Perspicuous Opacity: Marianne Moore and Truth in a Fallen World

Marianne Moore's poetry frequently draws attention to visual aspects of the world, and it is no coincidence that her work is often considered opaque, difficult or impossible to see through. This essay seeks to illuminate the relationship between Moore's interests in visible form and her concern over truth and accuracy in expression. It examines Moore's characteristic clusters of metaphors, and identifies this method of depiction as a central part of an enacted debate about the possibilities of truthful representation within poetry and within language. It concludes by looking at a poem, 'In the Days of Prismatic Color', in which Moore fuses visual and semantic vocabularies, and which closes with a unique presentation of the voice of 'Truth'.