky is an article that analysis the way Robert Frost writes his poems and what kind of writer he is. Brodsky tears apart two of Frost's poems, "Home Burial" and "Come In" by going line by line and interpreting them. From the interpretation of both poems Frost can be seen as a dark American poet. The way Brodsky digs deep into the poem looking at every word, syllable, space, dash, and so on is a way I hardly ever see a poem. At first read of these two poems I got no where near where Brodsky did, I understood that they were dark and the basis of the poem but the deep meaning of it all he draws from them would have taken me forever to understand. I agree with the way he interprets these poems especially "Come In". When he takes the words apart and looks at all the detail I can only stand to believe the way he sees them. I especially liked the look in on the type of bird and the way he saw the trees as being a coop almost.

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 27, 2018 at 1:31 PM

    I liked how Brodsky analyzed singular words as well. He really broke down the meaning of each of the poems used to really get his point across. Although his stance was a little confusing at times, and he could done a little more explaining throughout the entire article, I agree with his overall point.

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  2. Mrs. MacFebruary 27, 2018 at 1:46 PM

    Yes, a good way to see it is "take apart"--that's what Brodsky does and that's what "analysis" means. It's also what you guys are doing with your explication. It is fascinating how he sees way down deep into those poems!!

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  3. UnknownFebruary 27, 2018 at 3:09 PM

    This is my Response by the way, did not realize I did not tag my name until your last email.

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  4. UnknownFebruary 27, 2018 at 4:10 PM

    I really enjoyed how he dug deep word by word too! I didn't understand the poems the way Brodsky did at first but once broke them down and explained them they were easier to follow. The trees were also one of my favorite parts!

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  5. UnknownFebruary 27, 2018 at 5:22 PM

    It was really interesting to see how deep Brodsky got into each poem by looking at each individual word. By doing this, he was able to see things that I would never even think to look for. I am going to keep this in mind for the future because I feel that if I apply this I will gain a deeper understanding of what I read.

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