“Poetic Crossing: Rhetoric And Psychology” By Harold Bloom: Summary and Critique

Introduction: “Poetic Crossing: Rhetoric And Psychology” By Harold Bloom

“Poetic Crossing: Rhetoric And Psychology” by Harold Bloom appeared in the Fall 1976 issue of The Georgia Review (495-524). He explores the intricate relationship between rhetoric and psychology within the realm of poetry. Bloom argues that poets strategically employ language and figurative devices to manipulate the reader’s experience. The essay opens with a thought-provoking juxtaposition of quotes, hinting at the exploration of veiled aspects within the creative process of poetry. Bloom then utilizes Wallace Stevens’ poem “Domination of Black” as a springboard for his analysis. Through this example, he demonstrates how Stevens utilizes deceptively simple descriptions, imbued with figurative language and a psychological defense mechanism known as “reaction-formation,” to imbue the poem with profounder themes of mortality and the anxieties surrounding death.

Summary of “Poetic Crossing: Rhetoric And Psychology” By Harold Bloom

• Rhetorical Foundations of Poetry:
  • Bloom examines poetry through a blend of rhetoric and psychology, where tropes serve as a bridge between these disciplines.
  • “The language of poetry… is overdetermined in its patternings and underdetermined in its meanings” (p. 497), emphasizing poetry’s layered complexity in both expression and understanding.
• Presence and Absence in Poetry:
  • A recurring theme is the dialectic of presence and absence, as poems often arise from the absence of something that needs to be depicted.
  • “A poem begins because there is too strong a presence, which needs to be imaged as an absence” (p. 495), highlighting how poetry addresses what is missing by making it present in language.
• Stevens’ “Domination of Black” as a Case Study:
  • Wallace Stevens’ “Domination of Black” is used to illustrate the psychological and rhetorical mechanisms at work in poetry.
  • Bloom notes how the poem creates a “reaction-formation,” where “Stevens is vulnerable to the black dominant of the hemlocks and that other cry of mortality, of the peacocks” (p. 497), linking the tropes of color and death.
• Psychology of Tropes in Poetry:
  • Bloom traces tropes to Freudian psychology, identifying how they serve as defense mechanisms.
  • “It was left to Freud to discover how, in a scientific age, we still feel and think in figurative formations” (p. 496). This connects metaphors, synecdoche, and metonymy to psychological states.
• The Role of Repetition in Stevens’ Work:
  • Repetition plays a key role in Stevens’ poetry, with the idea of repeating oneself as a trope of survival.
  • “The colors of the fallen leaves are repeating themselves” (p. 496). Stevens’ repeated use of repetition symbolizes the struggle with both life’s mutability and the permanence of death.
• Romantic Imagery and the Role of Memory:
  • Bloom explores the Romantic image through Wordsworth and Barfield, noting how memory serves to replace lost “participation” with nature.
  • “Barfield’s high evaluation of Romanticism results from his conviction that the Romantic image was an idol-smashing weapon” (p. 499), reflecting the shift from experiencing nature directly to representing it through memory-images.
• Crossing of Tropes and Psychological Defenses:
  • Bloom introduces the concept of “crossing”, where a poet navigates figurative and psychological conflicts.
  • “A crossing is a crucial point or turning point” (p. 519), which manifests as a trope moving between ethos (character) and pathos (passion) in a poet’s work.
• The Crisis of Belatedness:
  • One of the essay’s central insights is the crisis of belatedness in modern poetry, where poets must deal with the weight of tradition and their position in literary history.
  • “Stevens is content to taste the defeat of belatedness” (p. 499), indicating that modern poets, including Stevens, feel the burden of following in the footsteps of earlier, great poets.
• Rhetoric as the Bridge Between Thought and Will:
  • The essay proposes that rhetoric is not merely a system of tropes but a mechanism for translating will into verbal action.
  • “A trope is one of two possibilities: either the will translating itself into a verbal act or figure of ethos, or else the will failing to translate itself” (p. 520), illustrating how rhetoric and psychology intertwine in poetic creation.

Literary Terms/Concepts in “Poetic Crossing: Rhetoric And Psychology” By Harold Bloom

Literary Term/Concept	Definition/Explanation	Quotation/Reference
Trope	A figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression; often involves substitution of one thing for another.	“Tropes are perverse; they are para-phusis, unnatural, deviant.” (p. 508)
Rhetoric	The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, often analyzed through figurative language and structure.	“Rhetoric is a text in that it allows for two incompatible, mutually self-destructive points of view and therefore puts an insurmountable obstacle in the way of any reading or understanding.” (p. 511)
Crossing	A point in a poem where rhetorical and psychological tensions meet, leading to a figurative or thematic shift.	“A crossing is a crucial point or turning point, going back to the Greek krisis, which derived from krinein, ‘to separate’ or ‘to decide.'” (p. 519)
Irony	A rhetorical device or situation where meaning is opposite to what is stated or expected.	“In poetry, a trope of action is always an irony, until it is further reduced to metonymy and metaphor.” (p. 520)
Metonymy	A figure of speech in which a thing is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it.	“This reduction as an obsessive undoing of that synecdoche.” (p. 497)
Synecdoche	A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole, or vice versa.	“Stevens must give us a synecdoche for death in the domination of the black color of the heavy hemlocks.” (p. 497)
Metaphor	A figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two unlike things.	“But the peacocks, like the leaves, are in the room only as colors or turnings…” (p. 497)
Hyperbole	Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.	“The peacocks, wonderfully caught up in the synaesthesia of ‘the loud fire.'” (p. 497)
Romantic Imagery	Visual or sensory descriptions in Romantic poetry aimed at expressing emotional experience or the sublime.	“Barfield’s high evaluation of Romanticism results from his conviction that the Romantic image was an idol-smashing weapon meant to return men to their original participation in the phenomena.” (p. 499)
Pathos	A quality in writing that evokes pity, sadness, or compassion.	“Pathos or recognition becomes a defect of response, or the survival of a will-to-representation after representation has been attained.” (p. 505)
Ethos	The character or spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations.	“Ethos has become limitation, a contraction or withdrawal of meaning, that opens the way for a re-thinking that is necessarily a re-meaning.” (p. 504)
Logos	A principle of order and knowledge; often associated with logic and reason.	“Rhetoric, conceived as a text or system of tropes, is an ethos, while rhetoric-as-persuasion falls under pathos, with an aporia between them as a logos.” (p. 503)
Reaction-Formation	A Freudian defense mechanism where one expresses the opposite of their repressed desires.	“Stevens had begun his poem with what the Freudians… call a ‘reaction-formation,’ a defensive movement of the spirit.” (p. 497)
Belatedness	A sense of coming after or being influenced by predecessors, common in modern poetry.	“The length of the oncoming night’s steps renders the blackness more vividly, because the tropic ‘striding’ itself undoes an earlier trope.” (p. 499)
Sublimation	A Freudian concept where socially unacceptable impulses are transformed into socially acceptable actions or art.	“Sublimation and introjection… between substituting some labor for one’s own prohibited instincts.” (p. 522)
Nachträglichkeit (“Aftering”)	A Freudian term for delayed emotional processing or deferred action.	“This is very akin… to the delayed signification that Freud calls Nachträglichkeit or ‘aftering.'” (p. 504)
Gnosis	Knowledge of spiritual mysteries, often associated with esoteric traditions like Kabbalah.	“A vision that is Gnostic and Kabbalistic, in its ultimate origins.” (p. 520)
Deconstruction	A critical approach that seeks to uncover the multiple meanings and contradictions within a text.	“Deconstruction… is to indicate the precise location of its figuration of doubt, its uncertain notice of that limit where persuasion yields to a dance or interplay of tropes.” (p. 506)
Aporia	A rhetorical or philosophical puzzle or state of doubt, often signaling an impasse in understanding.	“De Man’s achievement is to have defined, following Nietzsche, the aporia or figuration of doubt that the principle of rhetorical substitution always constitutes, in any poetic text.” (p. 511)

Contribution of “Poetic Crossing: Rhetoric And Psychology” By Harold Bloom to Literary Theory/Theories

Examples of Critiques Through “Poetic Crossing: Rhetoric And Psychology” By Harold Bloom

Literary Work	Author	Critique Through Bloom’s “Poetic Crossing: Rhetoric and Psychology”	Concepts/References from Bloom
“The Waste Land”	T.S. Eliot	Belatedness: Eliot’s poem reflects a crisis of belatedness, where modern poets struggle under the burden of literary tradition. The fragmented structure reveals Eliot’s anxiety about following in the footsteps of his precursors, particularly the Romantics.	“Stevens is content to taste the defeat of belatedness” (p. 499), showing how modern poets acknowledge their lateness in the literary tradition, using tropes of fragmentation and irony to overcome their inheritance.
“Ode to a Nightingale”	John Keats	Crossing of Solipsism: Keats’ use of metonymy (nightingale as a symbol of escape) and hyperbole (idealized escape to immortality) reflects the poet’s inner conflict between wanting to transcend life and the impossibility of escaping mortality.	“The second crossing… struggles with the death of love… between metonymy and hyperbole” (p. 522). Bloom’s concept of crossings can be used to critique how Keats navigates between metonymy and hyperbole in his desire for escape from reality.
“Song of Myself”	Walt Whitman	Sublimation and Representation: Whitman’s expansive cataloging and sensory imagery reflect a sublimation of desires into language, transforming the individual into a universal figure. Whitman uses rhetorical excess to transcend individual experience.	“Sublimation and introjection… between substituting some labor for one’s own prohibited instincts” (p. 522). Whitman’s use of expansive tropes embodies sublimation, as he channels personal desires into a broader collective representation.
“To His Coy Mistress”	Andrew Marvell	Crossing of Identification: Marvell’s poem navigates between metaphor (the lover’s plea) and metalepsis (time’s constraints), reflecting a psychological conflict with mortality and unfulfilled desire. The poem’s urgency comes from the death drive.	“The dilemma here is the confrontation with mortality, with total death… the prohibited instinct is the drive towards death” (p. 522). Marvell’s metaphysical wit can be seen as navigating the tension between desire and the awareness of death’s limits.

Analysis of Critique Through Bloom’s Framework

1. T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”:
   • Concept Applied: Eliot’s fragmented style is interpreted through Bloom’s theory of belatedness. The poem reflects an anxiety about coming after the Romantics and the fragmentation symbolizes an inability to fully overcome that influence.
   • Concept from Bloom: Bloom’s idea that modern poets feel a “defeat of belatedness” (p. 499) applies well to Eliot’s sense of fragmentation and disjunction, reflecting a crisis of inheritance from the literary past.
2. John Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale”:
   • Concept Applied: Keats’ desire to transcend reality through the nightingale is analyzed via the crossing of solipsism. The oscillation between metonymy and hyperbole reveals his internal struggle between staying grounded and escaping into immortality.
   • Concept from Bloom: Keats’ poem represents Bloom’s second crossing, where the poet’s metonymy (symbolic language) meets his hyperbole (desire to transcend) in a confrontation with solipsism (p. 522).
3. Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”:
   • Concept Applied: Whitman’s use of extensive imagery and cataloging is understood as an act of sublimation. He sublimates his individual desires into a broader, collective voice, thus merging the personal and universal.
   • Concept from Bloom: Bloom’s idea of sublimation and representation (p. 522) captures Whitman’s transcendence of the personal self through the expansive language of “Song of Myself”, which is an act of self-transformation via poetry.
4. Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress”:
   • Concept Applied: Marvell’s manipulation of time, with its focus on impending death and the fleeting nature of life, is linked to Bloom’s crossing of identification, where the poet confronts mortality through metaphor and metalepsis.
   • Concept from Bloom: Marvell’s urgent tone and focus on time reflect Bloom’s identification crossing, where the prohibited instinct of death drives the poem’s emotional intensity (p. 522). The tension between desire and mortality becomes a rhetorical trope.

Criticism Against “Poetic Crossing: Rhetoric And Psychology” By Harold Bloom

• Over-Reliance on Psychoanalysis:
  • Bloom heavily relies on Freudian concepts like reaction-formation, sublimation, and introjection to explain poetic tropes, which can be seen as an overextension of psychoanalytic theory into literary analysis. Critics might argue that this limits his approach by forcing poetry into a psychological framework that not all poems may adhere to.
• Obscurity and Complexity:
  • The essay is often criticized for being overly complex and difficult to follow, with dense and intricate language. Bloom’s reliance on esoteric concepts from Gnosticism, Kabbalah, and psychoanalysis may alienate readers unfamiliar with these intellectual traditions. This complexity can make his arguments less accessible to broader audiences.
• Lack of Historical and Cultural Context:
  • While Bloom’s focus on rhetoric and psychology is insightful, critics may argue that he neglects the broader historical, social, and cultural contexts of the poems he analyzes. His approach sometimes overlooks the external factors influencing poets, such as political or social realities, in favor of an individualistic, internalized reading of poetic language.
• Reduction of Poetic Language to Tropes:
  • By framing poetic language almost exclusively in terms of tropes and psychological defenses, Bloom risks reducing the richness of poetry to a technical, mechanical process. Some critics argue that his model diminishes the emotional and aesthetic impact of poetry by focusing too much on structural and figurative analysis.
• Narrow Focus on the Western Canon:
  • Bloom’s framework is built around canonical Western poets, particularly the Romantics and modernists. Critics might argue that his theory is Eurocentric and doesn’t adequately account for non-Western literary traditions or marginalized voices. His focus on a limited literary tradition limits the application of his theory to global or diverse poetic forms.
• Neglect of Feminist or Postcolonial Perspectives:
  • Bloom’s work largely ignores feminist and postcolonial approaches to literature, which critique the power dynamics and patriarchal structures present in many canonical texts. Critics may argue that Bloom’s framework doesn’t engage with how gender, race, and colonialism shape poetic expression and interpretation.
• Ambiguity in Defining Key Concepts:
  • Some key concepts in Bloom’s essay, such as crossings and belatedness, are vaguely defined and left open to interpretation. This ambiguity can weaken the clarity of his arguments and leave readers unsure of how to apply his theoretical models to specific poems.
• Overemphasis on Intertextuality and Influence:
  • Critics might argue that Bloom’s theory, particularly his emphasis on belatedness and the anxiety of influence, places too much importance on how poets relate to their predecessors. This focus on intertextuality risks downplaying the originality and individual creativity of poets, implying that all poetry is merely a response to previous works.

Representative Quotations from “Poetic Crossing: Rhetoric And Psychology” By Harold Bloom with Explanation

Quotation	Explanation
“A poem begins because there is too strong a presence, which needs to be imaged as an absence.” (p. 495)	Bloom suggests that poetry arises from a tension between presence and absence—a key psychological and rhetorical concept. A poem comes into existence to give form to what is absent or what is too present, reflecting the psychological struggle at the heart of poetic creation.
“Stevens is vulnerable to the black dominant of the hemlocks and that other cry of mortality, of the peacocks.” (p. 497)	This quote captures Wallace Stevens’ use of imagery to reflect the poet’s encounter with death and mortality. The “cry of mortality” symbolizes Stevens’ struggle with life’s transience, where rhetoric and psychological defense mechanisms (like reaction-formation) come into play.
“Ethos has become limitation, a contraction or withdrawal of meaning, that opens the way for a re-thinking that is necessarily a re-meaning.” (p. 504)	Bloom argues that ethos (character or spirit) in poetry signals a limitation of meaning, but this limitation allows for a reinterpretation, creating space for new meanings. This reflects his view that rhetoric works as a dynamic process of meaning and revision in poetry.
“Rhetoric is a text in that it allows for two incompatible, mutually self-destructive points of view.” (p. 511)	Bloom highlights the inherent contradictions within rhetorical structures, influenced by deconstruction. In poetry, tropes often contain opposing meanings, leading to tensions that prevent a stable, singular interpretation, contributing to the poem’s richness and complexity.
“Deconstruction… is to indicate the precise location of its figuration of doubt, its uncertain notice of that limit where persuasion yields to a dance of tropes.” (p. 506)	This quote aligns deconstruction with poetic interpretation. Bloom explains that deconstruction reveals the limits of persuasion within a poem, leading to a space where tropes take over, reflecting the uncertainties and ambiguities that form the heart of poetic language.
“A crossing is a crucial point or turning point, going back to the Greek krisis, which derived from krinein, ‘to separate’ or ‘to decide’.” (p. 519)	Bloom introduces the concept of crossing, a critical moment in poetry where rhetorical and psychological conflicts intersect. It marks a turning point that shapes the poem’s meaning, echoing the idea that poetry is a space of decision and transformation.
“A trope is one of two possibilities: either the will translating itself into a verbal act or figure of ethos, or else the will failing to translate itself.” (p. 520)	Bloom views tropes as acts of will, either successfully expressing a poet’s intent or failing to do so. This quote emphasizes his belief that poetic language is driven by the will to meaning, where tropes function as the medium through which the poet navigates personal conflicts.
“Stevens is content to taste the defeat of belatedness.” (p. 499)	Belatedness refers to a poet’s anxiety of being overshadowed by predecessors. Bloom suggests that Stevens accepts this defeat as part of the modern poetic condition, highlighting how poets must grapple with the weight of literary tradition and find new ways to create meaning.
“The aporia between system-of-tropes and persuasion as the logos, a valorization that audaciously redefines poetic thinking.” (p. 511)	Bloom addresses the aporia (or gap) between rhetorical tropes and persuasion, a central tension in poetry. He argues that this unresolved conflict defines poetic thinking, where meaning emerges through the interplay of logical structures and emotional persuasion.
“Pathos or recognition becomes a defect of response, or the survival of a will-to-representation after representation has been attained.” (p. 505)	Bloom describes pathos as an emotional excess or defective response that follows after the poet has achieved representation through language. This quote highlights the difficulty in fully capturing emotional depth, as language often falls short of communicating desire or feeling.

Suggested Readings: “Poetic Crossing: Rhetoric And Psychology” By Harold Bloom

1. Bloom, Harold. “POETIC CROSSING: RHETORIC AND PSYCHOLOGY.” The Georgia Review, vol. 30, no. 3, 1976, pp. 495–524. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41397273. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
2. Bloom, Harold. “Auras: The Sublime Crossing and the Death of Love.” Oxford Literary Review, vol. 4, no. 3, 1981, pp. 3–19. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43973628. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
3. Fite, David. “Kenner/Bloom: Canonmaking and the Resources of Rhetoric.” Boundary 2, vol. 15/16, 1988, pp. 117–45. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/303254. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
4. Eiland, Howard. “Harold Bloom and High Modernism.” Boundary 2, vol. 5, no. 3, 1977, pp. 935–42. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/302580. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.