Dr. Berglund
A paraphrase of a poem is a restatement of the primary meaning of that poem in less expressive prose. By de-emphasizing or eliminating the expressive properties of a poem’s original language, paraphrase 1) provides a check on one’s understanding of the literal sense of the poem, and 2) throws into relief the poem’s expressive devices by showing what the poem would be like if these devices were absent. A paraphrase thus directs our attention to those aspects of a poem that a good interpretation will explain.
To identify a poem’s literal sense, perform the following operations, proceeding sentence by sentence and grouping related sentences into paragraphs:
1. Read the text over several times, until you can say it without stumbling and in a way that shows you understand it fully. Look up words you don’t know and allusions you’re not familiar with.
2. Parse the sentences of which the text consists; that is, identify each word in terms of its part of speech, form, and syntactic function in the sentence in which it appears.
3. Rewrite the sentences in ordinary prose order.
4. Replace all unusual words and phrases with their ordinary prose equivalents (in some cases, a word will have to be replaced with a phrase and vice versa).
5. Reduce figurative language to literal language. Rewrite all metaphors as similes, a process that will often require the addition of a parallel clause. If necessary, in brackets add a phrase to explain the implications of a particular allusion.
6. Represent all ambiguities with a pair of words, phrases, or clauses conjoined by or. It is never “left to the reader to decide” which of two paraphrases of a genuine ambiguity is the “real” meaning of the text.
Paraphrase assignments for spring 2002:
Draft Paraphrase: Prepare paraphrases of Sonnet XVIII ("On the late Massacre in Piedmont" and Sonnet XIX ("When I consider how my light is spent") (pp. 254-256) and bring them to class on Monday, 16 September. These paraphrases will not be graded, but we will discuss everyone's work in class. You will be graded on three other paraphrases from Paradise Lost that you will hand in during the course of the semester (see below).
Here is a paraphrase that I have written of the fourth verse of the Nativity Ode. Use it as a model for your paraphrases of the sonnets. Note that I want you to double space your paraphrases (it makes them easier for me to correct).
See how from far upon the Eastern rode
The Star-led Wisards haste with odours sweet:
O run, prevent them with thy humble ode,
And lay it lowly at his blessed feet;
Have thou the honor first, thy Lord to greet,
And joyn thy voice unto the Angel Quire,
From out his secret Altar toucht with hallow'd fire.
See how the Wise Men, guided by the Star of David, are hurrying from the East with sweet-smelling gifts; run, so that you may reach the Christ child before they do and lay the gift of your humble poem at his feet; have the honor to be the first to greet Christ, and joyfully add your voice [or, your poem] to the choir of angels [or, collection of nativity poems], which have been secretly inspired and purified with divine eloquence [as the prophet Isaiah was purified when the seraphim placed a coal from the altar in his mouth].
Paraphrase No. 3, due Wednesday, 20 November: your choice of a passage from Paradise Lost that you will discuss in your final paper. The passage you paraphrase must be at least eight and no more than 20 lines long, and must be a grammatically complete unit (that is, it should not begin or end in the middle of a sentence).