For the final meeting of the Winter Term we will look at poems by Philip Schultz and Katha Pollitt. Shultz's poems are expansive, conversational. Last year we enjoyed "The God of Loneliness," in which fathers wait in line at a toy store. Schultz's father figures in today's poem, in which seemingly casual takes on pop culture are again juxtaposed with deeper questions of identity. Pollitt writes in a more compressed fashion--"not afraid to write beautifully," as one critic observes--and the key to her reverie about a New York apartment lies in the last two lines.
We talked last week about ellipsis, both a mark of punctuation and a rhetorical and poetic device. Ellipsis in the middle of a line of text clear denotes an omission. But we sensed, correctly, I think, that an ellipsis at the end of a line suggests something else, a sudden silence to which the poet gives meaning. There's a name for this--aposiopesis (accent on the second "o")! I think, too, that the distinction we drew between a dash and three dots at the end of a line was worthwhile, although some discussion of punctuation seem to lump them together.
Further reading on Philip Schultz http://belindamckeon.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/an-interview-with-philip-schultz-poet/
Another poem by Pollitt, with brief discussion by her, from her new book:
