John Berryman was an American poet born in 1914 who struggled with mental health issues throughout his life. He is best known for his long poem Dream Songs, which features an antihero named Henry and consists of 395 parts. Berryman had a successful academic career but was also socially alienated and attempted suicide. He taught in Iowa City but was later fired after getting drunk and getting into an altercation with his landlord. In 1972, Berryman committed suicide by jumping off a bridge in Minnesota following a period of erratic behavior and declining critical success.

1. Week Twenty John Berryman (1914-1972) Dream Songs

2. Biography Born 1914 in McAlester, Oklahoma Son of Catholic parents, whose restaurant went bust in 1926 Father shot dead in 1926: police pronounce suicide, though evidence suggested foul play A successful academic career at school counterbalanced by social alienation, which lead to a suicide attempt While at Columbia and Cambridge, influenced by Yeats and Shakespeare

3. “ By most accounts, though, Berryman never quite evolved into a sane, stable adult. “ Gangly and often bearded, Berryman was an insomniac, a hypochondriac, an accident-prone, chain-smoking alcoholic, and a depressive with suicidal tendencies, inept at carrying out daily tasks like cooking or driving a car. “ Socially, Berryman played the troublemaker, proclaiming his erudite opinions with belligerent force, womanizing with unsubtle abandon, leaving enemies in his wake.”. From an article by Steve Healey

4. “ Living and teaching in Iowa City, Berryman fell into a nasty argument with another teacher. “ Later that evening, by then drunk, he entered an argument with his landlord, dropped his trousers, and shat on the man's front porch, an offense for which he was arrested and jailed. “ The incident made local news, and within days Berryman was fired.”

5. Best known for Dream Songs , a long poem in 395 parts, featuring an antihero named ‘Henry’. In 1972, following a period marked by ‘erratic’ behaviour and waning critical success, throws himself to his death from a bridge in Minnesota.

6. Dream Songs - 1 Huffy Henry hid the day, unappeasable Henry sulked. I see his point, - a trying to put things over. It was the thought that they thought they could do it made Henry wicked and away. But he should have come out and talked. All the world like a woolen lover once did seem on Henry’s side. Then came a departure. Thereafter nothing fell out as it might or ought. I don’t see how Henry, pried open for all the world to see, survived. What he has now to say is a long wonder the world can bear & be. Once in a sycamore I was glad all at the top, and I sang. Hard on the land wears the strong sea and empty grows every bed

7. Huffy Henry hid the day, unappeasable Henry sulked. I see his point, - a trying to put things over. It was the thought that they thought they could do it made Henry wicked and away. But he should have come out and talked. Space: signifies what? How does is relate to the word ‘hid’? Transitive or intransitive? Indexicals: fragmented perspective Relate to adjectives above Indefinite article: Ambiguous: his or their or my? How does this choice condition ‘put things over’? Absent verb (‘go’)? How does this affect the adjectives? If it were present, how would the modal verb operate differently? Predication: state or effect? Event, perception, language.

8. All the world like a woolen lover once did seem on Henry’s side. Then came a departure. Thereafter nothing fell out as it might or ought. I don’t see how Henry, pried open for all the world to see, survived. Unravel the syntax: To what does ‘once’ apply? To what does ‘seem’ apply? Is the world ‘like a woolen lover’ generally, or only when at Henry’s side, or only when seeming at Henry’s side? The verb ‘come’ is inadequate to delineate the meaning, suggesting both its physical and sequential dimensions Comic irony on the arrival of the departure.

9. What he has now to say is a long wonder the world can bear & be. Once in a sycamore I was glad all at the top, and I sang. Hard on the land wears the strong sea and empty grows every bed Subject deferral Transitive or intransitive? How is meaning conditioned by this choice?

10. Some ideas: Spaces Perspective Absent verbs, nouns, etc Types within word classes (ie types of predication; transitive and intransitive verbs) Syntactical ambiguity Lexical ambiguity Multiple reference Indexicals