The Tree of Language: Biblical Concepts in Hecht's "Naming the Animals" and Shapiro's "The Recognition of Eve" Anonymous College

Modern American poets, contending with the disruption of traditionalism in culture, thought that the preoccupation that arose concerning the confines, possibilities, and influence of words that allows for the cultivation of twentieth-century art advanced both poetry and prose. The poets concern themselves with the notion that the agency of communication through words is inexorable yet impossible without knowledge, ultimately radically changing poetic tradition and the way in which language is thought of. I will discuss the theme of authority being given where no ability is present because of lack of knowledge in two twentieth-century poems: “Naming the Animals” by Anthony Hecht and “The Recognition of Eve” by Karl Shapiro. Although Adam is depicted as a natural poet through being given the authority and ability to begin naming in the Biblical account of the creation, Hecht poses an alternative in which Adam’s uncertainty about language is a result of his absence of knowledge before transgression, while Shapiro’s poem explores the idea of Eve as dominant and knowledgeable. The strong diction and descriptive nature of both poems enforce the idea that reluctance and failure to communicate with language directly arises from an...