An Introduction to "Annotated Poems"
Fifteens years ago, when I was a grad student being force-fed Jacques Derrida against my will, foie-gras-style, I read a “book” he “wrote” in which only half the words were his. He had just taken a text (something by Nietzsche, I think?), reprinted it on every left-hand page, and added commentary opposite on every right-hand page. I remember sarcastically wondering what would happen if I tried the same trick on my master’s thesis.
And yet…
When writing literary criticism, it is insanely hard for students to avoid plot summary. I know this because it is insanely hard for me to avoid plot summary. How are you supposed to comment on what the text means without first explaining what the text says? And so we fall, again and again, into the three-part trap:
Include a huge block quote from whatever you’re reading.
Summarize the block quote + surrounding text (for perspective).
Explain, now that everyone’s on the same page, what it all “means.”
And no one in their right mind wants to read a triple fucking repetition of the shirt scene in The Great Gatsby or whatever.
The solution is to pull a Derrida. (Or, if you prefer, a Genius.com.) So in this section, I’ll be doing just that, using footnotes to annotate some of my favorite poems. I was originally going to cover only Philip Larkin, but have decided to merely cover a ton of Philip Larkin. This will hopefully be more interesting, informal, and readable than most literary criticism. If nothing else, you’ll almost definitely discover some great poetry.