diagonal kennings

[Senna Jawa]

I've shown in the "which one?" thread, that you do not need to be a Japanese to write superb haiku, and now I will show that you do not need to be a skald to write kennings.

In return, please, first just read each poem, without worrying about anything, about any kennings, just literally recreate all images provided by the direct meaning of the words.

****************************************************

6000 feet

6000 feet up plus two
of my own
in the stars' backyard
surrounded by God's toys
catholic lutheran methodist pentecostal...
and grass lawns which grow
cigarette butts
will I join
the midget trees
in the midget town?
​

wh,
1996-jan/feb



*****************************************************

While the diagonal kenning play the first violin, the nondiagonal kennings play the second fiddle and have their place too: "cigarette butts" and "midget town". The latter may viewed as a non-kenning adjective+noun combination too; but at the same time, simultaneously, the "town of midgets" kenning interpretation comes to the mind strongly too, both of them.

***

Now let' get to the diagonal kenning. Let's represent "of" by arrow: <---, so that "B of A" is represented by "A ---> B" or "B <---A" etc. (the arrow may go in any geometric direction but always from A to B).

Here is our first diagonal kenning:

home ....... stars
| .......... / |
| ....... /... |
| .... /...... |
V.. V........ V
backyard ... mountain

​

or equivalently:

mountain ... backyard
^......... ^ ..^
| ........ /.... |
| ...... /...... |
| .... /........ |
stars ....... home

​

The diagonal with the blue vertices is the kenning of the red vertex (on the left side of the diagonal kenning arrow), i.e. here "backyard of stars" is a kenning of "mountain".

Now you see one of the reasons why the diagonal kennings are so much more poetically powerful than the similes or metaphors: similes and metaphors involve only two objects (hence onl;y two images at the best), while diagonal kennings involve four objects, hence four images (three of them in an activeway). And for the same exactly reason the diagonal kennings are also more powerful than the non-diagonal kennings.

***

Now the other poem's diagonal kenning:

child ..... God
| ....... /.. |
| ..... /.... |
| ... /...... |
V . V....... V
toy ....... church

​

or equivalently:

church .... toy
^ ........ ^.. ^
| ........ /.... |
| ...... /...... |
| .... /........ |
God ....... child

​

END of Part 1

*****************************

I hope that you have enjoyed my diagrams, I have invented them many looooong years ago especially for the working poets like you

Best regard,

Senna Jawa

 

[Senna Jawa]

Also "grass lawns" is a non-diagonal kenning (in my poem "6000 feet"). We see that the non-diagonal kenning are just the bread & butter of poetry, no big deal.

Needless to say, when I say that a phrase is a kenning of a mountain then in poetry it means that it can serve also as a kenning of a mountain range or of a place up high on the Earth (as in the poem, where it stands for a town situated 6000 feet above the sea level). And a kenning of church is at the same time a kenning of a mosque or synagogue or any worship place.

Regards,

Senna Jawa

PS. Kennings are in public domain, just like mathematical theorems. They should be used, the same kenning by different poets. This way, thanks to the common understanding, it is possible to create more advanced poetry.

 

[TheRainMan]

interesting diagrams and explanations.

i'd like to know why the word "grass" in "grass lawns" is not a redundancy, and unnecessary, since that's what the word "lawn" means, a stretch of land with grass. the word "grass" is already implicit in the word "lawns."

(the only other definition of "lawn" that i know is "a thin piece of fabric," which would not fit here).

 

[Senna Jawa]

i'd like to know why the word "grass" in "grass lawns" is not a redundancy, and unnecessary, since that's what the word "lawn" means, a stretch of land with grass. the word "grass" is already implicit in the word "lawns."

You're right of course. It's not like I was thinking about this, it was intuition. And I feel the same way now, consciously, I am not going to change it. I will not explain why, though (I get nasty responses when I do).

 

[Cub4ucme]

I've shown in the "which one?" thread, that you do not need to be a Japanese to write superb haiku, and now I will show that you do not need to be a skald to write kennings.

In return, please, first just read each poem, without worrying about anything, about any kennings, just literally recreate all images provided by the direct meaning of the words.

****************************************************

6000 feet

6000 feet up plus two
of my own
in the stars' backyard
surrounded by God's toys
catholic lutheran methodist pentecostal...
and grass lawns which grow
cigarette butts
will I join
the midget trees
in the midget town?
​

wh,
1996-jan/feb



*****************************************************

While the diagonal kenning play the first violin, the nondiagonal kennings play the second fiddle and have their place too: "cigarette butts" and "midget town". The latter may viewed as a non-kenning adjective+noun combination too; but at the same time, simultaneously, the "town of midgets" kenning interpretation comes to the mind strongly too, both of them.

***

Now let' get to the diagonal kenning. Let's represent "of" by arrow: <---, so that "B of A" is represented by "A ---> B" or "B <---A" etc. (the arrow may go in any geometric direction but always from A to B).

Here is our first diagonal kenning:

home ....... stars
| .......... / |
| ....... /... |
| .... /...... |
V.. V........ V
backyard ... mountain

​

or equivalently:

mountain ... backyard
^......... ^ ..^
| ........ /.... |
| ...... /...... |
| .... /........ |
stars ....... home

​

The diagonal with the blue vertices is the kenning of the red vertex (on the left side of the diagonal kenning arrow), i.e. here "backyard of stars" is a kenning of "mountain".

Now you see one of the reasons why the diagonal kennings are so much more poetically powerful than the similes or metaphors: similes and metaphors involve only two objects (hence onl;y two images at the best), while diagonal kennings involve four objects, hence four images (three of them in an activeway). And for the same exactly reason the diagonal kennings are also more powerful than the non-diagonal kennings.

***

Now the other poem's diagonal kenning:

child ..... God
| ....... /.. |
| ..... /.... |
| ... /...... |
V . V....... V
toy ....... church

​

or equivalently:

church .... toy
^ ........ ^.. ^
| ........ /.... |
| ...... /...... |
| .... /........ |
God ....... child

​

END of Part 1

*****************************

I hope that you have enjoyed my diagrams, I have invented them many looooong years ago especially for the working poets like you

Best regard,

Senna Jawa

Attempting to illiuminate your points by turning poetry into geometry (although in a sense I get that) isn't working for me.

I think the poem is really lacking to begin with. The first part of it makes no sense. Six thousand feet up plus two does not get one to the stars backyard. Even in a metaphorical senes it falls short of good poetry because it asks the reader to stumble and question your point.

I think the "Surrounded by God's toys" line is a good one but, then the poem falls right off the table with the next line. It's not all inclusive and yet it seems like it should be. Instead you select a few of your choice denominations and list them in a very clumbsy manner on one line
with no punctuation. It's a terrible line for a poem. Then you lead into
your close which uses the kennings to express your points but, your points
are so obtruse they leave the reader (once again) saying, "So WHAT."


Cool lines that look like poetry don't automatically make for good poetry.

I think you've done a fine job of explaining kennings for the most part but,
your poem leaves a lot to be desired.

best,
andy

 

[Cub4ucme]

You're right of course. It's not like I was thinking about this, it was intuition. And I feel the same way now, consciously, I am not going to change it. I will not explain why, though (I get nasty responses when I do).

You won't explain it because you can't explain it without losing
some credablity. It is redundant and reudundant has no place
in that line, or your short poem. None whatsover, no matter
how much explaining you try to do. It doesn't help the
alliteration and it surely doesn't bring anything new to the poem.


Not meant for nasty!

best,
andy

 

[Senna Jawa]

Diagonal kennings. Part 2.

In part 1 I have presented 2 kennings from my poem "6000 feet". There are not many poems in the literature which are that good. Nevertheless, the significant part of the credit for the poem's poetic impact goes to the 2 kennings.

In the present Part 2 of this kenning exposition I will go a step further. We will see how kennings (and metaphors) are composed, i.e. built one upon another. In the past, skalds would make elaborated 3-fold and 4-fold compositions (while still more complex ones would be perhaps counterproductive). The readers were taking their time to understand such poems, it was not easy, the understanding required effort.

First simply read my poem "warsaw", without worrying about anything, just directly and literally see the provided images (whales, islands, etc).

In general, read poems without the messy brain noise. When reading a poem, at first never try anything but simple recreation of the provided images. This should allow you to feel the mood of the poem, and the other, most important things that come before the understanding of the matter of the poem. The interpretation of the poem is far from the only important gain. There are also things like (possibly subconscious) pleasure of the light and colors, or of certain subtle elements of the composition (I wonder how many of you are able to truly see the composition of my "different world"; it'd be nice if there was even one or two such readers among you, but my hopes for that are low; and the same goes for many other poems, even when it is as obvious as in the case of "naturalized american" -- each time the composition is organically integrated with the meaning).

Here is the poem:

warsaw​

someone added first drops of milk
to the black coffee of the earth's full turn
and with the mustache of the clock
stirred the bitter sugar of the city

from the stone clouds of the metropolis river
the rain went down and knocked on the banks
and carried the whales away off the Streetcar Islands
​

wh
loooong time ago
last eng ver 2006-12-12




Hm, before I'll write more, let me let you be with the poem for awhile without my interference. I'll complete this Part 2 of the kenning exposition in the next post.

Acknowledgment: I'd like to thank duddle146 and LeBroz for reading and kindly commenting on "warsaw". This my writing of Part 2 was accelerated by a question by LeBroz.

Regards,

Senna Jawa

 

[Senna Jawa]

Diagonal kennings. Part 2.1

I'll list the kennings and metaphors from the first part of my poem "warsaw". Your homework: draw the square diagrams, with one blue diagonal, and with one red corner. I hope that at least one of you will post them.

the earth's full turn = 24h, i.e. day+night.

(This seems to be a metaphor, not a kenning).

***

the black coffee of a 24h period =

night


***

the black coffee of the earth's full turn =

the black coffee of 24h period =

night

***

the first drops of milk of the night = dawn

***

the first drops of milk
of the black coffee of the earth's full turn =

the first drops of milk of the night =

dawn

***

The lines:

someone added first drops of milk
to the black coffee of the earth's full turn
​

is an elaborated way of saying "dawn". What did we gain? Can't we simply say "dawn"?

We may. And in many poem it would be the most natural thing to do. Here, however, we get the image which is larger than the city. We get the image of the day and night, the whole continuous process which concludes in dawn. We got a large space and time frame which is not automatically present in "dawn" alone. We may even feel the presence of God or something like this.

***

Why does "the earth's full turn" stand for 24h and not for one year?

It could. But not in the context of the next line.

Names and phrases should be suggestive and plausible. However, in general, they cannot serve as full definitions. They should be short, while full definitions in general require longer expression. Do not expect a name or a symbolic expression to identify the object uniquely. The meaning of a name is given by the context in which it appears (or by a separate ... definition!!!, what else? ) The poem's wider context provides the definition of the symbolic phrase.

**********************************

the mustache of the clock =

the hands of the clock​

In English we have two dead metaphors:

the face of a clock
the hands of a clock
​

-- an ugly combination. My kenning "the mustache of a clock" made English a bit nicer. I used this kenning in another poem too, possibly in more than one.

***********************************

the bitter sugar of the city =
working people (and students).

Remember about the context! This is "the bitter sugar" stirred up (by clock, possibly by an alarm clock) from their sleep in the early morning. I hope that you see the grand image. (If not, then don't worry about it, just leave poetry to others). See the hundreds of thousands of apartments and bedrooms and beds. There is also the association with the morning coffee.

***

I hope to finish this "Part 2" in the next post.

Regards,

Senna Jawa

 

[Senna Jawa]

Diagonal kennings. Part 2.2

Read "warsaw", or any poem, directly, without any interpreting. Only afterward you may start your reflection. Here get the city and the rain and the surrealistic sea scene first, unobstructed by any "brain considerations". ... Yes? And now, that we are ready, let's look at the kennings & metaphors in the second part of the poem.

***

metropolis river -- street (especially downtown street)

See also a remark later in this post.

***

from the stone clouds of the metropolis river =

from the stone clouds of the street =

buildings

***

rain from the stone clouds of the metropolis river =

rain from the buildings =

people (rushing down the stairs and to work)

***

banks of the metropolis river = sidewalks

Thus

the rain went down and knocked on the banks
​

are people banging their heels against the sidewalks.

********************

Sidewalks in Warsaw were raised about 4" above the car lanes. Streetcar tracks were often in the middle of the street. Then the waiting area for the passangers, at the stops, was also in the middle of the street, next to the track, and raised about 4" above the road, just like the sidewalks. These area were called "small streetcar islands" or "wysepki tramwajowe" (where "wysepka" means "a small wyspa", i.e. "a small island"). Somehow, I am the only one so far to write in poetry about "Wyspy Tramwajowe" and "Streetcar Islands". They are in several of my poems, and these poems form even a series "Streetcar Islands"; it is mainly about Warsaw (Poland), but about San Jose too.

whales of the Streetcar Islands = streetcars

In my poem you get the poetic view: instead of the streetcars carrying people, it is people rushing to the streetcars,and carrying them away like a tide (flow) carrying a whale away from the shore.

***

REMARK "Metropolis river" could (almost) stand for Vistula-- the main Polish river, which flows through Warsaw, except for the context of the streetcar islands.

End of Part 2.2

************************************************

warsaw​

someone added first drops of milk
to the black coffee of the earth's full turn
and with the mustache of the clock
stirred the bitter sugar of the city

from the stone clouds of the metropolis river
the rain went down and knocked on the banks
and carried the whales away off the Streetcar Islands
​

wh
loooong time ago
last eng ver 2006-12-12




************************************************

Regards,

Senna Jawa