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Hi Cassie, thank you for answering my query. I thank you again for pointing out a poet I have never read. I will seek out her work. I agree with the assessment that it is not what you say, but how you say it since there is nothing new under the sun to quote a tired cliche. (-:) Sending my best yrway. Joanne ----- Original Message ----- From: <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2000 8:40 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 > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________________ > Say Bye to Slow Internet! > http://www.home.com/xinbox/signup.html > %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%