43. Close read by irony

43. Close read by irony: (poetry analysis paper)

Definitions of three ironies:

-Verbal: stating the opposite of what is meant

-Situational: an event occurs which the reader did not expect.

-Dramatic irony: when character's dialogue or action reveals that he is not aware of vital information of which the reader is aware.

OR when the poem as a whole contradicts what the speaker says, so the

reader is aware that the speaker has misspoken.

Paradox is a statement which contains apparently opposing or incongruous elements which, when read together, turn out to make sense. For example, Emily Dickinson's poem "My Life Closed Twice Before its Close" contains a paradox in both the title and the first line. She says:

My life closed twice before its close;

It yet remains to see

If Immortality unveil

A third event to me. . . .

This statement is a paradox because there are separate meanings for the words "closed" and "close"--Dickinson has had experiences in her life which she feels to be equivalent to life's true closing, death itself. Therefore, what initially seems to be incongruous (life ending twice before it is finally over) turns out to make sense because we realize tat the speaker is using figurative language and is focusing upon the connotations of the word "close."

Example of a close read of irony in a poetry analysis paper:

Please read Robert Frost’s dramatically ironic poem “A Boundless Moment.”

A Boundless Moment

He halted in the wind, and - what was that

Far in the maples, pale, but not a ghost?

He stood there bringing March against his thought,

And yet too ready to believe the most.

"Oh, that's the Paradise-in-Bloom," I said;

And truly it was fair enough for flowers

Had we but in us to assume in March

Such white luxuriance of May for ours.

We stood a moment so, in a strange world,

Myself as one his own pretense deceives;

And then I said the truth (and we moved on).

A young beech clinging to its last year's leaves.

-Robert Frost

In “A Boundless Moment” Robert Frost's speaker states that the tree, the "Paradise in Bloom," is blossoming, while the poem implies that the tree is not in bloom because it is March. He states, “"Oh, that's the Paradise-in-Bloom," I said; / And truly it was fair enough for flowers.” (lines5-6). Up until this point in the poem the speaker had indicated that the maples are “pale” and “bare,” so we know it is winter or early spring. The speaker’s claim that the “Paradise in Bloom” is blossoming is dramatic irony because the speaker makes a statement that is contradicted by the context of the poem. And the speaker ends the poem by stating that the tree is a “beech tree clinging on to its last few leaves” from the previous year. The tree is still without any sign of new life, and, therefore, carries with it all the thoughts of death and decay associated with winter. This dramatic irony is significant because thee wishes the tree was a harbinger of spring, but it is not and his desires force him to express what he knows deep down is not true.

CLOSE READ BY IRONY STARTERS:

-The speaker’s claim that ____________________________is dramatic irony because the speaker makes a statement that is contradicted by the context of the poem. This dramatic irony is significant because ___________________________.

-The speaker’s claim that ____________________________is verbal irony because the speaker makes a statement that is opposite of what he means. This verbal irony is significant because ___________________________.

-The moment ____________________________is situational irony because it is the opposite of what the reader expects to happen. This situational irony is significant because ___________________________.