The Poem

The Poem - meaning Summary

Song of Particulars

The poem argues that poetic power lies in sound and in concrete particulars. The speaker wants a song made not of abstract statement but of immediate images—wasps, a gentian, scissors, a woman’s eyes. These small details create a vivid, sensory music that both disperses and draws inward, suggesting movement and tension between outward energy and intimate focus. The short lines emphasize immediacy and the poem’s insistence on the material basis of song.