H.D. AND HER POETRY

Aleia Mouchref

BACKGROUND

Hilda Doolittle also known as H.D. successful feminist writer published epic poems expressing the feminist

views of the 1900’s. Born in Bethlehem, PA in 1886 Doolittle lived in our area for the early years

of her life Moved to England Known bisexual

Had many affairs during her relationships Entered psychotherapy and psychoanalytic

sessions which tried to cure her bisexuality

“WRITING ON THE WALL”

images literally on a wall in her bedroom “supernatural” Basically her inspiration Experienced while on vacation Other poets claimed this as well Defined H.D. as a “seer” and a

“prophet”

WRITING STYLE Imagism Phanopoeia Projection “Projection as phanopoeia” “vision of the womb” Greek Mythology Pound’s ideas

HERMES OF THE WAYS-H.D.’S USE OF POUND’S IDEALS

The hard sand breaks,and the grains of itare clear as wine.Far off over, the leagues of it,the wind,playing on the wide shore,piles little ridges,and the great wavesbreak over it.

Her loss of Victorian and Georgian language are modern

This is the kind of poetry Ezra Pound praised H.D. for

“VISION OF THE WOMB”

A jellyfish-like state 2 regions of this state Doolittle claims mainly females can

operate under the state of mind Thoughts are “received, nourished…”,

given a form and then projected into the world

A “fetus of the body” in the mind “thoughts pass and are visible like fish

swimming under clear water”

PROJECTIONProjection: just as the literal meaning; it projects an image in a poem

In H.D.’s writing, projection, has many different meanings, but the word constantly marks a transition in her work.

EXAMPLE OF PROJECTION: PROJECTOR

Literal sense of projection

Referencing Apollo, god of light, and cinema

Images on a screen

This is his gift;light,lighta wavethat sweepsus from old fearsand powers

PHANOPOEIA A term used by Ezra Pound, but

constantly used by Doolittle. Literally means “throwing a visual image

on the mind”Projection as Phanopoeia

EXAMPLE OF PROJECTION AS PHANOPOEIA: SEA GODS

for you will come, you will comeYou will answer our taut hearts...and cherish and shelter us

Addressing gods directly “compelling them from

immanence to manifestation”

SEA GARDEN…SEA ROSE

Rose, harsh rose, marred and with stint of petals, meagre flower, thin, sparse of leaf, more preciousthan a wet rose single on a stem— you are caught in the drift. Stunted, with small leaf, you are flung on the sand, you are lifted in the crisp sand that drives in the wind. can the spice rose drip such acrid fragrance hardened in a leaf?

SEA ROSE ANALYSIS

Addresses the rose directly You, I and H.D. are the same person in the poem,

and the person is the rose The rose is actually very old and unappealing Despite this, the flower is very precious The rose survives being moved around by wind and

waves The fragrance of the rose is almost solidifying and

becoming better with age The scent of the flower is the reason why the rose

is valuable Nothing grows in this poem, everything is stunted The rose is a flower for Hermes

GARDEN-PART IYou are clearO rose, cut in rock,hard as the descent of hail.I could scrape the colourfrom the petalslike spilt dye from a rock.If I could break youI could break a tree.If I could stirI could break a tree—I could break you.

GARDEN-PART I ANALYSIS Think of a Dryad trying to break out of

her tree H.D. is this Dryad attempting to break

boundaries of society and her self-confidence

If she breaks one, or even gets a slither of self-confidence, she can break the other and overcome her struggles

GARDEN-PART II (HEAT)O wind, rend open the heat, cut apart the heat, rend it to tatters.

Fruit cannot drop through this thick air— fruit cannot fall into heat that presses up and blunts the points of pears and rounds the grapes.

Cut the heat— plough through it, turning it on either side of your path.

HEAT ANALYSIS Using imagism she asks her Greek gods

to physically cut the heat If reading into the poem, the reader

finds it slightly sexual Double meanings

The initial thought of asking for windThe suggestive request

EURYDICE I

So you have swept me back, I who could have walked with the live souls above the earth, I who could have slept among the live flowers at last;

so for your arrogance and your ruthlessness I am swept back where dead lichens drip dead cinders upon moss of ash;

so for your arrogance I am broken at last, I who had lived unconscious, who was almost forgot;

if you had let me wait I had grown from listlessness into peace, if you had let me rest with the dead, I had forgot you and the past.

EURYDICE I ANALYSIS Eurydice is talking to Orpheus as he

looks back at her and leaves her permanently in Hell

H.D. is talking to her male counterpart poets who mock her

Eurydice is Doolittle’s way of expressing her feminist views while using her love of Greek mythology

NIGHTS A novel about group of narratives which helped

H.D. concur her daily struggles of mental stability, bisexuality, and the societal views of herself

H.D. in this novel is known as Natalia, who committed suicide but kept a journal, the group of narratives

The prologue starts with H.D. using her pseudonym and male alter-ego, John Helforth, who analyses Natalia’s entries

In the novel as John Helforth and Natalia, H.D. makes herself: Male and female Living and dead Writer and critic

NIGHTS CONT. While resembling Helforth’s pychoanalysist

view of the narratives, H.D. was also permitted to flow her emotions into the narratives in Natalia’s character

The journal entries embody her life up until the suicide

They reveal that Natalia’s husband left her, in pursuit of an “openly-gay” lifestyle

They also reveal that Natalia was bisexual like Doolittle

After leaving her, Natalia has relations with a younger man, David This is the main action of the journal

NIGHTS CONT. The most important elements on the

novel, and of the entries are the “mental, spiritual, bodily, and linguistic challenges” that face her after:The separation of her and her new gay

husbandHer realization of her bisexuality

The psychoanalytical thought process of Natalia reveal the daily struggles and unfathomable problems of Hilda Doolittle

This novel lead to the modern day detective and psychoanalytic literature of today

PEAR TREESilver dust lifted from the earth, higher than my arms reach, you have mounted. O silver,higher than my arms reach you front us with great mass;

no flower ever opened so staunch a white leaf, no flower ever parted silver from such rare silver;

O white pear, your flower-tufts, thick on the branch, bring summer and ripe fruitsin their purple hearts.

PEAR TREE ANALYSIS Just out of reach are the beautiful silver

buds of the tree The buds symbolize prosperity and it’s

difficulties The tree represents all that is perfect If you touch the buds, you destroy them Use of hyperbole to express the beauty “Purple heart” = source of emotion

Represents good side of humanity

BIBLIOGRAPHY Friedman, Susan Stanford. "Hilda Doolittle." American Poets, 1880-1945: First

Series. Ed. Peter Quartermain. Detroit: Gale Research, 1986. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 45. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Dec. 2012.

Holmgren, Lindsay. "Nights." In Maunder, Andrew. Facts On File Companion to the British Short Story. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CBSS0287&SingleRecord=True

Persoon, James, and Robert R. Watson. "H. D." The Facts On File Companion to British Poetry, 1900 to Present. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CBPNP192&SingleRecord=True

Persoon, James, and Robert R. Watson. "'Eurydice'." The Facts On File Companion to British Poetry, 1900 to Present. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CBPNP137&SingleRecord=True

Gregory, Eileen. "Rose Cut in Rock: Sappho and H. D.'s Sea Garden." Contemporary Literature 27.4 (Winter 1986): 525-552. Rpt. in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 67. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Dec. 2012