What would it mean to understand the essence of a discipline? What would it meant to find the center of poetry? I argue in the introduction to this thesis that poetry has no center. One cannot come to know the capital “T” truth of poetry. Our language is too unstable, our intentions too vast, and our experiences are too varied. Thus, I interrogate what this might mean for the writer and the poetic experience more generally. By doing this, I ultimately interrogate what this means for me. However, I also accept T.S. Eliot’s claim that mature poetry has the unique ability to understand the “presence of the past.” The poems the reader will find after the introduction represent my attempt to answer some of these questions. Additionally, the poems in this thesis fall under the heading, “Envelope Elegy.” To me, this title suggests something I think a good majority of poems examine: what would it mean to miss or lose something that is just about to disappear but has not yet done so? These poems wrestle with this element of the human experience or that is my distinct hope.
","abstract_html":"<p>What would it mean to understand the essence of a discipline? What would it meant to find the center of poetry? I argue in the introduction to this thesis that poetry has no center. One cannot come to know the capital “T” truth of poetry. Our language is too unstable, our intentions too vast, and our experiences are too varied. Thus, I interrogate what this might mean for the writer and the poetic experience more generally. By doing this, I ultimately interrogate what this means for me. However, I also accept T.S. Eliot’s claim that mature poetry has the unique ability to understand the “presence of the past.” The poems the reader will find after the introduction represent my attempt to answer some of these questions. Additionally, the poems in this thesis fall under the heading, “Envelope Elegy.” To me, this title suggests something I think a good majority of poems examine: what would it mean to miss or lose something that is just about to disappear but has not yet done so? These poems wrestle with this element of the human experience or that is my distinct hope. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Nelson, Caleb P."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Matthew Frank"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-07-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-07-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:23:47Z","subjects":["poetry","surreal","elegy","Arts and Humanities"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/108","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Matthew Frank"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Nelson, Caleb P."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-07-05T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["poetry","surreal","elegy","Arts and Humanities"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/108"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["What would it mean to understand the essence of a discipline? What would it meant to find the center of poetry? I argue in the introduction to this thesis that poetry has no center. One cannot come to know the capital “T” truth of poetry. Our language is too unstable, our intentions too vast, and our experiences are too varied. Thus, I interrogate what this might mean for the writer and the poetic experience more generally. By doing this, I ultimately interrogate what this means for me. However, I also accept T.S. Eliot’s claim that mature poetry has the unique ability to understand the “presence of the past.” The poems the reader will find after the introduction represent my attempt to answer some of these questions. Additionally, the poems in this thesis fall under the heading, “Envelope Elegy.” To me, this title suggests something I think a good majority of poems examine: what would it mean to miss or lose something that is just about to disappear but has not yet done so? These poems wrestle with this element of the human experience or that is my distinct hope.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["ENVELOPE ELEGY"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Matthew Frank"],"dc:creator":["Nelson, Caleb P."],"dc:date.available":["2018-07-05T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["What would it mean to understand the essence of a discipline? What would it meant to find the center of poetry? I argue in the introduction to this thesis that poetry has no center. One cannot come to know the capital “T” truth of poetry. Our language is too unstable, our intentions too vast, and our experiences are too varied. Thus, I interrogate what this might mean for the writer and the poetic experience more generally. By doing this, I ultimately interrogate what this means for me. However, I also accept T.S. Eliot’s claim that mature poetry has the unique ability to understand the “presence of the past.” The poems the reader will find after the introduction represent my attempt to answer some of these questions. Additionally, the poems in this thesis fall under the heading, “Envelope Elegy.” To me, this title suggests something I think a good majority of poems examine: what would it mean to miss or lose something that is just about to disappear but has not yet done so? These poems wrestle with this element of the human experience or that is my distinct hope.
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