What I Believe about "I Believe"

Photo cred: Penn State University

Ars Poetica #100: I Believe by Elizabeth Alexander

Poetry, I tell my students,

is idiosyncratic. Poetry

is where we are ourselves

(though Sterling Brown said

“Every ‘I’ is a dramatic ‘I’”),

digging in the clam flats

for the shell that snaps,

emptying the proverbial pocketbook.

Poetry is what you find

in the dirt in the corner,

overhear on the bus, God

in the details, the only way

to get from here to there.

Poetry (and now my voice is rising)

is not all love, love, love,

and I’m sorry the dog died.

Poetry (here I hear myself loudest)

is the human voice,

and are we not of interest to each other?

1. I had the privilege of listening to this poem recited by Elizabeth Alexander herself. She has a rather monotonous and imploring tone. The poem seems to have some dripping sarcasm and instruction as to what poetry really is, as seen by Elizabeth Alexander.

2. The title gives lots of insight into what the author will be expressing. First of all, we have "Ars Poetica" meaning that this poem will be about poetry (slightly ironic if you ask me). Next we see the number 100. This means that the author has written a lot of poetry about this subject and must be refining her ideas or finding new insights about the subject. Finally, we have "I Believe" which can either connote the personal opinions of Alexander or a spiritual aspect. Based on the listening of the poem, we can determine that is it the first. 

3. The syntax of Alexander's poem is interrupted. She expresses what she regularly tells students about poetry, yet is narrating how she does it as she goes. This means that there are lots of added clauses in the middle of complete sentences separated by comas. She includes lots of parenthesis, which are not necessarily to be read as she recites the poem, although doing so would create a different mood.

4. The word idiosyncratic, in this context, means something peculiar and individual. This sentence sets the scene for the rest of the poem as she explains that. Clam flats refer to a level stretch of mud where the clams burrow. With this imagery it is easier to understand how each poet must go searching for their parts of poetry. 

5. Who is this poem about? It is about poets and people in general who attempt to write poetry. The author is trying to explain poetry to her students. That helps us understand the where. She must be in a classroom setting attempting to bring poetry to light. She explains that poetry is not all about love and sad things, as we sometimes assume it to be, but about the small everyday details. 

6. Elizabeth Alexander, in writing a poem about poetry, is showing the importance of explaining what poetry is to the general population. There is often a negative connotation with poetry and Alexander, through prose, attempts to show us that poetry is not all sappy. 

7. The added commentary about the inflection of the voice gives life to her poem.  The voice inflection adds to the very essence of poetry itself. It helps us understand that poetry, like this, can be about anything you want it to be about. She is passionate about the subject, and it shows in the rise and all of her voice. This helps express her point to her students as she would express it aloud. 

8. The added commentary of vocal inflection is unconventional in terms of poetry, yet it adds to poetry in a poetic way. It allows a reader (although I assume it is to be read aloud) to feel the poetry and see the scene of a teacher to her students. The conventions that add to the poetry are the anaphoric sentences such as "Poetry is. . . " The stanzas are short and concise in order to isolate desired points. She also uses literary allusions that her students may not understand, thus they are in parenthesis and to be expressed upon the situational  circumstances. The final point of her poem comes in the form of a question and is left as one lone line at the very end (a contrast to the double lined stanzas throughout the poem). This allows her argument about poetry to be more prominent and impactful.