"Paradoxes and Oxymorons"
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"Paradoxes and Oxymorons"
What would a poem say if it was to abandon the usual narrative point of view and address the reader directly? John Ashbery's "Paradoxes and Oxymorons" answers this question with what at first seems like an artlessly constructed combination of words. However, twice over unclothes the poem's clear endeavor, are ironically, reverses the roles of reader speaker. It is an anomalous portrayal of a poem trying to lure the reader's attention. Intricately related to whoever pursues it, "Paradoxes and Oxymorons" is not merely a compilation of words. A feeling of regret is also apparent because the speaker acknowledges that he cannot oversee the interpretations of his readers. Despite the intended message, each reader will ponder the lines of the poem, and make it his or her own.
The poem begins by telling us its intentions do not lie in impressing us with fancy language, "This poem is concerned with language on a very plain level." How do we hold this to be true? Because, to be "plain," means not eccentricperhaps even on an elementary level...