In poetry, color feels to be both a direct and an indirect thing. Color can be interpreted in many ways: literal color, race, etc… but I have always been fascinated with the ways in which words create and bring up color in a reader’s mind. Poets such as Terrance Hayes demonstrate how direct and indirect references to color can add to a poem’s meaning.
The siren, the men with red hats
And hoses-angels on their chariot,
The yawn of smoke there- (10-12)
Hayes’ strategically placed moments of color pop as I navigate through the poem. Color in this sense not only gives a more detailed visual reference, but it also brings up connotative references that we are individual readers associate with color. When I read about the men with red hats and hoses, I not only think about firefighters, but I also think about the danger associated with their profession, their role as a savior (of sorts) and their ability to put out a flame (of course I think of this both literally and figuratively). Reading through the poems this week had a similar effect – color = connotation and all of the things that go with it.
For Young, the idea of color is contained within the ‘thing’, within the body. Within this poem, the reader takes a journey, not just through the body, but also through color. The interesting thing is that in this poem, color becomes personal for each reader – I imagine my body as I read the poem, therefore the color that I see/use is my own personal color/shade. In this poem, color is indirectly used to communicate to the reader. When I read certain phrases and words, certain colors come to mind, and these colors are connected to their ‘object’. Specifically, “leaving the heart exposed/ and beating, the traveling pulses of blood” (13-14) brings up reds, browns, and blacks; these colors are tied to the body – they represent something specific and universal.
Color is present in all poetry because we all associate certain words and phrases to color (or things that contain color). Even if we are not actively thinking about it, color is constantly being used because it had to be used. Moments in history and our personal lives are made clearer and more memorable because of color – this was demonstrated in many of the poems read this week and (now that I think about it), in many of the poems we have read thus far.
I like your point about the personal interpretations readers have of color. It is interesting to think about how the writers may be working with and manipulating the reader's point of view, and it is always amazing to think about how everyone who reads a poem has a different experience with it and maybe sees a different color.
ReplyDeleteYour analysis "color = connotation and all of the things that go with it" makes me think about how color is always kind of an association game (When we think of the color yellow, we think of yellow things etc). Thinking about how people make a lot of different associations with colors, I think you're spot on when you say that color is specific and also universal with regards to what it represents!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Molly, the point that stuck with me, Angela is how it's constantly connotating-- politically and poetically. i would like to see you take some lines into this analysis and demonstrate a couple of ways that is done.
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