Prof. Jody Rosen.

ENG 2003 Poetry

Spring 2012

     Essay Assignment # 2: Student Handbook

                                Marvell Noir by Ann Lauinger

                                                                Glossary

Camel (Noun) – A slang term used to make reference to Camel branded cigarettes.

Jack (Noun) – A slang term used in reference to Jack Daniel’s branded whiskey.

Sap (Noun) – A slang term describing a person who is gullible, or easily duped.

Can (Noun) – A slang term used to tell someone to stop whatever they are doing.

Pen (Noun) – A slang term, used in reference to jails and prisons; short for Penitentiary.

Shiatsu (Noun) – Also called acupressure, is the therapeutic massaging of acupuncture pressure points using fingers and thumbs as opposed to needles.

Highballs (Noun) – A tall cylindrical glass used to serve cocktails usually containing liquor in addition to carbonated beverages or juices.

                                                              Annotation 1: Noir

Noir refers to a genre of crime literature and films featuring tough, hard to kill protagonists in dangerous or violent plots set in dark gritty urban settings, corrupt and /or cynical gangster characters. A lot of realistic scenarios and portrayals of times where organized crime and criminals were abound. During these times prostitution and drug abuse (such as alcohol and tobacco) were at an all-time high, partially in lieu of new and strict prohibition laws.

It is considered a fact that the Volstead Act of 1919 was at fault for the increase in crime and that because of this increase in crime, lawless, brutal, revolver totting, “G-men” (government agents) were killing criminals. The “Government Man” or “G-Man” was a slang term used publicly by criminals to address the Bureau of Investigation’s agents; it was first introduced under director Edgar J. Hoover’s administration (1924), who also renamed the agency to the present day FBI.

In the noir genre, the protagonist was always very sure of him/herself, they lived by a personal code of ethics. The antagonist or criminal, is typically depicted as living a life of freedom, power and luxury during a real-life economic crisis (Post-Great Depression Era). The purpose of the Noir genre is to recreate nostalgia to the late 1920’s through the early 1940’s in American history.

                                    Inspiring Noir by Herbert Cedeño

Ann Lauinger’s poem “Marvell Noir” is made as an allusion, it contains signification, paying homage to other works, including film and literature. In regards to literature she makes a clear reference, specifically to Andrew Marvell and his poem “To His Coy Mistress”. The poem’s title is interesting in that Ann Lauinger uses Andrew’s last name and uses the term noir. I believe she intently used the word Noir, to create a pun. The literal term or denotation of the word Noir in its native language, French, is Black. The term Noir is also suggestive of the dark, violent film genre of the 1920’s and 1930’s. Noir carries the connotation of a time period, an age of crime in United States history. The Noir genre varies in format, from such media as literature and movies to even plays.

From the very beginning, within the first four line verses, you can see the poems rhyme scheme. It is an end rhyme following the A, A and B, B pattern. What this means is that every pair of lines end in the same syllable sound. This makes the poem very smooth and euphonic. The author also uses literary techniques such as onomatopoeia using word like “Buzz” (24), which again serves to show Lauinger’s word choice. The poet also incorporates enjambments and continues them in the following lines. If readers have previously read “To His Coy Mistress” they will immediately realize that in just the first few lines, Lauinger evokes the feeling of a déjà-vu, in the alluded text Marvell says “Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime.” Lauinger spins this just enough to allow readers to get a glimpse of the poems inspiration. She goes on to say “Sweetheart, if we had the time, a week in bed would be no crime”. Lauinger also makes great use of diction, she specifically chose the word “Sweetheart” in order to portray the leading character’s voice and add to his persona.

In the first half of the poem, the protagonist is seen as the perfect gentleman, a loving partner, who only wishes to please and facilitate things for another and in return, wishes to be pleased. This is evident when Lauinger writes “I’d light your Camels, pour your Jack;” (3), then states “You’d do shiatsu on my back. When you got up to scramble eggs…” (4-5). She also proves deep emotional connection and the desire for a long relationship by stating “I’d write a sonnet to your legs, And you could watch my stubble grow, Yes gorgeous, we’d take it slow.”(6-8). The next portion of the poem serves to give the readers a sense of the second character’s and their historical background. This is shown when Lauinger says “I’d hear the whole tale again: A roadhouse band; you can’t trust men; He set you up; you had to eat, and bitter with the bittersweet… Was what they dished you;” (9 -13).

Up to this point, the person that the protagonist speaks of is seen as his lover, but it isn’t until Lauinger writes “Make no mistake, You’re in it, doll, up to your eyeballs! Tears? Please! You’ll dilute our highballs…And make that angel face a mess, For the nice Lieutenant.”(16 – 20) that this character’s real intention is seen. We realize that she was trying to convince the protagonist that she wasn’t a part of anything. Yet again we see the protagonist’s tough guy persona; he fits into the typical cynic character of the Noir genre, the type of man who would turn in his lover because he holds the value or ethics above love.  The act of committing a crime due to being misinformed doesn’t change the fact that you are still guilty and should still be held liable for your own actions, and I believe the poem’s main character understands this and sees it as so.

In the 1941 Noir film “Maltese Falcon”, the main actor Samuel Spade tells Brigid O’Shaughnessy “I don’t care who loves who, I won’t play the sap for you” (Link 1), provides an excellent example that explains the tough guy role of the time period, and sounds awfully familiar to Lauinger’s “I confess…I’m nuts for you. But take the rap? You must think I’m some other sap” (20-23). The poem also makes another reference to the same film, using the same phrase “The stuff… That Dreams are made of” (28-29 and Link 2), which leads me to believe that Dashiell Hammet’s  “Maltese Falcon” may have been another piece of inspiration to Ann Lauinger’s poem. Sam Spade’s partner, Archer, could also be the “Archie” (25) that is referred to towards the end of the poem. Coincidently, the Maltese Falcon which everyone was after, in the film, also turned out to be a falsified replica, which could explain why Lauinger says “You didn’t know the pearls were fake…” (15).

Lauinger allows for the protagonist (as well as the readers) not to feel bad for the woman when she states “And the men… You suckered.” (29 – 30). This makes it obvious to readers that this was not her first attempt to dupe or con someone. Lauinger goes on to portray the protagonist as the sarcastic, ruthless man he is saying “Sadly, in the pen, Your kind of talent goes to waste. But Irish bars are more my taste, Than iron ones; stripes ain’t my style.”(30-33). Furthermore, she shows him playing with her emotions, when the protagonist says in jokingly “Now kiss me, sweet—the squad car’s here. (36). This pause is done intentionally at this precise moment to show emotional detachment from the woman, although it could be argued that the protagonist had a moment of relapse. He may have stopped mid sentence to correct himself from habitually saying “Sweetheart”, as he said at the beginning of the poem.

Bibliography / Works Cited Page 

Meyer, Michael. “To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell.” Poetry: An Introduction. 6th ed. Boston,
MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. 80-81. Print.

Meyer, Michael. “Marvell Noir by Ann Lauinger.” Poetry: An Introduction. 6th ed. Boston,
MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. 82-83. Print.

“Dashiell Hammett.” Wikipedia. Ed. Daniel Quinlan. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Nov. 2003. Web. 06 May 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashiell_Hammett>.

Qatsi, Koyaanis. “The Maltese Falcon (Novel).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 July 2002. Web. 06 May 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maltese_Falcon_(novel)>

Qatsi, Koyaanis. “Film Noir.” Wikipedia. Ed. Claude Muncey. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 May 2001. Web. 21 Mar. 2002. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir>.

Rosenzweig, Vicki. “Prohibition.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Dec. 2001. Web. 06 May 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition>.

Levinson, David. “Volstead Act.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 9 June 2002. Web. 06 May 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volstead_Act>.

Spurlin, J., and Roy Graeme. “The Maltese Falcon (1941).” IMDb Maltese Falcon (1941). IMDb.com. Web. 06 May 2012. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033870/>.

1941 film called “The Maltese Falcon” based off of Hammett’s novel. Exemplifies the roles of men and women from Noir films compared to those of the real life men and women of the 1920-1940’s.

“National Geographic: The FBI.” IMDb. IMDb.com, 2003. Web. 06 May 2012.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413032/>.

2003 documentary about the FBI’s history and the “G-Men” or FBI Agents that killed many gangster /mobsters  of the 1930’s under FBI Director Edgar J. Hoover’s administration.”

“G-Man (slang).” Wikipedia. Ed. User, Guillu. Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Feb. 2006. Web. 06 May 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-Man_(slang)>.

“Noir.” The Free Dictionary. Farlex. Web. <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/noir>.

Link 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRSCV2qc2IY   “The Sap”

Link 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVVe7VooaqA  “The Stuff That dreams are made of”