L4 Deconstruction 3 Draft

1
Deconstruction of a Poem 2: A KCLA of A Vision by A:dhya:sam

Chilukuri Bhuvaneswar, Proverbial Linguistics Group, Hyderabad
Abstract
In “Deconstruction of a Poem 1: A KLitT Perspective (Theory)” by Bhuvaneswar (2012 b), the
KCLA model of interpretation of poems is proposed. In that model, a:dhya:sam
(superimposition) for poems whose poetic intentionality is reasonably and authoritatively
available, and apava:dam (negation) for other poems has been offered as the two techniques of
analysis.
In this paper, an attempt has been made to apply the technique of a:dhya:sam as an alternative
to deconstruction. A:dhya:sam is a technique that takes poetic intentionality as the seed of the
poem and evolves the poem through the two stages of sprouting (patterning and structuring) and
growing into the tree (material form) of the poem by superimposing the observed and analyzed
pattern of the poem on to the poetic intentionality (seed) and then further superimposing the
material form onto the pattern and structure of the poem. It aims to show that such an analysis
can overcome the problems of logocentrism by ka:rmik centrism and resolve aporiai,
dissemination, and differance by an I-I-I and gradual evolution analysis of the form-content-
function-style-context levels of the poem through the creative stages of motivation, composition,
and production of a poem.
Key words: deconstruction, KLitT (Ka:rmik Literary Theory), a:dhya:sam, apava:dam, seed-
sprout-tree, motivation-composition-production of a poem.
I. Introduction
In the “Deconstruction of a Poem I: A Ka:rmik Linguistic Perspective”, it has been shown that
the deconstrucrion project is not methodical and therefore amenable to free play and distortion.
Hence, Ka:rmik Critical Literary Analysis has been proposed as an alternative to the
deconstruction of a poem. In that connection, two techniques for KCLA have been proposed
which are: 1. A:dhya:sam „Superimposition‟; 2. Apava:dam „Negation‟ (see Bhuvaneswar 2012
b given in this book for complete details).
In this paper, an attempt has been made to apply the first technique of a:dhya:sam to provide a
principled Ka:rmik Critical Literary Analysis of a poem, namely, A Vision, written by Simon
Armitage and show how it overcomes the problems created by a deconstructive analysis.
II. Literature Review

Derrida considers his deconstruction not as a method but as an “unenclosed, unenclosable, not
wholly formalizable ensemble of rules for reading, interpretation and writing” (Wikipedia 2012).
This makes the enterprise weak in terms of a scientifically rigorous and systematic analysis of
poetry and leaves many gaps unanswered. In the process, it makes an atomic interpretation of
texts; suffers from absence of a method; lacks an alternative theoretical paradigm, universality,
and originality (see Bhuvaneswar 2012 b for more details).
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In view of the points raised above, we need a (w)holistic theory that overcomes the problems
created by deconstruction and provide a more faithful, and experientially plausible, descriptively
and explanatorily adequate interpretation of a literary text. Such a theory has been offered in
Ka:rmik Literary Theory and Ka:rmik Critical Literary Analysis is offered as an alternative,
practical means for conducting literary interpretation.
III. A Vision: A KCLA by A:dhya:sam

In the “Deconstruction of a Poem 1: A Ka:rmik Literary Perspective (Theory)” (see
Bhuvaneswar 2012 a for a detailed discussion on this topic), a tridential methodical attack is
proposed to analyze a poem unlike in deconstruction which does not have a method. This method
is based on a theory (the Ka:rmik Literary Theory that language is used as a resource for the
construction of ka:rmik literary reality) and a procedure [of constructing it through poetic
(dispositional, cognitive, socioculturalspiritual, contextual actional, lingual actional) realities by
ka:rmik processing] that implements the theory and two techniques [of a:dhya:sam
(superimposition) and apava:dam (ablation or negation)]that implement the procedure in a
systematic framework.
Knowledge
Form
Function Style WHY
Content Context
Motivation Seed Manner ●
HOW WHAT
Composition Production Sprout Tree Place Time

Poet Poem
• Network 2: Why-How-What Network
Critic Reader
•
.
Network 1: Poet-Knowledge-Poem Network

Disposition
The three spikes of the attack consist of: 1. the poet (the creator); 2. the knowledge of creation
of the poem (known by interpretation); and 3. the poem (the created) . All the three of them are
joined together by the handle of disposition as the source to get into it; and it is upheld by the
resolution of the [Motivation-Composition-Production] of the poet indicated by the left-hand
spike and the [Seed-Sprout-Tree] of the poem indicated by the right-hand spike through the
[Form-Content-Function-Style-Context] of the poem indicated by the central elongated and
pointed spike upholding a star– as shown by the three concentric circles enclosing the triangle of
US [Action-Living-Lingual Action] with the dot inside as the Interpretation (Knowledge) – by
the critic. What the critic does is to interpret the poem as it is created by the poet within the
matrix of the US Creation (US (Action-Living-Ling. Action)).
From the perspective of the poet, a poem is processed through two phases of creation and
transmission in six stages: 1. Creation: Motivation, Composition, and Production; and 2.
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Transmission: Presentation, Propagation, and Protest and Innovation. From the perspective of
the poem, three stages of its gradual evolution from 1. seed into 2. sprout into 3. tree are
proposed. Finally, from the perspective of interpretation, five levels of the text are taken into
consideration that are: 1. form; 2. content; 3. function; 4. style; and 5. context. As the poet is
inspired (motivated) by a desire from a dispositional impulsion from his poetic disposition, he
makes a dispositional choice through the very desire itself and creates the seed of the poem that
contains the knowledge of the poem in its unmanifest state. As such, there is an I-I-I networking
of the poet-knowledge of the poem-poem at this stage. In a similar way, when the poet makes
exertion to compose the poem and visualizes the pattern and structure of the poem in terms of
form (lines, stanzas, etc.); content (topic, themes, etc.), and function (speech act functions) he
creates the sprout of the poem. At this level also we see such a networking. Finally, when the
poet produces the poem in a particular style (imagery, symbolism, voice, tone, etc.) that qualifies
form-function-content in a context, he creates the tree of the poem. Here also, we see this I-I-I
network. Hence the key to the body-mind-soul of the poem is in the networking of these relations
from US Creation. If we can provide a principled account of the construction of these relations,
then we will be able to answer all the questions regarding the poem and provide a (w)holistic
interpretation.
In the next section, let us take the poem and do a KCLA.
3. 1. The Text of the Poem A Vision by Simon Armitage
A Vision
The future was a beautiful place, once. (First Sentence – an assertive)
Remember the full-blown balsa-wood town
on public display in the Civic Hall. (Second Sentence – a directive)
((You) Rememmber) The ring-bound sketches, artists‟ impressions,
blueprints of smoked glass and tubular steel,

board-game suburbs, modes of transportation
like fairground rides or executive toys. (First Group of Phrases- a directive)
((You) Rememmber) Cities like dreams, cantilevered by light.
And people like us at the bottle-bank

next to the cycle-path, or dog-walking
over tended strips of fuzzy-felt grass,
or model drivers, motoring home in
electric cars. Or after the late show -
strolling the boulevard. (Second Group of Phrases- a directive) They were the plans,
all underwritten in the neat left-hand
of architects - a true, legible script. (Third Sentence – an assertive)
I pulled that future out of the north wind

at the landfill site, stamped with today‟s date,
riding the air with other such futures,
all unlived in and now fully extinct. (Fourth Sentence – an assertive)
(From Simon Armitage‟s collection Tyrannosaurus Rex Versus the Corduroy Kid.)
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3. 2. The Poet’s Plane

At the level of the poet, a poem is processed through two phases of creation and transmission in
six stages by his dispositional creativity: 1. Creation: Motivation, Composition, and Production;
and 2. Transmission: Presentation, Propagation, and Protest and Innovation. For the purpose of
our analysis, we are concerned with the creation phase and let us discuss it with reference to the
poem A Vision. In addition, let us also briefly comment on how it solves the problem of
logocentrism, difference, intertextual indefiniteness in meaning by ka:rmik centrism.
3. 2. 1. The Creation Phase of a Poem by Gradual Evolution
The creative process of a poem consists of 1. Motivation (to Write a Poem); 2. Composition (of
the Poem as a consequence of motivation); and 3. Production (of a Poem as a result of
composition). Let us discuss these processes one by one.
3. 2. 1. 1. Motivation: Identification of Poetic Intentionality
In the case of Simon Armitage, there are two internal and one external sources from which we
can find out how he is motivated (inspired) to write the poem A Vision. The first source is his
own disposition which is the basis for writing poetry and consequently the poem A Vision. The
second source is the socioculturalspiritual context which inspired him to protest against post-
modernism; and the third is his visit to a town planning department in his hometown Marsden
which left an impression in his long term memory that got activated when he wanted to write
poems with social engagement. Both the second and third sources are impelled from his
disposition which needs to be understood first.
3. 2. 1. 1. 0. Poetic Disposition of Simon Armitage
The individual disposition of the poet is a complex of guNa:s (traits), knowledge, and va:sana:s
(Internalized habits). His disposition is rooted in his Root Nature which is a complex of Sattva
(Luminosity), Rajas (Activity), and Tamas (Inertia). These three constituents of Nature become
the source of disposition and constitute and qualify traits as Sa:ttvik, Ra:jasik, and Ta:masik.
Consequently, they impact on Knowledge and Habits and colour them accordingly. Sattva is
basically luminosity and as an extension of this quality is the source of meaning,
conceptualization, clarity, harmony, perfection, equilibrium, etc. and brings in pleasure. Rajas is
basically activity and as an extension of this quality is patterning and structuration,
ornamentation, complexity and is the cause of likes and dislikes, attachment and aversion. Tamas
is basically inertia and as an extension of this quality is materiality, heedlessness, delusion,
dullness, imperfection, broken, etc. Any action takes place under the influence of Rajas and so
does the composition of a poem also.
Traits decide the choices made according to the likes and dislikes of the ka:rmik actor, here, the
poet, which he has in the form of his traits. To explain further, these traits decide which type of a
poem or poetry to like or dislike and which type of a poem to write or not to write by
dispositional bias leading to response bias leading to choice (leading to variation) through the
Principle of Choice given in equation (2) below. Consciousness-qualified-Disposition is
inherently constituted with the power of acting or reacting in a context to construct its own
dispositional reality through triple action (mental-vocal-physical). Therefore, people with
different dispositional make-ups react differently to the same context – this view therefore gives
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primacy to disposition over context. When Dispositional Functional Pressure (D.F.P) develops in
the poet to write a poem, the desire to write a poem erupts in him. Consequently, he makes an
effort and performs the action of writing a poem according to his dispositional make-up through
the Principle of Action given in (1). This action produces a result in terms of writing the poem:
he succeeds/fails in composing the poem as well as in composing it well and getting recognition.
This result is experienced by him as pleasure/pain/none. These two aspects are captured in the
following equations:
(1) Disposition Desire Effort Action Result Experience
(2) Disposition Dispositional Bias Response Bias Choice
Variation Action.
R
R(ajas) S
[Activity] T
(Karma) Traits (Guna:s) S(attva)
[Conceptuality]
Choice of T(amas)
Disposition Poetic Activity [Inactivity] D. F. P. Desire
(for Writing a Poem)
Knowledge/ Analyticity (Jna:nam)
Knowledge of Poetry D.F.P ‘Dispositional
Habits (Va:sana:s) Functional Pressure’
Internalized Habits of Writing Poetry

Network 3. Ka:rmik Network for Composition of a Poem
The development of D.F.P. to write a poem takes place in a context as an action or reaction.
And the desire to write a particular type of a poem in a particular context is again impelled by the
dispositional make-up of the poet. Thus traits decide the choice of all the formal, contextual,
functional, and stylistic features to their highest delicacy as shown in the Basic Components of a
Poem Network 3a and 3b in the given context (see p.13 and 12 in Bhuvaneswar 2012 b in this
book; they are not given here for want of space).
The dispositional makeup of Simon Armitage impelled him to make a major choice in his
career by deciding to become a poet instead of pursuing geography which he studied. This is a
case of individual freedom in the choice of a career. This major desire – among his other desires
impelled equally by his disposition - leads to writing poetry as a means to fulfill it: one desire
leads to another I-I-I desire in a linear process in time. When he wanted to write poetry, as
already mentioned above, there is a trait component in him which likes social themes with a
purpose and mass appeal in an appealing form and therefore impels him to choose them -
according to the strength of his will, habits and knowledge. As a result, he is motivated to write
on social themes, with a purpose and mass appeal in a particular form. This liking of social
themes, etc. – as a dispositional action-reaction – has sprung from his personal experience of the
society and its ways, by reading the poetry of others, and by looking for ideas. In that process, he
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got excitement when he thought about such issues as town planning as in the poem A Vision,
about poor people without jobs as in A Clown Punk, about war widows as in Manhunt, about
family relations and trust in Homecoming, about begging as in the poem Give, about a child
growing up and overcoming the influence of its heroes as in the poem Kid, etc. which led to
effort-action-result-experience.
3. 2. 1. 1. 1. The Socioculturalspiritual Context
Simon Armitage is a contemporary British poet. The contemporary poets are dissatisfied and fed
up (i.e., as a characteristic of disposition) with the iconoclastic, formless, groundless, and
unreachable populist poetry (ra:jasik-ta:masik action) of the postmodernist poets (ra:jasik
reaction) and they felt that poetry should have social engagement, language should not be a mere
play of signs without any signification, and it should appeal to the masses without which it will
not survive (sa:ttvik reaction). So, this is a sa:ttvik-ra:jasik trait. As a result, there is a protest
against postmodernist poetry by the contemporary poets such as Simon Armitage followed by
variation in their poetry.
Equation (2) now gets apparently transformed to instantiate this variation as follows:
(2a) Disposition (Sattvik-Rajasik Traits)
Dispositional Bias (Disgust with Rajasik-Tamasik Action) Response Bias (Sattvik-Rajasik
Reaction) Choice (Sattvik-Rajasik Poetry) Variation (as Contemporary Poetry).
Once the poet is motivated to react against the postmodernist values, this reaction sets up a
Dispositional Functional Pressure in him which impels a desire to write poetry that shares the
values he believes in and which are against postmodernist values. This can be captured by
apparently transforming equation (1) as follows:
(1a) Disposition (Sattvik-Ra:jasik) Desire (for Contemporary Poetry Characteristics)
Action (Contemporary Poetry) Result Experience
[The D.F.P. impels desires within the major desire to be fulfilled through the means of lingual
action (poem/poetry) and thus leads to the choice of form-content-function-style features of the
concerned poem/poetry in the form of the cognition of a cogneme in the given context
recursively – in cogneme-cognition networks – until all the desires to fulfill the major desire are
fulfilled.]
Against this background, his desire (by dispositional choice) to write poetry about social
issues and also against the postmodernist values activated one long term memory of a visit to a
local town planning department and inspired him to choose that incident as a topic for writing a
poem with social engagement against postmodernist values.
(3) Disposition Desire Effort ( Activation of Memory) Inspiration.
3. 2. 1. 1. 2. Visit to the Local Town Planning Department
In “Simon Armitage on his poem A Vision”, Simon Armitage informs (BBC Learning Zone
Broadband Class Clips 2012) us that the original stimulus for that poem came from a visit to the
town planning department in his home town and the effect this visit had on his imagination as a
child. In terms of KCLA, this means that we can motivate the inspiration to write the poem A
Vision by a top-down process since we have first hand information from the horse‟s mouth, the
poet himself. Again, the poem is not written immediately with a spontaneous overflow of
emotional feelings by automaticity; but it has been written a long time after his childhood, and
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probably by a heuristic process (through emotions recollected in tranquility as in Wordsworth‟s

terms), about “the theme of how the passing of time affects our sense of optimism for the
future”.
3. 2. 1. 1. 3. Motivation of Poetic Intentionality by a TGCA Graph
If we use the Cogneme-Cognition Graph from Bhuvaneswar 2012 a as shown in KLT Graphs 1
and 2 below in the next page 8, we can motivate this inspiration as follows. First, the effect of
his visit to the town-planning department [the experience (bho:gam) of the result (phalam) of his
visit (karma „action‟) - karmaphalabho:gam] is stored as an impression in his long term memory
(as a va:sana) and becomes a part of Knowledge in his Disposition (Svabha:vam) in the first
quadrant of the graph. The poetry-writing Trait in his Disposition impacts on this stored
knowledge at a later time when he became a poet and produces a desire – through individual
freedom – to write a poem from his poetic va:sana:s (internalized habits or skills). This
dispositional knowledge works through the resultant world view quadrant 2 of his society and
culture to produce an SCS-Dispositional Knowledge (as world view). This again impacts on the
fourth quadrant of contextual lingual action resolved from the context and the lingual action to
produce SCS-Contextual-Dispositional Action. Finally, this impels a desire to write the poem A
Vision in the third quadrant of cogneme-cognition. Thus, he cognizes the desire to write the
poem as, say, “let me write a poem on this social issue of town planning (with reference to the
town plan of my home town”.
[Eventually, as his desire impels him to write the poem A Vision in the third quadrant of
cogneme-cognition by recursive cognition, he cognizes the poem to visualize the parts and the
whole in an atomic-(w)holistic I-I-I network. Then the poem A Vision is materialized in ink on a
paper (or orally as in extempore poems) through the fourth quadrant by a reverse materializing
action.]
This desire is nothing but propositional knowledge which is cognized as differential awareness
of this and that as so and so in such and such manner in the form of language. This differential
awareness which is cognized as a desire, or as a component of poetic lingual action (form-
content-function in a particular style), or as the whole poem is called a cogneme- its variety,
range, and depth can be just a word, or it can extend up to an epic and even more. This is the
means of all dispositional, sociocognitive linguistic action which is Ka:rmik Linguistic Action.
From this analysis, we understand how this theme is first motivated in the socio-cultural-
spiritual (SCS) context of his home town in a past-present-future spatio-temporal-material (STM)
context of the particular instance of town planning in the inclinational-informational-habitual
(IIH) context of writing the poem by the poet about the social issue of town planning – of course,
all as a result of individual freedom in the framework of a context which is a part in the Basic
Network of the Components of a Poem.
This can be captured in the following diagram:
Dispositional (IIH) Context
Material (STM) Context ● Social (SCS) Context
The Poem: A Vision
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Network 4: Atomic-(w)holistic Cogneme Network of the Poem A Vision

Cogneme-Cognition Network for a Poem
Legend
The Individual Consciousness (the Being in the Human Being or the soul or the ji:va)
The Triad (sattva giving knowledge of activity; rajas giving choice of activity by traits; and tamas giving
inertia or materiality of activity by va:sana:s) of Disposition
Horizontal Line; Vertical Line; Diagonal Line: Horizontal, Vertical, and Diagonal Axes;
I, II, III, and IV : the quadrants 1, 2, 3, and 4 gives rise to
s 1.inner (pasyanthi „cognitive‟); 2. medial ( madhyama „pattern‟); 3. outer (vaikhari „form or phonic‟)
levels of realization of language
Spirituality Ideology Cogneme Concept

Society Participants
World View Quadrant II Concept Quadrant III Outer Circle

Culture Relation (Vaikahari)
Guna:s Context Medial Circle
Disposition Quadrant I Context Quadrant IV (Madhyama)
Knowledge Knowledge Vasanas Activity Inner Circle

(Dispositional) (Phenomenal) Contextual Actionality (Pasyanthi)
Actionality (lingual)
KLT Graphs: 1. Combined Triaxial Quadrants of Cognitive Actionality ; 2. Tricircled D-Q-C Creating Action (KLT)
KCLA is dispositional, socio-cognitive linguistic in its framework and has therefore more
explanatory power than other theories since it explains the intricate mechanism of creating a
poem; more descriptive adequacy than other theories since it takes into consideration all the
available data of form-content-function-style-context and then scientifically describes the
process of creating a poem as a whole; and finally more psychological validity than other non-
psychological theories since it captures the real psychological processing of the poem in a real
context. This motivation of poetic intentionality is crucial since poetic intentionality becomes the
ka:rmik centre of meaning from which the thematic development radiates under the
circumference of the whole meaning of the poem. Thus, it limits and focuses meaning and blocks
free play by the exploitation of aporia or differences as in a deconstructive approach.
3. 2. 2. Motivation of the Composition of a Poem by Vivartam in A:dhya:sam
The composition of the poem should be fleshed out on the analogy of a seed-sprout-tree or
[concept - blue print - structure of a building] evolution in the spatiotemporalmaterial-
socioculturalspiritual-inclinationalinformationalhabitual matrix of the poet’s environment and
disposition. It can be done in three ways all under the Principle of A:dhya:sam: 1. by vivartam
(apparent transformation ) from the perspective of the poet; 2. by a:nushangikatvam (the
transformation of the cause into the effect like clay into pot ); and 3. by a:dhya:sam
(superimposition ) from the perspective of the Critic and the Reader. Since we know the cause
or poetic intentionality (concept), we can construct the pattern and structure (P&S) as well as the
form of A Vision by vivartam of the Concept into P&S and finally into Form by gradual
evolution in a causal perspective by a top-down process as shown below.
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(4) Concept (Cause) of A Vision Pattern & Structure of A Vision Form of A Vision.
The same gradual evolution can be looked at from a dynamic perspective in an around-the-
object process by a:nushangikatvam (like the transformation of the cause clay into the effect pot)
of the concept into the P&S as thought and the P&S in turn into the Form (Sound) by categorial
transformation of thought into sound as shown in the following equation.
(5) Concept of A Vision Pattern & Structure [+ Concept] of A Vision
Form [Pattern & Structure + Concept (Cause) of A Vision
Finally, the same gradual evolution can be looked at from a synoptic perspective in a bottom-
up process by a:dhya:sam of the form onto the P&S and the P&S in turn on to the Concept
(Cause) as shown in the following equation.
(5) Form of A Vision Pattern & Structure of A Vision Concept (Cause) of A Vision
To explain further, the cause gradually evolves into its pattern and structure as it is embodied by
it and the P&S gradually evolves into Form as it is further embodied by its material form (of the
poem). Cause and P&S (like the concept of the building and its blue print) are abstract whereas
Form (like the real material building) is concrete. Therefore, in the case of the Concept (C), the
conceptual awareness of the poem as C [A Vision] transforms into another differentiated
awareness as P&S [A Vision] without any categorial transformation; but the transformation of
the P&S into form is like the casting process of P&S onto matter (sound).
P&S Form
P&S
Cause Cause
Concept (Cause) Pattern &Structure Form
Diagram 1: A:dhya:sam of Form and P&S on Form
This model is directly inspired by Sri: A:di Samkara Bhagavatpu:jyapa:dah‟s unparalleled
empirical interpretation of creation which is now getting established in quantum physics.
Having first established the poetic intentionality, the P&S of the poem is visualized in terms of
the content and its functions in a particular form: the content of the poem (as we observe it from
the text of the poem) is gradually evolved from the poetic intentionality by vivartam or
a:nushangikatvam in terms of a discipline (subject, topic), theme, motifs, symbols and
leitwortstil; in a similar way, the functions in terms of speech acts are identified in a parallel
process according to the US Poetic Lingual Action as given in the Networks 3 a and b in
Bhuvaneswar 2012 b: 12-13 in this book; they then embody the poetic intentionality of C-q-D in
a P&S of the poem as informed by the Knowledge of the Poem as shown in networks 5 and 6
given in the next page.
In the following star network, the cognitive process of the cognition of P&S Cogneme is
networked. In the first network, a mini model of a star network consisting of the star which is the
centre is surrounded by planets and satellites. The star is the central point of cognition around
which subordinate cognitions take place. In the second network, how the P&S of the poem A
Vision takes place is captured. The seed of the poem which is the poetic intentionality as
Consciousness-qualified-Dispositional Knowledge (C-q-D) apparently transforms by vivartam
into the P&S of A Vision as shown in the network. C-q-D is the source for cognition and is
surrounded by three planets D (Disposition), C (Context), and L (Lingual Action). As the poet is
impelled by his traits of Disposition, he gets the desire to write a poem in terms of speech acts as
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lines and stanzas in a context as shown by the context planet. Again, he visualizes different types
of speech acts (Three Representatives (R) and three Directives) as a function of language from
the Language (L) planet. These speech acts embody 8 important items of propositional content to
form the P&S of the poem in 5 four-line stanzas of a total of 20 lines. This is how the P&S is
cognized from the poet‟s phenomenal and poetic knowledge and va:sana:s from his perspective.
a. Star Network Model b. P&S (Sprout) Network of the Poem
Traits
Satellite Disposition of the Poet
Dec
Planet Knowledge Va:sana:s E Com.
Star D D R Directive
•
• ● P
C L C C-q-D L &
Seed of Poem S
1 Line of
8 item 2 Function Poem
7 3 Poem Speech Act Form Content
6 4 Stanza Context Style
5 Knowledge of the Poem
Sprout of the Poem
Legend: D Disposition; C Context; L Lingual Action; Com. Commissives; R Representative; E Expressive; Dec
Declaration; C-q-D Consciousness-qualified-Disposition;
Networks 5 and 6 . Star Network in Operation: P&S (Sprout) Cogneme – Cognition A Vision
The composition of the poem now shifts to the plane of the knowledge of the poem for
developing the cogneme of P&S (content and function (ka:rmik) network (blue print)) and also
developing the sprout of the poem in the poem’s plane in a parallel process.
3. 2. 3. Production of the Poem A Vision
Once the P&S are cognized in a ka:rmik network of P&S, and as they are fleshed out in the
Knowledge Plane to be this and that as so and so in such and such manner, the poem is
materialized into its orthographic/phonetic form in a particular style in the given context. The
choice of style involves the selection of imagery, symbolism, tone, voice, figures of speech,
function, content, form, and aesthetic appeal as given in the network 3a and 3b in Bhuvaneswar
2012 b: 12-13. The context is already out there for the poet since he is writing the poem in that
context in which he is situated; however, he can think of the context of the poem related to its
content in an inclinational informationalhabitual-spatiotemporalmaterial-
socioculturalspiritualmaterial context. A poem is produced according to the Poetic Creative
Capability (PCC) and Poetic Compositional Capability (PCoC).
3. 3. Knowledge of the Poem
The vivartam of the authorial intentionality to comment on the social issue of town planning
projects a stated purpose in the poem A Vision to tell the reader about the neglect of grand plans
for a beautiful future by the government, with special reference to town planning and an implied
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purpose to criticize inefficient governance in town planning, which is stated in the very first
line: The future was a beautiful place, once and again supported in the last stanza:
at the landfill site, stamped with today’s date,
all unlived in and now fully extinct.
This purpose along with the theme of how “the passing of time affects our sense of optimism for
the future has sprouted into a pattern and structure (P&S).
This P&S develops first into function, and then into content, form (and style) in a context in a five
pointed star of cognition network of Knowledge of Poem as shown in the networks 1 and 6. At the
level of function, the main purpose of the poem is to comment on how the passing of time affects
our sense of optimism for the future and it is projected through the content of a town plan in the
Town Planning Department in his home town Marsden with six speech acts: three representatives
(assertives) and three directives in four sentences (three assertives and one directive) and two groups
of long-winding noun phrases (with adjectival modification, possessive noun phrases, etc.) with
implied directives “(You) remember” at the beginning of each sentence of four stanzas with
twenty lines (see p. 3 for the content of these speech acts as shown in the poem in this article).
The speech acts in the poem are embodied by the following important types of selected
propositional content in the style of a narrative sequence – all drawn from outside, the external world
and not from within as meaningless signifiers:
1. outdated visions of the future popularized by TV shows like The Jetsons or Earth 1999; and 2001:
A Space Odyssey .
2. the architect's technical drawings or 'blueprints'
3. The American style grid layouts or street plans shown on the drawings becoming board-game
suburbs (think Monopoly), with the little squares reflecting blocks and cul-de-sacs as squares on a
board game.
4. Futuristic cars similar to those in Star Wars or The Jetsons and their comparison with 'executive
toys' such as tabletop golf, model sports cars and magnetic puzzles.
5. the bottle bank where 'people like us', that is the people who live in their future city, are going
about their perfectly sociable and lovely habits, walking dogs, caring for the environment, wandering
across picture perfect 'over tended' grass and motoring about in their perfect little model cars.
6. left-hand signed or 'underwritten' drawings in a 'true legible script';
7. finding of plans from landfill site;
8. stamped drawings with today's date” (Bhuvaneswar 2012 a: 19-20).
This P&S became eventually the tree of the poem A Vision with its form-content-function-style-
context as it is dispositionally cognized as a cogneme of the poem.
3. 3. 1. Cognition of the Pattern and Structure of the Poem A Vision
Once a poet is inspired to write a poem, his dispositional creativity impels him to make an
exertion to fulfill his desire to write the poem. Consequently, he performs the poetic action to
create the poem and experience the results of his action as pleasure or pain or none. But writing a
poem is not as simple as talking in a conversation, since it is a very complex process that
demands poetic knowledge, and skills in addition to inspiration. As a result, he must have a
thorough understanding of WHY he wants to write the poem, HOW to write the poem, and
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WHAT should be the poem as a whole. Unless and otherwise, he takes into consideration WHY
he wants to write the poem, he will not be able to successfully plan and execute the manner,
place, and time of writing the poem. The WHY of the poem leads to its causality, without which
the WHAT and HOW of the poem become meaningless. There is an I-I-I between the why-what-
how of any action and so poetic action too. This relation is captured in Network 2 in p.3 of this
article.
What is more, at all these levels, the poet has to make choices and he should have individual
freedom to make these choices. To put it metaphorically, the WHY is the concept of the house
which is the poem (WHAT). As such it contains every aspect of the poem in its unmanifest state,
as its CONCEPT, which is called the Pasyanthi state of language in Indian Grammar (shown as
the inner circle in KLT Graph 2 in p. 8 of this article and also Bhuvaneswar 2012 a). This
CONCEPT of the poem, say, A Vision, evolves into the PATTERN AND STRUCTURE of the
poem (Madhyama in Indian Grammar) as like the blue print of the house which further evolves
into the constructed house when the workers build it. This pattern and structure of the poem is
cognized through the dispositional creativity of the poet (just like an architect) by I-I-Iing the
choice of various components of a poem. To do so, the poet, according to KCLA, should do
Exploration of Contextual Variables (ECV) (looking for the available options from the networks
of Components of a Poem, Productive Extension of Variables (PEV), or Creation of New
Variables (CNA) of Contextual Variables (CV) available. To put it in the words of Armitage,
when he is already inspired, a poet has to go out in search of HOW and WHAT of the poem:
“when I've sort of gone out and got the poem, I've gone looking for it, because I've been in that
mood,..”; but to go out and get the poem, he has to make choices to get the poem.
Questions like these crop up in the poet‟s mind: Do I want to write the poem with a clearly
defined social purpose or shall leave the poem in ambiguity with multiple meanings fixed within
the text?; Do I want to write the poem with a mass appeal or shall I write the poem with abstract,
imaginary ideas without reference to issues the world out there; with undefined traces of
meaning which cannot be definitively fixed in other texts; with fractures deliberately instituted
into the text to allow subversion and turning over the binary oppositions?; Do I want to write the
poem in a particular form, using a particular type of line arrangement, choice of language, and
prosodic structure?; What type of content should I choose and with what themes, motifs,
symbols, and leitworstil? What functions should the poem perform? What type of style should I
use in terms of imagery, symbolism, tone, voice, figures of speech, etc? Or, do I write simply as
it comes by without any specific planning and accept it as it is? Such an action may or may not
give a good poem.
In the case of Simon Armitage, he does brainstorming. As he puts it, “most of my poems start
with daydreams; an idea leads to another idea leads to another idea and really before I know
what I am doing I am somewhere into the poem. I have to snap out of the daydream and actually
that’s the stuff poems are made of (Simon Armitage 2010 a)”: unless and otherwise he exercises
individual freedom to snap out, he cannot do so. For example, in developing a pattern and
structure to the poem A Vision, there is a visualization of “the theme of how the passing of time
affects our sense of optimism for the future” by superimposing (adhya:sam) it on the topic of
town planning with reference to an event in his home town Marsden. We can also assume on the
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basis of his interview that the poet contemplated on what to write as the poem and how to write
it. In this process, he will again choose the function and the content of the poem - automatically,
or heuristically, or algorithmically but in this case heuristically.
As Simon Armitage‟s desire impels him to write the poem A Vision in the third quadrant of
cogneme-cognition in the KLT Graph 1, he makes an effort to write the poem heuristically by
the Principle of Exploration of Variables which consists of the Principle of Exploration of
Contextual Variables (ECV) by which the variables available are dispositionally chosen by the
sub-principle of the Given-Seen-Chosen, Productive Extension of Variables (PEV) by which any
variable which is so chosen is modified to suit the dispositional use of it , and Creation of New
Variables (CNV) by which a new variable is dispositionally created since the existing variables
are discarded.
Various ideas to support the main theme are visualized in a similar way by recursive cognition
of the parts as obtained in the poem and the whole in an atomic-(w)holistic I-I-I network. Once
such a pattern is cognized, it becomes the P&S Cogneme of the poem. This poetic cogneme-
cognition can be automatic, heuristic, or even algorithmic. Once, it is generated, it makes clear
the way in which the poem evolved gradually from one stage to another stage and the causes for
its growth can be easily identified. Finally, the poem can be motivated scientifically and
linguistically from its cause-to-effect state via the means of poetics in terms of a clearly
delineated poetic cogneme from the operation of a:dhya:sam.
In addition, he decides on the other qualities of the theme in terms of its type, class, and
structure. This purpose and this theme have to be embodied by the content through a form and
style in the unmarked case of creating a poem – the creation of a poem can occur from any angle,
sometimes from a formal perspective, sometimes from a stylistic perspective, and sometimes
from a contextual perspective depending on the dispositional inclinations of the poet. So as he
visualized the poem A Vision, he must have seen in his „mind‟s eye‟, the form and style – in a
parallel process, i.e., all the three components of the poem (content, form, and style) - in which it
should be written, as Armitage talked specifically about form and style in a recent interview (see
3. 4. 4. Beautification of the Tree of the Poem, p. 15 in this article for the details).
In the selection of all these details, we see a direct engagement with social practices obtained
in his society: tv shows of visions of future, technical drawings of urban architecture, children‟s
games of monopoly, executive toys, and a landfill site. Each item is assigned a social purpose to
contribute to the central theme in an I-I-I network in atomic-(w)holistic functionality: the whole
as the drawings of a city pointing to the necessity of a beautiful living environment containing
the parts of the street plans, model car rides, perfectly social and lovely habits, walking dogs, and
over-tended grass as models of fine living that are needed to make living worth living. The
metaphor „board game suburbs‟ used serves the purpose of capturing how the child imagined the
architect‟s model of the future city. The metaphor „executive toys‟ serves the function of
depicting the present day fancies of executives. Finally, the unfortunate dumping of these plans
is the last nail on the coffin about such impractical plans and the careless attitude towards such
plans. All these features serve the overall function to tell the story with the intended purpose and
project the theme. In addition, these details have a great mass appeal since they affect and
reflect the day to day life of the masses. In other words, there is a superimposition (a:dhya:sa) of
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mass appeal on the social practices selected. Hence, the ideas mentioned within the text are not
mere signifiers without any outside world reference. Here, meaning is generated within the text
from outside influence, of course with poetic imagination but not as mere free play.
In the following radial network (given in the next page), the entire process of poetic action is
captured as a ka:rmik process:
(6) Karma-Disposition-Desire-Effort-Poetic Action in Context [Function-Content-Form-
Style]-Result-Experience.
3. 4. The Poem’s Plane
3. 4. 1. Seed Formation: The poetic intentionality becomes the seed of the poem. As already
explained, in the case of A Vision, the poetic intentionality of the poet is to write on the social
issue of town planning with reference to the town plan in his home town in a manner which is a
protest against postmodernism - as it has been reasonably and authoritatively established from
the poet‟s interviews.
3. 4. 2. Sprout Formation: The gradual evolution of the poetic intentionality into a pattern and
structure of the poem is the sprout of the poem. It should be worked out in a top-down process
by making use of the data that is available within the poem, across the interrelated-
interconnected-interdependent texts by the same author and others, and outside from other non-
literary sources as well. It is done by centring the poetic intentionality and the other data
available should be drawn like a tree pattern and structure. Systemic networks can be made use
of to establish these patterns and structures in terms of major themes (like the trunk), minor
themes (like the main branches), motifs (like the sub-branches), symbols (like the flowers) and
leitwortstil (like the fruits) of the tree of the poem.
Karma Disposition Desire Effort
Purpose Propositional
Function Content
Poetic
Speech Acts Action Rhetorical
Imagery Symbolism Body Language
Voice Style Tone Form
F. O. S Content Prosody
Form Aesthetic Appeal Result (Poem)

Experience
Network 6: Radial Network of Poetic Action
3. 4. 3. Tree Formation: The sprout is then fleshed out (worded out) by turning the thematic
content into propositional content (material, mental, social, spiritual, and mixed) into
grammatical content (body, language, and prosody) into the phono-lexical-syntactic form of the
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tree as shown in the sub-network 3b of Bhuvaneswar 2012 b and captured in equation (6). Then
the poem A Vision is materialized in ink on a paper (or orally as in extempore poems) through
the fourth quadrant by a reverse materializing action.]
3. 4. 4. Beautification of the Tree of the Poem: As the sprout grows into the tree, it is qualified
in its substantiation (like a lotus by its colour, shape, and texture) by the appropriately but
dispositionally chosen features of style which are imagery, symbolism, and figures of speech as
well as function and aesthetic appeal in a chosen tone and voice throughout the content.In this
connection, we have another interesting remark made by Armitage about how he begins a poem:
I tend to think that poems come pre-packaged, and that when the idea suggests itself to
me the form comes with it: I sort of see it in my mind's eye - particularly with poems that
come as blocks of text, you know, that look like gravestones or something like that, or
those that come as quatrains and look like hymns. They don't always stay in that form
because when I start writing I'll sometimes notice that there is a pattern of language,
perhaps a rhyme or a repetition, and that might suggest some further, you know, physical
form or shape on the page, but I think I do imagine these things to be predetermined in
some way - that they are somehow in concert with the whole idea of the poem and with
the style of the poem because I don't think I would ever embark on a poem unless I
knew its style - style is everything to me, in writing. You know, the subject is almost -
well it's not kind of insignificant but the style is the main thing: I think that is what people
are interested in poems. (An Interview with Simon Armitage, Poetry Archives, 2010 b)
[The sentence emphasized here again asserts the role of individual freedom in choice at a
personal level and at a poetic level – the postmodernists are averse to stylistic choices of rhyme,
rhythm, etc.]
3. 4. 5. Contextualization of the Tree of the Poem: As the tree of the poem gradually evolves
thus into a work of art, it is displayed in its context of creation which is spatiotemporalmaterial
(place-time-material), socioculturalspiritual, and inclinational-informational-habitual. As it is
produced and presented to the readers, it is next evaluated.
IV. Conclusion
Once such an analysis is made as mentioned above, it becomes easy to clearly assess the poem
and chart out guidelines for its understanding and experience as discussed below.
4. 1. Evaluation of the Poem
Once this poetic cogneme is identified, and its apparent transformation from the seed-to-sprout-
to-tree states are described, it is then transferred into the experiential cognition of the critic as a
Poetic Ka:rmeme by dispositionalization from the first quadrant of KLT Graph 1 (see p. 8 in
this article) and used as the handle of the trident in Network 1. It is then evaluated in a bottom-up
process from the text-to-authorial intentionality for reader receptivity of experiential possibility
as well as in around-the-text process for socioculturalspiritual contextual acceptability by
a:dhya:sam: the analyzed text is superimposed on to the pattern and structure of the poem and
then again on to the poetic intentionality finally.
In the process of a:dhya:sam, we discover how the poem concentrates on a central image of
the town plan and expands on it with great detail. Consequently, we notice that it is
antideconstructionist in its design. Furthermore, we notice that the traditional binary oppositions
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of the establishment Vs antiestablishment are overturned in the main theme itself: instead of
supporting great city plans, it derides them in an anticlimax. Thus, we cannot deconstruct this
poem in the strictly Derridean sense of the term. On the other hand, it is a straight case for
KCLA: one of a poet‟s lament over neglected plans. Similarly we resolve the paradoxical ideas
of a positive title A Vision and its destruction in the poem as anticlimax starting from the first
line (creating the first set of paradox) and ending with the last stanza in a planned temporal
scheme (creating the second set of paradox with the first line). What happened after the first line
and the last stanza cannot be aporia since it is the bulk of the poem and it only serves the
function of explaining the architect‟s Vision in the Town Plan. Even sous rature appears to be
inapplicable because the theme is very clear about a grand plan and its abandonment owing to
administrative inefficiency - there is no udecidability and self-contradiction to demand a sous
rature. Finally, the poem is (w)holistically, that is, ka:rmemikally, experienced to gain the
aparo:ksharasa:nubhu:ti (non-indirect aesthetic pleasure derived from reading the poem) (see
Bhuvaneswar 2012 b, p.10) and it is conveyed to the reader by its critique.
4. 2. Guidelines for Understanding, Evaluation and Experience of the Poem
This aesthetic pleasure manifests at three levels in concentric circles (ibid.). The first circle
denotes the inward unmanifest pleasure – the being is charged with bliss derived from reading
the poem; the second circle denotes its semi-manifest pleasure which is informed by an abstract
knowledge of how the poem is composed; and the third circle denotes manifest pleasure realized
by body language, laughter, praise, etc.
This KCLA of a poem is author-centred and depends on the reasonably, and authoritatively
available evidence of authorial intentionality for its success and the text is uncovered by
superimposition whereas in apava:dam the text is discovered by negation. It can be applied to
any type of a text, including multiple-meaning texts, depending on the availability of authorial
intentionality. Simon Armitage‟s poetry is amenable to this kind of KCLA by superimposition. It
solves the problem of aporia, dissemination, and sous rature by focussing and limiting the
meaning around authorial intentionality. It can also be applied to Keats‟ poems with negative
capability. It also takes the evaluation of the poet‟s insights into the nature of the world
(worldview) outside the poem into the socioculturalspiritual context, which is its correct place.
References
Armitage, Simon (2010a). “Simon Armitage Interviewed”. National Poetry Day 2010. Youtube.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxvzSeBCfiM.
Armitage, Simon (2010b). “How do you decide what form to use in a poem?”, in: An Interview with Simon
Armitage. The Poetry Archive, http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singleInterview.do?interviewId=1419
_______ (2012). Simon Amitage on his poem A Vision. http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/simon-
armitage-on-his-poem-a-vision/13451.html
Bhuvaneswar, Chilukuri (2012 a). “Deconstruction and Logocentrism: A Ka:rmik Linguistic Perspective”.
Language Forum.
________ (2012 b). “Deconstruction of a Poem I: A Ka:rmik Linguistic Perspective”. Language
Forum.
Wikipedia (2012). “Deconstruction”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction.
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BBC GCSE Bitesize (2012 b). “Structure and Language of A Vision”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/poetryplace/avisionrev3.shtml
_________ (2012 c) . “Attitudes, Themes, and Ideas”. BBC GCSE Bitesize Attitudes, Themes, and Ideas-
shtml.mht. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/poetryplace/avisionrev4.shtml
A Vision conveys a negative picture of the present by describing wishful plans for the future
"stamped with today's date" which are in fact "fully extinct". The reader is invited to
compare the present, in which they live, with the way people imagined it might be. This
creates a disconcerting assertion: will our futures be any better?
A Vision can also be read at a metaphorical level: the model (representing the future) has
been dumped at a landfill site, which could suggest that we've abandoned our hopes of
making the world a better place. It's noticeable that some of the features of the imagined
future are green, for example, the narrator refers to a "bottle bank" and "model
drivers/motoring home in electric cars". Perhaps Armitage is suggesting that we're not
trying hard enough to make our future better and greener.
Structure and language

A Vision is written in blank verse, neatly divided into five four-line stanzas. This tight
structure may be intended to reflect the tidy and clean construction of the architect's
model. It is also an interesting choice for a poem imagining the future, given the association
of blank verse with historic writers, such as Shakespeare.
Sound
A Vision does not rely on rhyme or many other sound-related effects for its impact.
However, there is some subtle use of assonance in the second stanza in the description of
the future which has many long vowel sounds. This contributes to an intended sense of
airiness and lightness in the poem.
There are other places where some subtle alliteration gently emphasises key phrases: the
letter 'b' in "full-blown balsa-wood", for example.
Imagery
Some of the language used to describe models shows construction from appropriate
materials. However, vocabulary like "fuzzy-felt grass" and "board-game suburbs" is
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suggestive of child's play, confirming that this future was only ever imaginary and the plans
were not serious.
The materials of future cities - "smoked glass" and "tubular steel" - contrast sharply with
the material that the model is made of, as "balsa wood" is flimsy, even fragile, which is also
how the vision turns out to be.
These planned cities are "dreams". Although the metaphor of cities being "cantilevered by
light" sounds amazing and beautiful, it also creates a sense of unreality as a cantilever is
meant to be a solid structure like a bracket that supports a balcony.
There is a clear sense of paradox (contradiction) in the poem: from the opening line, which
describes the "future" in the past tense - it "was a beautiful place, once", to the "true,
legible script" of the architects' writing on the plans that don't turn out to be "true" because
they never become a reality.
Subject
In A Vision Armitage describes the discovery of an architect's model - complete with minute
detail and imagined inhabitants - and wonders at all the hopes and plans that such models
were intended to represent. The poem gives an elevated and beautiful description of the
ideal civic life, subverted (undone) by the final revelation that the "Cities like dreams",
which these models encapsulate, are "now fully extinct".
Context
Simon Armitage was born in 1963 in West Yorkshire, where he still lives. He studied
Geography at Portsmouth University and completed an MA at Manchester, where he wrote
his dissertation on the effects of television violence on young offenders. Afterwards he
worked as a probation officer, a job which influenced many of the poems in his first
collection, Zoom! (1989).
His poetry demonstrates a strong concern for social issues, as well as drawing on his
Yorkshire roots. Armitage is often noted for his "ear" - holding a strong sense of rhythm and
metre.
Armitage is not only a poet: as well as publishing 15 collections of poetry, he has written for
film, television and radio, completed two novels as well as non-fiction books, and writes the
lyrics for his band The Scaremongers. He has also written translations of the Middle English
tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Homer's Odyssey
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Comparison
Price We Pay for the Sun
 Both poems contrast an image with reality and find that while the image is
beautiful, reality is not.
 However, A Vision concentrates on a central image, expanding it with great
detail, whereas Price We Pay for the Sun dismisses picture postcards to focus on the
descriptions of reality.
 Both poets use the technique of mixing their description of people and place: the
characters in Price We Pay for the Sun are associated with strong natural imagery,
while Armitage puns on the "model drivers" of the future in A Vision.
Hard Water
 Although these poems are very different in style, they both use detail to create
depictions of their main subject.
 Both poems are narrated in the first person, although Hard Water is a more
personal poem.
 Both poems have paradoxical ideas in them - the future is in the past (in A
Vision), and apparently negative characteristics describe positive traits (in Hard Water).
 Simon Armitage (b. 1963) burst onto the poetry scene with Zoom! in 1989 and quickly established
himself as the most high-profile poet in the group dubbed 'The New Generation'. Born and brought
up in Huddersfield, England, Armitage worked as a probation officer before becoming a full-time
writer, a job that provided a particularly rich source of anecdote for his poetry. His northern roots
and ear for street-wise language gave his work a young, urban appeal and, combined with a
comedian's sense of timing, have made Armitage a geunuinely popular poet whose work features
regularly on the National Curriculum. He was the obvious choice for Poet-in-Residence for the New
Millennium Experience Company at the Dome, resulting in his acclaimed thousand-line poem, 'Killing
Time'. From an Eric Gregory Award in 1988 to his nomination for the T S Eliot Prize in 2002,
Armitage has been a frequent presence on shortlists for all the major poetry prizes. He is also a
successful writer of drama and prose, with two novels and a best-selling memoir, All Points North,
to his name. He was made a C.B.E. in the Queen's Birthday honours 2010.
With his acute eye for modern life, Armitage is an updated version of Wordsworth's "man talking to
men" for the post-punk generation. But his seemingly off-the-cuff style masks a sophisticated
craftsmen indebted to Auden, Muldoon and MacNeice as much as popular culture. His most
celebrated poems often take the form of monologue allowing him to don a variety of guises to probe
serious issues of identity, class and masculinity. So whilst the neat reversal of 'The Twang' might
make us laugh, its final image satirises "harmless" patriotism: "a collection box/for the National
Trust. I mean the National Front." Likewise the self-deprecating tone of 'You're Beautiful' is
subverted during the course of the poem, until the reader questions the gender assumptions it
asserts so insistently. Elsewhere story is transfigured into vision, with the equivocal miracles of
poems like 'Horses, M62' or 'The Tyre'.
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Armitage's northern accent gives his poetry an extra edge, his deadpan delivery as sharp as an
easterly over the Pennines. The listener feels the rhythms have grown naturally out of the poet's
speaking voice, no matter who is doing the talking.
His recording was made for The Poetry Archive on 12 July 2005 at the Audio Workshop, London and
was produced by Richard Carrington.

 Simon Armitage's website

 Faber & Faber
Why is poetry important to you?

Poetry is more important to me probably than it is to a lot of people. It's not important, say in the way
bread or love is important - I once heard someone reporting that Heaney had said it was an anthropological
necessity and to me that sounds like it's going too far but I think it's certainly a consequence, it's a kind of
human consequence, and I think we are a species that looks for pattern, and looks for significance, and
looks for meaning in a life, probably where there isn't that much meaning or significance, you know, unless
you're devoutly religious. So I think it's a way of not finding significance but actually inventing it, inventing
significance and sort of proving it to yourself, and I think it's a way of manifesting ourselves to ourselves, so
it's important on that level.
How does a poem begin for you?
If I knew where poems came from I'd probably go and get more of them than I have already! "I'm just not
sure" is the answer to that - I suppose sometimes there's an idea that I'm passionate about: it might be a
political idea and I feel as if I want to write about it, or language might come along and I might overhear
something and I want to take that language on, take it further, but I think probably at the base of it is some
kind of urge, you know, there is an urge to write, to create something, to express yourself. I think that's
probably at the very pit of it for me because I have had occasions when I've felt the urge to write with
nothing to write about, when I've sort of gone out and got the poem, I've gone looking for it, because I've
been in that mood, so . . . there's a mystery element to it and maybe on top of that mystery element for
me, and perhaps to do with my background, I don't know, there's some sense of having to get on with
something and not just sit around and do nothing. I've always been somebody who's worked or had a
proper job, and I suppose I've always felt that once I've declared myself a poet, I should be getting on with
it.
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What is the relationship between your speaking voice and your written voice?
I think part of the project of my poetry is to try and find a written way of demonstrating my voice. I think
when I started writing I noticed that the poems that people seemed to appreciate or wanted to publish in
magazines were the ones that had the closest relationship to my speaking voice - you know, they might
have contained some element of colloquial language or vernacular language, and I guess I've tried to
develop that. I mean it is impossible to write as we speak, and if we did that the poems would just look
dumb or crazy or very obscure, but I think it's about working out a plausible version in print culture, of what
is likely to come out of your mouth, and, you know, that's something I've been really keen to develop over
the years. And in fact I've started writing some dialect poems: you know, dialect poems are things that are
usually frowned on and make you local and insignificant and it's been very interesting for me, as somebody
from this part of the world, to try and find a way of representing some of the noises that people make round
here, because they, you know, in the phonetic alphabet they don't really exist.
How do you decide what form to use in a poem?
I tend to think that poems come pre-packaged, and that when the idea suggests itself to me the form comes
with it: I sort of see it in my mind's eye - particularly with poems that come as blocks of text, you know,
that look like gravestones or something like that, or those that come as quatrains and look like hymns. They
don't always stay in that form because when I start writing I'll sometimes notice that there is a pattern of
language, perhaps a rhyme or a repetition, and that might suggest some further, you know, physical form
or shape on the page, but I think I do imagine these things to be predetermined in some way - that they are
somehow in concert with the whole idea of the poem and with the style of the poem because I don't think I
would ever embark on a poem unless I knew its style - style is everything to me, in writing. You know, the
subject is almost - well it's not kind of insignificant but the style is the main thing: I think that is what
people are interested in in poems.
Do you work on poetry and prose at the same time?
I've tried to write poetry and prose at the same time. I don't mean with a pen in each hand, I mean, you
know, sort of, perhaps on the same day, and it just doesn't work. I think they're two different mindsets, and
I particularly notice that the poetry will spill over into the prose and the prose will become clogged and it will
become lyrical and it will even end up having rhymes in it! I've written a couple of novels and the first time I
sat down to embark on this first novel, you know, I simply didn't know how to do it. Poetry's become a kind
of first language, and my creative, literary thoughts appear as poems. So I had to keep going to the
bookshelf and picking out novels and reading a paragraph and reminding myself "Oh yes, that's prose, that's
how you do it!" I remember Margaret Atwood once saying that she thought they came out of different sides
of the brain. I don't know how you would prove that, but it sounds like a good metaphor to explain it.
Is the 'I' of your poems a fictional character?
There is a kind of fictional Simon Armitage that pops up in a lot of the poems, even those that seem overtly
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autobiographical. Poets are always complaining that when they use the word 'I' in a poem, readers are very
quick to assume that, you know, these are confessional in some way, and it's not always the case. But at
the same time I think poets are aware that that 'I' word is a useful little barb in a poem to catch hold of a
reader's attention. I suppose I tend to think that there are two versions of me - there's a sort of literary
Simon Armitage that I read about in papers, not always in glowing terms, and he makes me smile; and then
there's my other life, my kind of home life which is decidedly non-literary. And I'm always playing with the
persona of the literary Simon Armitage in the poems and, maybe these two characters sort of blur a little
bit. In my book Tyrannosaurus Rex versus the Corduroy Kid, there's a lot of experimenting with the self in
that book including a dialect poem which I dedicate to Simon Armitage. That might be seen as being
incredibly immodest, but actually, you know, I was thinking of dedicating a poem to a person I didn't really
recognise.
Simon Armitage's website
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Simon Armitage on his poem A Vision
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Key Info
 Simon Armitage on his poem A Vision
 Duration: 04:54
 Simon Armitage explores and explains the themes, ideas, feelings and attitudes behind A
Vision, and considers the language, structure and form of the poem linked to its central ideas.
He demonstrates the original stimulus for the poem with a visit to the town planning
department, demonstrating the effect that this visit had on his imagination as a child. This is
then contextualised with shots of a landfill site, used to demonstrate the theme of how the
passing of time affects our sense of optimism for the future. His reading of the poem is
combined with an explanation and analysis of some key words and phrases, illustrated with a
series of visual images.
 Subject:
English
Topic:
Poetry: Late 20th Century and Contemporary
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 Keywords:Armitage, poetry, A Vision, literature, Huddersfield, architecture,

SimonArmitageWritingPoems
Ideas for use in class
 To help students develop their interpretation of the poem. As a general introduction to the
themes and ideas of the poem. To illustrate some of the key images and visual aspects of the
poem. As stimulus for discussion of the language, structure and form of the poem. For
independent study and / or revision. Can be used in conjunction with 13452, 13453, 13454,
13455, 13456
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In the case of poetic motivation of Armitage, his liking for poetry (GuNa:s) and his knowledge to
write poetry impact on his va:sana:s to produce poetic dispositional knowledge stored in his
Consciousness-qualified-Disposition. When the being (ji:va) of Armitage is situated in his STM-
SCS context of Marseden and Yorkshire and Northern England, the D.F.P. in him activates
individual freedom and impels his poetic dispositional knowledge – as he puts it: “I think
probably at the base of it is some kind of urge, you know, there is an urge to write, to create
something, to express yourself. ” - to think through his society and culture to get a world view to
write poetry.
I suppose sometimes there's an idea that I'm passionate about: it might be a political
idea and I feel as if I want to write about it, or language might come along and I might
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overhear something and I want to take that language on, take it further, but I think
probably at the base of it is some kind of urge, you know, there is an urge to write, to
create something, to express yourself. I think that's probably at the very pit of it for me
because I have had occasions when I've felt the urge to write with nothing to write
about, when I've sort of gone out and got the poem, I've gone looking for it, because I've
been in that mood,.. (An Interview with Simon Armitage, Poetry Archives, 2012).
The phrases a political idea and overhear something are rooted in social engagement and they
are pursued through his individual freedom because his predecessors, the postmodernist poets,
are against this kind of social engagement. Armitage breaks out from this web by his
disenchantment with the postmodernist tradition.
His Dispositional Knowledge impacts on his World View (spirituality) to produce the desire to
write poetry on social issues with a purpose. This overall purpose on choosing social issues as
town planning projects, or begging, or violence, etc. is “a way of manifesting ourselves to
ourselves”. In this connection, it is pertinent to quote from what he said about his poetry:
I think it's certainly a consequence, it's a kind of human consequence, and I think we are a
species that looks for pattern, and looks for significance, and looks for meaning in a life,
probably where there isn't that much meaning or significance, you know, unless you're
devoutly religious. So I think it's a way of not finding significance but actually inventing it,
inventing significance and sort of proving it to yourself, and I think it's a way of manifesting
ourselves to ourselves, so it's important on that level. (An Interview with Simon Armitage,
Poetry Archives, 2012)
awareness is cognized as a desire in the first instance that gives us the poet’s intentionality, and
later on as a component of poetic lingual action (form-content-function in a particular style), or
as the whole poem. It is called a cogneme, and it can be just a word, or it can extend up to an
epic and even more in its variety, range, and depth. This is the means of all dispositional,
sociocognitive linguistic action which is Ka:rmik Linguistic Action. In this connection, we have
another interesting remark made by Armitage about how he begins a poem:
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are interested in poems. (An Interview with Simon Armitage, Poetry Archives, 2012)
rhythm, etc.]
Cogneme-Cognition action is recursive and it occurs at each and every phase of activity right
from its motivation to its final realization. For example, the cognition of a social theme as the
cogneme 1, purpose as the cogneme 2, mass appeal as the cogneme 3, the particular form as the
cogneme 4, and style as the cogneme 5 occur recursively. It is atomic-(w)holistic in the sense that
it occurs at the atomic level of the parts of the whole action - cognition occurs at the levels of
cognition of the cognemes 1-5 as parts - and again recursively at the level of cognition of the
whole poem as the whole as a single, unified unit; finally, it can be mental-vocal-physical and
take place as a thought for mental, as speech for vocal and as material for physical actions. For
example, when a person only thinks of an action, it becomes a mental cogneme; when he speaks,
it becomes a vocal cogneme; and when he acts physically, it becomes a physical cogneme.
Motivation to write a poem can occur automatically (by spontaneity), heuristically (by trial and
error), and algorithmically (by serial thinking) For example, the motivation to choose social
themes/purpose/mass appeal/form and style/individual freedom may be automatic as the poet
visualizes his poem, or it might have been got by trial and error by purposeful observation,
interpretation, identification, representation, initiation, communication, and experience of
individual and collective action in a linear, parallel, and radial processes, or algorithmically by
serial thinking from A..to...B…Z. What is more, it can come from any source. Whatever be the
case, choices propelled by individual freedom need not be necessarily status quo – they are
generally break-outs.
We can explain these processes by following a top-down, bottom-up, or around-the-object
processes. When we have the historical details of the evolution of the poem, we can use the top-
down process by starting from the poet‟s motivation in a context and analyzing the content-
function-form-style, which is the most authentic; if we don‟t have such details, we can go for a
bottom-up process using the effect-to-cause logic by analyzing the text and inducing the
motivation; and finally, if the historical and textual details are inadequate, the around-the-object
process can be used by looking at the text internally, historically, and contextually and joining
the bits and pieces of evidence to interpret the whole by inference.
We can also motivate social engagement in many of his poems such as The Clown Punk, Give,
Song, etc. in a similar way.
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3. Perspectives on Individual Freedom in Selected Contemporary British and American

Poets: A Ka:rmik Literary Theoretical Analysis
In the history of western literary criticism, numerous literary theories have cropped up right from
Plato (360 BC) to the present day. One researcher Resty S. Odon (2010) has identified 31 types
in his list of literary theories. The Purdue OWL document on Literary Theory and Schools of
Criticism identifies 11 schools of criticism starting from 360 B.C. (from Plato) to the present
day. Among these 11 schools, the emphasis is mainly on Moral Criticism, Dramatic
Construction, Formalism, Psychoanalytic Criticism, Marxist Criticism, Reader-Response
Criticism (1960s-present), Structuralism and Semiotics, Postmodern Criticism, New Historicism,
Cultural Studies, Post-Colonial Criticism, Feminist Criticism, Gender Studies and Queer Theory
as these important literary theories point out (Purdue OWL 2010). A detailed analysis of these
theories is beyond the scope of this article and the reader is referred to a succinct review of them
in the Purdue OWL document or a comprehensive review in the John Hopkins University
Literary Theory articles and Bhuvaneswar (2009) for a contrastive analysis with Ka:rmik
Literary Criticism on which this review draws heavily by lifting large chunks of analysis
verbatim to facilitate easier understanding, especially on Simon Armitage and literary theories –
with his (Bhuvaneswar) permission to do so freely.
What is very important to know for our purpose is that, as Bhuvaneswar (ibid.) points out, all
these theories are atomic and each one looks at literature from its own vantage point, for
example, “Marxist Criticism in terms of Marxist principles of class differences, oppression of the
working classes, distribution of wealth, etc., and Reader-Response Criticism in terms of the
active participation by the reader in constructing the meaning leading to the death of the author
and rejection of the (author)itarian role of the, and writer psychoanalytic criticism in terms of
Freudian and Jungian concepts of Id, Ego, Super Ego, etc. and repression, Oedipal dynamics,
psychoanalytic analysis character‟s behavior, narrative events, the author‟s psychological being,
and reader‟s psychological motives in his interpretation. Literature not only reflects class
struggle, or emotional style conflicts such as the Oedipal dynamics, or structural configurations
in terms of grammar, , and use of literary devices, or social concerns, etc. but also represents one
or more than one of them, or all of them in a whole.” To put differently, all these types of
features are only a part of the whole (literary work) where “the whole is equal to (in a formal
perspective), or greater than the part, or sum of the parts (as in a gestaltian view), or even beyond
them (in a causal or ka:rmik perspective since the parts are derived from the whole by addition,
subtraction, or evolution where the whole remains constant as it is with the parts as variable, not
vice versa)”. As such “the application of any one of these atomic theories to interpret a work of
art, which should be considered in toto but not in parts, fails in doing justice to the work as well
as the literary craft of interpretation” (Bhuvaneswar 2009).
What we need is a (w)holistic theory that takes into account all the cause-means-effect features
of literature and motivates literary analysis in an I-I-I networking of the form, function, meaning,
content, style, and context, and creation of the literary work in a unified framework - as a means
for the construction of experiential reality of the poet. Such a theory will be able to account for
the general as well as the particular issues in literary criticism and motivate the causality,
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processing, patterning, and structuring of the content, form, and style of the creative output.
(ibid.)
In the existing theories, only a few features are highlighted and selected for analysis; whereas in
the Ka:rmik Literary Theory (KLitT), Ka:rmik Critical Literary Analysis (KCLA) is conducted
in a (w)holistic manner. A poem and poetry are considered products of dispositional creativity
of the poet at the individual level and of the poets of a period or school at the collective level
for the construction of their poetic ka:rmik reality and the consequent experience of the
results of their poetic creativity. First, a poet exists and lives in a context; second, in that
context, he acts and creates a poem; alternatively, he reacts to the situation (in protest or support)
and creates a poem. To explain further, the poet is impelled by his disposition and gets a desire to
write a poem as an action or reaction to the context. Let us call this first phase the Stage of
Poetic Motivation (Inspiration and Support/Protest). In this stage, WHY he is writing the poem
(the Cause) is decided. Second, as he is inspired and gets the desire to compose a poem, he
makes poetic exertion and composes the poem. Let us call this second phase, the Stage of Poetic
Composition. In this stage, HOW he should write the poem in terms of the form-content-
function-style-context (i.e., the Pattern and the Structure and the Procedure in terms of manner,
place, and time as Means) is decided. As he exerts, he performs poetic composition through
Dispositional-Socioculturalspiritual-Contextual-Cognition of (Poetic) Action (DSCCA) and
produces the product (Effect) which is the poem. This is a complex stage where different
processes come into play depending upon the dispositional power of the poet: if he is totally
equipped with all that is necessary to compose a poem, the processing is automatic and the
whole poem is cognized spontaneously with a radial networking (like the spokes of a wheel) of
all the components of the poem as a cogneme (a single unified conception of the entire poem in
terms of its form-content-function-style in the perceived context; it is shown in the form of a
graph in DSCCA below); if he is partially qualified (with some aspects not well-conceived and
seen), it will be heuristic with a few trials and errors and the whole poem is evolved gradually
but quickly in a parallel process (like singing and dancing at the same time) as a cogneme; and
if he is poorly qualified, it will be algorithmic with many revisions and great effort and waste of
time in a linear process (doing things one by one as first A, then B, then C…). In this stage,
WHAT is produced is materialized. Let us call this third phase, the Stage of Poetic Production.
After the poem is created, it is presented to the readers and it is spread. Let us call this fourth
phase, the Stage of Presentation. When a poem is created, its result is experienced by the poet as
pleasure or pain; again, when it is presented, its result is experienced by the readers as well as the
poet for its appeal. This completes the First Cycle of Composing Poetry.
As the poem is propagated, other poets read it, react to it by getting inspired or by revolting
against the poem in terms of its form, content, function, style, and context. Consequently, they
follow it up and support it by writing more poems in that manner and subsequently create a
group or school in a Stage of Propagation; or, revolt against it partially or completely and blaze
a new trail in a Stage of Protest and Innovation. In both the stages of propagation and
innovation, there is Individual-Collective-Contextual-Conjunction (of poetic action and its)
Standardization (ICCCS). Again, in the Stages of Poetic Composition and Innovation, there is
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DSCCA. This completes the Second Cycle of Reading Poetry. This is the process of poetic
composition. To sum up, a poem is processed through two phases of creation and transmission in
six stages: 1. Creation: Motivation, Composition, and Production; and 2. Transmission:
Presentation, Propagation, and Protest and Innovation.
In order to motivate the variation in poems and poetic schools or periods, and find out the nature
of individual freedom in the creation of them, what we need to do is to I-I-I all these six stages as
captured in equation (3) and get a comprehensive profile of their characteristics, reception, and
experience. This I-I-Iing is done as a post-creative stage of poetry. In this stage, a poem/poetry is
interpreted from the perspective of the produced text in terms of its phase of creation (from
Motivation to Production) of its form-content-function-style in the given context in a linear
process. This is a dynamic view (as captured in the equation (2)) of how a poem is composed and
interpreted. Then it is compared and contrasted with the target poem/poetry to find out variation
and motivate its emergence from an experiential perspective, not necessarily a rhetorical
perspective. In an experiential perspective, the overall effect is taken into consideration without a
strict adherence to the rhetorical principles. In such a dynamic view of interpretation, the
interpretation can be limited to a few features (limited interpretation) or it can be comprehensive
(comprehensive interpretation). In KCLA, both limited and comprehensive interpretations can be
carried out depending upon the resources and time available. However, limited interpretations
are not final and should be done as a part of comprehensive interpretation.
Interpretations can be done from a synoptic perspective also in which all these six stages are I-I-
Ied in a random process – they are generally muddled without scientific rigour and fail to provide
a principled account of the poems/poetry. They can also be carried out in a potential perspective
(as captured in the equation (1)) in which the first three stages of motivation-composition-
production will be in their unmanifest state in the poet‟s imagination and the remaining stages
unfold as they are executed. In such cases, the first three stages are not taken care of by the critic
– these are also incomplete.
(1) Motivation Composition
● Presentation - Propagation - Innovation
Production A. Potential State of Creation of a Poem

(2) Motivation Composition Production Presentation Propagation Innovation
B. Dynamic State of Creation of a Poem
(3) Motivation Composition

Production ● Presentation Innovation
Propagation C. Synoptic State of Creation of a Poem
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In the next section, let us discuss all these stages one by one and motivate variation between
Postmodernist Poetry and Contemporary Poetry by Dynamic Interpretation. First, let us propose
a basic framework of the features of a poem to serve as a reference point for comparison and
contrast and variation.
3. 1. A Basic Network of the Characteristic Features of a Poem
Bhuvaneswar (2009) provides a very comprehensive network of various components of a poem
and their sub-classification. He visualizes a poem as consisting of five components as follows: 1.
Form; 2. Content; 3. Function; 4. Style; and 5. Context. Each of them is divided further and
further to its highest delicacy to provide extensive analytical knowledge of the features of a
poem. For example, Content is divided into two parts: Propositional Content (Semantics) and
Rhetoric. Again, the propositional content is further classified into five types: 1. Material; 2.
Intellectual; 3. Social; 4. Spiritual, and 5. Mixed. Furthermore, each of these levels is further
classified into a very high order of delicacy. For example, Social is divided into Social, Cultural,
and Religious and they are further classified and so on. For example, Social is further classified
according to Age, Gender, and Class which is again classified into Elite and Common. Since the
networks are too long, a basic network is adapted for the purpose of this paper as in Network 1
and 1a. given below in p. 9.
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3. 2 Context of Poetic Composition

Material Intellectual
Body Semantics Mental Emotional
Language Delusional
Prosody Propositional Age
(See Network1a for Content Social Gender Elite
more details) Class
Social Cultural Mass
Religious
Spiritual
Form Mixed
Subject
Content Discipline
Topic
Noumenal
Category
Phenomenal
Rhetoric Theme Movement
Structure
Logic
Function Motif Ideology
Components Symbol Authorial Point of View
of a Poem Function Leitwortstil
Didactic
Purpose Artistic
Purposeless
Imagery
Symbolism
Voice
Emotion
Tone General
Appeal
Style Figures of Speech Particular
Function
Body
Form Language
Prosody
Semantics
Content Dispositional
Rhetoric Cognitive
Aesthetic Appeal Socioculturalspiritual
Cotextual Actional
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Actional
Spatio-Temporal-Material (STM)
Context Socio-Cultural-Spiritual (SCS)
Inclinational-Informational-Habitual (IIH)
Network 1: Basic Components of a Poem (Adapted from Bhuvaneswar 2009)
In the Basic Components of a Poem network 1, Context is given at the end because of the focus
on components of a poem. However, when a poem is composed, it happens in a context as a
contextual action/reaction. Therefore, context is described first to motivate the composition of
poetry in a linear process. In KLC, context is classified into three types according to the physical,
social, and dispositional environments in which the poet is situated. The first is the surrounding
concrete natural environment of space, time, and matter (objects, states of being of objects and
their activities). The second is the abstract cultural environment of the society, culture, religion,
and spirituality. The third is the individual’s disposition which itself becomes an environment
since a poet is under the influence of his disposition all the time. Finally, Consciousness-
qualified-Disposition generates-specifies-directs-materializes all poetic activity right from its
inspiration-to-composition-to-creation-to-presentation-to-(propagation)-to-innovation.
3. 2. 1. The Spatiotemporalmaterial Context
The background to the contemporary poetry is that of the postmodernist poetry whose time frame
is considered to be between 1950 -1980 in America and the United Kingdom. America and the
West had just emerged from the devastating World War II and were reconstructing their
countries.
Title Phonetics
Line Sentence Phonology
Body Stanza Lexis
Canto Syntax
Form Language
Move
Speech Act
Stress Exchange
Prosody Rhythm Discourse Transaction
Rhyme Structure Event
Meter Situation
Network 1a: Basic Components of a Poem- Form (Adapted from Bhuvaneswar 2009)
3. 2. 2. The Socioculturalspiritual Context
Now, surprisingly, poetry published after late 1980s has begun showing some signs of change in
the poets‟ attitude towards this general suspicion of the system and its constituents. Although,
once again, this may not be taken as a general atmosphere or a sweeping wind of change, yet
those whose writings and attitude favour a change seem to be more in number. This is true of the
younger generation (some scholars dubbed them as “New Generation Poets”) as well as some of
the older poets.
The individual disposition of the poet is a complex of guNa:s (traits), knowledge, and va:sana:s
(internalized habits). His disposition is rooted in his Root Nature which is a complex of Sattva
(Luminosity), Rajas (Activity), and Tamas (Inertia). These three constituents of Nature become
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the source of disposition and constitute and qualify traits as Sa:ttvik, Ra:jasik, and Ta:masik.
Consequently, they impact on Knowledge and Habits and colour them accordingly. Sattva is
luminosity and is the source of meaning, conceptualization, clarity, harmony, perfection,
equilibrium, etc. and brings in pleasure. Rajas is activity, patterning and structuration,
ornamentation, complexity and is the cause of likes and dislikes, attachment and aversion. Tamas
is inertia, materiality, heedlessness, delusion, dullness, imperfection, broken, etc. Any action
takes place under the influence of Rajas and so does the composition of a poem also.
3.2.3. The Dispositional Context

R
R(ajas) S
[Activity] T
Karma Traits (Guna:s) S(attva)
[Conceptuality]
Choice of T(amas)
Disposition Poetic Activity [Inactivity] D. F. P. Desire
(for Writing a Poem)
Knowledge/ Analyticity (Jna:nam)
Knowledge of Poetry D.F.P ‘Dispositional

Habits (Va:sana:s) Functional Pressure’
Internalized Habits of Writing Poetry

Network 2. Ka:rmik Network for Composition of a Poem
Traits decide the choices made according to the likes and dislikes of the ka:rmik actor, here, the
poet, which he has in the form of his traits. To explain further, these traits decide which type of a
poem or poetry to like or dislike and which type of a poem to write or not to write by
dispositional bias leading to response bias leading to choice (leading to variation) through the
Principle of Choice given in (5). Consciousness-qualified-Disposition is inherently constituted
with the power of acting or reacting in a context to construct its own dispositional reality
through triple action (mental-vocal-physical). Therefore, people with different dispositional
make-ups react differently to the same context – this view therefore gives primacy to disposition
over context. When D.F.P. develops in the poet to write a poem, the desire to write a poem erupts
in him. Consequently, he makes an effort and performs the action of writing a poem according to
his dispositional make-up through the Principle of Action given in (4). This action produces a
result in terms of writing the poem: he succeeds/fails in composing the poem and in composing it
well as well as getting recognition. This result is experienced by him as pleasure/pain/none.
These two aspects are captured in the following equations:
(4) Disposition Desire Effort Action Result Experience
(5) Disposition Dispositional Bias Response Bias Choice
Variation Action.
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The development of D.F.P. to write a poem takes place in a context as an action or reaction. And
the desire to write a particular type of a poem in a particular context is again impelled by the
dispositional make-up of the poet. Thus traits decide the choice of all the formal, contextual,
functional, and stylistic features to their highest delicacy as shown in the Basic Components of a
Poem Network 1 in the given context.
i. Dispositional States of Postmodernist and Contemporary Poets
As we have already noted, disposition is a complex of traits, knowledge, and va:sana:s. These
components are abstract and complex in a person and therefore difficult to qualify and quantify.
Nonetheless, they can be inferred and constructed by using the Effect-to-Cause Logic (adapted
from anumana of the Indian philosophy) employed in the Ka:rmik Linguistic Theory. In such
logic, the qualities of the effect indicate the nature of the cause. For example, there is smoke on
the mountain. From our experience, we know that smoke can be there only if fire is there.
Therefore, from the effect that is smoke, we infer the cause as fire. Applying this logic to the
postmodernist and contemporary poets, we can construct their poetic disposition in a bottom-up
process to arrive at the Cause of their poetry to be this and that as so and so in such and such
manner and then in a top-down process impute the cause to have brought about such effects.
Finally, the top-down and bottom up processes are linked with the view-around the process to
construct the ultimate experiential reality of the poem/poetry.
From such an analysis conducted below in the following sections, it will be shown that the
dispositional states of postmodernist poets are rajasik-tamasik and those of contemporary poets
are sattvik-rajasik. As a result, the poetry written by the postmodernists is also rajasik-tamasik
making it as it is. In a similar way, the rejection of the postmodernist tradition by the
contemporary poets is due to their sattvik-rajasik disposition. In other words, it is a choice
impelled from their disposition as individual freedom. Therefore, it is rooted in one‟s disposition
because freedom of choice is based on response bias which is a product of dispositional bias
generated from one‟s disposition. It is this individual and gradually evolving into a group
disposition that is responsible for a protest against modernism and the reemergence of social
engagement, purposeful writing, preference for existence to essence, mass appeal, simple form
and style. A detailed description of the characteristics of Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas will be
undertaken in the analysis of postmodern and contemporary English poetry.
3. 3 The KCLA of Creation of a Poem
In Section 3, in the phase of creation, the first three important stages of poetic creation are
mentioned as 1. The Stage of Poetic Motivation; 2. The Stage of Composition; 3. The Stage of
Production of the Poem which are not only crucial in the creation of a poem but also in
comprehensively understanding the nature of the poem. Let us discuss these stages with
reference to contemporary poetry and show that it is bifurcating into a new genre with reference
to social engagement in themes, purpose, mass appeal, individual freedom, and form and style.
3. 3. 1 Stage of Poetic Motivation (Inspiration and Protest)
The dispositional contexts of postmodernist poetry and contemporary poetry contrast sharply
with each other, obviously, because of disenchantment with the status quo. In the case of
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postmodernism, the four important characteristic features of postmodernism: 1. Iconoclasm; 2.

Formlessness; 3. Groundlessness; and 4. Populism were born in the background of modernism‟s
rejection of Enlightenment values as well as postmodernism‟s extension of modernism in many
respects such as the “use of self-consciousness, parody, irony, fragmentation, generic mixing,
ambiguity, simultaneity, and the breakdown between high and low forms of expression” (Felluga
2011).
3. 3. 2 Composition of a Poem
Once a poet is inspired to write a poem, his dispositional creativity impels him to make an
exertion to fulfill his desire to write the poem. Consequently, he performs the poetic action to
create the poem and experience the results of his action as pleasure or pain or none. But writing a
poem is not as simple as talking in a conversation, since it is a very complex process that
demands poetic knowledge, and skills in addition to inspiration. As a result, he must have a
thorough understanding of WHY he wants to write the poem, HOW to write the poem, and
WHAT should be the poem as a whole. Unless and otherwise, he takes into consideration WHY
he wants to write the poem, he will not be able to successfully plan and execute the manner,
place, and time of writing the poem. The WHY of the poem leads to its causality, without which
the WHAT and HOW of the poem become meaningless. What is more, at all these levels, the
poet has to make choices and he should have individual freedom to make these choices. To put it
metaphorically, the WHY is the concept of the house which is the poem (WHAT). As such it
contains every aspect of the poem in its unmanifest state, as its CONCEPT, which is called the
Pasyanthi state of language in Indian Grammar (shown as the inner circle in KLT Graph 2 in this
paper). This CONCEPT of the poem, say, A Vision, evolves into the PATTERN AND
STRUCTURE of the poem (Madhyama in Indian Grammar) as we see in print like the blue print
of the house evolving into the constructed house. This pattern and structure of the poem is
cognized through the dispositional creativity of the poet (just like an architect) by I-I-Iing the
choice of various components of a poem. To do so, the poet, according to KCLA, should do
Exploration of Contextual Variables (ECV) (looking for the available options from the networks
of Components of a Poem, Productive Extension of Variables (PEV), or Creation of New
Variables (CNA) of Contextual Variables (CV) available. To put it in the words of Armitage, a
poet has to go out in search of HOW and WHAT of the poem: “when I've sort of gone out and
got the poem, I've gone looking for it, because I've been in that mood,..” when he is already
inspired: to go out and get the poem, he has to make choice to get the poem and he should have
individual freedom to do so. Questions like these crop up in the poet‟s mind: Does he want to
write the poem with a social purpose?; Does he want to write the poem with a mass appeal?;
Does he want to write the poem in a particular form, using a particular type of line arrangement,
choice of language, and prosodic structure?; What type of content he should choose and with
what themes, motifs, symbols, and leitworstil? What functions should the poem perform? What
type of style should he use in terms of imagery, symbolism, tone, voice, figures of speech, etc?
Or, does he write simply as it comes by without any specific planning and accept it as it is? Such
an action may or may not give a good poem.
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[Such questions as well as their answers can be motivated in a principled manner by using the
same KLT Graphs of Cogneme-Cognition Networks. For example, the choice of an ideology
such as the preference of existence over essence is a dispositional choice; the postmodernists
gave preference to essence over existence and chose it whereas the contemporary writers opted
for a reverse choice both through individual freedom. Consequently, their cogneme-cognition is
impelled in that direction. In a similar way, the choice of form and style, and mass appeal can
also be motivated as dispositional choices through individual freedom and explained through
CCNs.]
In the case of Simon Armitage, he does brainstorming. As he puts it, “most of my poems start
with daydreams; an idea leads to another idea leads to another idea and really before I know
what I am doing I am somewhere into the poem. I have to snap out of the daydream and actually
that’s the stuff poems are made of (Armitage 2010)”: unless and otherwise he exercises
individual freedom to snap out, he cannot do so. For example, in developing a pattern and
structure to the poem A Vision, there is a visualization of “the theme of how the passing of time
affects our sense of optimism for the future” by superimposing (adhya:sam) it on the topic of
town planning with reference to an event in his home town Marsden. We can also assume on the
basis of his interview that the poet contemplated on what to write as the poem and how to write
it. In this process, he will again choose the function and the content of the poem - automatically,
or heuristically, or algorithmically but in this case heuristically.
3. 3. 3. Motivation of Individual Freedom in Social Engagement in Themes, Social Purpose,

Preference for Existence over Essence, Simple Form and Style, and Mass Appeal
In this section, a partial analysis is made to bring out the differences between postmodernist and
contemporary poetry and ascribe the causes for this variation to the individual freedom of the
poets springing from their disposition. Social Engagement in Themes, Social Purpose,
Preference for Existence over Essence, Simple Form and Style, and Mass Appeal are chosen for
motivating individual freedom as the cause for variation.
3. 3. 3. 1. Social Engagement in Themes
ii. Contemporary Poetry: Definite Social Engagement in Themes
According to Bhuvaneswar, “Individual freedom is the freewill in choice exercised through
one‟s svabhavam for living by triple action. Individual freedom of a poet is the freedom of the
individual poet either to follow the status quo or to break out from it and blaze a new trail in any
one or more than one or all of the five levels of a poem which are its form, content, function,
style, and context. This freedom is essentially a freedom of dispositional choice of the individual
or group of poets generated-specified-directed-materialized by the traits-knowledge-va:sana
complex of disposition: it is impelled by their traits to like this or that choice, informed by their
knowledge about this or that choice as so and so in such and such manner, and finally realized
as this or that choice as so and so choice in such and such manner by their vasana:s” (personal
communication)”
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A cursory glance at the poetry of contemporary poets reveals evidence for a definite involvement
of the poets in social issues, especially, related to the domain of socioculturalspiritual themes.
Let‟s take the case of the most popular British poet of his generation Simon Armitage to
illustrate this observation of a major desire evolving into an I-I-Ied network of poetic desires to
fulfill it for the poetic experience of the results. This type of analysis can be similarly extended to
other contemporary poets to show that there is social engagement in themes.
The dispositional makeup of Simon Armitage impelled him to make a major choice in his career
by deciding to become a poet instead of pursuing geography which he studied. This is a case of
individual freedom in the choice of a career. This major desire – among his other desires
impelled equally by his disposition - lead to writing poetry as a means to fulfill it: one desire
leads to another I-I-I desire in a linear process in time. When he wanted to write poetry, as
already mentioned above, there is a trait component in him which likes social themes with a
purpose and mass appeal in an appealing form and therefore impels him to choose them -
according to the strength of his will, habits and knowledge. As a result, he is motivated to write
on social themes, with a purpose and mass appeal in a particular form. This liking of social
themes, etc. – as a dispositional action-reaction – has sprung from his personal experience of the
society and its ways, by reading the poetry of others, and by looking for ideas. In that process, he
got excitement when he thought about such issues as town planning as in the poem A Vision,
about poor people without jobs as in A Clown Punk, about war widows as in Manhunt, about
family relations and trust in Homecoming, about begging as in the poem Give, about a child
growing up and overcoming the influence of its heroes as in the poem Kid, etc. which led to
effort-action-result-experience.
In KCLA, each and every lingual act is explained through a Cogneme-Cognition Network
(CCN) given below in KLT Graphs 1 and 2. It is borrowed from the root Ka:rmik Linguistic
Theory in order to provide more psychological validity by its motivation through dispositional
cognition, more descriptive and explanatory adequacy by a cause-means-effect derivation and
explanation of the features in a holistic manner. In the CCN, there are four quadrants in a graph:
Dispositional Quadrant (I); World View Quadrant (II); Concept Quadrant (III); and Context
Quadrant (IV). These quadrants are created by a vertical axis and a horizontal axis to further
create the apparent divisions of dispositional reality, socio-cultural-spiritual reality, cognitive
reality and contextual actional reality; the two diagonal lines splitting each quadrant function as
the action lines: dispositional action, SCS action, cognitive action, and contextual poetic action.
The arrow marks point to the direction of action: the two arrows at the tips of the diagonal lines
point outwards indicating their realization as mental and vocal action; the arrow marks pointing
towards the star indicate integration of their action in the Consciousness. Dispositional action is
the primary action indicated by four arrows, each arrow representing its action on each quadrant.
It impacts on SCS and jointly becomes Poetic-SCS Dispositional Action in the ji:va (the living
being); then it impacts on context, and it becomes jointly Poetic-SCS-Contextual Dispositional
Action; and finally it impacts on the cognition and jointly becomes Poetic-SCS-Contextual-
Cognitive Dispositional Action as mental action as shown by the upward arrow in the third
quadrant. This cognemic cognition materializes as the Poetic-SCS-Contextual-Cognitive-Lingual
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Action in the context as shown by the downward arrow in the reverse direction in the fourth
quadrant.
A Cogneme-Cognition Network for a Poem
Legend
The Individual Consciousness (the Being in the Human Being or the soul or the ji:va)
The Triad (sattva giving knowledge of activity; rajas giving choice of activity by traits; and tamas giving
inertia or materiality of activity by va:sana:s) of Disposition
Horizontal Line; Vertical Line; Diagonal Line: Horizontal, Vertical, and Diagonal Axes;
I, II, III, and IV : the quadrants 1, 2, 3, and 4 gives rise to
s 1.inner (pasyanthi „cognitive‟); 2. medial ( madhyama „pattern‟); 3. outer (vaikhari „form or phonic‟)
levels of realization of language
Spirituality Ideology Cogneme Concept

Society Participants
World View Quadrant II Concept Quadrant III Outer Circle

Culture Relation (Vaikahari)
Guna:s Context Medial Circle
Disposition Quadrant I Context Quadrant IV (Madhyama)
Knowledge Knowledge Vasanas Activity Inner Circle

(Dispositional) (Phenomenal) Contextual Actionality (Pasyanthi)
Actionality (lingual)
KLT Graphs: 1. Combined Triaxial Quadrants of Cognitive Actionality ; 2. Tricircled D-Q-C Creating Action (KLT)
In the case of poetic motivation of Armitage, his liking for poetry (GuNa:s) and his knowledge to
write poetry impact on his va:sana:s to produce poetic dispositional knowledge stored in his
Consciousness-qualified-Disposition. When the being (ji:va) of Armitage is situated in his STM-
SCS context of Marseden and Yorkshire and Northern England, the DFP in him activates
individual freedom and impels his poetic dispositional knowledge – as he puts it: “I think
probably at the base of it is some kind of urge, you know, there is an urge to write, to create
something, to express yourself. ” - to think through his society and culture to get a world view to
write poetry.
I suppose sometimes there's an idea that I'm passionate about: it might be a political
idea and I feel as if I want to write about it, or language might come along and I might
overhear something and I want to take that language on, take it further, but I think
probably at the base of it is some kind of urge, you know, there is an urge to write, to
create something, to express yourself. I think that's probably at the very pit of it for me
because I have had occasions when I've felt the urge to write with nothing to write
about, when I've sort of gone out and got the poem, I've gone looking for it, because I've
been in that mood,.. (An Interview with Simon Armitage, Poetry Archives, 2012).
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The phrases a political idea and overhear something are rooted in social engagement and they
are pursued through his individual freedom because his predecessors, the postmodernist poets,
are against this kind of social engagement. Armitage breaks out from this web by his
disenchantment with the postmodernist tradition.
His Dispositional Knowledge impacts on his World View (spirituality) to produce the desire to
write poetry on social issues with a purpose. This overall purpose on choosing social issues as
town planning projects, or begging, or violence, etc. is “a way of manifesting ourselves to
ourselves”. In this connection, it is pertinent to quote from what he said about his poetry:
I think it's certainly a consequence, it's a kind of human consequence, and I think we are a
species that looks for pattern, and looks for significance, and looks for meaning in a life,
probably where there isn't that much meaning or significance, you know, unless you're
devoutly religious. So I think it's a way of not finding significance but actually inventing it,
inventing significance and sort of proving it to yourself, and I think it's a way of manifesting
ourselves to ourselves, so it's important on that level. (An Interview with Simon Armitage,
Poetry Archives, 2012)
awareness which is cognized as a desire, or as a component of poetic lingual action (form-
content-function in a particular style), or as the whole poem is called a cogneme- its variety,
range, and depth can be just a word, or it can extend up to an epic and even more. This is the
means of all dispositional, sociocognitive linguistic action which is Ka:rmik Linguistic Action.
In this connection, we have another interesting remark made by Armitage about how he begins a
poem:
are interested in poems. (An Interview with Simon Armitage, Poetry Archives, 2012)
rhythm, etc.]
Cogneme-Cognition action is recursive and it occurs at each and every phase of activity right
from its motivation to its final realization. For example, the cognition of a social theme as the
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cogneme 1, purpose as the cogneme 2, mass appeal as the cogneme 3, the particular form as the
cogneme 4, and style as the cogneme 5 occur recursively. It is atomic-(w)holistic in the sense that
it occurs at the atomic level of the parts of the whole action - cognition occurs at the levels of
cognition of the cognemes 1-5 as parts - and again recursively at the level of cognition of the
whole poem as the whole as a single, unified unit; finally, it can be mental-vocal-physical and
take place as a thought for mental, as speech for vocal and as material for physical actions. For
example, when a person only thinks of an action, it becomes a mental cogneme; when he speaks,
it becomes a vocal cogneme; and when he acts physically, it becomes a physical cogneme.
Motivation to write a poem can occur automatically (by spontaneity), heuristically (by trial and
error), and algorithmically (by serial thinking) For example, the motivation to choose social
themes/purpose/mass appeal/form and style/individual freedom may be automatic as the poet
visualizes his poem, or it might have been got by trial and error by purposeful observation,
interpretation, identification, representation, initiation, communication, and experience of
individual and collective action in a linear, parallel, and radial processes, or algorithmically by
serial thinking from A..to...B…Z. What is more, it can come from any source. Whatever be the
case, choices propelled by individual freedom need not be necessarily status quo – they are
generally break-outs.
We can explain these processes by following a top-down, bottom-up, or around-the-object
processes. When we have the historical details of the evolution of the poem, we can use the top-
down process by starting from the poet‟s motivation in a context and analyzing the content-
function-form-style, which is the most authentic; if we don‟t have such details, we can go for a
bottom-up process using the effect-to-cause logic by analyzing the text and inducing the
motivation; and finally, if the historical and textual details are inadequate, the around-the-object
process can be used by looking at the text internally, historically, and contextually and joining
the bits and pieces of evidence to interpret the whole by inference.
Let us take the example of A Vision written by Simon Armitage to motivate social engagement in
themes by a KCLA of his poem A Vision. In his video on A Vision, Simon Armitage informs us
that the original stimulus for that poem came from a visit to the town planning department in his
home town and the effect this visit had on his imagination as a child. In terms of KCLA, this
means that we can motivate the inspiration to write the poem A Vision by a top-down process
since we have first hand information from the horse‟s mouth, the poet himself. Again, the poem
is not written immediately with a spontaneous overflow of emotional feelings by automaticity;
but it has been written a long time after his childhood, and probably by a heuristic process, about
“the theme of how the passing of time affects our sense of optimism for the future”. If we use the
Cogneme-Cognition Graph, we can motivate this inspiration as follows. First, the effect of his
visit to the town-planning department [the experience (bho:gam) of the result (phalam) of his
visit (karma „action‟) - karmaphalabho:gam] is stored as an impression in his long term memory
(a va:sana) and becomes a part of Knowledge in his Disposition (Svabha:vam) in the first
quadrant of the graph. The poetry-writing Trait in his Disposition impacts on this stored
knowledge at a later time when he became a poet and produces a desire – through individual
freedom - to write a poem from his poetic va:sana:s (internalized habits or skills). This
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dispositional knowledge works through the resultant world view quadrant 2 of his society and
culture to produce an SCS-Dispositional Knowledge (as world view). This again impacts on the
fourth quadrant of contextual lingual action resolved from the context and the lingual action to
produce SCS-Contextual-Dispositional Action. Finally, this impels a desire – again through
individual freedom - to write the poem A Vision and cognize the poem in the third quadrant of
cogneme-cognition recursively to visualize the parts and the whole in an atomic-(w)holistic I-I-I
network. Then the poem A Vision is materialized in ink on a paper/(or orally as in extempore
poems) through the fourth quadrant by a reverse materializing action. From this analysis, we
understand how this theme is first motivated in the socio-cultural-spiritual (SCS) context of his
home town in a past-present-future spatio-temporal-material (STM) context of the particular
instance of town planning in the inclinational-informational-habitual (IIH) context of writing the
poem by the poet about the social issue of town planning – all as a result of individual freedom.
This can be captured in the following diagram
Dispositional (IIH) Context
Material (STM) Context ● Social (SCS) Context
The Poem: A Vision

Network 6: Atomic-(w)holistic Cogneme Network of the Poem A Vision
KCLA is dispositional, socio-cognitive linguistic in its framework and has therefore more
explanatory power than other theories since it explains the intricate mechanism of creating a
poem; more descriptive adequacy than other theories since it takes into consideration all the
available data of form-content-function-style-context and then scientifically describes the
process of creating a poem; and finally more psychological validity than other non-psychological
theories since it captures the real psychological processing of the poem in a real context.
We can also motivate social engagement in many of his poems such as The Clown Punk, Give,
Song, etc.
3. 3. 3. 2. Social Purpose
i. Social Purpose in Contemporary Poetry
Function in KCLA is studied under two divisions: 1. Purpose; 2. Speech Act Function. Let us
take the case of the poem A Vision once again. According to Bhuvaneswar (2009), the poet has
to keep in mind the purpose for which he wants to write the poem and the form and content of
the poem should embody that purpose through the theme (how the passing of time affects our
sense of optimism for the future) and the speech acts in the form of language in the content – the
poet in a free society has the individual freedom to choose that function he wants to bestow in
and on the poem; “with it he can “do, undo, or do otherwise”; without it, he cannot.” The poem A
Vision has a stated purpose to tell the reader about the neglect of grand plans for a beautiful
future by the government, with special reference to town planning and an implied purpose to
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criticize inefficient governance in town planning, which is stated in the very first line: The future
was a beautiful place, once and again supported in the last stanza:
at the landfill site, stamped with today’s date,
all unlived in and now fully extinct.
This purpose and theme are embodied by the choice of three assertives and three directives, the
former in the form of three sentences and the latter in one sentence and two long-winding noun
phrases with adjectival modification, possessive noun phrases, etc. with an implied “(You)
remember” at the beginning of each sentence.
The future was a beautiful place, once. (First Sentence – an assertive)
Remember the full-blown balsa-wood town
on public display in the Civic Hall. (Second Sentence – a directive)
((You) Rememmber) The ring-bound sketches, artists‟ impressions,
blueprints of smoked glass and tubular steel,

board-game suburbs, modes of transportation
like fairground rides or executive toys. (First Group of Phrases- a directive)
((You) Rememmber) Cities like dreams, cantilevered by light.
And people like us at the bottle-bank

next to the cycle-path, or dog-walking
over tended strips of fuzzy-felt grass,
or model drivers, motoring home in
electric cars. Or after the late show -
strolling the boulevard. (Second Group of Phrases- a directive) They were the plans,
all underwritten in the neat left-hand
of architects - a true, legible script. (Third Sentence – an assertive)

at the landfill site, stamped with today‟s date,
all unlived in and now fully extinct. (Fourth Sentence – an assertive)
(From Simon Armitage‟s collection Tyrannosaurus Rex Versus the Corduroy Kid.)
These speech acts are embodied by the following important types of selected propositional
content in the style of a narrative sequence.
1. outdated visions of the future popularized by TV shows like The Jetsons or Earth 1999;
and 2001: A Space Odyssey .
2. the architect's technical drawings or 'blueprints'
3. The American style grid layouts or street plans shown on the drawings becoming board-
game suburbs (think Monopoly), with the little squares reflecting blocks and cul-de-sacs
as squares on a board game.
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4. Futuristic cars similar to those in Star Wars or The Jetsons and their comparison with
'executive toys' such as tabletop golf, model sports cars and magnetic puzzles.
5. the bottle bank where 'people like us', that is the people who live in their future city, are
going about their perfectly sociable and lovely habits, walking dogs, caring for the
environment, wandering across picture perfect 'over tended' grass and motoring about in
their perfect little model cars.
6. left-hand signed or 'underwritten' drawings in a 'true legible script';
7. finding of plans from landfill site;
8. stamped drawings with today's date
In addition, he decides on the other qualities of the theme in terms of its type, class, and
structure. This purpose and this theme have to be embodied by the content through a form and
style in the unmarked case of creating a poem – the creation of a poem can occur from any angle,
sometimes from a formal perspective, sometimes from a stylistic perspective, and sometimes
from a contextual perspective depending on the dispositional inclinations of the poet. So as he
visualized the poem A Vision, he must have seen in his „mind‟s eye‟, the form and style – in a
parallel process, i.e., all the three components of the poem (content, form, and style) - in which it
should be written, as Armitage talked specifically about form and style in a recent interview:
me the form comes with it: I sort of see it in my mind’s eye – particularly with poems that
come as blocks of text…I think I do imagine these things to be pre-determined in some
way – that they are somehow in concert with the whole idea of the poem and with the
style of the poem – style is everything to me, in writing. I think that is what people are
interested in poems. (An Interview, The Poetry Archives)
In the selection of all these details, we see a direct engagement with social practices obtained in
his society: tv shows of visions of future, technical drawings of urban architecture, children‟s
games of monopoly, executive toys, and a landfill site. Each item is assigned a social purpose to
contribute to the central theme in an I-I-I network in atomic-(w)holistic functionality: the whole
as the drawings of a city pointing to the necessity of a beautiful living environment containing
the parts of the street plans, model car rides, perfectly social and lovely habits, walking dogs, and
over-tended grass as models of fine living that are needed to make living worth living. The
metaphor „board game suburbs‟ used serves the purpose of capturing how the child imagined the
architect‟s model of the future city. The metaphor „executive toys‟ serves the function of
depicting the present day fancies of executives. Finally, the unfortunate dumping of these plans
is the last nail on the coffin about such impractical plans and the careless attitude towards such
plans. All these features serve the overall function to tell the story with the intended purpose and
project the theme. In addition, these details have a great mass appeal since they affect and
reflect the day to day life of the masses. In other words, there is a superimposition (a:dhya:sa) of
mass appeal on the social practices selected.
In the following radial network, the entire process of poetic action is captured as a ka:rmik
process:
(4) Karma-Disposition-Desire-Effort-Poetic Action in Context[Function-Content-Form-
Style]-Result-Experience.
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Karma Disposition Desire Effort
Purpose Propositional
Function Content
Poetic
Speech Acts Action Rhetorical
Imagery Symbolism Body Language
Voice Style Tone Form
F. O. S Content Prosody
Form Aesthetic Appeal Result (Poem)

Experience
Network 4: Radial Network of Poetic Action
We see such social engagement in themes, social purpose and mass appeal in contemporary
poetry in contrast with the poems of postmodernist poets whose themes have reference to the
signified only with signs to connect them with other signs in the syntagmatic and paradigmatic
relations of signs, with the awareness that they never refer to anything outside the system of
signification. That art should not have any social concern, in principle, is just art for art‟s sake. It
may survive, for a short period, if it possesses an excellent aesthetic value in itself.
Postmodernism does not even like to be called a moment espousing aesthetics. So, how can it
survive long?
Mass Appeal
4. Conclusion
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Flynn, Thomas R. (2006). Existentialism: A Very short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Deconstruction of a Poem 2: A KCLA of A Vision by A:dhya:sam

II. Literature Review

III. A Vision: A KCLA by A:dhya:sam

Composition Production Sprout Tree Place Time

Network 1: Poet-Knowledge-Poem Network

blueprints of smoked glass and tubular steel,

And people like us at the bottle-bank

I pulled that future out of the north wind

3. 2. The Poet’s Plane

Internalized Habits of Writing Poetry

probably by a heuristic process (through emotions recollected in tranquility as in Wordsworth‟s

Material (STM) Context ● Social (SCS) Context

The Poem: A Vision

Network 4: Atomic-(w)holistic Cogneme Network of the Poem A Vision

Spirituality Ideology Cogneme Concept

World View Quadrant II Concept Quadrant III Outer Circle

Knowledge Knowledge Vasanas Activity Inner Circle

Sprout of the Poem

Imagery Symbolism Body Language

Voice Style Tone Form

Form Aesthetic Appeal Result (Poem)

BBC GCSE Bitesize (2012 b). “Structure and Language of A Vision”.

Structure and language

Why is poetry important to you?

Simon Armitage's website

Faber & Faber

 Simon Armitage's Main Page

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British Broadcasting Corporation

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 Skip to bbc.co.uk navigation

 Skip to bbc.co.uk search

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Simon Armitage on his poem A Vision

 Simon Armitage on his poem A Vision

Poetry: Late 20th Century and Contemporary

 Keywords:Armitage, poetry, A Vision, literature, Huddersfield, architecture,

Ideas for use in class

 Clip language : English

 Location of Windows Media clip:

3. Perspectives on Individual Freedom in Selected Contemporary British and American

Production A. Potential State of Creation of a Poem

(3) Motivation Composition

3. 2 Context of Poetic Composition

3.2.3. The Dispositional Context

Knowledge of Poetry D.F.P ‘Dispositional

Internalized Habits of Writing Poetry

postmodernism, the four important characteristic features of postmodernism: 1. Iconoclasm; 2.

3. 3. 3. Motivation of Individual Freedom in Social Engagement in Themes, Social Purpose,

Spirituality Ideology Cogneme Concept

World View Quadrant II Concept Quadrant III Outer Circle

Knowledge Knowledge Vasanas Activity Inner Circle

Material (STM) Context ● Social (SCS) Context

The Poem: A Vision

blueprints of smoked glass and tubular steel,

And people like us at the bottle-bank

I pulled that future out of the north wind

Karma Disposition Desire Effort

Imagery Symbolism Body Language

Voice Style Tone Form