‘Be Music, Night’ by Kenneth Patchen is an intriguing piece of literary art. A picture is painted of human interaction with Earth immediately. The manner in which humans fall into her beauty and vastness is apparent in even the first lines of Patchen’s poem, but why is this important? “Be music, night, That her sleep may go Where angels have their pale tall choirs” This choir is brought on by our musical mother nature. Music could mean crickets singing, rain falling, a visiting breeze or even a creek running. The angels’ choir, or the sounds of night, simply assist us along our journey. For these sounds are the “pale tall choirs.” Pale and tall possibly referring to the moon and the way its light shines down upon the world, or maybe even a literal choir of angels. Poems tend to construct more of a feeling than a sense of understanding. This is done through creating a tone and there, the importance is found. What possible tones could the author create by speaking of music in the night? Mystic, mysterious, serenity, peace? Possibly all of the above. As the rest of the poem will, the next …show more content…
She watches from her dreams as the waves crash and fall, carrying with them the ship. An image comes to mind. A hand at sea, although it could mean a shiphand, is an impossible rising area of water shaped as a hand, it waves the ship both literally and figuratively toward its destination, which is no longer sleep, but land. Progression in the poem is apparent. I feel intrigued and mesmerized, simply wanting to know where else the poem travels. I have interpreted these lines in one way, yet there are a million different possibilities. The author puts the words onto the paper, but the reader’s job is to interpret their own emotion, memory or belief and actually apply it to the poet’s words in order to create an