The following interpretation of Robinson Jeffers
' "Carmel Point" is via reader-response criticism.
1. Read the poem aloud. What are your initial reactions?
2. Scan the poem, using a dictionary.
Line 1: u u / u / u / u u / (end-stop) = 10 syllables with 4 stresses
' "Carmel Point" is via reader-response criticism.1. Read the poem aloud. What are your initial reactions?
2. Scan the poem, using a dictionary.
Line 1: u u / u / u / u u / (end-stop) = 10 syllables with 4 stresses
Line 2: u / u u / u / u u / u u / u / u (end-stop) = 16 syllables with
6 stresses
6 stresses
Line 3: u / u u / u / u / / (end-stop) = 10 syllables with 5 stresses
Line 4: u / u / u / u u / u / u / / (end-stop) = 14 syllables with 7
stresses
stresses
Line 5: end-stop
Line 6: end-stop
Line 7: end-stop
Line 8: u / u / u u / / / u / u u u / (enjambment) = 5 syllables with
7 stresses
7 stresses
or
u / u / u / / / / u / u u u / (enjambment) = 15 syllables with
8 stresses
8 stresses
Line 9: enjambment
Line 10: enjambment
Line 11: end-stop
Line 12: end-stop
Line 13: end-stop
Line 14: u / u / u / u / u / u u u / / u u (enjambment) = 17
syllables with 7 stresses
syllables with 7 stresses
Line 15: u u / u / u / u u / / (end-stop) = 11 syllables with 5
stresses
Prevailing meter: irregular, but iamb is dominant foot
stresses
Prevailing meter: irregular, but iamb is dominant foot
Primary variation on dominant foot: anapest
Form: free verse
3. Determine the poetic techniques Jeffers employs, and use a
dictionary to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words.
Line 1: pathetic fallacy = objects ("things") are patient
3. Determine the poetic techniques Jeffers employs, and use a
dictionary to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words.
Line 1: pathetic fallacy = objects ("things") are patient
Line 2: assonance = "place" and "defaced"
wordplay = "crop" (meaning "cultivated plants or
agricultural produce" and/or "a group, quantity or supply
appearing at one time") "Crop" complicates the idea that
the suburban houses are defacing Carmel Point because a
crop is the result of cultivation, a process in which
humans and nature work together. Furthermore, the
houses are no more durable than a crop of tomatoes or
artichokes. The word also suggests that cultivation
momentarily defaces the landscape.
agricultural produce" and/or "a group, quantity or supply
appearing at one time") "Crop" complicates the idea that
the suburban houses are defacing Carmel Point because a
crop is the result of cultivation, a process in which
humans and nature work together. Furthermore, the
houses are no more durable than a crop of tomatoes or
artichokes. The word also suggests that cultivation
momentarily defaces the landscape.
Line 3: ambiguity = "it" ("It" is not a former beauty that has
been ruined by humans.)
been ruined by humans.)
Line 4: Poppies are perennial plants with mostly single flowers
that have black centers. They bloom for short periods in
early summer.
that have black centers. They bloom for short periods in
early summer.
Lupines are perennial plants with tall spikes of pealike
flowers that bloom in middle to late spring above deeply
divided leaves.
flowers that bloom in middle to late spring above deeply
divided leaves.
wordplay = "walled" (nature is containing itself)
alliteration = "clean" and "cliffs"
Line 5: "intrusion" refers to "walled" in previous line = horses
are a part of nature
are a part of nature
Line 6: "milch cows" provide milk
repetition of "crop" in "outcrop"
Line 7: ambiguity = "spoiler has come" (referring to the "crop of
suburban houses" or to what follows the colon?) The
present perfect tense, formed with the auxiliary have or
has and a verb's past participle, indicates an action that,
although begun at some past time, continues to have an
impact in the present.
suburban houses" or to what follows the colon?) The
present perfect tense, formed with the auxiliary have or
has and a verb's past participle, indicates an action that,
although begun at some past time, continues to have an
impact in the present.
pathetic fallacy = "it" (nature) does or does not "care"
Line 8: metaphor = "people are a tide" (humanity is an ocean)
Line 9: metaphor = "swells and in time will ebb" (population
growth and decline)
growth and decline)
Line 10: "Their works dissolve" = The speaker is shifting our
perspective to a different vantage point, moving us
beyond a merely human perspective and inviting us to
look at "their" houses from the outside.
perspective to a different vantage point, moving us
beyond a merely human perspective and inviting us to
look at "their" houses from the outside.
Line 11: metaphor = "grain of granite" (stands for the enduring
essence of nature) What we see at Carmel Point is a
passing image, an illusion. What we see in the granite is
an image of "pristine beauty" (line 10) that will return
after the human settlement is gone. It is "pristine"
because humans cannot spoil it.
essence of nature) What we see at Carmel Point is a
passing image, an illusion. What we see in the granite is
an image of "pristine beauty" (line 10) that will return
after the human settlement is gone. It is "pristine"
because humans cannot spoil it.
alliteration = "grain" and "granite"
Line 12: "endless ocean" = The speaker's assertion that the
ocean is "endless" may not be accurate technically, for
the ocean and even the solar system will end someday,
but from a strictly human perspective, the oceans are
"endless" with respect to time (as are the perennial
plants in line 4).
ocean is "endless" may not be accurate technically, for
the ocean and even the solar system will end someday,
but from a strictly human perspective, the oceans are
"endless" with respect to time (as are the perennial
plants in line 4).
personification = the "ocean ... climbs our cliff"
alliteration = "climbs" and "cliff"
Line 13: In order to "uncenter our minds," we must first
disengage ourselves from our strictly human perspective
(line 10).
disengage ourselves from our strictly human perspective
(line 10).
Line 14: anaphora = "We must"
In order to "unhumanize our views," we must first
disengage ourselves from our strictly human perspective
(lines 10 and 13).
disengage ourselves from our strictly human perspective
(lines 10 and 13).
Lines 14-15: pathetic fallacy = "the rock and ocean" are "confident"
4. Summarize and interpret the poem via reader-response criticism.
Robinson Jeffers wanted us to experience the poem as the
speaker experiences nature: hence the volta ("turn") at line
eight. Initially I thought the third line refers to a formerly
beautiful landscape that has been ruined by humans, which led
me to decide that humanity's deeds and misdeeds are important
to the speaker. But as I analyzed the poem, I discovered that
humans are not significant. The speaker's view of nature is
much larger: "It has all time" (8). All humanity's works,
including the "suburban houses" that deface Carmel Point, will
"dissolve" (2 and 10, respectively). Does that suggest humans
can spoil nature however we wish because our effects will not
last? Yes, one may draw that conclusion. If a reader responds
to the poem in that way, then our effects will not matter, for "the
image of the pristine beauty / Lives in the very grain of the
granite, / Safe as the endless ocean that climbs our cliff"
(10-12). However, and this is the primary reason I like the
poem, an inescapable conclusion is also that humanity must be
more humble. Nature is powerful and deserves our awe. Thus,
we must "uncenter our minds from ourselves" and "unhumanize
our views a little" (13 and 14, respectively). Those actions,
according to the speaker, will transform the way we experience
Carmel Point.
The poem evokes a response that is deeply and powerfully
environmental. Humans are simply a small part of nature.
Ultimately it does not matter what we do because we will not be
here forever. I think Jeffers hoped such insight would alter the
way we live during our time on Earth. Because decentering
involves a loss of self and dehumanizing further displaces an
individual within humanity--which, again, is part of something
larger--the reader, according to the speaker, should strive for a
humility that is spiritual.
5. Use outside sources of information if you feel you have not
achieved a valid interpretation.
Robinson Jeffers' poetry exhibits influences of Friedrich
Nietzsche and Ralph Waldo Emerson's philosophies. Jeffers
agreed with Nietzsche that poetry must reclaim substance and
sense, must contain physical and psychological realities--the
reasons scientific and philosophic ideas are in his poetry. Jeffers
also agreed with Emerson's concept of reality--powerful enough
to prevent possession of it--concept of beauty--greater than
intellect--and concept of nature--a combination of power, reality
and beauty. Jeffers was not a humanist. He believed humanity's
existence will be short and will end tragically. His primary
concern was nature as a beautiful necessity. He wanted his
readers' souls to learn to love something that is not personal and
not human. Although there are religious undertones in his
poetry, they are not Christian; rather, they are naturalistic, for
God is equivalent to physical forces.
For more information on Robinson Jeffers, read Roy Harvey Pearce's The Continuity of American Poetry
(1987), Hyatt Waggoner's American Poets
(1984), or David Perkins
' A History of Modern Poetry (1987).
4. Summarize and interpret the poem via reader-response criticism.
Robinson Jeffers wanted us to experience the poem as the
speaker experiences nature: hence the volta ("turn") at line
eight. Initially I thought the third line refers to a formerly
beautiful landscape that has been ruined by humans, which led
me to decide that humanity's deeds and misdeeds are important
to the speaker. But as I analyzed the poem, I discovered that
humans are not significant. The speaker's view of nature is
much larger: "It has all time" (8). All humanity's works,
including the "suburban houses" that deface Carmel Point, will
"dissolve" (2 and 10, respectively). Does that suggest humans
can spoil nature however we wish because our effects will not
last? Yes, one may draw that conclusion. If a reader responds
to the poem in that way, then our effects will not matter, for "the
image of the pristine beauty / Lives in the very grain of the
granite, / Safe as the endless ocean that climbs our cliff"
(10-12). However, and this is the primary reason I like the
poem, an inescapable conclusion is also that humanity must be
more humble. Nature is powerful and deserves our awe. Thus,
we must "uncenter our minds from ourselves" and "unhumanize
our views a little" (13 and 14, respectively). Those actions,
according to the speaker, will transform the way we experience
Carmel Point.
The poem evokes a response that is deeply and powerfully
environmental. Humans are simply a small part of nature.
Ultimately it does not matter what we do because we will not be
here forever. I think Jeffers hoped such insight would alter the
way we live during our time on Earth. Because decentering
involves a loss of self and dehumanizing further displaces an
individual within humanity--which, again, is part of something
larger--the reader, according to the speaker, should strive for a
humility that is spiritual.
5. Use outside sources of information if you feel you have not
achieved a valid interpretation.
Robinson Jeffers' poetry exhibits influences of Friedrich
Nietzsche and Ralph Waldo Emerson's philosophies. Jeffers
agreed with Nietzsche that poetry must reclaim substance and
sense, must contain physical and psychological realities--the
reasons scientific and philosophic ideas are in his poetry. Jeffers
also agreed with Emerson's concept of reality--powerful enough
to prevent possession of it--concept of beauty--greater than
intellect--and concept of nature--a combination of power, reality
and beauty. Jeffers was not a humanist. He believed humanity's
existence will be short and will end tragically. His primary
concern was nature as a beautiful necessity. He wanted his
readers' souls to learn to love something that is not personal and
not human. Although there are religious undertones in his
poetry, they are not Christian; rather, they are naturalistic, for
God is equivalent to physical forces.
For more information on Robinson Jeffers, read Roy Harvey Pearce's The Continuity of American Poetry
(1987), Hyatt Waggoner's American Poets (1984), or David Perkins' A History of Modern Poetry (1987). 
