In the poem “The Poetry of Bad Weather” by Debora Greger, dreaminess and distraction are framed through the emotional conditions precipitated by climate control. The poem suggests that “Bad Weather” was a chief inspiration for dead poets.
Free Verse Stanza
The free verse poem consists of seven tercets that are accessible and attention grabbing. The form is inviting: not too long with varied line lengths that feed anticipation. The language isn’t showy and pretentious, but it remains poetic with its lyrical qualities and flow. The speaker of the poem asks the reader questions that her “students” are considering, and the effect grabs the reader, inviting the reader into “the door of the classroom” (lines 6, 2).
Displaced Attention Enriched through Imagery
The poem is rich with imagery, but the imagery is not enough to stop a concerned reader from wondering why the students are not being held accountable for paying attention. The speaker of the poem, a teacher, knows that “Someone had propped a skateboard / by the door of the classroom, / to make quick his escape, come the bell” (lines 1-3), but she does nothing to stop it. Maybe the weather is also affecting her withitness? The reader has to wonder why the students aren’t being engaged, especially if the teacher is aware of the issue.
More Sunshine, Less Work
The setting becomes a vehicle for the speaker of the poem to ride out its rationalization that good weather is a reason to avoid work. The reader comes to find out that “it was February in Florida / the air of instruction thick with tanning butter” and becomes a little more clear as to why there is a “skateboard / by the door of the classroom” (lines 4-5, 1-2). The students are so happy that they have beautiful weather that they pity the genius of “the great dead poets[…] north of [them]” (line 7). Why isn’t the teacher reeling her class in if it is slipping away? Does the weather affect work ethic so intensely?
Stuck in the Cold Sunshine
The poem’s momentum slows down as the speaker shows the reader a way out of the classroom doldrums. The classroom, despite being in the Sunshine State, is like a prison cell without even one “window” (line 10). The students have lost focus, but they have not even been afforded the opportunity to daydream because they are unable to watch the “wild plum / nod with the absent grace of the young” outside their classroom walls (lines 11-12). Finally, the teacher confesses that it would be nice if they could “study the showy scatter of petals” and “call it ‘snowy’” (lines 13, 14). Her students are lost, but not in a productive, romantic, or poetic way because of the confines of the classroom. The teacher longs for “stillness, flake by flake” (line 15). Head north?
Carrying On
Teachers and students are stuck in recycled air without inspiration to carry on, but there is hope. Even though “Only the dull roar of air forced to spend its life indoors / could be heard”, which might be considered a facilitator to learning, the teacher desires a commotion to rouse her students’ interest in the subject matter she is presenting (lines 16-17). The teacher wants her students to be aware that they already “know the way,” and the poem condenses this advice in an allusion to Robert Frost’s “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”: “horse on the page / […] in snow” (lines 19-20).
Livin’ the Dream
The poem moves beyond the haunting quietude of a classroom to a setting where daydreams inspire immortality. Initially, readers may be leery of the speaker who seems just as out of touch as her inattentive students, but the poem soon takes another path. The path is full of emptiness; thus, the emptiness inspires hope for a future where whether the weather has “gone blue with cold” or not, life is on fire.
Source:
- Greger, Debora. "The Poetry of Bad Weather." Southwest Review 91.1 (2006): 90. Print.
Matthew Birdsall - Matt is a reader, writer, teacher, lover, and liver, not necessarily in that order. He is eager to read your comments and hopes you enjoy ...
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