This summary reviews a document that discusses three recent books of poetry from three different English-speaking countries - Waiting For Bluebeard by Helen Ivory (UK), Belmont by Stephen Burt (US), and Sputnik's Cousin by Kent MacCarter (Australia). For Helen Ivory's book, the summary discusses the dark and disturbing themes around domestic abuse that are explored through very short poems invoking fairytales. For Stephen Burt's book Belmont, the summary notes it is cinematic and reflective of coming of age in America.
This document provides an analysis and summary of Roger White's poetry collection "One Bird One Cage One Flight". It discusses how White's poetry engages with the work of Emily Dickinson and explores themes of spirituality, death, and transcendence. The summary highlights that White's poetry in this collection focuses on Dickinson's life and spirit through repetition, and aims to commune with her across time through simpler language than her often complex work. It also notes that White's poetry addresses both personal and universal experiences, creating intimacy while maintaining anonymity about the poet's own life.
Goe and catche the falling stare by john donne, it includes introduction, summary, themes, analysis, literary devices, tone, conceits, metaaaphysical elements, examples and conclusion.
This document summarizes several poems from a poetry dedication project by Antolina Williams. It includes summaries of the poems "When You Are Old" by William Butler Yeats, "Mad Girl's Love Song" by Sylvia Plath, "Houses of Dreams" by Sara Teasdale, "I Thought of You" also by Sara Teasdale, and "Touched by an Angel" by Maya Angelou. For each poem, it provides a brief analysis of themes, symbols, and the author's intended meaning. It also includes the full text of some original poems written by the author including "Thank You, Mom" dedicated to their mother.
The document provides background information about epic poems such as the works of Homer, Apollonius of Rhodes, and John Gardner's retelling of the myth of Jason and Medea. It discusses the characteristics of epic poems, including that they feature heroes on quests, supernatural elements, and elevated language. It also explains the dactylic hexameter structure used in classical epics, providing examples to illustrate how this poetic meter works.
The summaries analyze several poems provided in the document.
1. The first poem discusses a child with a dirty face who got dirty from various play activities like digging in the dirt, biting buttons, and more. Imagery, end rhyme, and a silly tone are used.
2. The second poem analyzes two Robert Frost poems, noting their use of rhyme schemes, imagery, and themes of longing and admiration for nature.
3. The third poem provides analysis of three additional poems, noting their use of rhyme, metaphor, personification, and themes of life, expectation, and tenderness.
This document provides an overview of different types of poetry:
- Narrative poems tell a story and include epics and ballads. Ballads have a definite rhythm and rhyme pattern and were often anonymous folk songs.
- Lyric poems are short and personal, using imaginative language and figures of speech. They have no set pattern.
- Dramatic poems use techniques of drama, presenting characters who speak to listeners or each other. A popular form is the dramatic monologue.
This document provides background information about the author and his book of journal entries from 1997-1998 while living in the Czech Republic. The author introduces himself and explains that the journal was written during a time when he was trying to understand the words and ideas that came to him. He was seeking a place where he could define himself as a poet. The entries surprise him now as they still speak with urgency about topics humanity has yet to fully understand, like purpose and our relationship with the earth. He encourages readers to read the entries and find their own meanings and insights from them.
Lyric poem, dramatic monologue & ode types of poetry part iMohammad Jashim Uddin
Lyric poems have a musical rhythm, and their topics often explore romantic feelings or other strong emotions.
A poem in which an imagined speaker addresses a silent listener, usually not the reader.
This document provides an analysis and summary of Roger White's poetry collection "One Bird One Cage One Flight". It discusses how White's poetry engages with the work of Emily Dickinson and explores themes of spirituality, death, and transcendence. The summary highlights that White's poetry in this collection focuses on Dickinson's life and spirit through repetition, and aims to commune with her across time through simpler language than her often complex work. It also notes that White's poetry addresses both personal and universal experiences, creating intimacy while maintaining anonymity about the poet's own life.
Goe and catche the falling stare by john donne, it includes introduction, summary, themes, analysis, literary devices, tone, conceits, metaaaphysical elements, examples and conclusion.
This document summarizes several poems from a poetry dedication project by Antolina Williams. It includes summaries of the poems "When You Are Old" by William Butler Yeats, "Mad Girl's Love Song" by Sylvia Plath, "Houses of Dreams" by Sara Teasdale, "I Thought of You" also by Sara Teasdale, and "Touched by an Angel" by Maya Angelou. For each poem, it provides a brief analysis of themes, symbols, and the author's intended meaning. It also includes the full text of some original poems written by the author including "Thank You, Mom" dedicated to their mother.
The document provides background information about epic poems such as the works of Homer, Apollonius of Rhodes, and John Gardner's retelling of the myth of Jason and Medea. It discusses the characteristics of epic poems, including that they feature heroes on quests, supernatural elements, and elevated language. It also explains the dactylic hexameter structure used in classical epics, providing examples to illustrate how this poetic meter works.
The summaries analyze several poems provided in the document.
1. The first poem discusses a child with a dirty face who got dirty from various play activities like digging in the dirt, biting buttons, and more. Imagery, end rhyme, and a silly tone are used.
2. The second poem analyzes two Robert Frost poems, noting their use of rhyme schemes, imagery, and themes of longing and admiration for nature.
3. The third poem provides analysis of three additional poems, noting their use of rhyme, metaphor, personification, and themes of life, expectation, and tenderness.
This document provides an overview of different types of poetry:
- Narrative poems tell a story and include epics and ballads. Ballads have a definite rhythm and rhyme pattern and were often anonymous folk songs.
- Lyric poems are short and personal, using imaginative language and figures of speech. They have no set pattern.
- Dramatic poems use techniques of drama, presenting characters who speak to listeners or each other. A popular form is the dramatic monologue.
This document provides background information about the author and his book of journal entries from 1997-1998 while living in the Czech Republic. The author introduces himself and explains that the journal was written during a time when he was trying to understand the words and ideas that came to him. He was seeking a place where he could define himself as a poet. The entries surprise him now as they still speak with urgency about topics humanity has yet to fully understand, like purpose and our relationship with the earth. He encourages readers to read the entries and find their own meanings and insights from them.
Lyric poem, dramatic monologue & ode types of poetry part iMohammad Jashim Uddin
Lyric poems have a musical rhythm, and their topics often explore romantic feelings or other strong emotions.
A poem in which an imagined speaker addresses a silent listener, usually not the reader.
This document is the preface and first chapter of a book titled "The Visionary Shakespeare" by Alexander C. H. Tung. The preface discusses how Shakespeare can be considered one of the greatest visionaries, in the sense that his works often represent eternal truths about life. The book contains 7 papers that analyze different visions found in Shakespeare's works, including ironic, deconstructionist, semiotic, psychoanalytic, racial, humanist, and visions of nature and power. The preface argues these visions can be found across multiple plays, though each paper focuses on manifesting a particular vision in one or a few plays. The first chapter analyzes Romeo and Juliet, arguing it can be seen as a "
This poem discusses the importance of true friendship. It emphasizes that a real friend is trustworthy, provides companionship during lonely times, and serves as a support to lean on during difficult periods. A friend is described as a "special gift of life" and "one of the best things one can ever be." The poem stresses that to be a good friend, one must be selfless rather than motivated by personal gain or fame. Overall, it conveys that friendship can positively change lives when based on trust, loyalty and mutual support.
it includes
objections and defence
Review of each paragraph
essence and existence
prose and poetry
meter
effects of meter
principles of writing
coleridge as a critic
This document provides an overview of poetry, including its key elements and different types. It discusses lyric poetry such as sonnets, odes, and elegies. It also covers narrative poetry like ballads and epics, as well as dramatic poetry. The core elements of poetry discussed are shape, sounds, meter, imagery, and tone. Examples are provided to illustrate different forms like the sonnet and haiku.
Poems eliot, ts the love song of j alfred prufrock (1915) analysis by 15 criticsirbaz khan
This document provides an in-depth analysis of T.S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". It summarizes that the poem is a dramatic monologue about a timid, aging man named Prufrock who is too afraid to fully engage with life or address the "overwhelming question" of existence. Key motifs in the poem include the passing of time, Prufrock's fear of society's judgment, and his inability to forge a real connection with others. The analysis examines various symbols and allusions throughout the poem to better understand Prufrock's character and his resigned perspective on the world.
The document provides an analysis of Seamus Heaney's use of bog bodies as a recurring theme in three of his poems: "Punishment", "Strange Fruit", and "Bog Queen". The summary analyzes how Heaney depicts the bog bodies of young girls in a romanticized yet gritty manner through his use of tone, imagery, and metaphor. While "Punishment" also references contemporary political events in Ireland, the overall tone of the poems is one of pity and fascination with the bog bodies as a source of dark beauty. The document examines how Heaney's depictions bring the bog bodies to life in a way that makes readers contemplative of new depths of thought and beauty.
Charlotte Mew wrote the poem "The Trees Are Down" in reaction to the felling of plane trees in Euston Square Gardens in the 1920s. The poem opens with a quotation from Revelation lamenting the cutting down of the trees. Mew depicts the felling of the trees and her sense of loss and desolation at their removal. She personifies the trees and expresses sympathy for their fate. The poem reflects Mew's affinity for nature and her belief that trees held symbolic value that did not deserve destruction, regardless of the reason for their felling.
The poem "Bee-Meeting" by Sylvia Plath describes the poet's experience at a beekeeper's ritual where the old queen bee is killed and replaced by a new queen. The poem explores themes of identity, power, and insecurity through vivid imagery. It represents the poet's feelings of vulnerability and lack of protection among the villagers. Throughout the poem, the poet expresses confusion, fear, and a sense of not belonging. In the end, the villagers complete their task while leaving the poet exhausted and cold, unsure of what has transpired.
The poem "My Grandmother's House" by Kamala Das expresses the poet's deep longing and nostalgia for her grandmother's house from her childhood. The house represented a place where she received immense love and affection from her grandmother. After her grandmother's death, the house fell into silence and decay. The poet often thinks about visiting the house again and bringing back memories of her grandmother to find comfort from her unhappy married life.
This document defines and provides examples of different types of poetry. It discusses lyric poems, sonnets, elegies, odes, epics, ballads, dramatic poems, haikus, cinquains, and free verse. Specific poems are referenced to illustrate each type, such as Shakespeare's Sonnet 116, Milton's Lycidas, and Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn. The document aims to classify and describe various forms of poetry.
- Jose Garcia Villa was a renowned Filipino poet born in 1914 who introduced new techniques to poetry like reversed consonance rhyme and extensive use of punctuation. He was awarded the title of National Artist of the Philippines.
- The poem "Proem" discusses Villa's philosophy that the meaning of a poem is symbolic rather than based on the words, and that a poem's purpose is to caress rather than convey thoughts or have meaning.
- "Sonnet I" lists qualities a poem must have to be magical, musical, bright, slender, hold fire and wisdom, kneel like a rose, and allow God to hover over it with a smile.
This document provides a summary of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Biographia Literaria. It discusses Coleridge's new approach of "appreciative criticism" and how he sought to interpret works of art rather than judge them. It outlines Coleridge's views on the two cardinal points of poetry: fidelity to nature and the power of imagination. Coleridge also distinguishes between poetry and prose, defines what makes a legitimate poem, and discusses the difference between a poem and poetry itself.
The document discusses the key elements of a narrative poem, including that narrative poems tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end (i.e. a plot), feature at least one character, are set in a particular place and time (i.e. have a setting), and involve a conflict that the character faces, which can be between people, an internal struggle, or an issue with society. It provides questions to consider for identifying if a poem contains these standard narrative components.
This document discusses imagery in writing and provides many examples of imagery used in single sentences. It defines imagery as descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the five senses. Short passages from poems, songs, and other works are presented to illustrate vivid imagery. Examples show how imagery can efficiently paint a picture or scene in just one sentence through creative word choices and metaphors.
The document discusses three classifications of poetry: narrative poems, lyric poems, and dramatic poetry. Narrative poems tell a story through forms like ballads, metrical tales, and epics. Lyric poems express an emotion without telling a story through reflective lyrics, elegies, odes, and sonnets. Dramatic poetry connects the reader to characters and includes dramatic narratives, dramatic monologues, and soliloquies. Examples and definitions are provided for each form.
This poem explores Carol Ann Duffy's "Little Red Cap" and how it represents her portrayal of problematic relationships in "The World's Wife". "Little Red Cap" tells the story of a girl leaving childhood and her first sexual encounter with an educated wolf man. Over time, she grows disillusioned by his repetition and takes his life, leaving the forest empowered and singing. The analysis discusses Duffy's metaphorical language, imagery, characters shifts, and the poem's reflection on lost innocence.
The document provides an analysis of the poem "About His Person" by Simon Armitage. It summarizes each stanza, noting symbolic meanings behind the items found on the corpse such as an expired library card representing a life that is no longer useful. The analysis suggests the man committed suicide, as evidenced by a final demand note and giveaway photo. Overall, it describes a lonely man who took his own life due to desperation over the death or divorce of his greatly loved partner.
This document discusses various figures of speech and poetic devices. It begins by defining a figure of speech as using words in a non-literal way to compare or describe things. It then discusses specific figures of speech like similes, metaphors, alliteration and ballads. For similes, it provides examples like "as thin as a rail" and explains they use "like" or "as" to compare two unlike things. For metaphors, no connective words are used. It also discusses alliteration through examples and its use of repeated initial sounds. Ballads are described as narrative poems often set to music with quatrain stanzas.
This document discusses various figures of speech and poetic devices. It begins by defining figures of speech as words or phrases that have meanings beyond their literal definitions. It then discusses specific figures of speech like similes, metaphors, alliteration and onomatopoeia. It provides examples and explanations of each. The document also covers poetic forms like ballads, epics, dramatic monologues and their key features.
This document is the preface and first chapter of a book titled "The Visionary Shakespeare" by Alexander C. H. Tung. The preface discusses how Shakespeare can be considered one of the greatest visionaries, in the sense that his works often represent eternal truths about life. The book contains 7 papers that analyze different visions found in Shakespeare's works, including ironic, deconstructionist, semiotic, psychoanalytic, racial, humanist, and visions of nature and power. The preface argues these visions can be found across multiple plays, though each paper focuses on manifesting a particular vision in one or a few plays. The first chapter analyzes Romeo and Juliet, arguing it can be seen as a "
This poem discusses the importance of true friendship. It emphasizes that a real friend is trustworthy, provides companionship during lonely times, and serves as a support to lean on during difficult periods. A friend is described as a "special gift of life" and "one of the best things one can ever be." The poem stresses that to be a good friend, one must be selfless rather than motivated by personal gain or fame. Overall, it conveys that friendship can positively change lives when based on trust, loyalty and mutual support.
it includes
objections and defence
Review of each paragraph
essence and existence
prose and poetry
meter
effects of meter
principles of writing
coleridge as a critic
This document provides an overview of poetry, including its key elements and different types. It discusses lyric poetry such as sonnets, odes, and elegies. It also covers narrative poetry like ballads and epics, as well as dramatic poetry. The core elements of poetry discussed are shape, sounds, meter, imagery, and tone. Examples are provided to illustrate different forms like the sonnet and haiku.
Poems eliot, ts the love song of j alfred prufrock (1915) analysis by 15 criticsirbaz khan
This document provides an in-depth analysis of T.S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". It summarizes that the poem is a dramatic monologue about a timid, aging man named Prufrock who is too afraid to fully engage with life or address the "overwhelming question" of existence. Key motifs in the poem include the passing of time, Prufrock's fear of society's judgment, and his inability to forge a real connection with others. The analysis examines various symbols and allusions throughout the poem to better understand Prufrock's character and his resigned perspective on the world.
The document provides an analysis of Seamus Heaney's use of bog bodies as a recurring theme in three of his poems: "Punishment", "Strange Fruit", and "Bog Queen". The summary analyzes how Heaney depicts the bog bodies of young girls in a romanticized yet gritty manner through his use of tone, imagery, and metaphor. While "Punishment" also references contemporary political events in Ireland, the overall tone of the poems is one of pity and fascination with the bog bodies as a source of dark beauty. The document examines how Heaney's depictions bring the bog bodies to life in a way that makes readers contemplative of new depths of thought and beauty.
Charlotte Mew wrote the poem "The Trees Are Down" in reaction to the felling of plane trees in Euston Square Gardens in the 1920s. The poem opens with a quotation from Revelation lamenting the cutting down of the trees. Mew depicts the felling of the trees and her sense of loss and desolation at their removal. She personifies the trees and expresses sympathy for their fate. The poem reflects Mew's affinity for nature and her belief that trees held symbolic value that did not deserve destruction, regardless of the reason for their felling.
The poem "Bee-Meeting" by Sylvia Plath describes the poet's experience at a beekeeper's ritual where the old queen bee is killed and replaced by a new queen. The poem explores themes of identity, power, and insecurity through vivid imagery. It represents the poet's feelings of vulnerability and lack of protection among the villagers. Throughout the poem, the poet expresses confusion, fear, and a sense of not belonging. In the end, the villagers complete their task while leaving the poet exhausted and cold, unsure of what has transpired.
The poem "My Grandmother's House" by Kamala Das expresses the poet's deep longing and nostalgia for her grandmother's house from her childhood. The house represented a place where she received immense love and affection from her grandmother. After her grandmother's death, the house fell into silence and decay. The poet often thinks about visiting the house again and bringing back memories of her grandmother to find comfort from her unhappy married life.
This document defines and provides examples of different types of poetry. It discusses lyric poems, sonnets, elegies, odes, epics, ballads, dramatic poems, haikus, cinquains, and free verse. Specific poems are referenced to illustrate each type, such as Shakespeare's Sonnet 116, Milton's Lycidas, and Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn. The document aims to classify and describe various forms of poetry.
- Jose Garcia Villa was a renowned Filipino poet born in 1914 who introduced new techniques to poetry like reversed consonance rhyme and extensive use of punctuation. He was awarded the title of National Artist of the Philippines.
- The poem "Proem" discusses Villa's philosophy that the meaning of a poem is symbolic rather than based on the words, and that a poem's purpose is to caress rather than convey thoughts or have meaning.
- "Sonnet I" lists qualities a poem must have to be magical, musical, bright, slender, hold fire and wisdom, kneel like a rose, and allow God to hover over it with a smile.
This document provides a summary of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Biographia Literaria. It discusses Coleridge's new approach of "appreciative criticism" and how he sought to interpret works of art rather than judge them. It outlines Coleridge's views on the two cardinal points of poetry: fidelity to nature and the power of imagination. Coleridge also distinguishes between poetry and prose, defines what makes a legitimate poem, and discusses the difference between a poem and poetry itself.
The document discusses the key elements of a narrative poem, including that narrative poems tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end (i.e. a plot), feature at least one character, are set in a particular place and time (i.e. have a setting), and involve a conflict that the character faces, which can be between people, an internal struggle, or an issue with society. It provides questions to consider for identifying if a poem contains these standard narrative components.
This document discusses imagery in writing and provides many examples of imagery used in single sentences. It defines imagery as descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the five senses. Short passages from poems, songs, and other works are presented to illustrate vivid imagery. Examples show how imagery can efficiently paint a picture or scene in just one sentence through creative word choices and metaphors.
The document discusses three classifications of poetry: narrative poems, lyric poems, and dramatic poetry. Narrative poems tell a story through forms like ballads, metrical tales, and epics. Lyric poems express an emotion without telling a story through reflective lyrics, elegies, odes, and sonnets. Dramatic poetry connects the reader to characters and includes dramatic narratives, dramatic monologues, and soliloquies. Examples and definitions are provided for each form.
This poem explores Carol Ann Duffy's "Little Red Cap" and how it represents her portrayal of problematic relationships in "The World's Wife". "Little Red Cap" tells the story of a girl leaving childhood and her first sexual encounter with an educated wolf man. Over time, she grows disillusioned by his repetition and takes his life, leaving the forest empowered and singing. The analysis discusses Duffy's metaphorical language, imagery, characters shifts, and the poem's reflection on lost innocence.
The document provides an analysis of the poem "About His Person" by Simon Armitage. It summarizes each stanza, noting symbolic meanings behind the items found on the corpse such as an expired library card representing a life that is no longer useful. The analysis suggests the man committed suicide, as evidenced by a final demand note and giveaway photo. Overall, it describes a lonely man who took his own life due to desperation over the death or divorce of his greatly loved partner.
This document discusses various figures of speech and poetic devices. It begins by defining a figure of speech as using words in a non-literal way to compare or describe things. It then discusses specific figures of speech like similes, metaphors, alliteration and ballads. For similes, it provides examples like "as thin as a rail" and explains they use "like" or "as" to compare two unlike things. For metaphors, no connective words are used. It also discusses alliteration through examples and its use of repeated initial sounds. Ballads are described as narrative poems often set to music with quatrain stanzas.
This document discusses various figures of speech and poetic devices. It begins by defining figures of speech as words or phrases that have meanings beyond their literal definitions. It then discusses specific figures of speech like similes, metaphors, alliteration and onomatopoeia. It provides examples and explanations of each. The document also covers poetic forms like ballads, epics, dramatic monologues and their key features.
1. Three Recent Books
This article reviews recent books from three different countries where English is the
spoken language. The article opens with Waiting For Bluebeard by Helen Ivory from the
United Kingdom, followed by Belmont by Stephen Burt from the United States and
closes with Sputnik’s Cousin by Kent MacCarter from Australia. I found each of these
books unique and challenging for different reasons. It is not my purpose in this overview
to compare and contrast the work of these authors, since that would be like the proverbial
comparison of apples to oranges. However, I will briefly acknowledge some of the
idiomatic and syntactic nuances in the work relative to British English, American English
and Australian English.
I. Waiting For Bluebeard ~ Helen Ivory ~ Bloodaxe Books Ltd. 2013 112 Pages
Helen Ivory’s fourth collection of poems Waiting For Bluebeard is an important book
from a poet and visual artist from the East Anglia region of the United Kingdom. The
collection consists of 95 very short poems and may be the most thematically unified of
the three books. The language is colored by syntax and idioms that are distinctly British
English. Some of the phrases that sound magical to my Midwestern-American ear are:
“the chunter of her sewing machine,” “clitter-clat,” “the church jumble sale,” and
“gipsy land.”
Waiting For Bluebeard derives its title and general context from a French folktale
Bluebeard (La Barbe Bleue) that tells the story of a violent nobleman who murders his
wives and the attempts of one wife to avoid the fate of his earlier wives. In this book,
Helen Ivory explores and plumbs the depths of interior landscapes through dream
imagery and metaphor. She creates her own myths and folklore, invoking some of the
darkest and most disturbing classic fairytales by the Brothers Grimm. She
anthropomorphizes inanimate objects and animals, imbuing them with human
characteristics, emotions, motives and behavior in ways that remind me of children’s
nursery rhymes and Lewis Carroll’s characters in Alice in Wonderland. (What the Cat
Said, What the Dark Said, What the Bed Said, The Paper Bag Man.)
Helen Ivory writes in a strong narrative voice, distinctly and uniquely her own, drawing
the reader in with glimpses of human experience that reflect back something that is
recognizable and eerily familiar. Her poetry is rendered with a visual artist’s sensibility
and she utilizes bold imagery and unexpected juxtapositions to create short, powerful
poems that demand to be read aloud.
Part One of the book consists of sketches and reflections of a childhood part
remembered, part reimagined. There are poems about her grandmother, mother, father,
neighbors, pets and séances. Her father, in particular, is a shadowy and vaguely menacing
figure who hovers in the fringes of her childhood memories. (My Two Fathers, Oil, My
Father’s Accident.)
2. Part Two opens with the book’s titular poem Waiting For Bluebeard, where Bluebeard
first makes his appearance. A seductive and often deeply disturbing journey through a
dark and sinister psychological landscape, this section is, for me, the heart of the book.
(from) Waiting For Bluebeard
We are waiting for Bluebeard
and when he happens here
in his grey-silver car
he will unleash wolves
like rain.
The Bluebeard poems depict the domination of one person over another in an abusive
relationship and their crippling co-dependency. “Disappearing,” another series of poems
in Part Two, is woven in an alternating fashion with the Bluebeard poems. The
Disappearing poems are a devastating depiction of the gradual disintegration and
annihilation of the personality and identity of both the protagonist narrator and the
antagonist Bluebeard. The book closes with a poem called Hide in which the antagonist is
not Bluebeard, but Father. And so it comes full circle in a mysterious, disturbing and
haunting way.
(from) Hide
My father offered me
the pelt of his dog-
how quickly his knife
freed that beast from its skin.
I climbed inside while it was still warm
zipped it up tight
then walked into the fire
so he could not give me his love.
Poetry is a means to describe the indescribable and to say the unsayable. It’s what
happens when all else fails. Like a shaman’s incantations, Waiting For Bluebeard is not
only an excavation of the poet’s childhood and an abusive relationship, but an exorcism
to cast out demons associated with those parts of the poet’s life and psyche. It seems that
this book was born into this world as a result of coming to terms with those experiences.
Waiting For Bluebeard harkens back to the age-old tradition of oral storytelling and myth
and the beastly bridegroom Bluebeard is not unlike the fearsome monster Grendel in the
epic Beowulf.
Waiting For Bluebeard is not an easy book. I read through it a number of times to wrap
my mind around its structure and sequence, which led to a deeper understanding of the
work. The brevity of the poems belies their true depth and power. This book denies
summary categorization and should not be sold short by pigeonholing it with an academic
label. The writing could be variously described as minimalist, surrealist, magic realist,
3. symbolist, ethereal, lyrical, and atmospheric. This collection is made from whole cloth
and as a body of work, it creates a synergy where the integrated whole is greater than the
sum of its parts.
Helen Ivory is also a visual artist. She created the cover art for Waiting For Bluebeard, a
tableau of 8 sealed mason jars on shelves and a white lab rat on its hind legs appearing to
be examining the label tag on one of the jars. Each jar contains a different collection of
objects which include old black and white photographs, bird feathers, a vial of spilt pills
and severed doll parts. A cardboard tag with a descriptive label dangles from a length of
twine wrapped around the lid of each sealed jar. The jars appear to be specimen jars in a
laboratory. In my mind, the poems in this collection are like the objects in each jar, each
one, separate unto itself, yet somehow interconnected to one another. The visual effect
also triggers a connection to The Bell Jar by the late poet, Sylvia Plath. As in the work of
Joseph Cornell, her visual art invokes the magnetic power of found objects grouped
together in unexpected ways.
I feel an inextricable connection between her poems and her visual art. I would even go
so far as to call her visual art pieces “visual poems.” Although her visual art and her
poetry each exist on their own terms, I feel a symbiotic relationship between them; each
one wrought with the same artist’s sensibilities, discerning eye, careful hand and human
heart.
http://www.helenivory.co.uk
http://www.bloodaxebooks.com
II. Belmont ~ Stephen Burt ~ Graywolf Press ~ 2013 ~ 93 Pages
Stephen Burt is a prominent figure in 21st century poetry as a poet, scholar, essayist,
critic, TED Talk speaker and Harvard professor and much has been written about
Belmont, his third full length collection of poetry. So much so, that I’m concerned that I
may not actually have anything new or unique to add to the conversation. So the best I
can do is to refrain from actually reading reviews of this book until after I’ve responded
so my own authentic and honest engagement is not overly influenced by viewpoints and
opinions of others. It’s not unlike watching a film before you’ve read or heard too much
about it.
In fact, I found reading Belmont actually was a bit like watching a film. Stephen Burt’s
poetry in Belmont is cinemagraphic, atmospheric and infused with enough sensory
stimuli to evoke memories, reflections and impressions of my own. Poetry can be
puzzling and is subject to individual interpretation. Therein lies much of its power and its
attraction for me. Any of the questions that arose from my reading Belmont may be my
questions alone. I don’t pretend to fully understand the deeper meanings of all these
poems, nor is it my intent to tell you how to interpret them or feel about them. My own
life is at a distinctly different stage than Stephen Burt’s. Nevertheless, Belmont engaged
4. me in a way that I see myself and much of my own life reflected back at me in these
poems; my coming of age, my journey and the political, philosophical and lifestyle
choices I’ve made as a husband, father, and working professional. That simple testimony
alone might be enough to say that this collection has successfully done its job.
This is not Thornton Wilder’s Our Town and Belmont is not necessarily literally about
Belmont per se. Belmont is named after the suburb in which Stephen Burt lives. It’s also
the name of the imaginary place in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, which he alludes
to in the epigraph of the book. Belmont may serve as a metaphor for the idealized place
where we all hope to live happily ever after.
Although there is nothing in the language and syntax that would set this aside as
specifically American English per se, many of the settings and cultural references are
distinctly American. (Draft Camp, Self Portrait as Muppet, Over Connecticut.) There is
also an exuberance and sense of celebration that walks in the steps of the great American
poet Walt Whitman.
While some of the poems in Belmont are rooted in remembrances of childhood, they are
not nostalgic or wistful longings to return back to earlier times. They serve more as
reference points charting the passage of time and the progress of life. For me, some of
these poems bring to mind some of the most sublime philosophical ruminations of
Thomas Wolfe in his definitive work You Can’t Go Home Again.
On the surface, many of the poems in Belmont are about childhood dreams and
aspirations, juxtaposed to the realities of adult life. They are about having babies, raising
children, going to work and living a safe and secure life in the suburbs in 21st century
America. Upon first glance, the poems lack the gritty conflict and tension that would be
found in work depicting the struggles of a “dark and brooding suffering artist,” dealing
with dysfunctionality, poverty, starvation, substance abuse, mental disorders, and lack of
recognition.
However, the sources of conflict and tension in Belmont are much more subtle and
nuanced than that. Life’s choices alone provide plenty of conflict and tension. The poems
contain universal themes and observe milestones that might be found in life in most
modern cultures. Milestones that might include decisions about putting away one’s own
childish things to honor your own children, seeking the correct path and correct work,
providing food, shelter, safety and education for your family while still managing to live
an authentic, artful and creative life that feeds the soul as well as the body.
There is nothing “in your face” or heavy handed about the poems in Belmont and Stephen
Burt doesn’t bang you over the head with bluntly worded questions. As a poet and
teacher, he raises questions in a quiet, gentle and understated manner, with a deft Socratic
touch. Among other things, Belmont invites us to reflect on our lives relative to choices.
Choices driven by safety and security for families, careers and longevity. There are
poems about children and flowers, an ode to his car, and sketches of characters whose
lives may not have turned out how they might have imagined; “wanna be” rock stars and
5. athletes with hopes of going pro, but who never made the “Big Time” (Bad Newz, Draft
Camp). On the other hand, I’m reminded that if you follow your instincts and go with the
flow, things may turn out the way they should for your own higher good.
(from) Butterfly With Parachute
When we ask that imagination discover the limits
of the real
world only slowly
maybe this is what we meant.
Many of the poems tacitly raise questions that leave it to the reader to arrive at his or her
own answers. Belmont gave rise to questions for me. Does a domesticated lifestyle make
my life any less authentic because I’m not living the dog eat dog life of my
hunter/gatherer forbears? What trade-offs have I made along the way? Have I “sold out”?
Do we live a life of quiet desperation in the suburban world of Subarus, baby strollers,
soccer Moms, manicured lawns and the commute to and from our jobs? The stage is set
to ask these kinds of questions in
Belmont Overture (Poem of 8 A.M.)
We mean
it when we say we like it; we feel sure
it’s safe around here, and once we feel safe, it’s our nature
to say we’re unsatisfied and pretend to seek more.
The poems were written over a period spanning a number of years. Like time lapse
photography, this offers an opportunity to catch glimpses of changes occurring over the
passage of time. I think this may account for a refreshing variety in this body of work.
Stephen Burt experiments with different poetic forms and devices that include forays into
more traditional structures and internal rhyme schemes, (Kendall Square in the Rain)
playful explorations with formatting so that the words almost read like musical tablature
on the white page (Color Theory, Owl Music, The Paraphilia Odes) and the concept of
text messages and tweets as small poems. (Text Messages) This all challenges notions of
what poetry is and what it should look like.
Belmont is a book I can go back to time and again. If poetry can help us understand
things that are inside of us even though we may not be able to identify or understand
what those things are, then I think Stephen Burt has helped me with this collection. I
found Belmont evocative, thought provoking, calming and life affirming. It’s a collection
infused with warmth, good humor and wisdom, and I think it will endure.
https://www.graywolfpress.org
6. III. Sputnik’s Cousin ~ Kent MacCarter ~ Transit Lounge ~ 2014
Sputnik's Cousin is Kent MacCarter’s third collection of poetry. This is the most
challenging of the three books I read for this article. In many ways, it’s also the most fun.
Initially, I found the writing as confounding as Australian Football and every bit as
rambunctious, rough and rowdy. It's a dense and unconventional mixture of prose and
poetry, often abstract, with many unfamiliar historical references. I often found myself
scrambling outside of my comfort zone and blindly groping for points of reference,
concerned that I must be missing an inside joke.
However, once I stopped resisting and wriggling madly like a fish on a hook, struggling
to understand the meaning of every word, image or turn of phrase, I relaxed and
surrendered to the experience and just let it all wash over me. He plays with language,
form and syntax in a unique and experimental fashion that is not always easily accessible.
This is not criticism. Engaged readers should do most of the heavy lifting. Here’s a taste.
(from) Zoo Break
Freed a binturong
accelerated its wave
exquisitely in cosines
quelching car radios
and plots of gibberish
replacing the news
Kent MacCarter is an American expat, now a permanent resident of Australia, living and
working in Melbourne. He was raised in the United States, and even though the lexicon
of American English is native to him, his writing is heavily influenced and flavored by
Australian English, with its uniquely musical vocabulary, syntax, idioms, and quirky
expressions. (“arse,” “Christ-load,” “dunebuggery,” “spooks your cookies”)
His use of idiomatic language, made up words and sounds, and experimentation with
structure, form, line breaks and enjambment create a synesthesia that connects his work
solidly to the lineage of James Joyce, Ezra Pound, John Cage, jazz, surrealism, abstract
expressionist painting and assemblage sculpture. It's nuanced and multi-layered and full
of vitality and brilliant imagery. Sputnik’s Cousin is also a cousin of Language Poetry
which emphasizes the reader's role in bringing meaning out of a work and this book
demands that the reader stretch in new and unexpected ways. Here’s another
freewheeling riff.
7. (from) XXIII. THE FIRST ESCALATOR IN CAMBODIA
Narrow gauge choo-choos haystacked with cloud books
dodder on … bloodbath tracks to Battambang
hoppers-on nap near, mime. Doodlebugs en-
tangle gyroscopes. Shot, their scurries like …(con’t.)
Kent MacCarter’s poetry is diverse and wildly experimental; with language that gushes
forth in dense torrents. Perhaps the poems that best epitomize the spirit and audacity of
this book are found in Beiderbecke, a series of poems about Bix Beiderbecke, the
mercurial, red-hot jazz musician of the 1920’s. The Beiderbecke poems are also good
examples in which spacing and formatting interacts with the white space on the paper in a
way that connects it to music and visual art.
(from) Revisiting Bixology (Volumes 9-11) in Beiderbecke
When Bix got volcanic
When Bix got his’self revving
The mud he slid
a Mississippi through April
The oomph that horn throttled
you in yaw, pitch and roll
like a Bleriot’s physics
during a Channel cross
Flight – the way Bix piloted
That cottontail rag
Kent MacCarter’s literary ancestry can be traced back to Nelson Algren, James Wright
and Philip Levine; and their gritty, blue collar, realist influence is discernable in the two
sections of nonfiction prose, Fat Chance and Pork Town, that depict, among other things,
historical plane crashes and slaughterhouses.
An undercurrent of wickedly wry humor runs through much of the work in Sputnik’s
Cousin. Some of the pieces defy description and conventional understanding, chuffing
8. away like fulminating steam punk contraptions with connecting pipes and valves that
whistle and wheeze, chitter, chirp and cheep, threatening to blow up at any moment. I
like that.
His stream of consciousness romps, some pensive, some raucously playful, some
mordantly funny, are acrobatic combinations of words and images in a private language
that create a sense of cognitive dissonance, tear down established literary boundaries,
defy labeling and challenge preconceived notions. Sputnik’s Cousin is a significant body
of ground breaking, modernist work from an important Australian poet and this is a book
worthy of critical attention as a bellwether signaling trends in contemporary literature.
http://www.transitlounge.com.au