Rohit

__**Arrogance: Who Has It?**__ Peter Meinke’s, “The Poet, Trying to Surprise His God” is a great example of how vanity and arrogance leads to nothing but defeat. Through sarcasm and wit, Meinke is able to inform his readers about the perils of self confidence to where it becomes arrogance

From the very beginning, this poet believes himself to be such an important figure, his secrets are worth everything and his thoughts are priceless. He figures he could even surprise his own God. Meinke employs symbolism throughout the poem, however it is the very first few lines that are really striking because the Poet’s thoughts are perceived as being, “ secret harmonies/ fiery vision galaxies”. This narcissism is witnessed by God and he decides it is time to knock the poet down a couple of notches.

God is portrayed as a powerful and cruel figure but a rather sarcastic man as well. Though, God is trying to make the poet realize his arrogance, it appears that God himself is arrogant as well. “There is no surprising One who sees the acorn, root, and branch of centuries/ So hold this beneath you poet bonnet: no matter how free-seeming flows your sample, God is by definition Unsurprised.” (Lines 6-11) Since God is so powerful he doesn’t ever get surprised. The energy from that passage is so powerful that it is quite off putting and down right eerie. God is portrayed as having a traditional mindset when he states he has seen it all and therefore knows more than the poet.

In the poem, it is unclear as to who exactly is telling the story. The poem starts off in 3rd person omniscient but towards the end the Poet ends that point of view with, “ ‘Then I’ll return’ the poet sighed, ‘ to sonnets of which this is a rather pale example’ “( Lines 12-13). This implies that the Poet is writing the poem himself. This change in point of view is for several reasons. It shows that even though God has demeaned him, the Poet is also all-knowing, just like God. This change in view also helps re-affirm that God is all-knowing when he states, “ Is that right? I hadn’t realized…..”

Breaking down the poem, it goes through many different tones. In lines 1-4, Meinke relies solely on imagery and symbolism. His use of such grandiose descriptions gives the poem an over all magical, if not splendiferous feeling with statements such as, “secret harmonies/ fiery vision galaxies”. The tone changes dramatically in the next four lines, as if Meinke is telling the reader nothing good lasts. Lines 5-8 paint a picture of God that is very harsh and powerful, a stark contrast to the calm and whimsical tone in lines 1-4. It is especially Meinke’s use of “I swallow all things up, like Aaron’s rod”, the powerful rod of Moses’s brother, that demonstrates God’s sheer power. However, moving to lines 9-14, the tone once again changes dramatically. While the harshness of the previous section is left behind, the sarcasm in this section is to the point of mockery. Phrases such as, “…beneath your poet-bonnet”, show how God is poking fun at how lowly the Poet really is. It is the very last line that is the most perplexing of the poem. God quips,” Is that right/ I hadn’t realized”, this can be interpreted in many ways. The most obvious is that God is being sarcastic, what he really means is that of course this poem is awful (in reference to the Poet calling this sonnet a poor example of poetry). However, it can also be viewed that God is actually thoroughly surprised that the poem is bad which would be quite ironic seeing as though God can’t be surprised.

“The Poet, Trying to Surprise his God” is written in a traditional Petrarchan sonnet form. The rhyme scheme for the first 8 lines is, ABBAABBA. The rhyming scheme for the last 6 lines (the sestet) is CDECED. The turn occurs in the second section, the sestet, changing the tone from aggressive to somber and light. This change in tone is to show that God is no longer raging and angry, but that he finds it amusing that the Poet thinks he can surprise someone who is all-knowing.

Peter Meinke brings across his message of how arrogance can be brought down swiftly using a poet and God as his vehicle. While just a quick sonnet, it is hard to not notice the variety in tones and the many different interpretations that Meinke offers towards his message.