Memorizing O'Hara - Bianco

In memorizing the poem On Rachmaninoff’s Birthday by Frank O’Hara, I found the most difficult aspect was the rhythmic pattern. Before memorizing the poem, the rhythmic pattern of the poem did not stand out, yet having to articulate it multiple times, I found the beginning of the poem had a rhythm and so did the end. Yet the middle was disjointed and punctuated. O’Hara mocks and mimics the music of Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff’s music is known for its extreme crescendos and diminuendos and disjointedness of melody due to its complexity. O’Hara seems to mimic this in the disjointedness of the rhythmic pattern of the poem. For instance, “is the room full of smoke? Shit/ on the soup, let it burn. So it’s back./ You’ll nee rbe mentally sober” (O’Hara 7). The last couple of lines seem to create a rhythmic pattern, while the middle of the poem is disjointed. The disjointedness comes from the fact that the imagery invoked is from observations. O’Hara’s observations, whether from present or past, seem to intermingle throughout the poem, creating fluidity in imagery yet disjointedness in rhythm. Similar to that of Ashbery, O’Hara structures his poem to come in a collage of images. In this particular poem, these collage of images are invoked through the remembrance of childhood memories that Rachmaninoff stirs in O’Hara.  For instance, in memorizing the line, “of rhinestone, yoyo, carpenter’s pencil”, the line created an image of a child running around with such items in his or her pocket. I used the repetition of repeating the poem in order to memorize it. In doing so, I was forced to create associations and imagery to the observations that he was saying. It created a deeper understanding of the poem than what I originally had. In the intertwining imagery of his childhood to his memories associated with Rachmaninoff, O’Hara demonstrates the romance and madness of Rachmaninoff’s music. This is particularly done with the imagery of loving childhood memories and the intertwining lines of absurdity. For instance, “My pocket/ of rhinestone, yoyo, carpenter’s pencil,/ amethyst, hypo, campaign button,/ is the room full of smoke? Shit” (O’Hara 7). In these lines, O’Hara provides an image of the childhood memories yet intertwines the nonsense to demonstrate the complexity of Rachmaninoff’s music.

            In memorizing this poem, I gained a different perspective of the poem. Instead of just seeing it from a point of structure and themes, I listened closely to the lyrical and rhythmic aspect of the poem. As it delved into its various crescendos and diminuendos, I couldn’t help but understand and feel a better sense of the Rachmaninoff that O’Hara was portraying.