Elmer Andrews has argued that one of the most notable developments in modern American poetry has been the emergence of a “confessional poetry…giving direct expression to the poet’s personal life”
Elmer Andrews has argued that one of the most notable developments in modern American poetry has been the emergence of a "confessional poetry...giving direct expression to the poet's personal life". (1996)
How far do you think this comment is appropriate to the poems in this selection? In you answer you should refer to at least two poets
The style of confessionalism revitalised the American literary scene. What is surprising is that two major exponents of the genre were both very shy and extraordinarily eccentric.
Emily Dickinson was born into an upper-middle class family who were very religious, her father was a clergyman. Dickinson's desire to break free from the confines of conventional religion is apparent in her poem No. 67, in which she claims that American Patriotism is a new religion in its own right. In the first stanza, she shows her indifference to G-d and religion, "to comprehend a Nectar/ requires sorest need." The Nectar, the drink of G-d, is used to communicate Dickinson's views with the endnote, "requires sorest need." The reader could understand this as denouncing religion. This standpoint could be strengthened with quotes from the second stanza, "Not one of all purple host," which links the highest US military award for those who are injured in battle and the holy wafer used in the holy communion. In that stanza, she goes on to say, "Not one...can the definition So clear of victory." This may be a reference to her own feelings about the church. The last stanza, " As he defeated - dying-/ on whose forbidden ear/ The distant strains of triumph/ Burst agonised and clear." The stanza certainly employs a variety of poetical techniques to emphasise the stanza. This could lead us to believe that the stanza to be more memorable. However, I feel that this is a cry of anger and anguish from Dickinson, who is disillusioned, trying to denounce the Church in her own mind. The fact that she never expected any her poems to be published would cause me to believe that the last stanza is a message to her father or any religious members of the family that the Church will eventually be replaced by an American Secularism. This is why many people believe Dickinson herself, as well as her poems are so pioneering in creating modern American Culture and mindset.
Dickinson also deals with reincarnation and immortality in her poems. Poems 465 and 712 deal with death in contrasting ways. Poem 465 points to a disbelief in heaven or any form of afterlife. In this poem, a woman is lying in bed with her family and friends standing all around waiting for her to die. While the family is waiting for her to pass on, she is waiting for "...the King..." This symbolises some sort of god that will take her away. As the woman dies, her eyes, or windows as they are referred to in the poem, ...
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Dickinson also deals with reincarnation and immortality in her poems. Poems 465 and 712 deal with death in contrasting ways. Poem 465 points to a disbelief in heaven or any form of afterlife. In this poem, a woman is lying in bed with her family and friends standing all around waiting for her to die. While the family is waiting for her to pass on, she is waiting for "...the King..." This symbolises some sort of god that will take her away. As the woman dies, her eyes, or windows as they are referred to in the poem, fail and then she "...could not see to see-." As she died she saw "the light" but then her eyes, or windows, failed and she saw nothing. This is the suggestion of there being no afterlife. The woman's soul drifted off into nothingness because there was no afterlife for it to travel to. This is the complete opposite belief about afterlife compared to Dickinson's poem, Poem 712 which indicated that life is a never-ending journey. These two poems deal with similar topics however they are entirely different in that one believes in life after death and the other does not. This is very interesting in regard looking at her as a Confessionalist, as the differing attitudes within the poems could be attributed with a change of perception of the earth as Dickinson got older.
Sylvia Plath used her poetry to convey her feelings of despair. This is at its most apparent in her poem Lady Lazarus. In Lady Lazarus, the speaker is developed as a character of religious persecution and Nazi incarceration. She uses extended metaphors and allusion to develop terrifying images of death that surround her attempted suicides.
The speaker defines her consecutive attempted suicides and describes her internal conflicts surrounding them. She describes her suicides as a form of entertainment for an onlooking "peanut-crunching crowd," her revival as nothing more than "the big strip tease," a form of entertainment for others. The speaker describes dying as being "an art," yet, suicide is not so simple for her. In this way Plath developed the Confessional genre by creating a "Pop-Confessional" genre, by using her inner thoughts and using them to sell poetry and herself.
In lines 65-79 she compares the doctors who helped revive her after an attempted suicide to Nazis giving her life which, the speaker felt, was worse than killing her. She uses metaphors and allusion to develop this theme.
The speaker uses apostrophe to address the doctors in her past: "So, so Herr Doktor / So, Herr Enemy." These "doktors," being spoken of in German by the speaker, are pictured as evil Nazis that the reader can draw a sharp image to. The "doktors" are enemies, people that only want to hurt, not help. She sees them as enemies because they revived her after she attempted to kill herself. This is almost definitely a reference to her father, Otto, who allowed himself to die when Plath was young.
The speaker continues to address the doctors in a most unusual fashion, not out of gratitude, but out of contempt for their services. She refers to herself as a character that is their "opus," nothing more than an important, creative work. The speaker also refers to herself as their "valuable," their "pure gold baby." Perhaps, she felt, that people wanted to associate themselves with her because she was a wonderful person.
The speaker continues to identify herself as a Nazi victim. She uses allusions to Nazi death camps as a way to develop this idea, "Ash, ash -/You poke and stir./ Flesh, bone, there is nothing there/A cake of soap /A wedding ring, /A gold filling."
Here, the speaker refers to the Nazi death camps to describe her attempted suicides. By saying "Ash, ash," she is referring to the huge ovens that German Nazi used to burn the remains of their victims. A "cake of soap" was made from the fat from the bodies of the victims, "wedding rings" and "gold fillings" were taken from the bodies of the victims before they were killed and burned.
The speaker uses these descriptions to convey her contempt for the "doktors" that brought her back to life. At the end of the poem, the speaker concludes her hatred for the people that saved her: "Beware," she says, for she plans to return to seek some form of revenge.
It is hard to tell whether the "Doktors" refer to her father, who was a doctor and German, or the doctors who saved her life after her numerous suicide attempts. I believe that, for Plath, everything in her life revolved around her getting attention. Her poetry was almost the handbook that accompanied her suicide "shows." I believe that Plath never really wanted to die and thought that her suicide attempts would be constantly foiled. The suicide attempts would allow her to gain more coverage. If Plath, was alive today, the cult status that she has obtained would almost certainly be eradicated.
Elmer Andrews is certainly correct when he has argued that, one of the most notable developments in modern American poetry has been the emergence of a "confessional poetry...giving direct expression to the poet's personal life." The confessional style of opening up is one which is beneficial to culture and society as a whole. The most beautiful works are ones, which can touch the soul, and the raw emotion that the genre brings out invokes the emotions of the reader as well as the poet. However, I believe that the two poets above, Dickinson and Plath are very different in their poetry. Dickinson uses her poems like an external think tank where all her thoughts are on an external document. In my opinion, this is pure, unadulterated confessional poetry. This is in stark contrast to Plath's works, which is almost an advertisement to try and get more publicity. Although, Plath's works are important in modern American culture. I believe that the works of Dickinson's works will be far more influential in shaping society and will be of more value to society in the future.
