Rick Barot: The Sea & The Zebra: Visual Effects in Poems (January 2011)

Rick Barot explores the differences between description and image and examines the ways in which images in poetry are arranged, presented, or withheld. While description is often used to clarify, Barot points out that the most effective images rely on distortion. Through close readings of Philip Larkin’s “As Bad As a Mile,” Elaine Scarry’s “Dreaming by the Book”, Philip Larkin’s “As Bad as a Mile,” Robert Creeley’s “Something,” Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73, Robert Frost’s “Out, Out—,” Laura Jensen’s “As the Window Darkens,” C.K. Williams’ “Droplets” and others, Barot demonstrates how poets can manipulate images to communicate more than what mere description can.