Just lovely. Restacked this as a note and added my own thoughts regarding Democritus: “Of truth we know nothing for truth lies at the bottom of a well.” ❤️ I just got Jody’s book of poems as well. In my TBR pile ATM.
As I read this marvelous poem, I thought that Frost should have written--certainly he could have written without disturbing the poem's meter-- "...I discerned, so I thought, beyond the picture..." rather than "...I discerned, as I thought, beyond the picture..."
But no. "As" is le mot juste here. That word introduces an ambiguity: It could be read that his thinking was taking him to thoughts beyond those of the image before his eyes, OR it could be read that he was uncertain that his discernment was realistic. Using "so" instead of "as" would have been to state the second reading, and not introduce the delightful ambiguity.
Ambiguity is one of the glories of poetry, even as it is a maddening flaw in prose.
Just lovely. Restacked this as a note and added my own thoughts regarding Democritus: “Of truth we know nothing for truth lies at the bottom of a well.” ❤️ I just got Jody’s book of poems as well. In my TBR pile ATM.
As I read this marvelous poem, I thought that Frost should have written--certainly he could have written without disturbing the poem's meter-- "...I discerned, so I thought, beyond the picture..." rather than "...I discerned, as I thought, beyond the picture..."
But no. "As" is le mot juste here. That word introduces an ambiguity: It could be read that his thinking was taking him to thoughts beyond those of the image before his eyes, OR it could be read that he was uncertain that his discernment was realistic. Using "so" instead of "as" would have been to state the second reading, and not introduce the delightful ambiguity.
Ambiguity is one of the glories of poetry, even as it is a maddening flaw in prose.
--Eric Chevlen
That's a marvelous insight.