In W. H. Auden’s essay “Poetry as Memorable Speech” he speaks on the ideas of what makes poetry memorable. According to Auden, memorable speech “must move our emotions, or excite our intellect, for only that which is moving or exciting is memorable, and the stimulus is the audible spoken work and cadence, to which in all its power of suggestion and incantation we must surrender.” When someone is constructing a poem they should keep many things in mind. There must be an over riding theme to the poem, but that theme must be conveyed in such a manner that makes it worth while to create, read and most importantly, listen to. He describes the cadence of a poem as having a “power of incantation” that can gain momentum and take you to places you may never have dreamed of. In Phillip Larkin’s poem “Whitson Weddings” he has an interesting rhythm and inflection while describing the end of a train ride full of newly weds that proves to be quite memorable.
“and it was nearly done, this frail
traveling coincidence; and what it held
stood ready to be loosed with all the power
that being changed can give. We slower again,
and as the tightened brakes took hold, there swelled
a sense of falling, like an arrow-shower
sent out of sight, somewhere becoming rain.”
This passage has a memorable cadence along with word choice while still holding on to the theme of the poem. The last three lines of the stanza specifically stand out and create an image for the reader that is relatable and unforgettable.
Auden also focuses on the content of the poem and states that it does not have to be about something spectacular or amazing, just something. “Everything that we remember no matter how trivial: the mark on the wall, the joke at the luncheon, word games, these, like the dance of a stoat or the ravens’s gamble, are equally the subject of poetry.” Even the simplest of things can have the potential for poetic beauty, being able to find memorable significance in mundane observations proves to be quite memorable. Another quote from Larkin’s “Whitson’s Wedding” is an excellent example of mundane transforming into extraordinary.
“All afternoon, through the tall heat that slept
for miles inland,
a slow and stopping curve southwards we kept.
Wide farms went by, short-shadowed cattle, and
canals with floatings of industrial froth;
A hothouse flashed uniquely: hedges dipped and rose:
And now and then a smell of grass
Displaced the reek of buttoned carriage-cloth
until the next town, new and nondescript,
approached with acres of dismantled cars.”
Larkin was able to take a routine afternoon train ride and transform it into a journey full of sensory stimulating experiences. What he sees, smells and hears is nothing noteworthy, but with his choice of words and the inflection of the cadence Larkin makes a striking impression on the reader. With his memorable description of a mundane afternoon he is able to bring the reader onto the train with him. The fact of reality is that most of the time, life is mundane. When someone makes an everyday event exciting that is memorable speech.
Auden also elaborates on the idea that “the test of a poet is the frequency and diversity of the occasions of which we remember his poetry” The success of a poet is how often that poet’s work is referred to and thought about outside of the realm of poetry. One easy way to get stuck in someone’s mind is to write about things that people deal with on a daily, or often basis. Larkin describes the wedding attendees in his poem “Whitsun Weddings” that sticks in my mind and will reoccur at every wedding I attend:
“The last confetti and advice were thrown,
and, as we moved, each face seemed to define
just what it saw departing: children frowned
at something dull: fathers had never known
success so huge and wholly farcical;
The women shared
the secret like a happy funeral”
This scene is extremely relatable to most everyone who has ever attended a wedding or has been married which is a good portion of the general population. A wedding is not a mundane or everyday event but it is something that is memorable. Memorable speech of memorable events gives the potential for a reoccurring memory. Larkin was able to create a scene in his poem that occurs at every wedding and is relatable to everyone in attendance.
Memorable speech is something that, unknown to the reader is imbedded into their memory and shows its face when the timing is right. One might be able to recognize memorable speech right off of the bat, but the real test is time. There are many situations when one might read a piece of memorable speech and not know it until the time is right. Walking out of church after your sister’s wedding one might think “The sun destroys the interest of what’s happening in the shade” and memorable speech is born.
