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More Words of Wisdom

• Wisdom: The virtue of gratitude
• Words of Wisdom: Nature’s creation: The rainbow
• Words of Wisdom: Moon poetry

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The word “symbol” comes to us from the Greek, “symbolon,” which originally meant “a token or sign of identity verified by comparing its other half.”

To us, today, a symbol is something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship. It is also a visible sign of an invisible reality.

In poetry, a symbol suggests something deeper. It is different than a metaphor, in that a metaphor compares two dissimilar things, but a symbol associates two things. In some senses, metaphors become symbols, yet this is not always the case.

The more you read poetry, the more you come across words that function symbolically. For example, lion: courage; dove: peace; anchor: hope; rose: love; fruit: fertility; raven: death.

Sometimes the symbolism in a poem can be straightforward, but more often than not it can be rich, complex, hidden, and elusive; producing several different layers of deeper meaning. The meaning of a symbol is usually never absolute and is often dictated by the culture surrounding the poet.

Symbols communicate to the reader of poetry in ways that conventional language cannot, but symbols can often make a poem difficult to interpret or open to many different interpretations; perhaps because of the multiple layers of deeper meaning or some special knowledge required by the reader of the poem.

Poetry is not written with the speed reader in mind and oftentimes a symbol can only become clearer and better understood by looking closely at the entire poem surrounding the symbol.

In the 19th century began a movement in poetry called The Symbolist Movement. It began in France, initiated by the poet Charles Baudelaire and subsequently spread around the world. The symbolist style was adopted by poets William Butler Yeats and T. S. Eliot for example.

Symbolist poets began using generalized truths instead of actualities and they exalted the mysterious in their poetry; they wrote in a suggestive manner using images charged with symbolic meaning. Their symbolism sought to evoke rather than depict, describe, or explain. Symbolism sought to heighten the poetic experience and add to the word meaning at the literal level in the poem. The use of symbols in poetry continues today and many of the symbolist poets use song lyrics as their medium. It is believed by many that hearing music and sound can heighten the symbolist experience much more than hearing only the words alone.

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Michael Hickey is a local writer and poet who lives in Pelican Bay and Swampscott, Mass. His book, “Get Wisdom,” is published by Xlibris Div. Random House Publishing and is available at 1-888-795-4274 Ext. 822, at WWW.Xlibris.com, or your local bookstore. E-mail Mike Hickey at Mikehic@nii.net.

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DIALOGUES IN DUST

by Michael Hickey

Old book of poems:

As I embrace you I wonder

Who has fondled you

Through these many years?

Wrinkled cover, Bent spine,

Loose now in the binding,

Dusty pages and hands;

We are alike.

As we touch,

Your dynamic words;

Though statically dead

These many years,

Resurrect within me.

Giving echoing evidence of

The living spirit

Of your dead creator.

You represent for me,

Materialization of spirit!

Spiritualization of matter!

Even more

You become for me a symbol,

Pointing to The Eternal One

Who Created we three in silence,

As His very eloquent act;

Showing wisdom and power,

Raising dust to life ,

Once more.