Margaret Scott, sterling Taswegian poet,
tells the story of being a young Cambridge
outsider, who attended the party where Ted
and Sylvia met, and where Sylvia famously
bit into Ted's cheek such that it bled.
The girl who had accompanied Ted to the party
came up to Margaret and said, "I don't know what to do,
Ted's just kissed that American girl!"
Apparently Margaret said, "Oh, I wouldn't worry about it,
dear, I'm sure it won't come to anything".
best
Hugh
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2000 1:40 AM
Subject: A thought on Plath & all things miserable
> Dear Joanne,
>
> That's a difficult question. The 'cult' of Sylvia Plath probably
contributes
> to her percieved tiresome aspect. yet perhaps it's unfair that she's so
> commonly seen as purely internal and insular- most of us would seem that
way
> if the diaries of our youth were widely published.
>
> Poetry needs shade as well as light to work, it's almost a prerequisite,
so
> I guess what we're talking about is attitude, style and tone rather than
> subject matter.
>
> Personally, having just read Louise Gluck's 'The Wild Iris', I am
staggered
> by her deftness with dark subjects. Here's a quote from Helen Vendler from
> the back cover:
>
> "Her poems... have achieved the unusual distinction of being neither
> "confessional" nor "intellectual" in the usual senses of this word, which
> are often thought to represent two camps in the life of poetry...What a
> strange book 'The Wild Iris' is...written in the language of flowers...It
> wagers everything on the poetic energy remaining in the old troubadour
image
> of the spring, the Biblical lilies of the field, natural resurrection."
>
> What is a personal hell? Is it so different from an impersonal one? Does
it
> really matter whether we're talking about death and resurrection in a
> garden, or in Russia (as in Akhmatova's 'Requiem' Cycle) or in Sylvia's
> mind? I think it comes down to one of the best phrases I picked up in high
> school: it's not what you say but how you say it.
>
> How very intellectual of me! But as readers we have interpretitive choices
> too: I tentatively feel that three's much existentialism in Plath's work,
> along with all the nihilism.
>
> But if it was a choice between a night out with Anna and Louise, and one
> with Sylvia, I'm pretty sure which one I'd take.
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
>
> Cassie
>
>
> On Wed, 5 Jul 2000 08:05:28 -0700, [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> > which brings me to a question I believe passed by this list a short
time
> > ago, but I am afraid I wasn't paying attention. What is the consensus
of
> > poets who think writing poetry of a personal hell is self indulgent
> drivel?
> > I for one am moved and enjoy the honest emotions that can come from
such
> > self revealing work. What do others say? Humm? just wondering, Joanne
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Cc: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2000 5:57 AM
> > Subject: Re: Plath as a miserable, self-obsessed b*****r
> >
> >
> > > Dear Ally and Susanne,
> > > I have to disagree with this assessment of Plath, who was fully
> occupied
> > > most of the time and had a clear and precise eye: her poems attest to
> her
> > > intense interest in things outside herself -- for me they often have
> the
> > > attention and accuracy of Hopkins' letters.
> > > Mairead
> > >
> > > On Tue, 4 Jul 2000, Ally Kerr wrote:
> > >
> > > > Dear Susanne,
> > > >
> > > > Jane Austen, in Persuasion, suggests that folk who are depressed
> should
> > avoid reading poetry.... She's probably got a point: so many poets are
> > miserable self-obsessed b****rs like Plath! On the other hand, when us
> > students were depressed in the 60s, we used to listen to a Leonard
Cohen
> LP
> > and then we knew there was someone who felt worse than we did. Cheered
> us
> > up no end. The Rev Sydney Smith said read humour and get out a lot.
> > > >
> > > > Cheers
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Ally Kerr
> > > > __________________________________________
> > > > Sent by Sofcom Mail - The world's coolest and safest FREE email
> service.
> > > > http://www.sofcom.com.au
> > > >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
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