Beast Language and English Language

Michael McClure takes poetry into a very different level from the other poets that we have explored in this class, and most definitely from the conventional poetry that we experience. McClure reminds me of James Joyce’s “Finnegan’s Wake,” in that you have a nonsensical language intermingled with English. Yet McClure takes this to a different realm with animal/beast sounds.

The level of animal/beast language and English language differ from poem from poem. For some of them, the beast language takes up almost the entirely of the poem. Other pieces only have a line or two of beast language, with the rest being constructed from English. When I try to find a relationship between the animal and English language, I feel as if it differs on a case by case basis. For example we can see some resemblance of English words in the following quotation: “Twarqweese legg. Mur. Lambkin” (McClure, 12). Here we can see that “legg” could be “leg” but with an extra ‘g.’ Furthermore, “Twarqweese” looks as if it is a combination of two English words. “Lambkin” looks like the English word “Lamb.” Therefore in the aforementioned quotation, we are able to see some resemblance of English words in the beast language used in the poem. In other cases, however, we see no resemblance at all. For example, the following quotation exemplifies this scenario: “gaah. Shaybow klah groooo. Grahh! Mahndrahl. Sowee noh-hoon trahng shahr BHROOOOOH! SMEL-GOOOHL. Keeeeeeeeeeeeez mweh-nye-boo. BLASSAH! (McClure, 11). It appears if these words are entirely beast words, as I cannot see any resemblance of English words. In this specific case, there appears to be no relationship between English and Beast language. This prevents us from understanding the language at all. Yet the screams serve as an emotional center that has a particular charge. Much of this energy is driving the poem in its entirety. Yet at the same time, this erases the ability of the language to communicate key points. This is also contributing to the naturalistic and spiritualistic search for authenticity—a recurring theme throughout the book.