Money Is a Kind of Poetry by Stevens - Essay Example

An Orthodox Poem Poets employ different ways of presenting their ideas in poetry. Poems can be symbolic, direct to the point, orjust implicative. Regardless of their style, poets usually employ different means to establish their point in writing poetry. In Wallace Stevens’ poem, “Money is a Kind of Poetry,” the author expounds on his subject in an Orthodox manner. Analyses of the content and structure of the poem demonstrate this point. In the first stanza, Stevens determines the terms that can be used to mean money such as “cash, stash, rhino, jack or just plain dough” (1-3). These terms may be used interchangeably to pertain to money. Noticeably, Stevens uses simple, even slang terms to make his subject easy, thus implying address of the general public, or the common people. Stevens could have used other terms like banknote or currency but such terms would deviate from the purpose of giving the simplest terms for money in the introduction and then move on to the more complex meaning of the subject. . In the second stanza, Stevens mentions the ways to use money. The lines, “Chock it up,/fork it over, shell it out./Watch it burn holes through pockets.” (4-6) reveals what a person can do with money. There is a slight change in tone with the first two lines of this stanza still sounding slang, whereas the third line sounds figurative. Stevens gets deeper into his subject matter by using imagery and metaphor in the third line. He indirectly compares money with fire, making it capable of burning “holes through pockets” (6). The first two lines express how people can manipulate money, whereas the third shows a magnificent power that money has as it can “burn holes” or leave a person empty-handed. Stevens provides deeper meanings of the term money as the poem progresses. As such, the third stanza provides an even deeper meaning of money by giving implications of having money. The lines, “To be made of it! To have it to burn!” (7-8) could mean two things. Literally, it can mean that money can support a person when used for sustenance. Figuratively, it can also mean that depending on money can make one burn or go to hell. Considering this, Stevens does not only illustrate an orthodox style but even demonstrates Orthodox beliefs about hell and temptation. The terms in next line, namely, “Greenbacks, double eagles, megabucks and Ginnie Maes” (9) pertain to enormous amount of money, which could lead a person to make sins and later burn in hell due to temptation. Such infusion of belief about burning is allegorical in tone. The fourth stanza balances the meanings provided in the earlier stanza by giving the positive functions of money. “It greases the palm, feathers a nest,” (10) and so on. The words in this stanza pertain to the use of money in supporting or feeding a family or making a person survive. Stevens uses more images to illustrate his point, such greasing the palm with food to eat, feathering a nest to provide shelter to a family, and letting a person survive the depth of the water in a sea. On one hand, these descriptions strongly imply the role of money in human life. On the other hand, these words also show the dependency of people on money. Such connotations further imply the negative side of money, thus serving as anti-thesis to lines 10-11. The fifth stanza further illustrates the power of money and its presence in the world as the poem states, it is “always in circulation” (15). Stevens uses denotation and connotation again in this stanza. As for the denotation, money can gather people’s as it can afford a lot of things. For the connotation, money gathers the interest of many when a person with a lot of money is lavishly clothed. Furthermore, it implies that people with money become popular and are always in circulation. The last stanza bears the most negative implications of money. Once again, the author uses denotation and connotation. The persona warns the addressee about putting money in the mouth, despite not knowing where it comes from. Literally, this could mean warning readers about the dirt that money has, being handed down from one person to another. However, considering the thought of putting it in the mouth leads the readers to know that this thought should not be interpreted literally. Rather, it should be explored figuratively. Hence, unlocking the idea behind this, one can note that the poem warns against the evil ways of money. The dirt in money is not just physical dirt. It embodies the negative aspects of society that make use of money. As the means to do business and transactions with other people, money is tinted with all the evil aspects that may be associated with it. The last line of the poem that says, “And it talks” (18) confirms the negative value of money. Therefore, the author warns the readers of the negative aspects of money and of using it to feed oneself. The way the poem is written also reveals an orthodox style. Notably, the title of the poem “Money is a Kind of Poetry,” already presents the thesis statement of the author. Using this as the title, Stevens illustrates the conventional style of underlining his claim. The deductive presentation in which the claim is stated in the beginning is very orthodoxly. With the general claim of the author appearing in the title, the lines of the poem are expected to illustrate the view, with the end line giving the highest impact or the most meaningful sense. Stevens’ orthodox manner is illustrated in terms of structure as he uses a climactic and scholarly pattern. For the first stanza, he uses one-word terms such as cash, dough, and so on. In the next stanza, he uses verbs thus form verb phrases. In the third, he uses infinitives thus form infinitive phrases. In the fourth, he makes use of participial phrases. In the fifth, he applies gerundial phrases, and finally, in the sixth, he uses sentences to wrap up his thoughts. This presentation of ideas is very logical and organized, thus reflecting a traditional and scholarly way of presenting thoughts in poetry. The last line, which says, “And it talks” (18) points out the essence of the title. Money is likened to poetry because money can talk or move people to do things. Like money, poetry can make one do even negative things because of its power to influence people. Based on the derived interpretation, Stevens provides a truly Orthodox treatment of the subject. The ideas that Stevens presents about money as a means to survive and support one’s needs shows the positive aspects of money. Nevertheless, there is more weight placed on the negative aspects, revealing the negative implications of using money. In addition, the climactic structure of the poem demonstrates an orthodoxly manner of presenting ideas. These two aspects make the poem appear logical and smooth, revealing the scholarly attention that the poet has given in this work. Work Cited Stevens, Wallace. “Money is a Kind of Poetry.” Web. N.d. Accessed 10 October 2011. Read More