Mairead,
Margaret Scott goes on to say how surprised
she was at the quality of Plath's posthumously
published collections...
My point is that if Plath had a problem with being
published early by Faber and Faber, and getting
the odd less than gushing endorsement by way of review,
she was reacting preciously. I don't think she did really
feel hardly done by, more than in passing.
Most poets would be bloody pleased to be championed
by Al Alvarez, an important critic of the day. The sexism
in the first review you quote would annoy a young author
but others copped worse. She wasn't that good yet.
You were saying she had reason to be depressed, as if
critical neglect hurt her towards suicide. This is something
up with which I would not put. That sort of causality belongs
in first year essays on Plath, where I'd excuse it.
Best
Hugh Tolhurst
PS And I've had far nastier pieces on me, not misogynist
but demonising of mental illness. My good cheer is proof
that poets survive reviewing bloodbaths.
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Cc: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2000 8:33 AM
Subject: What might make a poet miserable
>
> Dear Cassie,
>
> Plath was considered tiresome long before the 'cult' -- the first
> reviews of her first book of poetry, even when favorable, attest to
> her tiresomeness, on grounds of her femaleness mainly, but also, in
> England, her Americanness. I have sometimes thought about I myself would
> react to such reviews. What do you think?
> (I must admit, though, I have always found Plath's poetry full of
precision
> and light).
>
> All the best,
>
> Mairead
>
> "As a rule the work of women poets is marked by intensity of feeling and
> fineness of perception rather than by outstanding technical
> accomplishment. Miss Sylvia Plath is, however, a young American poetess
> whose work is most immediately noticeable for the virtuoso qualities of
> its style."
> Bernard Bergonzi, Manchester Guardian, 1960.
>
> "Sylvia Plath's The Colossus needs none of the usual throat-clearing
> qualifications, to wit: 'impressive, considering, of course, it is a
> *first* volume by a *young* (excuse me) *American* poetess.' Miss Plath
> neither asks excuses for her work nor offers them. She steers clear of
> feminine charm, deliciousness, gentility, supersensitivity and the act of
> being a poetess. She simply writes good poetry."
> A. Alvarez, The Observer, 1960.
>
> "Miss Plath is a young American poet who was at Cambridge and is married
> to a Yorkshireman ... "If Miss Plath can let things slip a bit without
> gushing her next book may remove all one's doubts."
> Roy Fuller, London Magazine, 1961.
>
> On Wed, 5 Jul 2000 [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> > 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
> > > > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________________
> > Say Bye to Slow Internet!
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> >
> >
>
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