Hass's poem, "The Problem of Describing Trees" is a perfect example of language as a slippery vehicle. In this poem, Robert Hass explains that there are limits to describing what the tree is doing because nature is a beautiful thing and there really are no words that depict the beauty it enchants. Hass also gives the tree human qualities when he says "Dance with me, dancer. Oh, I will." He leaves it up to the reader to interpret his words.
Rodney Jones says exactly what he means in the first stanza of his poem, "Hubris at Zunzal," "No image like the image of language." He cannot be more right because you can show someone a single picture and they can turn it into 1000 words, but, what's more important, the picture or the words that describe it? In my opinion, the words are the most important because they are powerful and moving and can be manipulated.
When you say language gets manipulated and manipulates... do you mean the reader is manipulated and the reader can manipulate it? Or can only the writer manipulate it? It's an excellent sentence, but I have manipulated to what I get from it, perhaps not what you intended.
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