And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name Analysis - Literary devices and Poetic devices

And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name

By John Ashbery

You can’t say it that way any more.
Bothered about beauty you have to
Come out into the open, into a clearing,
And rest. Certainly whatever funny happens to you
Is OK. To demand more than this would be strange
Of you, you who have so many lovers,
People who look up to you and are willing
To do things for you, but you think
It’s not right, that if they really knew you . . .
So much for self-analysis. Now,
About what to put in your poem-painting:
Flowers are always nice, particularly delphinium.
Names of boys you once knew and their sleds,
Skyrockets are good—do they still exist?
There are a lot of other things of the same quality
As those I’ve mentioned. Now one must
Find a few important words, and a lot of low-keyed,
Dull-sounding ones. She approached me
About buying her desk. Suddenly the street was
Bananas and the clangor of Japanese instruments.
Humdrum testaments were scattered around. His head
Locked into mine. We were a seesaw. Something
Ought to be written about how this affects
You when you write poetry:
The extreme austerity of an almost empty mind
Colliding with the lush, Rousseau-like foliage of its desire to communicate
Something between breaths, if only for the sake
Of others and their desire to understand you and desert you
For other centers of communication, so that understanding
May begin, and in doing so be undone

Summary of And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name

Popularity of “And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name”: Written by the popular American poet and writer John Ashbery, this metaphorical poem first appeared in his collection, Houseboat Days. It got published in 1987. The poet presents the issue of how painting and poetry relate to each other and how the readers need to come out in the open to observe the beauty of nature. The popularity of the poem rests on the argument of the poem that it could not be undone when done.
“And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name” As a Representative of Poetry: Borrowing the phrase from Horace and Homer, the speaker highlights that now poetry could not be declared as such, but even then if the readers want to see beauty, he would not come out in the open and appreciate the beauty of nature. Interestingly, the poet is of the view that even when there is all love for a person, he must be involved in self-analysis to know more about himself. This is how imagism starts with the picturization of flowers, boys, and modern topics.
However, the quality does not stay the same as it used to be in the past as new genres in poetry have emerged, and the poet feels himself locking horns with the readers to see how poetry could emerge when minds are empty and full of political vacuum. He, though, recalls Rosseau, but the problem still persists in understanding. In this void, he is of the view that he wants some center of communication to form a channel with his readers to enhance understanding between them.
Major Themes in “And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name”: Lack of descriptive writing in poetry, choice of topic, and political vacuum lacking understanding are major themes of the poem. The poet has referred to Horace and Homer to state that poetry is no more like that of painting and yet if the readers need to understand beauty, he could have it in the open. Therefore, this lack of descriptive writing in poetry has given birth to so many topics taken from multiculturalism that poets are at loss to understand it. In the midst of this political and subjective vacuum, the poet vies to form an understanding with the readers so that the barrier in their understanding could vanish and a channel is established to enhance it.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name

John Ashbery uses various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of his poem. Some of the major literary devices he uses are as follows.

Allusion: It means to use a reference of social, cultural, literary, or historical significance. The poem used allusions to Grecian literature and politics, such as Ut Pictura Poesis, a reference to Horace, and Rosseau, a French philosopher.
Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “You can’t say it that way any more” and the sound of /o/ in “Of you, you who have so many lovers.”
Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /t/ in “About what to put in your poem-painting” and the sound of /t/ and /s/ in “About buying her desk. Suddenly the street was.”
Enjambment: It means to continue the verse to roll it over to the next in the next line without any pause. The poem shows several uses of enjambments, such as;

Colliding with the lush, Rousseau-like foliage of its desire to communicate
Something between breaths, if only for the sake
Of others and their desire to understand you and desert you
For other centers of communication, so that understanding
May begin, and in doing so be undone.

Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. John Ashbery used imagery in this poem such as “Bothered about beauty you have to”, “And rest. Certainly whatever funny happens to you” and “Of you, you who have so many lovers.”
Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The poet used the metaphor of a woman for poetry that has approached him.
Personification: It means to attribute human emotions to inanimate objects. The poet used the personification of austerity to show that it collides, showing its humanistic aspect.
Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols, such as beauty, clearing, rest, lovers, and people to show the beautiful side of poetry.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows good use of formal, poetic, and flowing diction.
Free Verse: It means to use poetry without any rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. The poem is written in free verse.
Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. This is a single-stanza poem with thirty lines.
Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a loving, confusing, and anguished tone at the end.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines are useful to quote when talking about communication and understanding.