Opal

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"Opal" Tareyn Powell B1 English 332 05-03-10

A "demon saleswoman of poetry" was the nickname given to Amy Lowell by T.S. Eliot (Lewis). At first glance, "Opal" seems to be a confusing and contradictory poem. Written by Lowell, this poem has a few of the characteristics necessary to give the poem a spot in the modernism category. In addition, the poem is very representative of much Amy Lowell's other works.

The poem is made up of eight lines full of polar opposites. Lines such as "You are ice and fire," and "You are the cold and flame," are just a few examples of her contradictions (Opal). This poem seems to describe a person with very mixed feelings about another person. "When I am with you, My heart is a frozen pond Gleaming with agitated torches" is a quote from the poem that shows how the narrator is speaking about a person in which he/she is so confused about that it does not make sense, just as a frozen pond with torches around it does not make sense (Opal). The reader is also confused about whether the narrator of the poem is happy or sad about his/her situation (Bradshaw). These contradictions are what fit this poem into the modernism section of literature. The sense of despair in the tone of the narrator's voice signifies modernism as well as the amount of passion does (Characteristics). "Opal" is most certainly a modernism poem for these reasons.

The poem "Opal", along with many other of Lowell’s works, were influenced by her life.She had a nice life as a child, born into a wealthy family (Lewis). Her family was very successful; one of her brothers was the president of Harvard, and another was an astronomer and founded his own observatory (Lewis). Amy Lowell had some big shoes to fill with her career, and the pressure to compete with her siblings’ careers may have been what pushed her to be such a great author and poet.

While "Opal" is a great representative poem for modernism, it is not the only poem by Lowell that is. "Appearing exactly halfway through //Pictures of the Floating World//’s 'Two Speak Together' section, a sequence of forty-two love poems, this brief lyric encapsulates the excesses and tensions found in the rest of the poems. Whereas the poems preceding "Opal" are ecstatic celebrations of love and intimacy, several of the poems immediately following reflect the beloved’s absence, a separation marked by morbidity, fear, and self-doubt." (Bradshaw). This shows that this poem's chaos is like the median between poems of happiness and poems of sadness, almost dividing the sequence in half with this one poem.

"Opal" is not really similar to the poem "Beware: Do Not Read This Poem" other than the fact that they are both categorized under modernism. Reed’s and Lowell’s styles are drastically different, and while both of the poems have modernism characteristics, they characteristics of one poem are different than those of the other. Both poems and authors are representative of modernism, but each author is representative in his/her own way.

In conclusion, "Opal" is a great example of a modernism poem. It has the characteristics of contradiction and passion which classify it as such. Lowell’s poem represents not only modernism, but her own personal style as well, with a big influence coming from her personal life. The connection she had to her poetry because of the strong influence from her life is what made her literature so great.

__Works Cited__

Bradshaw, Melissa. "On "Opal"" //Welcome to English « Department of English, College of LAS, University of Illinois//. Web. 03 May 2010. [|_http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/amylowell/opal.htm__].

Characteristics of Modernism." //SOCRATES//. Web. 03 May 2010. [|__http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/amylowell/opal.htm__].

"Opal - a Poem by Amy Lowell." //Famous Poetry Online//. Web. 03 May 2010. [|__http://www.poetry-online.org/lowell_opal.htm__].

Lewis, Jone J. "Amy Lowell." //Women's History - Comprehensive Women's History Research Guide//. Web. 03 May 2010. [|__http://womenshistory.about.com/od/writers20th/a/amy_lowell.htm__]