Ars Poetica” by Archibald Macleish (Essay Sample)

Ars Poetica" by Archibald Macleish
Ars Poetica is a Latin lyrical poem wrote in 1925 and which was later to be published a year later. It has a total of 24 lines. This poem tries to describe some of the best qualities that a good poem should have to stand the threshold of the benchmark of the works of any piece of art. The poem is set to allure and captivate the readers with the same insights as those of the masterly sculpture or paintings. The poem tries to employ imagery in a bid to simplify and relay the intended message. In this regard, the poem tries to convey every little detail of the poet in an open and very naked manner.
The poem being in three sections has each section explaining what an ideal poem should be. The first section relates a poem to some familiar sights, that is, old medallions, flight of birds and fruits among others. The second one relates it to the moon. In this view, it is suggested that if the poem would have universality, then it could move from one moment to the next while its relevance remains valid.
The poem has employed the figures of speech, among them being similes, alliterations, metaphors and anaphora. The use of ‘like’ and ‘as’ has been used as similes in the poem. They compare the poem to some old medallions, or globed fruit. Metaphor has been used in the poem convey a property of literary work that makes the poem a thing of all ages. Anaphora as witnessed in the poem has been used to show repetition which brings about some rhythm in the poem hence the flow.
It is noteworthy that the work of Horace, a poet from the ancient Rome, was an inspirational drive that prompted the works of Archibald MacLeish's into writing his pieces of poetry. Additionally, he worked for Yale Literary magazine where he edited magazines and did its review. He also composed songs in Yale University where he won a poem prize with the Song for a summer’s Day in 1995. Most importantly, Archibald MacLeish had this declaration to make. He believed that he had the vision of mental time. He adds that he was focused to sojourn the interminable journey of human mind. He also adds that he was driven by the great tradition of intellectual past which he was positive, would bring fourth, the future beari...