An Explication of Dina Grutzendeler's "Cruzade" by Ivan Felix
Cruzade by Dina Grutzendeler (1948-)
The crusader brandished his stiff sword sharpened
didn´t want but beheaded idolsto liberate his inner temple
swift and passionate was his riding saturated
didn´t want but unpaved the temples
to remember the first stone and had peace
on the way he clashed spades bled
sparked spades was blinded by light
floated in the void and saw colors earthly shades
and then kinetic spatial explosion of unknown prisms
crossing cross crusaders irreligious and revering
For this assignment I have chosen the poem “Crusade” by Dina Grutzendler, a Colombian poet. The poem itself is difficult to follow but I liked the challenge. I had to read it over several times to comprehend it better. There’s something about this poem that lures me in… it’s quite enticing.
The poem depicts a crusader who is in battle and the occurrences’ that take place. He is on his way to a location which is not named and along the way he has a battle. The poem goes on to say, “And the kinetic spatial explosion, of unknown prisms,” <http://www.voicesnet.org/poetrydisplay.aspx?poemid=162418 this leads me to believe that he got severely injured or perhaps put into a comma. One thing that confuses me about this poem is the viewpoint of which it’s told. I can’t figure out whether it’s told from the crusaders point of view or the person he’s attacking point of view (it can be perceived as either one). There really isn’t any cultural connection between the author of the poem and my assigned immigrant other than the fact they’re both from Colombia…unless there was a crusade in Colombia that I’m unaware of. Maybe there’s a little connection there if you look at it from a problematic vantage. Both my immigrant and the crusader have adversities they need to overcome, but at least I know what happens to the immigrant whereas the poem leaves me to my questions.
When it comes to the structure of this poem one can say it’s pretty awkward. The flow of it is unnatural and far from organic. For instance when the author writes the lines, “Saturated", didn´t want, but unpaved the temples,” <http://www.voicesnet.org/poetrydisplay.aspx?poemid=162418> it just doesn’t seem natural but almost forced. The
events in the poem are formed in a chronological order. Some of the lines contain words that are very similar to each other so it forms tongue twisters. Another thing that troubled me was that several of the lines felt incomplete. I don’t know if that was intentional or not, but whatever it was it confused me. I found this difficult to read as I mentioned earlier I had to reread it several times to grasp it better. The true concept behind it is very elusive and in a sense taunting. Perhaps I’m over thinking this and it’s all very simplistic, odds are I’m not though. With all that said I still like the poem,
it’s very intriguing.
The rhetoric was lacking in one way but in another it was present. I say that because the poem was impressive due to the fact that it resonated with me, but at the same time it wasn’t persuasive. The syntax is a completely different story though. The arrangement of the words felt out of order as if they were not cohesive. This bothered me quite a bit because I prefer when my readings are united in unison. I did however enjoy the vocabulary, mainly because I had to look some words up. “Revering” and “brandished” were the two words formerly unbeknownst to me. I learned some new words after reading this and I like anything that expands my knowledge.
Even though I have mixed emotions about this reading I still enjoyed it and the entertainment it brought me. I had to decipher some things here and there, but that’s what made it fun. If it was too easy I would have just shrugged it off, but that’s not my cup of tea. When it comes down to it Dina Grutzendler is an admirable writer with poetic aptitude.
Works Cited
http://www.poetrysoup.com/poems_poets/poems_by_poet.aspx?ID=19561
The crusader brandished his stiff sword sharpened
didn´t want but beheaded idolsto liberate his inner temple
swift and passionate was his riding saturated
didn´t want but unpaved the temples
to remember the first stone and had peace
on the way he clashed spades bled
sparked spades was blinded by light
floated in the void and saw colors earthly shades
and then kinetic spatial explosion of unknown prisms
crossing cross crusaders irreligious and revering
For this assignment I have chosen the poem “Crusade” by Dina Grutzendler, a Colombian poet. The poem itself is difficult to follow but I liked the challenge. I had to read it over several times to comprehend it better. There’s something about this poem that lures me in… it’s quite enticing.
The poem depicts a crusader who is in battle and the occurrences’ that take place. He is on his way to a location which is not named and along the way he has a battle. The poem goes on to say, “And the kinetic spatial explosion, of unknown prisms,” <http://www.voicesnet.org/poetrydisplay.aspx?poemid=162418 this leads me to believe that he got severely injured or perhaps put into a comma. One thing that confuses me about this poem is the viewpoint of which it’s told. I can’t figure out whether it’s told from the crusaders point of view or the person he’s attacking point of view (it can be perceived as either one). There really isn’t any cultural connection between the author of the poem and my assigned immigrant other than the fact they’re both from Colombia…unless there was a crusade in Colombia that I’m unaware of. Maybe there’s a little connection there if you look at it from a problematic vantage. Both my immigrant and the crusader have adversities they need to overcome, but at least I know what happens to the immigrant whereas the poem leaves me to my questions.
When it comes to the structure of this poem one can say it’s pretty awkward. The flow of it is unnatural and far from organic. For instance when the author writes the lines, “Saturated", didn´t want, but unpaved the temples,” <http://www.voicesnet.org/poetrydisplay.aspx?poemid=162418> it just doesn’t seem natural but almost forced. The
events in the poem are formed in a chronological order. Some of the lines contain words that are very similar to each other so it forms tongue twisters. Another thing that troubled me was that several of the lines felt incomplete. I don’t know if that was intentional or not, but whatever it was it confused me. I found this difficult to read as I mentioned earlier I had to reread it several times to grasp it better. The true concept behind it is very elusive and in a sense taunting. Perhaps I’m over thinking this and it’s all very simplistic, odds are I’m not though. With all that said I still like the poem,
it’s very intriguing.
The rhetoric was lacking in one way but in another it was present. I say that because the poem was impressive due to the fact that it resonated with me, but at the same time it wasn’t persuasive. The syntax is a completely different story though. The arrangement of the words felt out of order as if they were not cohesive. This bothered me quite a bit because I prefer when my readings are united in unison. I did however enjoy the vocabulary, mainly because I had to look some words up. “Revering” and “brandished” were the two words formerly unbeknownst to me. I learned some new words after reading this and I like anything that expands my knowledge.
Even though I have mixed emotions about this reading I still enjoyed it and the entertainment it brought me. I had to decipher some things here and there, but that’s what made it fun. If it was too easy I would have just shrugged it off, but that’s not my cup of tea. When it comes down to it Dina Grutzendler is an admirable writer with poetic aptitude.
Works Cited
http://www.poetrysoup.com/poems_poets/poems_by_poet.aspx?ID=19561