Poetry by Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore's poetry, particularly highlighted in her poem "Poetry," explores her aesthetic beliefs regarding the nature of genuine verse. Originally published in 1919, Moore revisited and revised this poem multiple times, ultimately stripping it down from thirty lines to just three by 1967, reflecting her commitment to clarity and precision. The poem opens with an unexpected declaration of Moore's dislike for poetry, which sets the stage for her critique of what she considers superficial poetic conventions, or "fiddle." She emphasizes a preference for poetry that presents honest, relatable subjects drawn from real experiences, such as everyday objects and vivid imagery.
Moore's artistic approach champions the idea of a "literalist of the imagination," where precise detail and imaginative transformation combine to reveal universal truths. This perspective suggests that meaningful poetry requires both accurate representation and creative interpretation. Through her rigorous revision process, Moore not only sets high standards for her work but also invites her readers to seek out poetry that resonates with authenticity and imagination. The evolution of "Poetry" exemplifies her dedication to these ideals, making her contributions to literature both thoughtful and provocative.
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Poetry by Marianne Moore
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1919 (collected in Selected Poems, 1935)
Type of work: Poem
The Work
“Poetry,” a poem Moore reworked several times, states her aesthetic beliefs. She published the first version in 1919, but in 1925 she stripped it from thirty lines to thirteen to comply with her principles of clarity and precision. In the Selected Poems of 1935, she returned it to the original. Then, in 1967, after she repudiated the syllabic verse she used in much of her poetry, she reduced it to the three lines that appear in The Complete Poems of Marianne Moore published that same year. (The original version appears in the “Notes” of that book.)
The poem is best known for the shocking first line, in which Moore states that she dislikes poetry. The remaining two lines of the 1967 version present some problems because she does not exemplify the word “genuine” after stating that there is “a place for the genuine” in poetry. In the original version, however, Moore illustrates precisely what poetry she repudiates and what poetry she admires.
Moore dislikes poetry that she calls “fiddle”—poetry written about stereotypical poetic subjects, such as nature, in high-sounding tones. Such works become so abstract, she says, that they cannot be understood. Poets who write this way, the “half-poets,” take standard opinions as truth, then embroider them with pretty or overly intellectual language. The result is that truth, the “genuine,” if it is there at all, becomes obscure.
What she admires and what she attempts in her own poems is, first, the presentation of objects for themselves. Things such as hands, eyes, and hair are honest subjects because they are useful things. She also develops images of things such as elephants pushing, horses rolling, and baseball fans cheering. Readers understand these subjects because they have experienced them. She renders her subjects accurately and precisely and then enhances them with the poetic imagination. The imagination rearranges the details, giving an aesthetic order so that the universal truths can emerge. Where the imaginative concept and the object rendered coincide lies pure realism of ideas.
If the rendering is precise and the imagination alive, readers will comprehend the truths and admire the poem because they understand it. A poet who writes this way is a “literalist of the imagination,” a phrase Moore borrowed from the Irish poet William Butler Yeats. This poet will rise above trivial things to present true poetry, “imaginary gardens with real toads in them.” Only those demanding raw material such as toads will even aspire to real poetry; only those with imagination will transform this raw material into truth.
This longer version follows Moore’s common pattern. After the blunt opening, “I, too, dislike it,” the beginning is casual in pace. To illustrate the abstract topic, she details specific images of people and nature. The poem reaches a climax in the next-to-last sentence. She ends offhandedly with a direct comment to summarize: If readers will not settle for less than the process she describes, then they are interested in real poetry.
Moore sets high standards, ones that she herself constantly sought through the revision process. Considering her emphasis on precise rendering of raw material before the poet synthesizes it by imagination, it is perhaps surprising that she so trimmed “Poetry” for the 1967 collection.
Bibliography
Costello, Bonnie. Marianne Moore: Imaginary Possessions. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1981.
Hadas, Pamela White. Marianne Moore: Poet of Affection. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1977.
Joyce, Elisabeth W. Cultural Critique and Abstraction: Marianne Moore and the Avant-Garde. Lewisburg, Pa.: Bucknell University Press, 1998.
Miller, Christine. Marianne Moore: Questions of Authority. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995.
Molesworth, Charles. Marianne Moore: A Literary Life. New York: Atheneum, 1990.
Stamy, Cynthia. Marianne Moore and China: Orientalism and a Writing of America. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Stapleton, Laurence. Marianne Moore: The Poet’s Advance. 1978. Reprint. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999.
Tomlinson, Charles, ed. Marianne Moore: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1969.
Willis, Patricia C., ed. Marianne Moore. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 1999.