THE DISCUSSION OF THE WRITING OF POEM HEAT

王思拓

Poem is divided as story-telling poems and emotion-expressing poems. This piece is a poem of emotion-expressing， and it is around the topic of Heat. The sun is heat， the light is heat， the candle light is heat and even the breathe of a woman is heat. What is the heat that is described in this short poem. This is the topic that will be discussed in this essay.

“From plains that reel to southward， dim， the road runs by the white and bare; Up the steep hill it seems to swim.” The whole poem is opening by drawing a picture of plain and a road， which is the wild Canadian nature view and the Lampman is giving a felling of wildness in this poetry. Then it is a Canadian poem for certain. Up the steep hill it seems to swim; Beyond， and melt into the glare.” The view of Ottawa City is showing in these sentences. It is like walking in the St Lawrence River and viewing the mountain besides my hands. I can feel the steep hill as if it is swimming and the quietness of the river shall. The using of the words bare and glare is giving a felling of a little bit of France tune of the poem， the cute France tone， with the feeling of Ottawa atmosphere itself， quiet， cute and wet. “Nearer the summit， slowly steals a hay-cart， moving dustily with idly clacking wheels.” There is nothing that can be seen as the sign of the heat， until the word heat-held comes out in the line 16. “In all the heat-held land. Beyond me in the fields the sun.”

Susanna Moodie is writing suggest that she saw herself as a victim of a hostile Canadian geography， while some of the other Canadian writers are talking about the happy life in Canada. Lampmans attitude towards the life in Canada is like the Heat， but in a wet and happy environment. “Where the far elm-tree shadows flood. Dark patches in the burning grass.” The burning grass is the heat， the happiness and the hope. The burning grass is the peace， it does no harm to people. It is sad and not bright， but in heat. “Lie waiting for the heat to pass”， the passing of heat is another image of heat in this poem. “From somewhere on the slope near by into the pale depth of the noon.” Lampman is talking about the noon， but not the afternoon， the evening. Because noon is a time where heat is the most in the day. While Sunflowers is made by Van Gogh， he is also using the light-yellow color to show the heat. It is like Lampman does not use evening to show the heat， but using noon to draw an image. “Lie is waiting for the heat to pass” why is passing lie， but not the kindness and truth. Lampman is also creating an environment of a sleepy town， which is good and nice but we cannot see a huge and bright future on it. There is heat in this town， but there is a sad felling in this heat. What is passing through the heat is not the truth， but the lie and sadness. Lampman is also questioning about himself， “Is always sharp or always sweet， in the sloped shadow of my hat.” Whether he is a sweet Canadian or he should be a sweet Canadian， or whether his artwork should be sharp and full of revolutionary thought， or whether he should be quiet and talking about nature and happy life as other Canadian writers do. That is a question he is doubting himself. “I lean at rest， and drain the heat; Nay more， I think some blessed power.” Whether it is the heat in the environment or in his heart， it is not very important. What is important is he feel the heat. Whether the heat is passing through the jazz in the street-corner bar in a rainy day or the heat is passing through the wind in while me and Lampman is sitting in the same place in the Hart House library. That is not important. What is important is that we feel it， across the one hundred years of time， even it is only a bit， sweet but cool.

That is how the Lampman talking about heat in his poem “Heat”， clear and artistic， gentle and dejected. Lampman is good at using lots of image and material object to write this emotional-expressing poem and I think he made a nice one.

Reference：

[1]Archibald， L. Heat. The Poems of Archibald Lampman， 1888. The Broadview Anthology of Poetry， edited by Amanda Goldrick-Jones.