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Article: Swenson's The Universe.(May Swenson)(Critical essay)
- Article from:
- The Explicator
- Article date:
- March 22, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Heldref Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Although it may at first appear formless, even chaotic as it crawls down the page, "The Universe" is an experiment in form. If we skim it quickly from top to bottom, we see four embedded columns: a "what" column, an "about" column," a "the universe" column, which is also a "because" or "be cause" column, and a "we think" column. Unlike most free-verse poems, in which line beginnings create a straight-line vertical left margin, "The Universe" has no meaningful left margin. It does, however, have something resembling a straight-line vertical right margin. If we hold the poem up to a mirror, noting the way it lies on the page, it more nearly resembles a poem using ...