Poetic experience and cultural knowledge in P. K. Page's "Brazilian Fazenda"

Abstract

 Starting from Northrop Frye’s statement that “it

is not a nation but an environment that makes an impact on

poets, and poetry can deal only with the imaginative aspect

of that environment”, this paper2  investigates the impact

that the specific environment of a Brazilian farm has made

 on P.K.Page, as revealed in her poem “Brazilian Fazenda”.

In the description of her surroundings from an unusual

perspective, she not only highlights the imagistic precision

of her visual perception but simultaneously foregrounds her

poetic sensibility, as she transforms the referential aspects

of the fazenda  into an intense poetic and cultural experience.