Practical Criticism by I.A. Richards
This blog task is assigned by Prof.Dilip Barad sir, as part of thinking Activity. which focused on I.A. Richards' practical criticism regarding figurative language. Here you can check on teacher's Blog
Here, I share my initial impressions of a poem, focusing on my first reactions, the challenges I faced in understanding it, and how I overcame those difficulties.
A work of Artifice
The bonsai tree
in the attractive pot
could have grown eighty feet tall
on the side of a mountain
till split by lightning.
But a gardener
carefully pruned it.
It is nine inches high.
Every day as he
whittles back the branches
the gardener croons,
‘It is your nature
to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak;
how lucky, little tree,
to have a pot to grow in’.
With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth:
the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers,
the hands you
love to touch.
- Marge Piercy
Analysis according to my view
- When I first encounter with the first couple of lines of poem , immediately I search for it in Google because im curious to see bonsai tree and I found something like that picture
The poem describes a bonsai tree that could have grown tall and strong in the wild but has been carefully pruned and shaped by a gardener to fit into a small pot. The gardener speaks to the tree, convincing it that being small, cozy, and weak is its natural state and a blessing. The poet then compares this act of dwarfing the tree’s growth to similar practices with living beings, where individuals are restricted and shaped from an early age, resulting in their potential being stunted.
I. A. Richardson's concept of figurative language
Sense: The poem describes a bonsai tree, pruned and confined by a gardener, symbolizing how society limits individual growth. It connects this to oppressive practices like bound feet and intellectual suppression.
Feeling: The poem evokes sadness for the stunted tree and anger at the gardener, representing societal control. It creates empathy for those whose potential is restricted.
Tone: The tone is ironic and critical, especially in the gardener’s words, mocking how oppression is justified as care.
Intention: The poem aims to critique societal norms that restrict freedom and growth, urging readers to question and challenge these systems.
Words which I felt difficult to understand
Pruned - a potted plant (such as a tree) dwarfed (as by pruning) and trained to an artistic shape
whittles- to reduce, remove, or destroy gradually as if by cutting off bits with a knife
croons-to sing or speak in a gentle murmuring manner
crippled-someone who is disabled or deficient in a specified manner
Query on poem
1) Last stanza of poem is somewhat difficult for me to understand
2) Does the poem provoke empathy for the tree, or does it focus more on criticizing the gardener’s actions?
3) What is the significance of the absence of the tree’s voice or resistance in the poem?
4) How does the gardener's statement in the second stanza, that the bonsai tree is "lucky" to grow in a pot, contrast with the tree's potential growth in its natural environment as described in the first stanza?
References
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