This particular line illustrates the inextricable
relationship between form and meaning, which also echo one another. Mallarme
employed a lot of techniques for aesthetics and form throughout the poem and
this page illustrates many of them such as capitalization, italicization, and
font size.
If we look at the text’s particular arrangement on the page,
we observe that the words progress downwards to the end of the page. Therefore
it meets the reader’s expectations in regards to words such as “Down falls” and
“abyss.” Looking at these together, it appears that meaning can be drawn
because just as the “Down falls” signals, the words physically ‘fall’ down the
page into an ‘abyss.’ It is as if the text is performing the actions signaled
by the words themselves. In this way, the words become more than words on a
page that are read but rather material things that work together with the blank
space to echo the content. Just as the
rhythmic quality of Lear’s poem often had us overlook the nonsense, the
aesthetic of Mallarme’s poem acts in the same way in our analysis. This
particular example shows how form and content echo each other.
ReplyDeleteI think that Mallarme definitely uses font sizes and spatial structure to construct a different type of piece. I agree that it helps shape and develop the relationship between form and meaning. I found another example of this in my passage I chose with the phrase “will falter and fall.” The way that these words are written is in descending order, almost resembling the form of a staircase. The placement of the words almost mimics the meanings. I know that when I typically read a book, I don’t really think about the visual structure of the words on the page or the font size or any of those details. I think about solely the sentences. But like you said, with this poem, Mallarme made me think about the poem as a whole piece, with the words and with the visual layout. It is also interesting that “CHANCE” is in the sort of middle of the page. What is ironic about this word choice is that this word, which in some ways means random, is in the poem. I think this poem’s layout could be interpreted as random to some, but I believe that this layout is anything but random. Like you said, the form and meaning definitely echo each other, making the randomness of the poem seem almost non-existent. When we read Edward Lear’s poems, we had the illustration to accompany us and with Mallarme’s piece, we have his unique structural style to contribute to the overall meaning of his work.
I find your interpretation of this passage very interesting because when I first read this I noticed the different sizes of the font and the specific capitalization used before I noticed the downward progression. I do think the form in this passage perfectly echoes the content but where you saw the words physically falling down the page into the abyss I noticed how the capital words could have stopped the stars from falling down. I interpreted the word CHANCE to mean that the stars needed luck and if they had it then they could have survived. I say this because I notice that CHANCE is written so big at the end of the stanza it’s almost like the word CHANCE could have stopped the stars from falling. It seemed like to me the big word at the end was a kind of ledge ad that if you did not have chance on your side then you could easily fall off the edge.
ReplyDeleteYour analysis is spot-on. Mallarme makes text arrangement into an art, he really does. One thing I just felt like mentioning in addition to what you said is the repetition of the word "might." That, and the fact that each time it's uttered, it's in all caps, and the word "chance" is also in all caps below it, but in an even larger font size. The word "might," obviously, connotes much uncertainty, and of course, so does chance. It's sort of like a countdown, hinting at something right before Mallarme belts it out in huge letters. It's but one way to trickle onto the theme of chance itself--it sneaks up on you.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for your comments about the text below "CHANCE" being sort of like falling into an abyss, definitely. I just want to add that the italicization of the text below "CHANCE" is definitely deliberate. This might be a stretch, but in nonsense literature, it seems like pretty much anything goes, so I'll just say it: perhaps the letters are literally thinner, implying a sort of whisping away as one falls down said abyss? Fade to black? Or in this case, the color of the page? I really don't know. What do you make of all this?