Dream Song 14

John Berryman works to create tension between and throughout his lines using different techniques such as enjambment, frequent interruptions, and condensing his syntax. Many of the lines in this poem are end-stopped, even punctuated with a period, making one or even two complete sentences fill up a single line. The first line "Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so." chops up this line into short, direct statements that set the tone for the entire poem. Berryman increases the tension by keeping the sentences within his poem fairly short and heavily punctuated. In two lines, "After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns,/ we ourselves flash and yearn," the reader is made to feel as though they are in a car that keeps pressing the gas then hitting the breaks, keeping the reader on their toes as to what might come next. An even more extreme interruption occurs when "(repeatedly)" is used in line 5; by putting this word in parenthesis rather than just setting it off with commas, reader is brought to an even more abrupt halt that increases the tension. Another tactic that Berryman uses to create tension is ending a stanza on the word "no" with no punctuation and  continuing the same thought in the next stanza. This enjambment makes the reader feel uneasy and places a heavy emphasis on that word no, creating more tension. One of my favorite Berryman techniques however, is his use of condensed syntax. In the last line of the poem, "behind: me, wag", Berryman is eliminating the words that don't need to be said. In poetry, your words must be chosen a lot more carefully and Berryman is very careful about his words at all times. The poem ends with the dog's tail leaving behind the subject of the poem and "wag". I don't have an answer for what exactly was meant by "wag", but I think that's the point. By eliminating all other words that might help explain the word wag, the reader is left with it dangling at the end of "me", at the end of the poem. It provides even more tension for the poem, but in a way, a strange release. The word wag is so playful and simple that it almost seems to further the tension and break it all at the same time.