A disappointed man essay
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Summary
The reference to a “Journal” within the title of the poem helps to make it seem more personal, and a reader may interpret this as also indicating that ‘true’ and ‘authentic’ feelings are being recounted rather than something which has been filtered or adjusted, as would more likely be the case in other forms of literature. Similarly, “From” helps to make the poem feel as if it is a direct address to a reader, even to the extent of being a letter. However, this personal element contrasts with the anonymity indicated by “man” which would encourage a reader to consider this perspective as being shared by many people, not just one individual. “Disappointed” being a four syllable word would be very noticeable to a reader, making them question the choice of a seemingly ordinary emotion, and curious as to why the man would be feeling this way.
Poem Structure
The overall structure of ‘From the Journal of a Disappointed Man’ is very repetitive, with a consistent layout of four line stanzas (a total of eleven are in the poem) along with even line lengths, which gives the visual impression of solid blocks and chunks of text. Some readers may see this as a link to the traditional association between masculinity and strength, with this layout demonstrating this quality through its consistency and regular shape. This could be deemed as contrasting against a more flowing structure in other poems, which could be seen as more feminine. Alternatively a reader may interpret a stronger link with the idea of cycles in society, perhaps considering the way that individuals conform to the societal expectations rather than showing elements of individuality. As a contrast to the regular stanza layout and line length, enjambment is used to bring diversity to the pace of the poem. Most stanzas conclude with terminal caesura in the form of an end-stopped line, however in the beginning of the poem there are a couple of exceptions, allowing ideas and imagery to continue on to the next stanza. This makes the imagery more effective due to it being uninterrupted for longer, and could be seen as developing a ‘story-like’ setting of the scene. However, a reader may also see this as deliberate simplification of the poem, designed to make the overall presentation more blunt and realistic, particularly for this recount of manual labour (rather than something more artistic and creative, for which a reader may anticipate a more developed and creative use of language and structure). Similarly, the varied use punctuation of the poem has a significant impact on the rhythm and pace. For example, the first stanza has many commas as part of a list, whereas the second stanza introduces semi-colons too. Then by the third stanza, there are also hyphens and the introduction of speech. The reader may be surprised to see this variety of punctuation in the poem when contrasted against the arguably simple stanza structure, but may interpret this as Motion considering the ways in which the external presentation of masculinity may differ to the internal thoughts and experiences, and that while on the outside there may be the appearance of conformity, this is not the same internally.