The Illiterate’s Rhetoric
Gregerson’s article “Rhetorical Context in Lyric Poetry” explains how lyric poetry works. She asserts that the relationship between the speaker and the reader goes beyond the surface purpose of lyric poetry. Gregerson applies subtextual and hidden meanings to lyric poems throughout her article. A lyric poem is a way to tell a story. But it’s not always clear. The reader is not required to plot a story, but must look into the spaces between the words to understand the meaning.
Gregerson’s comments on Meredith’s The Illiterate are particularly interesting. She asserts Meredith constructs an understanding of self using the actual words rather than only the base meanings. Grammar, syntax, and content can provide clues as to the poem’s deeper personality. Meredith’s syntax should be closely examined and questioned by the reader. The reader must try to understand Meredith’s thinking process and form a unique bond with the poet. The poem’s meaning is altered as small details are given more significance. This simile is used by the speaker to convey his mental state. He is unable to understand words but instead loves. To illustrate his inexperience with the situation surrounding the “goodness” or “you”, Meredith uses the image to depict an illiterate male. Meredith explains in his poem that the man cannot read the letter because it has an unfamiliar handwriting. The letter’s experience is more unfamiliar than the letter itself. This is the same experience as the poet. Although he is at his wits end because he is entering a new relationship, if he has ever been in one of these relationships, a good thing is that a person he is in this relationship isn’t at all like him.
This raises the question: What kind of relationship is this? It describes the state of virginity. You are not sure what you’re going to get. Gregerson shifts the focus away from hetero-normative or youthful virginity and instead focuses on virginity in homoerotic encounters. Gregerson 175, she claims, “The dark girl may also refer to Shakespeare’s dark woman and so a coded way to the primary love–the homoerotic one–in the poem is grounded.” These sonnets express homoerotic feelings. This lens shows the speaker’s hope that the man whose homoerotic desire has been scorned will change his mind to become the object and focus of his affection. Gregerson can’t prove this point, but it brings to mind an alternative interpretation: homoerotic love.
Meredith might have written the speaker to unrequited gay love as a homosexual man. The reader has invested energy into finding the poet’s origins, and the poet then turns to the audience and relays a message. The poem’s self is a vehicle to convey a message. Gregerson’s lyric poetry reflects the symbiosis among love and any obstacle to that kind of love. Sonnets are, in her opinion, always contradictory because they deal with paradoxical existences. She says, “Implicity was as central to the sonnet’s content as love.” Impediment created the lyric voice. A lover who is free from impediment would be able to use poetry without any difficulty” (Gregerson 167). The poem would not be necessary if the man was literate and the love was reciprocated. These obstacles give rise to tension and provide an incentive for the poet to create the poem.
The meaning of the poem goes beyond its practicality or the words themselves. This poem’s rhyme scheme is the most interesting aspect. It is very simple. The rhyme scheme can be either monosyllabic (means means), or polysyllabic (anyone? someone). Gregerson points to the fact that the poet’s rhyming style seems almost juvenile. (Gregerson 176) Meredith, a Pulitzer winner and a poet with a lot of talent, seems to have deliberately simplified his rhyme scheme to reflect the poor commanding of language that an illiterate person displays. These words are what children see when they first learn to read. But even these words are not understandable by the illiterate. He does not have any reference point and cannot find the content of the letter.
Meredith’s rhyme method also has another reason. It adds repetition to the repetitious parts of the poem. The illiterate person flips the letter, not opening nor putting it down. The entire poem is static. We don’t know what the man does with the letter. Do they consult others or attempt to solve it himself? This information is not available to the reader, who instead sees only the thoughts and possibilities of the man. This rhyme enhances the idea that you will know what comes next. The loop of possibilities that the illiterate man has in his mind is the same as the rhyme, which is predictable and does not allow for any new developments.
Asking someone to help an illiterate man find out the contents of a letter is the only way to do so. Although it may seem embarrassing, he should admit that he is unable to read the letter and invite someone into his private world. In his inadequacy to understand the contents of the letter, he is vulnerable. He will have strong reactions if the letter is filled with bad news or professes love from the dark child. This is a very uncomfortable feeling. The speaker is also vulnerable if he asks for advice on a relationship. It is difficult to get help in a foreign context. This is an extremely personal area and you may not be able to invite anyone else.
The poem is slow and conveys a sense of anticipation. Meredith uses commas frequently in his poem, which slows down the already slow pace of the poem. The commas give the poem a disjointed feeling. The poem must be read slowly and the reader must stop often. This is similar to the story of the speaker. Both the speaker and the illiterate man embody the same hesitance, which is a sign of inexperience. The poem isn’t about abandoning inhibitions and diving into the unknown. It is more conservative and protective. The illiterate cannot narrow down the possible contents of the letter and determine for certain. He holds a letter and looks inside. He “preserves the possibility,” regardless of whether the news is good and bad (Gregerson, 176). It is a bit pessimistic because if he receives good news, he will want to read it immediately. He will regret not knowing the bad news. Fear drives him to keep his eyes closed. He can’t bear to let go of the idea that he may have inherited a lot or that the “dark” girl might have decided to be his love. This could be a warning letter to him that his parents might have died.
The speaker can’t yet fully embark on a relationship with “you” in this poem. This new relationship may bring you wonderful, sexual joy. He might have found the partner he wants to spend his entire life with. But he might also be disappointed in his relationship. Another pessimistic perspective is that staying in the initial phase and developing a strong connection with someone is better than losing it later. Even if this means sacrificing the potential for a great love relationship. The seduction and romance of the possible is glamorous, according to the speaker.
The poem is not moving forward, but there is a noticeable shift in the first and second verses. The first contains a feeling of shame and embarrassment for not being capable of reading the letter. The second stanza shows that the man can feel the bittersweet sweetness of possibility despite his ignorance. While he is eager to learn the meaning of the letter, he is also anxious about what it might reveal. The first contains the speaker’s embarrassment at his inexperience as well as a feeling that he is overwhelmed. This innocence gives him the illusion of the encounter in the second stanza. The poem’s last two lines pose an impossible question. That notion is complicated by the amount of anxiety associated with anticipating bad news. It is hard to express this volatile and impermanent state. Perhaps that is why Meredith uses the concept of the illiterate man to begin his description.
Meredith raises the age-old issue of ignorance being bliss in these two lines. Is there a better way to think? The outcome will determine the answer. If happiness is the ultimate goal, it is better to get there. But if the end-state is only happiness, then the state in the unknown might be more desirable.
Gregerson’s piece is a good example of this. What is The Illiterate’s rhetoric doing? Gregerson claims that lyric poems are meant to convince the reader, but there is not an outright goal on the part the speaker. His purpose is to help us think about the question of knowledge versus hope. Meredith suggested that it is impossible to have both. It seems that Meredith suggests that knowing is better than anticipating. The illusion of a dream is destroyed and reality sets in. There is no escape. Meredith keeps his reader guessing and unable to understand what the letter actually means. Can they stay in this state of uncertainty forever? Meredith does not give an answer and ends the poem asking the question. The reader is left wondering what the poem’s purpose is. This may be Meredith’s intention, to make us uncertain and question in a meta way. Like an illiterate person, the meaning of the poem’s words simultaneously loses and gains importance for us. Although we may question the overall point of the poem, it is actually the end goal. The Illiterate can be seen not only as a sonnet but also an Ars Poetry poem. It is possible to see that The Illiterate’s purpose, like all poems, is not to convey experience, but to communicate thought.
