Question

Read the following poem, "A Jelly-Fish" by Marianne Moore: Visible, invisible, a fluctuating charm an amber-tinctured amethyst inhabits it, your arm approaches and it opens and it closes; you had meant to catch it and it quivers; you abandon your intent. Which aspect of this poem most clearly marks it as a work of Modernism? A. If focuses on the jellyfish as a single, specific image. B. It explores the disillusionment with the American Dream. C. Its subject is based on a paradox. D. It avoids using rhythm or rhyme.

Answer 1

A. If focuses on the jellyfish as a single, specific image.

Answer 2

The aspect of this poem that most clearly marks it as a work of Modernism is D. It avoids using rhythm or rhyme. In poetry, this writing style is called 'free verse' and it is characterized as an open form of poetry, reading which you will never see a meter patterns or rhyme. Such form was favoured with poets of Modernism; they usually follow the rhythm of natural speech just as if you reading simple letter or something like this.