the poet as woman: shapes of experience - open collections

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THE POET AS WOMAN: SHAPES OF EXPERIENCE

A STUDY OF POETIC MOTIVATION AND CRAFT IN TWENTIETH CENTURY WOMEN POETS

INCORPORATING A SELECT ANTHOLOGY

by

HELENE ROSENTHAL

B . A . , U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , 1969

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS

i n t h e D e p a r t m e n t

o f

E n g I i sh

We a c c e p t t h i s t h e s i s as c o n f o r m i n g t o t h e r e q u i r e d s t a n d a r d

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

S e p t e m b e r , 1974

In p resen t ing t h i s t hes i s in p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f the requirements f o r

an advanced degree at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree that

the L i b r a r y sha l l make i t f r e e l y ava i l ab le f o r reference and study.

I f u r t h e r agree t h a t permission for ex tens ive copying o f t h i s thes is

f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may be granted by the Head o f my Department or

by h is r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s understood that copying or p u b l i c a t i o n

o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l gain sha l l not be al lowed w i thout my

w r i t t e n permiss ion .

Department of &NG-LI SH

The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada

Date tfcro&E-R 9 , 1974

i i

A b s t r a c t

The v i r t u a l absence o f women's v i e w p o i n t from t h e f i e l d o f p o e t r y and

i t s c r i t i c i s m can be a t t r i b u t e d t o t h e s u b o r d i n a t e p o s i t i o n of women i n

w e s t e r n c u l t u r e t h r o u g h o u t h i s t o r y . A e s t h e t i c s t a n d a r d s , though s e e m i n g l y

c o mprehensive i n t h e i r a u t h o r i t y , n e v e r t h e l e s s r e f l e c t t h i s a bsence, b e i n g

l a r g e l y t h e p r o d u c t o f a male p e r c e p t i o n o f r e a l i t y . Women p o e t s have

been d i s c o u r a g e d and d i s c r i m i n a t e d a g a i n s t i n p u b l i c a t i o n , a s i t u a t i o n

s t i l l not overcome d e s p i t e c u r r e n t p o p u l a r i t y , a r e s u l t o f t h e i r a c h i e v e

ments i n t h i s c e n t u r y . The p o e t r y o f women has been seen by most men as

u n i m p o r t a n t o r s u b s i d i a r y t o t h e i r s . A c o n t r i b u t o r y f a c t o r i s t h a t women

have t e n d e d t o f o c u s on i n t e n s e l y o b s e r v e d p e r s o n a l e x p e r i e n c e , whereas male

p o e t s have been a b l e t o i d e n t i f y w i t h t h e governance of men i n d e a l i n g

w i t h b r o a d e r i s s u e s . Thus, i n a d d i t i o n t o be i n g h e l d back, women have

had t o s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t a l a c k o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g and r e s p e c t f o r t h e i r work.

In o r d e r t o b r i n g a b out a d e s i r e d s i t u a t i o n i n which women can p a r t i c i p a t e

w i t h equal freedom and a u t h o r i t y a l o n g w i t h men i n m a t t e r s p e r t a i n i n g t o

p o e t r y , what i s needed i s , f i r s t , a r e c o g n i t i o n t h a t t h e problem e x i s t s ,

and second,, an a p p r e c i a t i o n o f women's l i t e r a r y importance p a s t and p r e s e n t

i n c o n t r i b u t i n g t o a e s t h e t i c human e x p e r i e n c e .

T h i s t h e s i s i s an a t t e m p t t o f o s t e r such r e c o g n i t i o n by showing a) t h a t

t h e r e has a l w a y s e x i s t e d , a l b e i t f r e q u e n t l y submerged, a d i s t i n c t l y f e m i n i n e

t r a d i t i o n i n p o e t r y , and b) t h a t contemporary w r i t i n g b e a r s o u t t h a t

t r a d i t i o n w h i l e c a r r y i n g i t f u r t h e r i n r e s p o n s e t o t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y

e x p e r i e n c e . As d e s c r i b e d and documented h e r e , t h i s t r a d i t i o n has a

s e p a r a t e e x i s t e n c e , a v i a b i l i t y and i t s own v a l i d i t y . P a r t of t h e problem

i i i

i n e x t e n d i n g t h e a e s t h e t i c t o i n c l u d e t h e woman's v i e w p o i n t i s t h a t

dominant t r e n d s i n o u r c e n t u r y ' s p o e t r y r e f l e c t t h e u n p a r a l l e l e d t e c h n o l o g i c a l

advances i n t h e c u l t u r e f a v o r i n g f o r m a l i s t i c c o n c e r n s and i n n o v a t i o n s a t

t h e expense o f women's c h a r a c t e r i s t i c c o n c e r n f o r m e a n i n g f u l c o n t e n t .

The H i s t o r i c a l I n t r o d u c t i o n b e g i n s w i t h women's songs i n B i b l i c a l

t i m e s , t r a c i n g a t r a d i t i o n as i t r e a c h e s i t s f i r s t peak o f i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c

e x p r e s s i o n i n Sappho, i s seen i n t h e me d i e v a l c o m p o s i t i o n of c o u r t l y l a y s ,

i s m a n i f e s t e d s p o r a d i c a l l y both p r i o r t o and towa r d s t h e end o f t h e

R e n a i s s a n c e i n Europe, and b e g i n s g a t h e r i n g momentum i n t h e s e v e n t e e n t h

c e n t u r y . The v e r i t a b l e e x p l o s i o n o f p o e t i c energy we a r e now w i t n e s s i n g

i s t h e r e s u l t o f i n c r e a s e d a c t i v i t y w i t h i n t h e l a s t hundred o r so y e a r s ,

d u r i n g which women have produced an h i s t o r i c a l l y u n p recedented amount of

p o e t r y of h i g h c a l i b r e i n E n g l i s h , s u f f i c i e n t t o p e r m i t c o m p a r a t i v e a n a l y s i s

and e v a l u a t i o n .

The C r i t i c a l Commentary, t h e major f o c u s f o r t h e t h e s i s , i s an

e x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e q u a l i t y and range o f t h i s body o f work as e x e m p l i f i e d i n

t h e appended A n t h o l o g y . C o n s i s t i n g o f 133 poems, i t p r e s e n t s s e l e c t e d

t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y work by A m e r i c a n , C a n a d i a n , E n g l i s h and A u s t r a l i a n p o e t s .

The poems d e a l w i t h b e i n g a woman, o r an a r t i s t , o r b o t h , g i v i n g v o i c e t o

a u t h e n t i c f e m i n i n e e x p e r i e n c e . Because t h e p o e t s s e e m i n g l y emphasize

c o n t e n t , i n i t s f i t t e s t e x p r e s s i o n , t h e d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e poems, l i k e

t h e i r o r g a n i z a t i o n i n t h e A n t h o l o g y , i s p r e d i c a t e d on c o n t e n t - c a t e g o r i e s

d e r i v e d from a s t u d y o f themes and s u b j e c t m a t t e r s .

The c o n c l u s i o n emerging from t h i s t r a c i n g o f a woman's t r a d i t i o n

i n p o e t r y and from t h e c l o s e e x a m i n a t i o n o f i t s p r e s e n t f l o w e r i n g i s t h a t

i V

the vo ice and pe rspec t i ve of ha l f of humanity is being res to red in i t s

more e q u i t a b l e a n c ie n t p r o p o r t i o n t o our c u l t u r e , w i t h a t t e n d a n t i m p l i c a t i o n s

in the realms of p u b l i s h i n g , e d i t i n g , c r i t i c i s m , standards and t e a c h i n g .

F ind ings here in demand t h a t standards of c r i t i c i s m should in a l l j u s t i c e

encompass the woman's v i e w p o i n t , i n c o r p o r a t i n g and g i v i n g weight t o t h i s

t r a d i t i o n , enab l ing women t o be recognized as f u l l equals in a l l aspects of

poe t i c endeavor.

V

CONTENTS

Preface 1

H i s t o r i c a l I n t r o d u c t i o n 16

C r i t i c a l Commentary on the Poems in the Anthology 73

Foreword 74

Chapter One 83

Chapter Two 109

Chapter Three 134

Chapter Four 151

Chapter F ive 173

Chapter Six 197

Chapter Seven 235

Notes 263

L i s t o f Works Consulted 272

Appendix: Antho loqy: Shapes of Experience Selected Poems of Twent ie th Century Women Poets 282

Sect ion One

Sect ion Two

Sect ion Three

Sect ion Four

Sect ion Five

Sect ion Six

Sect ion Seven

Index t o Poems in the Anthology 445

283

309

321

335

356

378

413

1

Preface

The g r e a t number of women poets s u c c e s s f u l l y w r i t i n g and p u b l i s h i n g

poe t ry today i s a phenomenon w i t h o u t precedence in h i s t o r y . As more women

j o i n t h e i r ranks we can expect t h a t , before t oo long , a t leas t as many women

as men w i l l be p u b l i s h i n g , b r i n g i n g about the p o s s i b i l i t y in poet ry of a

h i t h e r t o una t ta ined e q u a l i t y between the sexes. The soc ia l and l i t e r a r y f a c

t o r s involved in t h i s development have f a r - r e a c h i n g i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r the a r t .

From the l i t e r a r y p o i n t of v iew, the more t h a t women engage in w r i t i n g ,

the more they de f i ne poet ry in t h e i r own te rms; the more women's poet ry

j o s t l e s w i t h men's and develops i t s own c r i t e r i a , t he more i t cha l lenges an

a e s t h e t i c t h a t i s - h i s t o r i c a I l y the product o f men e x e r c i s i n g a near -

e x c l u s i v e dominance in the f i e l d of poet ry and i t s c r i t i c i s m . Once one g ran ts

t h a t t h i s a e s t h e t i c — i . e . , the body of c r i t i c a l p r i n c i p l e s and op in ions

about t a s t e and the b e a u t i f u l in a r t as r e l a t e d t o p o e t r y — h a s developed

so o n e - s i d e d l y , and t h a t c o n d i t i o n s now e x i s t f o r c o r r e c t i n g t h a t imbalance,

a number of ques t ions a r i s e . What is meant by r e v i s i n g the aes the t i c? Can

i t be done? How is women's poet ry p r e s e n t l y i n f l u e n c i n g the a e s t h e t i c ? I f

t a k i n g the woman's v iewpo in t i n t o account means t h a t the a e s t h e t i c has

been d e f i c i e n t , in what way is i t s t i l l so , and what changes are we t o

look f o r ? F i n a l l y , what is promised by such an ac t ion? These are quest ions

I hope t o answer as I go a l o n g . But t o i n d i c a t e d i r e c t i o n , I would say,

t a k i n g the l a s t ques t ion f i r s t , t h a t what is promised i s a changed ou t l ook

towards poet ry in wh ich , f o r the f i r s t t i m e , we acknowledge and begin

r e s t o r i n g t o our Western c u l t u r e the vo ice and v iewpo in t in poet ry of a ha l f

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of humanity which has never y e t had equal r e p r e s e n t a t i o n t h e r e . The f a c t

t h a t i t could n o t , g iven the handicaps which women were forced t o labor under

in h i s t o r y , means t h a t even the l i t t l e of t h e i r poet ry t h a t made i t s e l f

man i fes t and surv ived must be brought i n t o a new l i g h t of r e c o g n i t i o n .

Once s t a r t e d on such a course , i t is p o s s i b l e , as I have found, t o d i sce rn

in women's poe t ry c e r t a i n c o n s i s t e n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s which d i s t i n g u i s h i t

from the poet ry of men. I f the a e s t h e t i c is t o b e n e f i t , these c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s ,

which amount t o a t r a d i t i o n , need t o be apprec ia ted and g iven t h e i r due.

The s o c i a l s ide of t h i s is i m p l i c i t in the no t ion of e q u a l i t y . What I

mean by e q u a l i t y in poet ry between the sexes i s publ ished poet ry by women

equal t o t h a t of men in q u a n t i t y , q u a l i t y , a u t h o r i t y and i n f l u e n c e . That

e q u a l i t y , d e s p i t e i t s c u r r e n t p o p u l a r i t y , t he poet ry of women does not ye t

e n j o y , nor is female past achievement g iven any th ing l i k e the r e c o g n i t i o n

accorded male 'poets of the p a s t . The work of women in poe t ry has been

t r e a t e d w i t h condescension a t b e s t , w i t h the r e s u l t t h a t p r e j u d i c e and

neg lec t have kept us from knowing and a p p r e c i a t i n g the f u l l c o n t r i b u t i o n o f

women t o our p o e t i c h e r i t a g e . Thus, i t is not s imply a quest ion of the

a e s t h e t i c , but of j u s t i c e , making any l i t e r a r y d iscuss ion of women in

poet ry a d iscuss ion a l so of the under l y ing soc ia l f a c t o r s which p reven t ,

a l low o r (as in c u r r e n t , and c e r t a i n anc ien t t imes) encourage women's

p a r t i c i p a t i o n . E q u a l i t y w i l l not be brought about u n t i l a l l the obs tac les

in i t s way are i d e n t i f i e d and overcome.

Th is t h e s i s i s an a t t e m p t , t h e r e f o r e , t o d e f i n e the problem, record

success t o date in c o n f r o n t i n g i t , and o f f e r suggest ions f o r i t s s o l u t i o n .

The spr ingboard f o r my argument is the poet ry i t s e l f , and i t s a p p r e c i a t i o n .

To t h i s end I have compiled the appended Antho logy. In p leading f o r a

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rev ised and enlarged a e s t h e t i c , I a l so hope t o share my enthusiasm f o r , and

p leasure i n , the exce l lence of a large body of poet ry w i t h those readers

who are as ye t unacquainted w i t h i t s range and achievement.

In s t r u c t u r e , the t h e s i s c o n s i s t s of th ree main p a r t s : an H i s t o r i c a l

I n t r o d u c t i o n , a C r i t i c a l Commentary, and an Antho logy. The H i s t o r i c a l

I n t r o d u c t i o n at tempts t o t r a c e a woman's t r a d i t i o n in poet ry as revealed

by a study o f women poets in the Western wor ld up t o and i n c l u d i n g the

emergence of Eng l ish as a language. Th is d i s c u s s i o n , which takes us up t o

the t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , n e c e s s a r i l y e n t a i l s some re ference t o govern ing

s t y l e s and p e r i o d s . The C r i t i c a l Commentary bases i t s d iscuss ion on the

poems in the Anthology which c o n s i s t s of the se lec ted work of t w e n t i e t h

century poets w r i t i n g in E n g l i s h . The seven chapters of the C r i t i c a l

Commentary are prefaced by a Foreword and are each addressed t o a c o r r e s

ponding s e c t i o n of the Antho logy . The chapters and the sec t ions share

headings in common. Under each of the s e c t i o n headings I have grouped a l l

those poems which have seemed t o me, in t he choos ing , t o f a l l most e a s i l y

w i t h i n t h a t p a r t i c u l a r c a t e g o r y , w i t h some na tu ra l o v e r l a p p i n g . These

c a t e g o r i e s , descr ibed by the themat ic headings o f both chapters and

s e c t i o n s , I de r i ved from a study of t he poems themselves: t he re was no

at tempt t o f i t them i n t o some p r e - e x i s t i n g scheme.

Arrangement of the Anthology in t h i s way permi ts a comparat ive study

of t rea tment and fo rm, w i t h the main emphasis on c o n t e n t . Th is i s not t o deny

a c e r t a i n i n t e r e s t in seeing how several poets approach a common theme.

The Anthology assumes t h a t women's poet ry needs t o be approached on the

bas is of con ten t leading the fo rm, a premise discussed more f u l l y l a t e r .

Al though the c a t e g o r i c a l headings emphasize the area of exper ience shared

4

by the poems, I wish i t understood t h a t I be l i eve i t i s not the exper ience

i t s e l f but the shaping by the poet of t h a t exper ience as i t is perceived and

i t s express ion d i s c i p l i n e d w i t h i n the fo rm, t h a t g i ves a poem i t s meaning.

In the present c o n t e x t , a n a l y s i s by con ten t -ca tegory is s imply t he most

convenient way t o do j u s t i c e t o the m a t e r i a l . The Anthology i s i n t r i n s i c

t o the t h e s i s both as a source book and as the concre te evidence upon which

the t h e s i s r e s t s . The p r i n c i p l e of s e l e c t i o n governing the Anthology i s

i t s most impor tant aspec t , s ince i t g i ves the t h e s i s i t s f o c u s .

The Anthology c o n s i s t s on ly of poems in which the speaker t a l k s about

being e i t h e r a woman, or a r t i s t , o r b o t h . I have i s o l a t e d c e r t a i n works

from the r e s t of a p o e t ' s ou tpu t and from the mainstream g e n e r a l l y (as any

a n t h b l o g i z e r pe r fo rce must d o ) , on ly in o rder t o a s c e r t a i n how the au thor

e x p l i c i t l y de f ines h e r s e l f as woman and poet o r uses h e r s e l f t o g e n e r a l i z e

from the p a r t i c u l a r . Th is c o n c e n t r a t i o n l e t s us see her as she sees h e r s e l f ,

concerned w i t h the problems, a f f i r m a t i o n s and a s p i r a t i o n s inherent in

l i v i n g both r o l e s and both r e a l i t i e s . What is heard is the vo ice of a u t h e n t i c

femin ine exper ience , p r o v i d i n g i n s i g h t i n t o h a l f o f humani ty, and i l l u s t r a t i n g

the improved s t a t u s and success of women poets in t h i s c e n t u r y .

The most immediate e f f e c t of t h i s success has been t o encourage even

more women t o w r i t e , a c c e l e r a t i n g the process whereby women have made a

g r e a t advance in overcoming a legacy of oppress ion . Such an advance cannot

help but have a humanist ic e f f e c t ; however, the body of women's poet ry o f f e r s

much more along the same l i n e s : i t p r o j e c t s a v i s i o n of l i f e t h a t i s humane.

I t s most c o n s i s t e n t f e a t u r e is a concern f o r l i f e in i t s most c a r i n g aspec ts .

Th is concern, c h a r a c t e r i z i n g the c o l l e c t i v e v i s i o n of women's poet ry in

5

a l l i t s v a r i e t y , was never more needed in the a e s t h e t i c dimension of human

exper ience, o r indeed, in everyday l i f e , than now. While women do not

have the so le p r e r o g a t i v e of humanist ic u t te rance in p o e t r y , in t h e i r own

work they are pass iona te l y committed t o such p r i n c i p l e s . Th is is a

consequence not of b io logy or n a t u r e , but of women's p o s i t i o n in h i s t o r y .

The value they p lace on love and f r i e n d s h i p in poet ry has i t s r o o t s in

the hard s o i l of t h e i r long oppression and in t h e i r exc lus ion from p u b l j c

a f f a i r s . H i s t o r y has g iven t h e i r poet ry both i t s l i m i t a t i o n s (of scope)

and i t s s t r e n g t h s . The i r p a r t i c u l a r v i s i o n is needed t o c o u n t e r a c t , in :,!

male contemporary poe t ry and i t s c r i t i c a l commentary, an o v e r l y f o r m a l i s t i c

emphasis on language and techn ique : a concern w i t h s t y l i s t i c s a t t he

expense of c o n t e n t . An a p p r e c i a t i o n of t he va lues present in t he woman's

t r a d i t i o n can r e s t o r e a moral concern f o r the q u a l i t y o f l i f e t o an

a e s t h e t i c t h a t has a l l bu t f o r g o t t e n i t in t a k i n g the con ten t of a poem

f o r granted wh i le concen t ra t i ng on i t s formal q u a l i t i e s .

The m i l i e u of poe t ry i s f a r f rom t o t a l l y accept ing t h a t women are

a t home in i t , even today , though the c u r r e n t scene does admit of l i b e r a l

suppor t . Th is eases the s i t u a t i o n f o r women c o n s i d e r a b l y , though i t

conceals a g r e a t deal t h a t i s s t i l l p r e j u d i c i a l t o t h e i r i n t e r e s t s . In

t he p a s t , r e c o g n i t i o n o f women poets d id not come as a n a t u r a l consequence

of l i t e r a r y m e r i t a lone , but in most cases, as an o f t e n be la ted r e s u l t

o f t h e i r courage and perseverance in c h a l l e n g i n g an environment h o s t i l e

t o t h e i r a s p i r a t i o n s . Though such hardship is no longer imposed, o t h e r

hardships o f a r e l a t e d nature a r e . I t i s s t i l l harder f o r women t o ge t

poems publ ished than f o r men. P re jud ice aga ins t women takes many fo rms.

6

In t h e w o r l d of p o e t r y , p r e j u d i c e p e r s i s t s as a s u b t l e s o r t of o p p r e s s i o n

hard t o p i n p o i n t because i t e x p r e s s e s i t s e l f i n u n d e r l y i n g a t t i t u d e s ,

u s u a l l y o f a d e r o g a t o r y and c o n d e s c e n d i n g n a t u r e . T h i s hidden b i a s works

t o p o e t r y ' s d i s a d v a n t a g e i n two ways: i n d i s c r i m i n a t o r y p r a c t i c e s i n pub

l i c a t i o n which come t o t h e f o r e i n t h e g r o s s l y i n a d e q u a t e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n

of women p o e t s i n a n t h o l o g i e s , and i n v i e w s e x p r e s s e d i n c r i t i c a l r e v i e w s

and e v a l u a t i o n s h a v i n g women as t h e i r s o l e o r p a r t i a l f o c u s . The f a c t t h a t

p r e j u d i c e i s o f t e n u n c o n s c i o u s l y m a n i f e s t e d i n such c a s e s makes i t h a r d e r

t o d e a l w i t h and overcome. B e s i d e s , women a r e s t i l l f a c e d w i t h t h e c o n

f l i c t a r i s i n g from b e i n g a woman w i t h t h e s o c i a l r o l e s of w i f e and mother,

and b e i n g a poet w i t h a c r e a t i v e m i s s i o n , as t h e poems d e a l i n g w i t h t h i s

p r oblem i n S e c t i o n S i x t e s t i f y . The c u l t u r a l e n v i r o n m e n t , w i t h i t s s o c i a l

i n s t i t u t i o n s o f m a r r i a g e and t h e f a m i l y , c o n t i n u e s _ :o e l i c i t from women

e s s e n t i a l l y t h e same k i n d s o f r e s p o n s e s as i t d i d i n t h e p a s t . However

t i m e s and systems have changed, what has n o t changed f o r women i s s o c i e t y ' s

e x p e c t a t i o n of them: women i n c i v i l i z a t i o n a r e s t i l l a c l a s s o f b e i n g s

s u b o r d i n a t e d t o t h e i n t e r e s t s and a u t h o r i t y o f men.

The b i g g e s t change i n women's s t a t u s i s i n t h e a r e a o f i n c r e a s e d

freedom t o pursue i n d i v i d u a l i n t e r e s t s comparable t o t h o s e e n j o y e d by men.

T h i s freedom has l i b e r a t e d an enormous amount of c r e a t i v e energy. J u d g i n g

from t h e p a r t of i t which has gone i n t o t h e w r i t i n g o f p o e t r y , i t a p p ears

t h a t women's p r o d u c t i v i t y i n t h i s s p h ere w i l l soon e q u a l , perhaps e x c e e d ,

men's, t h u s e n d i n g men's ag e l o n g dominance i n p o e t r y .

We a r e a p p r o a c h i n g a t u r n i n g p o i n t i n l i t e r a r y h i s t o r y . I t i s absurd

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t o t h i n k t h a t t h i s can happen w i t h o u t a f f e c t i n g c r i t i c a l o p i n i o n . But

where, among the i n f l u e n t i a l c r i t i c s , does one see the s l i g h t e s t i n t e r e s t

in what is happening? There is not even awareness. E s s e n t i a l l y , t he

problem is a se t o f m ind , i ncu r ious and un imag ina t i ve , wh ich , when i t

no t i ces women's poet ry a t a l l , t r e a t s i t as a species of men's. There

e x i s t s no r e c o g n i t i o n t h a t the large and f a s t - g r o w i n g body of poet ry

w r i t t e n by women needs t o be approached on the bas is o f standards conforming

in general t o what women f i n d impor tan t . There is not even a r e c o g n i t i o n ,

in s c h o l a r l y te rms, t h a t such a problem e x i s t s , or t h a t t h i s body of work

has i t s own inner dynamic, which we may c a l l the women's v i e w p o i n t ,

developed ou t of a response t o h i s t o r i c a l c o n d i t i o n s . A l l t h i s i s on ly

j u s t being recognized in t he women's l i b e r a t i o n movement and i t s p ress .

Wi thout a more general awareness of t h i s problem, e s p e c i a l l y among the

c r i t i c a l f r a t e r n i t y , women's c o n t r i b u t i o n cont inues t o be regarded as

an a u x i l i a r y t o men's , which i t no longer i s , and not enough i s learned

t o f a c i l i t a t e t he enlarged a e s t h e t i c which must i n e v i t a b l y f l ow from an

understanding of the issues i n v o l v e d .

I:. In day- to-day a f f a i r s , the s i t u a t i o n is t h i s : poet ry w r i t t e n by

women, when i t is deemed "good" enough t o be publ ished along w i t h poet ry

w r i t t e n by men, i s g e n e r a l l y eva luated along the same l i n e s , and judged

a c c o r d i n g l y . That is t o say, t h a t what is considered worthy of p r i n t i s

what conforms t o standards evolved from a near ly e x c l u s i v e l y male corpus

by male c r i t i c s and pub l i she rs over a span of c e n t u r i e s t h a t takes us

i n t o our own w i t h ha rd ly a change. The same b ias i s ev iden t in s t u d i e s

and reviews of women poets and is not necessa r i l y r e s t r i c t e d t o men, f o r

women t e n d , l i k e m i n o r i t i e s , t o i n t e r n a l i z e the dominant c u l t u r a l view of

themselves.

8

In coun te r ing p r a c t i c e s bound t o a male t r a d i t i o n , t h i s t h e s i s hopes

t o c o n t r i b u t e t o a new c r i t i c a l approach. The work of women poets needs

t o be apprehended in i t s own l i g h t , which is the l i g h t of i t s cons iderab le

past and present achievement. So f a r , t h a t c o n t r i b u t i o n has been a s s i m i l a t e d

w i t h i n t he male a e s t h e t i c which i t helped shape and mod i fy . I speak not

on ly of w r i t t e n poet ry but of an o r a l t r a d i t i o n t h a t goes back t o t he

t r iumphant hymns of B i b l i c a l a n t i q u i t y , has always been present in the

popular songs of the people and been taugh t by mothers t o t h e i r c h i l d r e n ,

can be heard in the chan ts , r i t u a l songs and l u l l a b i e s of North American

Ind ians , in Black women's gospel and blues songs, and in many o t h e r

m a n i f e s t a t i o n s of the l y r i c impulse. U n t i l about a cen tu ry ago, the

occasions f o r a more formal type of poet ry known t o have been w r i t t e n by

women have been so ra re in / h i s t o r y as t o stand out as e x c e p t i o n a l . In

the present c e n t u r y , f o r the f i r s t t ime in p o e t r y , women emerge as a

s t rong and i n f l u e n t i a l group whose poetry r e s i s t s being a s s i m i l a t e d as

f o r m e r l y t h a t of i n d i v i d u a l women was in the male corpus . Women's poet ry

i s o v e r t l y p roc la im ing i t s independence from a dominant a e s t h e t i c which i s

more i n t e r e s t e d in l i n g u i s t i c form and a n a l y s i s than in e x p l o r i n g a

poem's capac i t y f o r g i v i n g shape. to human exper ience. We can now see

t h a t the poet ry of women has a l l ; . a long been q u i e t l y engaged in c r e a t i n g i t s

own humanis t ic a e s t h e t i c , a process wh ich , due t o t he overwhelming prepon

derance of male p o e t r y , e d i t o r s , p u b l i s h e r s , l i t e r a r y h i s t o r i a n s and

c r i t i c s , has bare ly been n o t i c e d , i f a t a I I . Thus, in approaching the work

of women by i t s own l i g h t , one soon perce ives i t s development in the

t w e n t i e t h cen tu ry as p a r t of a v i t a l cont inuum. To go back t o the

beginnings t h a t in form our present knowledge i s t o f o l l o w the d i s c o n t i n u o u s ,

9

u s u a l l y t o r t u o u s , path pioneered by women poets th roughout the ages leading

up t o and inc lud ing our own. While the l i m i t s o f the present study prec lude

a thorough and d e f i n i t i v e i n v e s t i g a t i o n t h a t would do j u s t i c e t o the

s u b j e c t , even such a journey through r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e ma te r i a l as c o n s t i

t u t e s my H i s t o r i c a l I n t r o d u c t i o n y i e l d s c e r t a i n i n s i g h t s .

For me, these have led t o the conc lus ion t h a t a r e v i s i o n of standards

in regard t o what determines exce l lence in poet ry i s due, o r even overdue.

The reasons are t h a t p r e v a i l i n g standards a) r e f l e c t the a t t i t u d e s and

concerns of past eras in which men dominated the f i e l d s of poet ry and poetry

c r i t i c i s m , and b) r e f l e c t the c u l t u r a l values of the present era in which

technology and innova t i ve form are overvalued a t the expense of con ten t

wherein women poets take t h e i r b e a r i n g . A new c r i t i c a I approach would

recognize t h a t both these under l y ing c r i t e r i a a f f e c t i n g t a s t e and judgment'

have had the e f f e c t of obscur ing the ac tua l nature and e x t e n t of the

c o n t r i b u t i o n made by women poets t o poet ry and t o i t s ongoing a e s t h e t i c .

The idea t h a t the femin ine s e n s i b i l i t y (as c u l t i v a t e d by h i s t o r i c

processes) has s low ly been evo lv ing i t s own i n t r i n s i c a e s t h e t i c would ,

before now, have been premature. I t i s not l i k e l y t o have occurred t o men,

from a male o u t l o o k , o r have been fo rmula ted by women who, u n t i l now have

had n e i t h e r the conf idence nor the necessary d is tance from themselves t o

do so. Oppressed people do not begin t o t h i n k of themselves as such

u n t i l some l i b e r a t i n g c i rcumstance or a c t i o n f r e e s them t o see t h e i r

c o n d i t i o n as i t r e a l l y i s . Then energy is re leased f o r change, as in

the present women's movement. On the o the r hand, t h e r e i s t h a t in our

t h i n k i n g which i m p a t i e n t l y denies t h a t the sex f a c t o r is r e l e v a n t t o any

d iscuss ion of the a r t s . Women a r t i s t s who have won a place in the male

10

wor ld of the a r t s are o f t e n foremost in expressing such an a t t i t u d e ,

s ince they can say t h a t women's work need on ly be good enough, i . e . , be

recognized by men as deserv ing space a longs ide t h e i r work, t o earn i t s

rewards. Th is s imply is not t r u e f o r more than a token handful of women,

and does not take i n t o account the pervas ive p r e j u d i c e aga ins t women in

t he a r t s as elsewhere. Nor does i t cons ider the numbers o f women too

discouraged o r d i s i n c l i n e d t o f i g h t f o r r e c o g n i t i o n , o r the vas t number

too oppressed by the demands of c h i l d - r a i s i n g and w i f e l y se rv i ce t o f i n d

t ime t o t h i n k o f , l e t a lone concent ra te o n , developing t h e i r t a l e n t s .

Where women have refused t o i n t e r n a l i z e g u i l t f o r doing work o t h e r than

housekeeping o r c h i l d rea r ing and have transcended l i m i t i n g c i rcumstances ,

j o y in w r i t i n g has o f t e n been the so le reward, no o t h e r being g r a n t e d .

Where good w r i t i n g has been acknowledged and e v e n t u a l l y g iven a p lace in the

pantheon, i t has been because the product of an i s o l a t e d female a s s e r t i o n

posed no g r e a t t h r e a t t o men and could be s a f e l y a s s i m i l a t e d i n t o t h e i r

canon.

Whereas the m a j o r i t y of women poets today have no problem in w r i t i n g

in a seIf^-conscious vo ice t h a t o v e r t l y proc la ims t h e i r sex and, in f a c t ,

seem t o p r e f e r doing so, in the past women o f t e n found i t more f r e e i n g

t o avoid re ference t o t h e i r sex. They f i t t e d themselves t o a male t r a d i t i o n

when the re seemed no o the r way t o w r i t e . The secu la r among these poets

do not so much t ranscend sex in t h e i r work as they ignore i t ; ab le t o f o r

ge t t h e i r bodies and the demands made upon t h e i r sex, they p r o j e c t them

selves i n t o the wor ld as minds and c ra f t smen. Th is is the t r a d i t i o n a l

p r a c t i c e of men who w r i t e " o b j e c t i v e l y " from t h e i r g r e a t e r advantage in

being ab le f r e e l y t o do so.

11

Male advantage l i e s a lso in the language, which is formed in t h e i r

image. The un ive rsa l person who stands f o r the mass is "man";, women and

c h i l d r e n are subsumed in "mank ind. " The norm in the a r t s i s a l so male:

"mastery" and "c ra f t sman" d e f i n i n g e x c e l l e n c e , w h i l e the pronouns

r e f e r r i n g t o the neu t ra l t e rms , " a r t i s t " o r " p o e t , " are "he" and " h i s . "

Man takes t h i s s t a t u s f o r g r a n t e d , but f o r woman, the o b l i t e r a t i o n o f

h e r s e l f in an i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h "man" and "mankind" has a c e r t a i n

poignance. Man asse r t s h i s maleness in such usage, woman loses her

femaleness. S t i l l , t he l i n g u i s t i c exerc ise of a freedom from sexual r o l e

l i m i t a t i o n s — a l w a y s eas ie r f o r men than f o r women—has had a spec ia l

f a s c i n a t i o n f o r the l a t t e r , s i n c e , in ac tua l f a c t , r o l e detachment was . i

v i r t u a l l y impossib le f o r women t o achieve before the advent of t h i s

c e n t u r y . The d i f f i c u I t i e s of ga in ing an audience t h a t was not h o s t i l e

t o them has led many a woman w r i t e r i n t o an i m p l i c i t den ia l of her i d e n t i t y .

Other women have taken what seems a neu t ra l p o s i t i o n by s imply addressing

themselves t o t o p i c s such as nature or s o c i e t y o r ph i losophy , t o p i c s which

look out on the wor ld and do not r e q u i r e s e I f - i d e n t i f i c a t i o n . Here a few

examples may be in o r d e r .

Among those a b j u r i n g the femin ine vo ice I t h i n k f i r s t of a l l of such

e a r l y t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y poets as Marianne Moore and Ed i th S i t w e l l , both

e legant and p o l i s h e d , both p u t t i n g emphasis on the form and the i n t e l l e c t u a l

p lay of w i t ; 1 t h i n k of E l i za b e th Bishop, whose poetry d i s p l a y s an endless

c u r i o s i t y in observ ing and d e t a i l i n g aspects of the na tu ra l and man-made

wor lds ; I t h i n k of any number of the younger Black American poets l i k e

N ikk i Giovanni whose poet ry main ly expresses a r e v o l u t i o n a r y anger aga ins t

the wh i te s o c i e t y ; I t h i n k of an h i s t o r i c a l l y impor tant poet l i k e H.D.

concen t ra t i ng her powers o f c l a s s i c a l c o n t r o l on a passionate n o s t a l g i a f o r

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the pagan w o r l d ; and I t h i n k of the Canadian poet Margaret Av ison : i n tense l y

r e l i g i o u s , possessing a compassionate eye f o r the minu t iae of l i f e which she

ce leb ra tes in the s p i r i t of C h r i s t i a n a f f i r m a t i o n . Since a c o n s i d e r a t i o n

of t h e i r work f a l l s o u t s i d e the major emphasis o f t h i s t h e s i s , these poets

are e i t h e r not represented here o r are represented by poems of i n t e r e s t in

t h a t they are a t l eas t m a r g i n a l l y concerned w i t h female i d e n t i t y .

While the p o e t ' s c r e a t i v e involvement w i t h the wor ld a l lows t h a t

person t e m p o r a r i l y t o dispense w i t h the f a c t o f her (o r h i s ) sex as an

i r r e l e v a n t , o r merely not i n t e r e s t i n g enough, p o i n t o f depar tu re in poems,

the m a j o r i t y of women seem not t o have chosen the o p t i o n ; a t leas t not

e x c l u s i v e l y . Perhaps they could n o t . At p resen t , i t seems they no longer

wish t o : t he c o n d i t i o n of t h e i r being women has come t o b e . f e l t as too

r i c h l y immediate a source of s u b j e c t m a t t e r , the ma insp r ing , in f a c t , o f

i n s p i r a t i o n . ^As women come t o see t h e i r d e s t i n y in a new l i g h t , in which

they opt f o r and dec la re o the r aims in l i f e than those the past has l a i d

on them, t h e i r femin ine exper ience takes on new dimensions r e f l e c t e d more •

a c c u r a t e l y and v i v i d l y in t h e i r w r i t i n g than in any pure ly soc ia l man i fes

t a t i o n . Those women poets who are p u b l i s h i n g now r e p r e s e n t , in my o p i n i o n ,

a cu lminat ion—^an a r t i c u l a t i o n perhaps-'-of what women have been s t r u g g l i n g

t o achieve in t h e i r i d e n t i f i c a t i o n as a r t i s t s ; t h a t i s , as independent ly

mot ivated beings r i s e n above the secondary, dependent female r o l e

c i v i I i zed s o c i e t y has cas t them i n . Th is a s p i r a t i o n towards what should be

a b i r t h r i g h t i s c a l l e d femin ism. I t i s , o f course , not new.

Feminism is an i n e v i t a b l e response t o i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d i n e q u a l i t y

between the sexes. I t is a p o s i t i v e term f o r women, desp i te the p e j o r a t i v e

.uses men have put i t t o ; but feminism takes i t s d e f i n i t i o n from the idea of

mascu l in ism, which i s not a term w i t h any cu r rency . F e m i n i s t , by t he same

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t o k e n , i s a l s o a loaded word s e t t i n g the advocate of women's r i g h t s apar t

as belonging t o a p e c u I i a r category of t roublesome, even r i d i c u l o u s ,

women. These conno ta t ions are h o s t i l e . Women's poe t ry is working t o

r e s t o r e t he proper sense of these terms t o mean the advocacy of j u s t i c e and

f u l l human d i g n i t y f o r women. Given the o p p o r t u n i t y f o r f u l l express ion

which an advance guard has won f o r them, women—in poe t ry as in o the r

s p h e r e s — a r e i n e v i t a b l y t a k i n g t h a t o p p o r t u n i t y t o i t s l o g i c a l c o n c l u s i o n .

Poe t r y , f o r women and men a l i k e , has always been a means of s e I f - d i s c o v e r y , ol

p u t t i n g the wor ld in o r d e r .

Meanwhile, we have the problem before us o f how ideas o f wor th in

poe t ry are t o be brought in l i n e w i t h contemporary r e a l i t y . Poetry has

been t r a n s m i t t e d as a male t r a d i t i o n . Poets s ince the dawn of l i t e r a c y

have l a r g e l y been men, c a r r y i n g forward t h e i r own t r a d i t i o n in a f i e l d

f o r so long held e x c l u s i v e l y by them t h a t a l l i t s a t t i t u d e s , va lues and

judgments took on ' (and s t i l l are viewed as possessing) the stamp o f

u n i v e r s a l i t y . In ac tua l e f f e c t , the f i e l d o f a e s t h e t i c s in poe t ry de r i ves

from the comments of male poets and c r i t i c s shar ing t h e i r i n t e r e s t . In

saying t h i s I do not underest imate the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by women who have

occupied a p lace of c e n t r a l importance in the o ra l t r a d i t i o n which is

the g r e a t roo t o f w r i t t e n p o e t r y , and by women whose w r i t t e n p o e t r y , though

scan t , has o f t e n by i t s innovat iveness been p rophe t i c of f u t u r e developments.

Here I would l i k e t o o f f e r an exp lana t ion of how I a r r i v e d a t my

c o n c l u s i o n s . As a poet myself w i t h a paramount i n t e r e s t in p o e t r y , I

was drawn t o i n v e s t i g a t e how o the r women d e f i n e themselves in t h e i r work

as poets . Reading t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y women poets in E n g l i s h , I soon noted

c e r t a i n recur rences : a pre ference f o r c e r t a i n themes and emphases, in

which I began t o hear correspondences w i t h women poets of the pas t . As I

14

s t a r t e d re - read ing those I knew, d i s c o v e r i n g o the rs as I went a long of

whom I had been unaware, o r knew of on ly s l i g h t l y because of the neg lec t

and o b s c u r i t y in which they have l a i n , these correspondences were v e r i f i e d .

Women throughout h i s t o r y , I f ound , had a common approach t o poet ry which

they shared because of t h e i r l i f e - e x p e r i e n c e as women. Though d i f f e r i n g

g r e a t l y from one another in c u l t u r a l background and as i n d i v i d u a l s , they

g i ve evidence of a t r a d i t i o n t h a t has mainta ined i t s e l f th roughout

c e n t u r i e s - l o n g breaks in i t s c o n t i n u i t y .

The woman's t r a d i t i o n does not take i t s i n s p i r a t i o n from forms and

s t y l e s p r a c t i s e d by e a r l i e r women p r i m a r i l y , bu t f rom the m a t e r i a l , l i t e r a r y

and n o n - I i t e r a r y , of the contemporary l i f e t o which i t responds. L ike

men's p o e t r y , women's is an express ion i n t e g r a l t o the human need f o r

making b e a u t i f u l , ordered s t r u c t u r e s out of the raw m a t e r i a l of l i f e .

What d i s t i n g u i s h e s the female from the male t r a d i t i o n is t h a t i t is q u a l i

f i e d by being the product of femin ine response t o a male-dominated w o r l d .

The h i s t o r y of d i f f e r e n c e in the ways men and women have experienced

t h e i r l i v e s — t h e one dominant, t he o t h e r s u b o r d i n a t e — h a s in the p o e t i c

sphere presented women w i t h a spec ia l need t o t e l l i t t h e i r way, from the

way i t f e e l s t o them. P a r t l y t h a t impetus i s g iven in the b i o l o g i c a l

f u n c t i o n i n g t h a t prov ides women w i t h a profound fund of exper ience

un ique ly t h e i r own; whether women become mothers o r n o t , they must o f

necess i t y l i v e w i t h the p h y s i o l o g i c a l f a c t s of the female body, which

e n t a i l s the p o t e n t i a l f o r motherhood. P o e t i c a l l y , they can i d e n t i f y w i t h

the p o t e n t i a l f o r c r e a t i n g l i f e e a r t h l i k e out of t h e i r own bod ies .

Perhaps f o r t h i s reason t h e r e sounds th roughout the poet ry of women an

unmis takable , c o n t i n u i n g a s s e r t i o n of the value of love , e s p e c i a l l y in i t s

more t e n d e r , ca r i ng aspects . Today women have the freedom t o t a l k f r a n k l y

15

of t h e i r bod ies , t h e i r menstrual c y c l e s , pregnancy and the g rea t mystery

of g i v i n g b i r t h , the phys ica l and s p i r i t u a l impact of which on ly they can

exper ience d i r e c t l y . They a l so t a l k w i t h a u t h o r i t y of nurs ing and r a i s i n g

c h i l d r e n and of c r e a t i n g home environments t h a t n u r t u r e and support the

people l i v i n g in them. Or, converse ly , they oppose the t r a d i t i o n a l spheres

f o r women's a c t i v i t y as s e t t i n g s t h a t are no longer v i a b l e f o r human love ,

g rowth , and development.

Women are a t present in a rena issance: t h e i r pe rcep t ions of themselves

and of t h e i r p lace and f u n c t i o n s in s o c i e t y are undergo'ing r e - e v a I u a t i o n in

a l l spheres i nc lud ing the a r t s . The r e s u l t in poet ry i s an u n i n h i b i t e d

a r t i c u l a t i o n of t h e i r exper ience as women and as poets . The volume and

v i t a l i t y of t h i s poet ry fo rces a long-overdue reappra isa l of an a e s t h e t i c

wh ich , as the a r t i c u l a t e d product of men, has addressed i t s e l f main ly t o

the work o f men. Such a reappra isa l must inc lude a r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n of

the past w i t h spec ia l a t t e n t i o n paid t o r e - i n s t a t i n g the work of women

in i t s t r u e human importance, r e s u l t i n g in a more j u s t r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f

human c a p a b i I i t y and achievement. The c u r r e n t energy o f women's poe t ry

f u r n i s h e s both the occasion and t h e o p p o r t u n i t y f o r t h i s advance. The

renaissance among women, f u r t h e r m o r e , i s b r i n g i n g about a r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n

of women's p lace in h i s t o r y , which r e v e a l s , t o those of us concerned w i t h

l i t e r a t u r e , t h a t now t h a t we know what we are looking f o r , women's

poet ry has been present through the ages. I t is t o t h i s rev iewing of the

women's t r a d i t i o n t h a t I now t u r n .

16

HISTORICA L INTRODUCTI ON

:1:7

Though I b e g i n , p r e d i c t a b l y , w i t h Sappho, as t h e f i r s t l y r i c a l poet

o f consequence i n t h e r e c o r d e d h i s t o r y o f t h e w e s t e r n w o r l d , i t i s more

l i k e l y t h a t she r e p r e s e n t s t h e c u l m i n a t i o n i n e x c e l l e n c e o f a long l i n e o f

composers b e f o r e h e r . The O l d Testament g i v e s us reason t o b e l i e v e a

s t r o n g l y r i c t r a d i t i o n f l o u r i s h e d among women c e n t u r i e s b e f o r e i t c u l m i n a t e d

in t h e c e l e b r a t e d Greek p o e t . The Songs o f Deborah, M i r i a m , and p o s s i b l y

t h e p r a y e r o f Hannah, p o i n t t o such a t r a d i t i o n , which may a l s o be t h e

b a s i s o f t h e women's songs i n t h e Song o f Solomon. A u t h o r s h i p , o f c o u r s e ,

c a n n o t be p r o v e n , but t h e Song o f Deborah, a s c r i b e d t o t h e t w e l f t h c e n t u r y ,

B.C., and g e n e r a l l y h e l d t o be t h e e a r l i e s t o f a l l t h e songs, " i s

u n d o u b t e d l y , " a c c o r d i n g t o J . H. G a r d i n e r , " t h e song o f t r i u m p h which was

composed and u t t e r e d by Deborah h e r s e l f t o c e l e b r a t e t h e g r e a t v i c t o r y o f

her p e o p l e . " ^ Of t h e Song of M i r i a m , a n o t h e r w r i t e r c l a i m s : " i t i s t h e

g e n e r a l o p i n i o n o f s c h o l a r s " t h a t t h e o r i g i n a l s h o r t e r v e r s i o n was " t h e 2

song which Moses o r M i r i a m o r both o f them t o g e t h e r composed . . . " Such

o p i n i o n s s u p p o r t t h e idea t h a t women such as Deborah and M i r i a m who h e l d

p o s i t i o n s of p r e s t i g e and a u t h o r i t y i n p r e - l i t e r a t e t r i b a l s o c i e t i e s

a c t u a l l y composed t h e poems t h e y a r e c r e d i t e d w i t h s i n g i n g . U n f o r t u n a t e l y

we know n o t h i n g of t h e s e a n c i e n t s i n g e r s a p a r t from what t h e p a t r i a r c h a l

r e d a c t o r s of t h e o r i g i n a l documents saw f i t t o i n c l u d e , but i t seems

l o g i c a l t h a t , f a r from b e i n g i s o l a t e d c a s e s , t h e songs o f women i n t h e

B i b l e a t t e s t t o an o l d and v e n e r a b l e custom among them.

In t h e m a t r i a r c h a l w o r l d of t h e Aegean, such a t r a d i t i o n must a l s o

have been c a r r i e d f o r w a r d i n o r d e r t o a r r i v e a t i t s h i g h l e v e l o f

s o p h i s t i c a t i o n i n Sappho. By t h e s i x t h c e n t u r y i n Le s b o s , m u s i c , p o e t r y

and t h e dance have d e v e l o p e d t o a h i g h a r t . Where once a poet w i t h

18

Sappho's power of u t te rance might have been a p rophe t i c bard among her

people, the s t a t u s Sappho of Lesbos enjoys i s t h a t of the i s l a n d ' s most

c u l t u r e d ornament; she is en t rus ted w i t h prepar ing young women f o r t h e i r

r o l e s as s i m i l a r l y c u l t u r e d matrons in a s o c i e t y which g ives f i r s t p lace

t o the a r t s among women's accomplishments. Sappho was not the on ly

female poet in M i t y l e n e , nor d id the t r a d i t i o n end w i t h her . Er inna of

T e l o s , a poet much admired in a n t i q u i t y , is u s u a l l y c i t e d as Sappho's

pup i l along w i t h the poet Damophyla of Pamphil ia."^ In the c e n t u r i e s t h a t

f o l l o w , these are succeeded by o t h e r s of whom we know l i t t l e ' : they

i nc lude : Corinna of Tanagra o r Thebes, an e l d e r contemporary of Pindar

whose themes centered on legends of her n a t i v e B o e o t i a , and who l i k e

Sappho was honored by the suggest ion t h a t she be added t o the n ine l y r i c a l

4

poe ts ; P r a x i l l a o f S icyon , who, accord ing t o Eusebius was wel l -known in

m i d - f i f t h century B.C. f o r her hymns, d r i nk ing -songs and di thyramb Ach i I I es ,

and whose songs ce lebra ted Dionysus; Anyte o f Tegea a t the end of the

f o u r t h century who wrote epigrams as w e l l . a s poems on animals and the

c o u n t r y s i d e ; 6 and many o the rs known by r e p u t a t i o n on ly o r represented in

the Greek an tho logy : e . g . , Cl i t a g o r a , "whose songs are mentioned in a

fragment of the comic poet C r a t i n u s , " ^ and Noss is , who wrote e r o t i c

verse as wel l as d e d i c a t i o n s . As the e a r l i e s t and most u n p a r a l l e l e d of .

these poe ts , Sappho has a symbol ic importance f u r t h e r thrown i n t o

r e l i e f by t he dear th of poets t h a t f o l l o w s a f t e r : in t h e remaining c e n t u r i e s

of pagan a n t i q u i t y , a t o t a l absence of women poe ts ; f o r many c e n t u r i e s

a f t e r w a r d s , t h e i r v i r t u a l disappearance from the scene. Her c o n t r i b u t i o n

takes on an importance, seen in t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e , t h a t I want t o cons ider a t

some leng th ; but f i r s t , a b r i e f synopsis of the ground t o be covered.

19

A f t e r the f o u r t h century B.C. , a s i l e n c e near ly as of death descends

on the female poets of a n t i q u i t y and beyond. Woman's vo ice w i t h one

except ion is not heard from again u n t i l approx imate ly the t e n t h century A . D . ,

a lapse of some fou r teen hundred years . I f t h e r e were any female poets

who managed t o ga in audience in t h i s t i m e , records of them have been e i t h e r

l o s t o r des t royed . The except ion is the poet S u I p i c i a , an a r i s t o c r a t i c

Roman of the f i r s t century B.C. "Only s i x b r i e f and very personal poems

have come down t o u s — a l l concerned w i t h the d i f f i c u l t i e s of her love f o r

the young man C e r i n t h u s , " her t r a n s l a t o r L.R. Lind t e l l s us in h i s anthology

of L a t i n p o e t r y , adding t h a t , "Except f o r a few fragments by o t h e r l a d i e s ,

these s i x poems make up the e x t a n t body of c l a s s i c a l L a t i n poet ry by

8

women." A thousand years has t o pass before we hear again from a woman

who w r i t e s . Thus, in advancing a " h i s t o r y " of women poe ts , one becomes

aware of a sad k ind of paradox: in h i s t o r y , women have no h i s t o r y . At

l e a s t , not up u n t i l t he l a s t few yea rs , s ince when i t has begun t o be

apparent t h a t a h i s t o r y can be r e c o n s t r u c t e d . In c o n t r a s t t o women's p o e t r y ,

men's has a r i c h l y abundant.and unbroken t r a d i t i o n t h a t goes back t o Homer;

a t r a d i t i o n moreover, t h a t has been r i c h l y examined and d e s c r i b e d .

R e l a t i v e t o men, t h e n , in the p r a c t i c e of poet ry women are s t i l l c lose

t o t h e i r beg inn ings .

The e a r l i e s t name of a female poet t o appear in Chr istendom, i s t h a t

o f H r o t s v i t h a of Gandesheim, a w r i t e r of L a t i n verse hagiography in the

m i d - t e n t h c e n t u r y . She is f o l l o w e d , in the t w e l f t h c e n t u r y , by another nun,

the remarkable S t . H i ldegard o f Bingen. A C h r i s t i a n myst ic of e x t r a o r d i n a r y

t a l e n t s , H i ldegard wrote l y r i c a l and dramat ic p o e t r y , medical and s c i e n t i f i c

t r e a t i s e s , corresponded w i t h e c c l e s i a s t s , popes and emperors, and was

20

famous f o r her v i s i o n a r y w r i t i n g s . She wrote words and music f o r a l y r i c a l

c y c l e o f songs which have been sa id t o c o n t a i n "some of t he most unusua l ,

9

s u b t l e , and e x c i t i n g poet ry o f t he t w e l f t h c e n t u r y . " Her Ordo V i r t u t u m

is our e a r l i e s t s u r v i v i n g m o r a l i t y p lay by more than a c e n t u r y . Discuss ing

her achievement in h i s study of . Poe t i c I n d i v i d u a l i t y in the Middle Ages,

Peter Dronke, an author t o whom I am much indebted, f i n d s her p lay " n o t on ly the f i r s t of i t s k i n d , but perhaps unique in the means i t u s e s — b o t h

i n tense ly l y r i c a l and f i l l e d w i t h dramat ic u n p r e d i c t a b i l i t y , w i t h suspense."^ '

He notes w i t h s u r p r i s e t h a t t he re is noth ing in e a r l i e r l i t e r a t u r e t o account

f o r i t s q u a l i t i e s . She is "one of the most b r i l l i a n t and o r i g i n a l minds o f

11

the e n t i r e Middle Ages, " he c l a i m s , c r i t i c a l o f the f a c t t h a t scho la rs have

f a i l e d t o g i v e her her due. Dronke's r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o h i s m a t e r i a l in

b r i n g i n g a t t e n t i o n t o a g r e a t w r i t e r admirably remedies such n e g l e c t . A lso

p e r t i n e n t t o t h i s t h e s i s is h i s statement t h a t she "was as convinced as any

of the love-poets of the u n i t y of human and d i v i n e love, and recorded t h i s

c o n v i c t i o n w i t h f reshness and sp lendour , in a way t h a t is u n p a r a l l e l e d in

t h e o l o g i c a l w r i t i n g before or s i n c e . " In e x a l t i n g love , H i ldegard not on ly

a n t i c i p a t e s the Renaissance poets who pro fess a r e l i g i o n of love , but

man i fes ts a bond w i t h her secu la r s i s t e r s , in whose poet ry th roughout the

ages love p l a y s . a leading r o l e .

From t h i s t ime on , the names of secu la r female poets begin t o appear

s p o r a d i c a l l y ; a qu ick summary g i ves us : Marie de France and the Comtesse

de Die in t he same century as H i l d e g a r d , the " P e r f e c t Lady of F lo rence" in

the t h i r t e e n t h c e n t u r y , C h r i s t i n e de Pisan in the l a te f o u r t e e n t h and e a r l y

f i f t e e n t h . In t he m i d - f i f t e e n t h , t h e r e are t he anonymous authors o f

The Flower and the Leaf , and The Assembly o f Lad ies , be l ieved t o be women.

21

Mary H e r b e r t , C o u n t e s s o f Pembroke, a p p e a r s a t t h e end o f t h e s i x t e e n t h

i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h a R e n a i s s a n c e s t i r r i n g o f women w r i t e r s i n c o n t i n e n t a l

Europe. The s e v e n t e e n t h b r i n g s a q u i c k e n i n g i n t h e emergence o f s e v e r a l

p o e t s w r i t i n g i n E n g l i s h d u r i n g a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h e same p e r i o d , though t h e

e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y does not see t h i s p r o m i s e c a r r i e d much f u r t h e r . I

w i l l speak more f u l l y o f t h e s e l a t e r . I t i s not u n t i l w e l l i n t o t h e

n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h a t i l l u s t r i o u s names b e g i n t o c l u s t e r . A l a r g e number

of women have become engaged i n t h e c r a f t by t h i s t i m e ( o f whom o n l y a few

a r e remembered), but t h e y a r e s t i l l a p i t i f u l l y s m a l l a g g r e g a t e compared

w i t h t h e numbers of men p u b l i s h i n g p o e t r y . I s h a l l expand on a l l o f t h i s

i n due c o u r s e , a f t e r resuming my d i s c u s s i o n o f Sappho.

The m a t t e r of Sappho i s t o o f a m i l i a r t o r e q u i r e more t h a n t h e s e l e c t i v e

p e r s p e c t i v e a f f o r d e d by t h i s commentary. C o n s i d e r i n g how long she lay

unknown, c u t t o r i b b o n s , as i t were, and t h a t her c o r p u s c o n s i s t s of not

much more t h a n f r a g m e n t s r e s c u e d from a n t i q u i t y , h e r f e m i n i n e form can be

s a i d t o have e x e r c i s e d a n e a r - m a g i c a l i n f l u e n c e o v e r t h e ages: she i s a t

t h e same t i m e a r c h e t y p a l and a l i v e , as modern as any con t e m p o r a r y . In

r e c a l l i n g t h e s a l i e n t f e a t u r e s of her impact upon t h e w o r l d , what c a p t u r e s

t h e i m a g i n a t i o n most, as B a r n s t o n e so s t r i k i n g l y o b s e r v e s , i s t h a t " I n

Sappho we hear f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e i n t h e Western w o r l d t h e d i r e c t words

of an i n d i v i d u a l woman"; a poet u n l i k e Homer, moreover, who "emerges 1 2

t h r o u g h her p o e t r y as a c o m p l e t e l y r e a l i z e d p e r s o n a l i t y . " She was, i n

a d d i t i o n , a b r i l l i a n t i n n o v a t o r a c c o r d i n g t o her e d i t o r s and t r a n s l a t o r s .

The h i s t o r i a n Werner J a e g e r b e l i e v e s : "The Greek s p i r i t needed Sappho t o

e x p l o r e t h e l a s t r e c e s s e s o f t h e new w o r l d of p e r s o n a l e m o t i o n . " He goes

on t o e x p l a i n :

22

From her poems i t i s c l e a r t h a t Eros was a passion which shook i t s v i c t i m ' s whole being, and held the senses no le s s than the s o u l . . . . i t s amazing power t o g r i p and transform the whole p e r s o n a l i t y , and the vast sweep of the emotion which i t set f r e e . . . . No masculine love poetry^among the Greeks even approached the s p i r i t u a l depth of Sappho's l y r i c s .

In most Greek poetry w r i t t e n by men woman i s the mother, m i s t r e s s

and wife. Sappho presents a d i f f e r e n t image, unique in t h i s as in other

respects. To quote Jaeger again, "In Sappho's poetry woman i s seldom

incarnated as mother or l o v e r — o n l y when a f r i e n d enters or leaves her band

of maidens." Further:

The Greek poet was a teacher, and the two f u n c t i o n s were never more c l o s e l y i d e n t i f i e d than in.Sappho's t h i a s o s of g i r l s consecrated t o music . . . To the mascuIine heroism of t r a d i t i o n , Sappho's songs, q u i v e r i n g with the rapture of complete and harmonious f r i e n d s h i p , added the ardour and n o b i l i t y of the feminine s o u l . They d e p i c t an ideal t h i r d world between childhood and m a r r i a g ^ — a n age in which women were educated t o the highest n o b i l i t y of s p i r i t .

A l a s , women may s i g h , f o r the r e l a t i v e l y golden age of t h e i r sex. But we

have not t o overlook, in Jaeger's romantic turn of speech, t h a t m a r r i a g e —

then as so often even now—was the threshold t h a t terminated the adolescent

h o l i d a y , p u t t i n g an end t o the reaching and soaring of the feminine s p i r i t

which had now t o confine i t s e l f w i t h i n domestic matters. Though married

and the mother of a daughter, Sappho was able t o overcome the common l o t ,

doubtless because of the gr e a t reverence her poetry and re p u t a t i o n as a

teacher i n s p i r e d . Jacquetta Hawkes points out, in Dawn of the Gods,

t h a t Sappho's c i v i I i z a t i o n was s t i I I c l o s e t o the much e a r l i e r one of

Minoan Cre t e , where, along with men, women worshipped t h e i r own Goddess

(together with the young god), and shared in her power both p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y

and s o c i a l l y . T his c e r t a i n l y a p p l i e s t o Sappho, whom Hawkes describes as

a "leader of a r e l i g i o u s group devoted t o the worship of Aphrodite and 1 5

the Muses." What we have of the poetry, in which Aphrodite i s mentioned

23

o f t e n e r than any o the r d e i t y o r person, does, indeed, emphasize the p a r t

r e l i g i o n played in everyday l i f e . H e l l e n i c Greece came t o revere Sappho

h e r s e l f as s e m i - d i v i n e . That judgment of her i m m o r t a l i t y has been

v i n d i c a t e d in the h i s t o r i c a l p rocess, Sappho's s t a t u r e having mainta ined

i t s e l f aga ins t the h o s t i l i t y o f the Church, g r ievous d e s t r u c t i o n o f her

p o e t r y , and ignorance of her ex is tence dur ing the c e n t u r i e s her memory

was expunged from the records by narrow r e l i g i o u s fo rces in h i s t o r y . The

medieval per iod might have seen her e c l i p s e , had not some of the remains

of her work come t o l i g h t w i t h the r e v i v a l of learn ing in the Renaissance.

With t h i s , and o t h e r a rchaeo log ica l f i n d s , Sappho's eminence was

g r a d u a l l y r e s t o r e d . Her r e s u r r e c t i o n corresponds t o a per iod in which

European women s low ly began t o r a i s e t h e i r heads and regain something o f

t h e i r anc ien t p r e r o g a t i v e . For , in beginning t o reassume the r o l e of the

poet and t e a c h e r — a n anc ien t p ro fess ion (perhaps poet ry i s the o l d e s t ? ) —

women very s low ly began t o recover p r e s t i g e in a f i e l d t h a t men had usurped

e n t i r e l y as t h e i r own. The s p i r i t of Sappho i s on ly j u s t now reaching i t s

z e n i t h in t he present renaissance of women poe ts .

Sappho ce leb ra ted the love of f r i e n d s p r i m a r i l y , though much of t h i s

is framed in a passion t h a t a f t e r c l a s s i c a l t imes came t o be thought of

as s i n f u l . When the poet ry of love reappears in the much l a t e r per iod of

an advanced C h r i s t i a n c u l t u r e in the popular n a r r a t i v e form of- the romance,

o r l ay , i t i s on the bas is o f a p ro found ly a l t e r e d concept ion of love. But

the i n t e r e s t i n g t h i n g i s t h a t , along w i t h the new l i t e r a r y forms g i v i n g

shape t o t h i s a l t e r e d concep t ion , e x i s t s a probably much o l d e r form of

l o v e - p o e t r y , much of i t composed and sung by women. These songs s t r e s s the

f r i e n d l y nature of love between men and women, an emphasis found f a r more

24

o f t e n in women's poet ry than in men's, and r e c a l l i n g Sappho, in t h a t

f r i e n d s h i p a l so f u r n i s h e s the mot ive f o r love in her poems, a l b e i t love

between women.

In h i s study o f the r i s e of the European l o v e - l y r i c , Peter Dronke

c a l l s a t t e n t i o n t o the researches of the German p h i l o l o g i s t Theodor

F r i n g s , on t h i s popular t r a d i t i o n of women's songs. F r i n g s , he says,

has concerned h imsel f c h i e f l y w i t h what a Caro l ingen c a p i t u l a r y o f 789 c a l l e d w in i l eodas - - ! i t e r a l l y , i t seems, ! f r i end -k lays , ' songs f o r a lover (an ordinance f o r b i d d i n g nuns t o compose such d i s g r a c e f u l songs)—and : what were c a l l e d can t igas de amigo in medieval Spain and P o r t u g a l : love-songs in which the woman speaks, o r in which she is the dominant f i g u r e , and tends t o be the a c t i v e lover r a t h e r than the passive loved one. Professor F r ings has po in ted out instances of such poems of women's love in t he most d i ve rse cu j j t u res : in anc ien t Egypt , in China, in Greece, Scand inav ia , S e r b i a , Russ ia .

A f t e r c i t i n g one o f Sappho's poems as Ma p e r f e c t instance of t he pures t

w i n i l e o d , " Dronke comments on F r i n g s ' i n s i g h t s in showing how

the moods and ' cha ins o f . exper ience ' ( E r l e b n i s k e t t e n ) o f t he woman in love reverbera te in aubade, p a s t o u r e l l e , and chanson de t o i l e , and in numerous dance-soi^gs o f medieval Europe, i n c l u d i n g some by t roubadours and Minnesinger .

Dronke h imsel f notes ( i n the study r e f e r r e d t o e a r l i e r ) t h a t the e a r l i e s t

s u r v i v i n g love-poe t ry in a Romance-vernacu la r—ca l led khar. jas, and composed

in the Spanish d i a l e c t of Moslem S p a i n — a r e p l a i n t s of g i r l s lamenting a

man's absence or h i s abandoning of them. In t h i s respect khar.jas are

s i m i l a r t o t he e i g h t h century Anglo-Saxon love- laments Eadwacer and

W i f e ' s Lament in The Exeter Book. The Spanish songs date from the n i n t h

cen tu ry onwards, and occur as the f i n a l verses o f Arab ic and Hebrew poems

w r i t t e n in c l a s s i c a l language. They are u s u a l l y s h o r t can t igas de amigo

of the f o l l o w i n g t y p e ; t he t r a n s l a t i o n i s Dronke 's :

Ah t e l l me, l i t t l e s i s t e r s , how t o ho Id my pa i n! I ' l l not l i v e w i t h o u t my b e l o v e g — I sha l I f l y t o f i n d him aga in .

25

Very e x c i t i n g i s a mid-e leventh century manuscr ipt known as The

Munchen Clm 17142, "a c h a o t i c , s t range c o l l e c t i o n of Middle Ages f ragments"

which Dronke has t r a n s l a t e d and which con ta ins " f i f t y l o v e - l e t t e r s and

19

l o v e r ' s messages in verse . . . some composed by men but more by women."

The s e t t i n g ind ica ted by these poems is "a convent in which both the s i s t e r s

and the young g i r l s en pension can assoc ia te w i t h the o u t s i d e w o r l d , "

but whose c l o s e s t l i n k s are w i t h a scho la r o r magis ter who teaches them

the l i b e r a l a r t s and w i t h whom they correspond in verse w i t h o u t i n t e r f e r e n c e

o r censorsh ip . Dronke p ra i ses these verses f o r t h e i r v a r i e t y of tone

and t h e i r conversa t iona l immediacy; of t h e i r w r i t e r s he says: " T h e i r l i t t l e

verse communiques are a l i v e because they formed so i n t ima te a p a r t of

t h e i r d a i l y l i v e s . " Other manuscr ip ts con ta in ing women's songs are the

Cambridge in the e leventh century and the Carmina Burana in the e a r l y

t h i r t e e n t h . Such poet ry of the people cont inued in France and Germany up

t i l l t he e a r l y f o u r t e e n t h c e n t u r y . Dronke c la ims t h a t a t leas t two of the

Regensburg.verses ( f rom The Munchen Clm mss.) "show us beyond a doubt t h a t

a number o f c u l t i v a t e d , w i t t y and tender young women in an e leven th cen tu ry

convent in South Germany imposed on the c l e r c s who f requented t h e i r s o c i e t y

the va lues o f amour c o u r t o i s . " Meeting on more equal terms w i t h men than

had presumably been poss ib le in the e a r l i e r c e n t u r i e s of i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d

Christendom, they were able t o recapture something of t he a u t h o r i t y

exerc ised by Sappho, though of course in a d i f f e r e n t framework, and w i t h a

p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y more complex concept ion of love wrought by feuda l ism and

the in f l uence of C h r i s t i a n teach ings on human passions and behav io r .

To the c l a s s i c a l passion descr ibed so r e a l i s t i c a l l y by Sappho is now

added the new q u a l i t y of romance. I t is a q u a l i t y compounded of the legends

26

of such i l l - f a t e d lovers as T r i s t a n and I s e u l t , and of the i n s p i r a t i o n of

O v i d ' s A r t o f Love. I t e x i s t s in a tens ion created by marr iages arranged

in the i n t e r e s t s of p roper ty which leave no room f o r tenderness and human

concern in the r e l a t i o n s h i p . The romance of c h i v a l r y a l s o e x i s t s in a

tens ion created by the o p p o s i t i o n o f : the' ;Churchvto ;any. sexual passion even

w i t h i n mar r iage , and by the c rue l p e n a l t i e s imposed f o r a d u l t e r y , the

consequences always being more harsh f o r women than f o r men, as in e a r l y

Roman t i m e s .

I n s p i r a t i o n f o r the l i t e r a t u r e of c o u r t l y love develops ou t of the

t y p i c a l s i t u a t i o n o f a t t r a c t i o n between two young people where one is

committed t o a love less marr iage of convenience. In t h i s sense, as an

opponent of fo rced a f f e c t i o n and submissive obedience, c o u r t l y love in i t s

e a r l y stages (as the s u b j e c t - m a t t e r of the l a y s , p a r t i c u l a r l y those of Marie

de France) is the would-be int imacy of q u i c k l y made f r i e n d s who yearn t o

consummate t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p as l ove rs . Th is p o s s i b i l i t y being t h w a r t e d ,

t h e r e is o f t e n a t r a g i c element in the lays . But s ince the e r o t i c impulse

f l a r e s under the pressure of a dangerously charged s i t u a t i o n , the passion

generated comes t o be seen w i t h ' t i m e as an o v e r - r i d i n g f o r c e of g o d - l i k e

power. Hence the r e l i g i o n of Love, which blends pagan and C h r i s t i a n

values and i s an inseparable component of c o u r t l y love. In i t s f i r s t

exp ress ion , t h e n , before i t becomes a se t o f c o d i f i e d conven t ions , the

m o t i v a t i o n f o r c o u r t l y love is e s s e n t i a l l y r a d i c a l : the re lease of a

na tu ra l i n c l i n a t i o n t o make room f o r sexual love between young men and

women in a s t r a t i f i e d s o c i e t y which does not a l low f o r i t . The need f o r a

more f l e x i b l e approach t o the sexes gathers momentum in the t r a i n of many

changes t a k i n g place in m i d - t w e l f t h c e n t u r y , and, as in anc ien t t i m e s ,

27

a poet'--again a woman—>-leads t h e way i n g i v i n g d i r e c t and moving e x p r e s s i o n

t o t h e p e r s o n a l d e s i r e f o r l o v e . I n f l u e n c e d by t h e p o p u l a r t r a d i t i o n of

romances and l e g e n d s , t h e mode now i s n a r r a t i v e and, t o t h a t e x t e n t , more

d i s t a n c e d and o b j e c t i v e t h a n t h e songs of Sappho o r t h e l a t e r o f t e n

n a i v e " f r i e n d - 1 a y s . "

" M a r i e de F r a n c e , " P r o f e s s o r C h a r l e s W. Dunn t e l l u s , " i s t h e f i r s t 21

w r i t e r known t o have composed l a y s of c o u r t l y l o v e . " She i s t h u s t h e

f i r s t o f a group of p o e t s whose work—rembodying t h e new c o n v e n t i o n s — l a i d

t h e f o u n d a t i o n f o r t h e t r e a t i s e of Andreas C a p p e l a n u s on The A r t of C o u r t l y

Love, a s y s t e m a t i z a t i o n of c u r r e n t a t t i t u d e s and mores- among t h e n o b i l i t y

which e n j o y e d g r e a t p o p u l a r i t y and a u t h o r i t y o v e r o t h e r such t r e a t i s e s of

t h e t i m e . M a r i e de F r a n c e i s v a r i o u s l y b e l i e v e d t o have belonged t o an

a r i s t o c r a t i c F r e n c h f a m i l y t h a t had s e t t l e d i n England as a r e s u l t o f t h e 22

Conquest, and t o have been King Henry I I's s i s t e r . The d a t e s o f c o m p o s i t i o n

of her l a y s a r e g i v e n as c. 1175-1190. Though she c l a i m s B r e t o n o r i g i n s

f o r her p l o t s , t h e s h a p i n g of t h e m a t e r i a l o f t h e form i s h e r own. P r o f e s s o r

Dunn sees her as supreme i n her f i e l d : no m a t t e r where she d i s c o v e r e d her m a t e r i a l s o r g e n r e , she i s u n r i v a l l e d f o r t h e s k i l l w i t h which she d e v e l o p s a s i m p l e o r even t r i f l i n g p l o t i n t o a s u b t l e s t u d y o f t h e f r u s t r a t i o n s , p e r p l e x i t i e s and r a p t u r e s of c o u r t l y l o v e . O t h e r s who f o l l o w e d her example may have e l a b o r a t e d u p o ^ h e r t e c h n i q u e , b u t she remains t h e Jane A u s t e n of t h e c o u r t l y l a y . To convey something of t h e f l a v o r o f her s t y l e , here i s a v e r y s m a l l

e x c e r p t from near t h e b e g i n n i n g of her l a y , "The N i g h t i n g a l e " :

There was near S a i n t M a l o , a town Of some importance and renown. Two barons who c o u l d w e l l a f f o r d Houses t o s u i t a l o r d Gave t h e c i t y i t s good name By t h e i r b e n e v o l e n c e and fame. Only one of them had m a r r i e d . H i s w i f e was b e a u t i f u l indeed

28

And c o u r t e o u s as she was f a i r , A lady who was w e l l aware Of a l l t h a t custom and rank r e q u i r e d . The younger baron was much a d m i r e d , B e i n g , among h i s p e e r s f o r e m o s t In v a l o r , and a g r a c i o u s h o s t . Re never r e f u s e d a tournament, ^

And what he owned he g l a d l y s p e n t .

The r e a d e r may perhaps see i n t h i s , as I do, a s t y l e and c o n v e n t i o n

i n h e r i t e d by C h a u c e r , who b r o u g h t both t o p e r f e c t i o n two c e n t u r i e s l a t e r .

In i t s p e r e g r i n a t i o n s , t h e c o u r t l y l a y e n j o y e d a g r e a t vogue,

employ i n g n e a r l y f o u r hundred t r o u b a d o r s among whom, s u r p r i s i n g l y , were

s e v e r a l women. Nina Epton i n Love and t h e Fren c h mentions " s e v e n t e e n "

25

f e m a l e p o e t s , c i t i n g t h e "Comtesse de D i e — a well-known t r o b a r i t z

o r f e m i n i n e t r o u b a d o r who s t r e s s e d t h e s i n c e r i t y of her poems about her

26

l o v e r . " James J . W i l h e l m , who has t r a n s l a t e d one of them i n h i s

M e d i e v a l Song: An A n t h o l o g y o f Hymns and L y r i c s , a t t r i b u t e s f o u r o r f i v e

rema i n i ng poems t o h e r .

In e v a l u a t i n g t h e impact o f t h e l a y on l i t e r a t u r e , what i s i m p o r t a n t

i s t h a t i t s emergence had r e v o l u t i o n a r y i m p l i c a t i o n s . A l o n g w i t h t h e

romances-of t h e t r o u b a d o u r s , t h e l a y i n f l u e n c e d , t h e t a s t e f o r p o e t r y i n a

new d i r e c t i o n . "The c o u r t l y p o e t s , " says Dunn, " r a i s e d l o v e t o t h e same 27

i m p o r t a n t l e v e l as r e I i g i o n and w a r f a r e w i t h i n t h e realm of p o e t r y . "

From h e r e , t h e p o e t r y of love came t o occupy an as c e n d a n t p l a c e o v e r both

e c c l e s i a s t i c a l v e r s e c e l e b r a t i n g s a i n t s and m a r t y r s , and h e r o i c v e r s e

c e l e b r a t i n g war and w a r r i o r s . The underground t r a d i t i o n had s u r f a c e d .

T h a t t h e p e r s o n a l l y r i c f l o u r i s h e s t o d a y i n t h e s h o r t poem i s a measure

of i t s deep r o o t s i n f o l k w a y s , w h i l e t h e r o m a n t i c n a r r a t i v e , as a form,

was s t i l l a c h i e v i n g new h e i g h t s i n England as r e c e n t l y as t h e n i n e t e e n t h

c e n t u r y . The r e l e v a n c e t h e c o u r t l y l a y has f o r t h e women's t r a d i t i o n i n

29

p o e t r y , apar t from i t s s i g n i f i c a n t o r i g i n in a woman poe t , is i t s concern

w i t h love: imag ina t i ve l y i d e a l i z e d , ye t personal love, one of the major

themes t h a t . h a s c o n s i s t e n t l y occupied women l y r i c i s t s th roughout h i s t o r y .

The t roubadours be ing , of course , most ly men—wanderers hoping f o r c o u r t

f a v o r — t h e i r songs of love and beauty tended towards ex t ravagant p ra ise

and i d e a l i z a t i o n of a p a r t i c u l a r lady. The i n t e r e s t s of pecuniary advantage

could not help but g i ve i n s i n c e r i t y and a r t i f i c i a l i t y a p lace in c o u r t l y

express ion which i t d id not have in Marie de France, o r , f o r t h a t m a t t e r ,

in any o the r female poet who has ever addressed h e r s e l f t o love . However,

out of the vogue of the lay came f r e s h developments in poet ry in which

women, as so o f t e n in l i t e r a r y h i s t o r y , again made a s i g n i f i c a n t c o n t r i b u t i o n ,

t h i s t ime not as poe ts , but main ly as pat ronesses.

Eleanor of A q u i t a i n e ' s r o l e in launching the l i t e r a r y t r a d i t i o n which

grew out of such poet ry and the customs i t r e f l e c t e d i s wel l e s t a b l i s h e d .

As powerful pat rons of the a r t s and l e t t e r s she and her daughter , the

Countess Marie de Champagne, were v i r t u a l l y the founders of the new system.

Between them they suppor ted , in f luenced and encouraged the w r i t e r s in

t h e i r m i d s t , themselves i n i t i a t i n g "Cour ts o f Love" model led on feudal

c o u r t s , and having t h e i r o r i g i n in t he south o f France, f i r s t home of

the t roubadours . In these c o u r t s , p rob lemat ic amatory mat te rs were

discussed and ad jud ica ted accord ing t o e t h i c a l precedents a l ready ind ica ted

in the romances and lays . " A l l the f a c t o r s f o r the c r e a t i o n of a new

l i t e r a t u r e were the re in a f a v o r i n g atmosphere," says h i s t o r i a n Amy K e l l y

in r e f e r r i n g t o a per iod in E leanor ' s l i f e when, as Duchess of Normandy

p r i o r t o her marr iage t o Henry I I of England, she e n t e r t a i n e d the t roubadour

28 Bernard de Ventadour a t her c o u r t in Angers. L a t e r , Countess Mar ie ,

30

coming from her own c o u r t t o her mother ' s a t P o i t i e r s , where she took up

res idence , commissioned and worked w i t h Andreas Cappelanus t o produce the

a l ready mentioned t e x t , De Ar te Honeste Amandi. Al though the model f o r i t

was Ov id ' s w o r l d l y Ars Amator ia , the medieval guide was apparen t l y undertaken

in f u l t moral se r iousness , and nowhere i s t h i s more ev iden t than in t he

woman's p o i n t of view Andreas' c o u r t l y A r t in i t s main focus p r o j e c t s . In

the words of K e l l y , whose d i s t i n g u i s h e d biography of Eleanor and her

t imes lends many i n s i g h t s ,

whereas in the work of Ov id , man is the master , employing h i s a r t s t o seduce women f o r h i s p leasure , in Andr§ 's work^^oman is the m i s t r e s s , man her pup i l in homage, her. vassa I in s e r v i c e .

Mar ie , we are t o l d , drew on her own past exper ience in the south of France,

on the A r t h u r i a n code of manners and on the poet ry of the t r o u b a d o r s ,

in i n s t r u c t i n g the c l e r i c , whose somewhat r e l u c t a n t hand i s seen in h i s

m o r a l i z i n g concessions t o church d o c t r i n e . She thus made these f a m i l i a r

m a t e r i a l s

the v e h i c l e f o r her woman's d o c t r i n e of c i v i l i t y , and in so d o i n g , she t ransformed the gross and cyn ica l pagan d o c t r i n e s of Ovid into^something more i d e a l , the woman's canon, the c h i v a l r i c code of manners.

Th is c r i t i c i s m of Ovid I take t o r e f e r t o h i s e x p l i c i t i n s t r u c t i o n s ,

in Book One of the A r t of Love, How t o Seduce a V i r g i n , where he d e p i c t s

g i r l s as game t o be hunted, " o r poss ib l y on ly t o have fun w i t h , / Someone

t o take f o r a n i g h t " ( 1 1 , 9 0 , 9 1 ) ; approves the rape of t he Sabine women;

and r a t i o n a l i z e s h i s " A r t " by d e p i c t i n g women as c r i m i n a l l y l u s t f u l ,

greedy f o r g i f t s and cash, and not t o be t r u s t e d : " i t is r i g h t t o

deceive the d e c e i v e r s , / R ight t h a t the woman should g r i e v e . . . " ( ' 11 .657 ,658) .

Trading on women's des i re t o be t r e a t e d as equa ls , c y n i c a l l y he adv ises :

31

Don ' t always show in your t a l k t h a t you know you are going t o get h e r — What you are eager t o be, t e l l her , is ONLY A FRIEND.

I have seen t h i s work, on the most u n w i l l i n g of women— ONLY A" FRIEND, who was found more than p r o f i c i e n t in bed!

(11.721-724) In c o n t r a s t t o Ov id , the "woman's d o c t r i n e of s e r v i l i t y , " as K e l l y

r e f e r s t o i t , addressed i t s e l f t o marr ied women, m a i n l y , not v i r g i n s ; i t

requ i red cour tesy above a l l , and a l o y a l t y t h a t came from the h e a r t : the

lover was en jo ined t o be a real " f r i e n d " who placed the r e p u t a t i o n and w e l l -

being of h is amie above h i s own. Secrecy was f o r t h i s reason e s s e n t i a l .

That v i r g i n s were not t o be seduced by decept ion is shown in the lay

e n t i t l e d " E l i d u c , " by Marie de France, in which a young pr incess f a l l s i n t o

a dea th ly swoon on d i scove r ing t h a t the f o r e i g n kn igh t she has exchanged

love vows w i t h is a marr ied man. The t a l e is f u r t h e r i n t e r e s t i n g f o r the

i n s i g h t i t g ives us i n t o the humanist ic s ide of c o u r t o i s i e . The man's

w i f e not on ly b r i ngs her r i v a l back t o l i f e ( w i t h the s i g n i f i c a n t a id o f

supernatura l powers) when she learns of the s i t u a t i o n , but in o rder t h a t

the lovers may marry , r e t i r e s t o a convent , where e v e n t u a l l y the former

32 pr incess i s "welcomed as a s i s t e r . " In t h i s r e s o l u t i o n of amor w i t h

c a r i t a s can be seen a p r o t e c t i v e a t t i t u d e , a s i s t e r l y f e e l i n g among women,

t h a t is as f o r e i g n t o the w r i t i n g of Ovid as i t is t o the w r i t i n g of most

male poe ts .

One cannot d iscuss the love^-l i t e r a t u r e of t h i s per iod w i t h o u t a t

some p o i n t r e f e r r i n g t o the behavior which i t both grew out o f , and in the

d i a l e c t i c a l way of such t h i n g s , a f f e c t e d . " L i f e and l e t t e r s are i n e x t r i c a b l y

i n t e r m i x e d , " as C.S. Lewis has been moved t o e x p l a i n in defense of non-

l i t e r a r y a s i d e s . ^ I would c la im indulgence, t h e n , f o r r e f e r r i n g again t o

the soc ia l c o n d i t i o n s which suddenly a l lowed a few advantageously placed

32

c o u r t women t o e x e r t an enormous in f l uence extending beyond l e t t e r s .

K e l l y makes the p o i n t t h a t , however l i m i t e d the expression of female

a u t h o r i t y in P o i t i e r s , i t s most immediate e f f e c t was t o s u c c e s s f u l l y cha l lenge

i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d male a u t h o r i t y . Though t h i s new female power was soon l o s t

in t he r e t u r n o f men from wars and crusades t o t h e i r seats of dominance,

the ideal of amour c o u r t o i s which grew up in P o i t i e r s had, as has been wel l s a i d , more than a l i t t l e t o do w i t h f r e e i n g women from the m i l l s t o n e which the Church in the f i r s t m i l l en ium hung about her neck as the author o f man's f a l l and the f a c i l e inst rument of the d e v i l in the w o r l d . The c o u r t of P o i t i e r s gave i t s high sanct ion t o idea ls which spread so r a p i d l y throughout Europe t h a t the " d o c t r i n e of the i n f e r i o r i t y of women has never had the same standing s i n c e . " The code of Andre [Andreas Cappelanus] g i ves gl impses of a woman's no t ion of s o c i e t y d i f f e r e n t in essen t ia I R e s p e c t s from the p r e v a i l i n g feudal scheme, which was c e r t a i n l y man-made.

K e l l y ' s no t i ng o f the d i f f e r e n c e between female percep t ions o f a "man-made"

s o c i e t y and male percep t ions of t h a t soc ie t y is most germane. Doubt less

the "woman's no t ion of her s o c i e t y " has always d i f f e r e d in some e s s e n t i a l s

from the p r e v a i l i n g n o t i o n , a f a c t which the l i t e r a t u r e of women best

r e v e a l s , and-which o t h e r evidence such as the p r a c t i c e s of m i d w i f e r y ,

herbal medicine and w i t c h c r a f t c o n f i r m . U n f o r t u n a t e l y the l i t e r a t u r e o f

women is a l l t oo scarce. In the case of E leanor , not h e r s e l f a w r i t e r ,

i t i s i n d i s p u t a b l e t h a t she and her a u t h o r i t a t i v e daughter in p a r t i c u l a r ,

were a t leas t very much involved in the shaping of the new p o e t r y , as an

i n t e g r a l p a r t of the shaping of the new manners. Marie de Champagne, in

a d d i t i o n t o the hand she had in d i r e c t i n g Andreas' t r e a t i s e , was a l s o

respons ib le f o r c o l l a b o r a t i n g w i t h Chre t ien de Troyes , a poet considered

by C.S. Lewis t o be the best of the p e r i o d . De Troyes h i m s e l f , in h i s

Lance lo t , c r e d i t s Marie w i t h both the s t o r y and the t rea tment of the

poem.

33

C o u r t l y love, as women helped t o promote and de f i ne i t , though i t

remained a p r a c t i c e of the e l i t e , i s a f i r s t t e n t a t i v e step taken in the

d i r e c t i o n o f female emanc ipat ion . In i t s r e b e l l i o n aga ins t love less

mar r iage , the code chal lenged i n s t i t u t i o n a l a u t h o r i t y f o r the f i r s t t i m e ,

not on ly on behal f o f women, but most i m p o r t a n t l y , on behal f o f the concerns

o f everyday l i f e t o wh ich , and f o r wh ich , women speak. In i t s i m p l i c a t i o n s

f o r the f u t u r e , the connect ion between poet ry and women's l i b e r a t i o n a t t h i s

e a r l y stage i s not t o be over looked .

The leadership exerc ised by c u l t i v a t e d women in medieval s o c i e t y

seems almost i n e v i t a b l e when we remember t h a t the feudal system, working

hand in g love w i t h the Church, used women t o b o l s t e r i t s power, d ispos ing

of them as c h a t t e l s in arranged mar r iages . G i r l s coming i n t o marr iageable

age had, from our modern v i e w p o i n t , noth ing t o lose in any imagined form

of p r o t e s t but the chains b ind ing them in s e r v i t u d e t o husbands o f t e n

t w i c e o r more t h e i r " a g e , who c o u l d , moreover, e a s i l y d i vo rce them, (and

o f t e n d id ) when the ga in or advancement t h a t had been the o r i g i n a l

mot ive f o r t h e marr iage was secured. Women had no r i g h t s a t a l l ; never

was the sex more in an i n f e r i o r p o s i t i o n than in such mar r iages . No

wonder, t h e n , t h a t lad ies who by b i r t h had the soc ia l advantage of some

educat ion and l e i s u r e formed the m a j o r i t y audience f o r a poet ry in wh ich ,

f o r the f i r s t t i m e , they were reve red ; a poet ry which reversed the

customary r e l a t i o n s h i p between the sexes, d e c l a r i n g women s u p e r i o r ; a

poe t ry in which a man pledged v o l u n t a r i l y what a w i f e was fo rced t o p ledge:

a l i f e of submissive se rv i ce and u n f a l t e r i n g l o y a l t y , in the name of

love. K e l l y ' s c o n t r i b u t i o n t o an understanding of t he nature and

s i g n i f i c a n c e of femin ine involvement in t h i s per iod deserves a f i n a l

34

q u o t a t i o n here. S p e a k i n g f u r t h e r o f t h o s e a r i s t o c r a t i c l a d i e s who

t u r n e d c o u r t l y l o v e i n t o a system, she s a y s :

Of c o u r s e , t h e y r a t i o n a l i z e a c o n d u c t t h a t has o u t b u r s t t h e r i g i d f e u d a l scheme f o r women; but d i s i l l u s i o n speaks a l s o i n t h o s e n o b l e l a d i e s , who, though t h e y d i v i n e some u n a t t a i n a b l e i d e a l v a l u e i n l i f e , know t h a t a c t u a l l y t h e y remain f e u d a l p r o p e r t y , mere p a r t and p a r c e l o f t h e i r f i e f s . I t i s p l a i n t h a t each and e v e r y one of t h e i r judgements i n t h e queen's c o u r t i s an a r r a n t f e u d a l h e r e s y . Taken t o g e t h e r t h e y undermine a I I t h e p r i m a r y s a n c t i o n s and a r e s u b v e r s i v e of t h e s o c i a l o r d e r .

The immediate l e g a c y o f t w e l f t h c e n t u r y c o u r t l y l o v e , was, t h e r e f o r e , n o t

a s o c i a l one, but l i t e r a r y : women's p o s i t i o n d i d not change f o r t h e

b e t t e r and Church d o c t r i n e h e l d f i r m , c o n t i n u i n g t o p l a c e c r i p p l i n g

r e s t r i c t i o n s on how men" arad women, b u t e s p e c i a l l y women, m i g h t Jove..

Such p r e s c r i p t i o n s can o n l y be s a i d t o have s e r v e d male i n t e r e s t s of

power, p r o p e r t y and s u c c e s s i o n . Men remained-'dominant, e s p e c i a l l y t h o s e

who a l r e a d y were; f o r t h e c o n f l i c t i n male i n t e r e s t s which d e v e l o p e d

w i t h t h e temporary p r i v i l e g e which j o i n e d women and o t h e r , male, i n f e r i o r s

i n a common cause was ended f o r a t i m e w i t h t h e r e t u r n of t h e l o r d s t o

t h e i r domains. But t h e l i t e r a r y t r a d i t i o n of c o u r t l y l o v e — i t s c r e a t i v e

o f f s h o o t , as i t were, l i v e d on, r e s p o n s i v e t o new i n f l u e n c e s i n which

women l o s t t h e i r r e l a t i v e l y b r i e f s a y. That an i n f l u e n t i a l l i t e r a t u r e was

p o w e r f u l l y d i c t a t e d by women as i t s s p o n s o r s and c r i t i c a l a u d i e n c e f o r a

t i m e i s one of t h o s e i n t e r e s t i n g a c c i d e n t s of h i s t o r y t h a t , i n r e t r o s p e c t ,

can be seen as f o r e s h a d o w i n g a v e r y d i s t a n t e v e n t u a l i t y . M e anwhile,

t h e r e were h i s t o r i c a l c o u n t e r f o r c e s t o any such ascendancy of women which

were o p e r a t i n g t o r e d i r e c t t h e p o e t r y of c o u r t l y l o v e back i n t o t h e main

stream of t h e male v i e w p o i n t and t r a d i t i o n .

To d i s c e r n t h e a t f i r s t s l e n d e r , but d i s t i n c t i v e , form of a woman's

t r a d i t i o n i n p o e t r y as i t t e n t a t i v e l y emerges i n h i s t o r y , i s c l e a r l y t o

35

have t o t r a c e those beginnings from w i t h i n the con tex t of an overpower ingIy

male presence in p o e t r y . Though the femin ine vo ice ga ins ' i n c r e a s i n g l y in

the succeeding c e n t u r i e s both in s t r e n g t h and a f f i r m a t i o n , progress is

uncer ta in and slow f o r a very long t i m e . The lay , f o r i ns tance , which

in i t s w r i t t e n form begins w i t h Marie de France, undergoes changes in

which men t u r n i t i n t o something e l s e : the a l l e g o r y of love. Th is

reaches i t s epitome in The Romance of the Rose, completed by the second of

i t s authors almost a century a f t e r Marie de France 's l a s t compos i t i on . In

" t h i s new s c h o l a s t i c approach, " according t o Dunn,

i n d i v i d u a l s are converted i n t o u n i v e r s a l s , and passions are d issec ted i n t o separate a b s t r a c t i o n s . The perplexed l o v e r , as i t were, no longer ^ consu l t s h is h e a r t ; r a t h e r , the hear t is anatomized by the p s y c h i a t r i s t .

But by t h i s t ime a l s o , the V i r g i n Mary has superceded the lady upon her

p e d e s t a l , f o r the Church, as from i t s beg inn ing , had found a way t o absorb

the t h r e a t t o i t s e l f , j u s t as the lady had found a way t o t u r n feudal

p r a c t i c e t o her advantage. Th is is the s i t u a t i o n in which the a l l e g o r y

of love, embodying, as C.S. Lewis has s a i d , " t h e f u l l y - d e v e l o p e d sent iment

of c o u r t l y love,"""^ a r r i v e s in England, making- i t s f i r s t appearance t h e r e

w i t h Chaucer, in the f o u r t e e n t h c e n t u r y . In Chaucer 's t rea tment of i t

we can see what t i m e , temperament and sex have wrought upon the r e l i g i o n

of love. For by the t ime i t has reached England, Chaucer has no problem

as a C h r i s t i a n in seeing h imsel f as Love's f a i t h f u l servant and most

d i s i n t e r e s t e d advocate: the h e r e t i c a I - and r e v o l u t i o n a r y aspect of the

r e l i g i o n of l o v e — i t s i ns i s tence on adu I tery*--has a l l but d isappeared.

There has a l so occurred*--wi th the notab le except ion of T ro i lus and Cressida —

a s h i f t from the p a r t i c u l a r t o the a b s t r a c t as Dunn has s a i d , and an

i d e a l i z a t i o n of q u a l i t i e s r a t h e r than of the lady h e r s e l f . The poet ry of

36

a b s t r a c t i o n s , l i k e the poet ry of the l a t e r E l izabethan c o u r t i e r s which

focuses on a one-d imens iona l , d i s d a i n f u l lady, moves away from the personal

and d i r e c t , r e a l - l i f e statements c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of women w r i t e r s (as in

l e t t e r - w r i t i n g , d i a r i e s , t r e a t i s e s on behavior and, e s p e c i a l l y , poe t ry )

t o modes of u t t e rance encouraging concen t ra t i on on the fo rm.

The femin ine f i g u r e has been depr ived of i t s basic humanity in most

of these p o e t i c developments by men. A not n e g l i g i b l e cause is the growing

in f luence of t h a t element of Platonism most prominent in the Symposiurn.

The concept of a t t a i n i n g s p i r i t u a l or d i v i n e beauty through a commitment

t o love which is a t f i r s t on l y ab le t o apprehend i t through a response t o

sensual beauty becomes fused w i t h C h r i s t i a n idea ls in a way, in p o e t r y ,

t h a t grows t o supercede the more down- to -ear th aspects of the secu la r

poet ry of love found in the women's t r a d i t i o n . I t is not acc iden ta l t h a t

Chaucer, who humanized the a l l e g o r y of love , was ext remely sympathet ic t o

women, u n l i k e so many of h i s w r i t i n g predecessors and contemporar ies . For

Chaucer shares w i t h women t h a t sense of dramat ic immediacy , ' tha t e s s e n t i a l focus

on human l i f e , which g i v e s h i s genius i t s most endearing q u a l i t y . But

Chaucer (along w i t h Langland, perhaps) is an except ion t o h i s t imes . In

England a t rend toward a b s t r a c t i o n t h a t had begun w i t h the o r i g i n a l Romance

of the Rose became more pronounced, a c t u a l l y robbing women of the l i m i t e d

advantage they had, f o r a shor t w h i l e , ga ined .

Apar t from a shadowy femin ine presence f e l t in f i f t e e n t h century

a l l e g o r y , which I w i l l have more t o say about in a moment, t he re are no

female poets a r i s i n g w i t h the Renaissance* a t l e a s t , not in England, where,

thanks l a rge l y t o Chaucer, Eng l ish as a l i t e r a r y language has come i n t o

i t s own. We hear o f a female poet in t h i r t e e n t h century I t a l y known as

37

The P e r f e c t Lady of F l o r e n c e who i s , however, such a r a r i t y f o r h e r

t i m e s t h a t h e r e x i s t e n c e as a woman i s d i s p u t e d . Her t r a n s l a t o r , James

J . W i l h e l m , s a y s she i s o f t e n c o n s i d e r e d a c o n s t r u c t of t h e male p o e t s 38

of her day, a s u p p o s i t i o n I f i n d g r a t u i t o u s i n v i e w of t h e poem I

r e p r o d u c e h e r e , which i s so much more a p e r s o n a l s t a t e m e n t t h a n a c o n v e n t i o n a l

one, t h a t I quote i t as an example of t h e f e m i n i n e t r a d i t i o n , . "In s ounding

a t o n e we f i n d i n t h e work of much l a t e r women p o e t s who c o m p l a i n of male

o p p r e s s i o n , t h e poem has t h e r i n g of a u t h e n t i c f e m i n i n e e x p e r i e n c e . I t

p r o j e c t s a y e a r n i n g f o r escape from an o p p r e s s i v e l i f e t h a t s t r o n g l y

a n t i c i p a t e s E m i l y and Anne B r o n t e , C h r i s t i n a R o s s e t t i , and o t h e r s , l i k e

"L.E.L." i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y who a r e l e s s known. The e a r l y d a t i n g

of t h i s s o n net makes i t t h e f i r s t we have from a woman's hand:

I want t o go away from v a n i t y And l e a v e t h e w o r l d and s e r v e my God. Because I see on e v e r y s i d e of me Madness and unchecked e v i l and g r e a t f r a u d : Sense and c o u r t e s y a r e s t i l l e x p i r i n g And f i n e v a l u e and goodness of e v e r y k i n d ; And so I want no husband, want no s i r e ; L e a v i n g t h e w o r l d i s a l l t h a t ' s on my mind. When I r e c a l l how man w i t h i l l ' s a d o r n e d , I s u d d e n l y am d i s d a i n f u l of a l l t h e r a c e And towards my God a l l of my body's t u r n e d . My f a t h e r makes me s t a n d w i t h p e n s i v e f a c e . He t u r n s me away from s e r v i c e t o my C h r i s t . ^ What man w i l l come t o c l a i m my dowry's p r i c e ?

In E n g l i s h p o e t r y , o u t s i d e of E l i z a b e t h I whose p o e t i c e x e r c i s e s a r e t h e

l e a s t of her enormous s y m b o l i c impact on p o e t r y , t h e r e i s no body of

i n f l u e n t i a l s h a p e r s t o r e s t o r e a woman's v i e w p o i n t t o p o e t r y . I n s t e a d ,

t h e v e r y c o n c e p t of t h e l y r i c has l a p s e d t o a'new low: t h a t o f an a r t i f i c i a l

and s o u l l e s s i d e a l t o which men appeal i n ' v a i n f o r s e x u a l f a v o r s :

p r e d i c t a b l y , s i n c e t h e y have s e t i t up t h a t way.

38

B e f o r e t h i s development, however, something i n t e r e s t i n g ' h a p p e n s t o t h e

a l l e g o r i c a l form. In t h e f i f t e e n t h c e n t u r y , two unknown femaIe a u t h o r s

l e a v e t h e i r i m p r i n t upon t h e form i n s u c h s way as t o s u g g e s t t h a t whatever

anonymity women found i t p r u d e n t , o r were f o r c e d , t o r e t u r n t o i n t h i s newly

ma Ie- a s c e n d a n f e r a , t h e l i t t l e t h e y had had of l i t e r a r y s e l f - e x p r e s s i o n had

g e n e r a t e d a t a s t e f o r more. H e n c e f o r t h women would not s u f f e r t h e m s e l v e s

t o be c o m p l e t e l y s i l e n c e d . The f i r s t of t h e s e m y s t e r i o u s women i s t h e

a u t h o r o f The F l o w e r and t h e L e a f , " t h a t f u s i o n o f t h e c o u r t l y and t h e 4 0

homi l e t i c a l l e g o r y , " which C S . Lewis c i t e s f o r i t s o r i g i n a l i t y and

h i s t o r i c a l i m p o r t a n c e . The second i s t h e " r e m a r k a b l e woman" who wro t e

t h e Assembly o f L a d i e s , a work which a g a i n Lewis c i t e s as r e p r e s e n t i n g

"a w h o l l y d i f f e r e n t , and, i n some ways, a n o t l e s s i n t e r e s t i n g m o d i f i c a t i o n

of t h e t r a d i t i o n " ; though he goes on t o s a y , g r a t u i t o u s l y : "Taken as 4 1

a I l e g o r y , i t i s as s i l l y a poem as a man c o u I d f i nd i n a y e a r ' s r e a d i ng."

So much f o r d i s d a i n f u l male s u p e r i o r i t y ! He m i t i g a t e s h i s c o n d e s c e n s i o n

by a d d i n g t h a t t h e a u t h o r i s moved, by a pure Iy n a t u r a I i s t i c i m p u l s e , t o p r e s e n t t h e d e t a i l o f ever y d a y l i f e ; and i f her poem were not hampered by b e i n g s t i l l a t t a c h e d — as w i t h an u m b i l i c a l c o r d — t o t h e a l l e g o r i c a l f o r m , i t would be an a d m i r a b l e p i c t u r e of manners. Indeed, i f o n l y t h e f i r s t f o u r s t a n z a s s u r v i v e d , we mi g h t now be la m e n t i n g t h e l o s t Jane A u s t e n o f t h e f i f t e e n t h c e n t u r y . "

An ambiguous compliment; but i n c r i t i c i z i n g t h e poem f o r i t s d e f e c t s , he

a I so t e I Is us t h e d i a l o g u e i s a d m i r a b l e and perhaps b e t t e r t h a n C h a u c e r ' s e a r l i e s t a t t e m p t s . Nor does t h i s r e a l i s m f a i l when t h e lady b e g i n s t o t e l l h er dream. We soon f o r g e t t h a t i t i s a dream, o r an a l l e g o r y . . . . t h e d e t a i l of t h e poem shows power a k i n t o g e n i u s .

That such an a u t h o r , comparable i n g e n i u s t o t h e e a r l y C h a u c e r , was

c o n s t r a i n e d t o work anonymously s u g g e s t s t h e l o s s t o l i t e r a t u r e o f many

39

another s i m i l a r l y i n t i m i d a t e d w r i t e r . The odds aga ins t a woman being f r e e

t o p a r t i c i p a t e in the l i t e r a r y wor ld of men in order t o develop and sharpen

her own expression and i t s i n t r i n s i c form are high in h i s t o r y .

The a l l e g o r y of love cont inued t o enjoy a p o p u l a r i t y wel l i n t o the

E l izabethan p e r i o d , The Faer ie Queene being the l a s t and most complex of

i t s monuments. But by t h e n , the f e e l i n g s e x a l t i n g an ideal of romant ic

love have become o s s i f i e d w i t h i n a se t of conven t ions , as poets compete

f o r v a r i e t y and p e r f e c t i o n in the fo rm, o f t e n t a k i n g t h e i r mat ter second

hand from I t a l i a n and French sources f o r t h e i r E n g l i s h i n g s . The E l i z a

bethan l y r i c is a chamber a r t f o rm , as someone has descr ibed i t , w i t h

i t s own conven t ions , one of which is v a r i a t i o n s on a theme. The content

is now as abs t rac ted from ac tua l persons and exper iences of love as i t

can g e t . I n v i t a t i o n s t o love or.compI a i n t s aga ins t a lady f u r n i s h , in

a l l but the best poe ts , an excuse f o r the exerc ise of w i t and manner, an

indulgence, not of men subserv ien t t o the women t h e i r poet ry addresses

i t s e l f t o , but in most respects of p r i v i l e g e and p o s i t i o n , t h e i r ac tua l

s u p e r i o r s .

42

Two themes dominate the E l izabethan love l y r i c . In the "Gather -

ye-rosebuds-whi Ie-ye-may" theme borrowed from C a t u l l u s , young women are

exhorted t o y i e l d t o sexual love , w i t h the impl ied t h r e a t t h a t o l d age

w i l l soon render them u n a t t r a c t i v e and undes i rab le (an a t t i t u d e wh ich ,

by becoming conven t iona l i zed in p o e t r y , has been i n f l u e n t i a l t o the

e x t e n t t h a t i t has become an unstated convent ion in l i f e ) . In. the o the r

theme, women are a t tacked f o r t h e i r d i s d a i n f u l n e s s , inconstancy and

c r u e l t y in r e f u s i n g t o s a t i s f y the lover on h i s te rms. Th is d e n i g r a t i o n

of women is u s u a l l y a i r i l y dismissed in d iscuss ions of E l izabethan love

40

poet ry where i t is taken f o r granted t h a t rea l f e e l i n g is not the issue in

t h i s genre. And indeed, several c e n t u r i e s of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s s t y l i n g and

the impact o f Eng l i sh temperament and c u l t u r e on the c o n t i n e n t a l h e r i t a g e

have d ivorced the l y r i c from both i t s pagan roo ts in r i t u a l observance

and i t s medieval f o l k roo ts in popular exp ress ion . Among the several

m o d a l i t i e s o f t he l y r i c , love poe t ry remains dominant, but c h i v a l r y as

the animat ing aspect of the lay and romance is now an end in i t s e l f ;

poets are no longer defenders of women as the Love^-advocate Chaucer was,

and c o u l d — g i v e n the s o c i a l and l i t e r a r y c l i m a t e — s t i I I be in h i s t i m e .

The image of woman has, in f a c t , s u f f e r e d a new setback. And so have

women: in the c r e a t i v e exp los ion of the Eng l ish Renaissance, women are so

a p p a l l i n g l y absent t h a t one wonders t o f i n d even one or two women

ou ts ide of queens mentioned in h i s t o r y . The den ia l of women's r i g h t s t o

a c r e a t i v e l i f e s t i l l l i n g e r s in contemptuous male a t t i t u d e s ; e . g . , Douglas

Bush s l i g h t i n g l y r e f e r s t o C h r i s t i n e de P isan , a French w r i t e r , as " t h a t

43

doughty femin ine invader of Grub S t ree t . ' • She wrote p o e t r y , books

s e t t i n g f o r t h p r e s c r i p t i o n s f o r ideal conduct in manners and mora ls , and

a book in defence o f women a f t e r reading Matheolus. Born in 1364, she

is the e a r l i e s t of a succession of c o n t i n e n t a l women who a l so pub l ished a

v a r i e t y of Renaissance l i t e r a t u r e . Widowed a t t w e n t y - f i v e , de Pisan r

supported h e r s e l f by her w r i t i n g , b r i n g i n g t o mind the Eng l i sh w r i t e r ,

Aphra Behn, who l i ved two c e n t u r i e s l a t e r . L ike her , t o o , de Pisan was a

f e m i n i s t , poss ib l y the e a r l i e s t . As f o r Engl ish Renaissance poe ts , 44

we have the poem of a c e r t a i n Anne Askewe, burned in t he Tower a t the

age of t w e n t y - s i x f o r a b j u r i n g Ca tho l i c i sm in favo r of P r o t e s t a n t i s m ; , ,

w r i t t e n j u s t before her death in 1546, t h i s poem is a l l t h a t apparen t l y

4 1

remains of her . At the end of the century and beginning of the n e x t ,

the scene is en l ivened by Mary Herbe r t , Countess of Pembroke, s i s t e r of

S i r P h i l i p Sidney and co-author w i t h him of many works i nc lud ing a

m e t r i c a l ve rs ion of the Psalms. A very learned woman, she a l so wrote prose .

and t r a n s l a t i o n s . Of t h a t g r e a t surge of c r e a t i v i t y t h a t was the

Renaissance, on ly these lone female vo ices in Eng l ish p o e t r y ! C o n t i

nental women wrote as t r a n s l a t o r s , as a u t h o r i t i e s on morals and manners,

and as poets : t h e i r poe t ry is in the c o u r t l y love t r a d i t i o n . A f t e r de P isan ,

the poets i nc lude : Laura T e r r a c i n a , Cather ine and Madeleine Des Roches,

4 5

Marie de Romieu and Louise de Labe ( ' " t h e Sappho of her t i m e ' " ) in t h e

s i x t e e n t h , and C h a r l o t t e de Brachar t a t the o u t s e t o f the seventeenth .

By t h i s t ime Eng l ish women have become emboldened enough t o be making a

genre of t r a c t s and pamphlets in defense of women, as the p u b l i c a t i o n s of

Jane Anger in the s i x t e e n t h , and Esther Sowernam, Rachel Specht and 4 6

Constant ia Mundi in the seventeenth century t e s t i f y . Apar t from these

s p i r i t e d and f o r w a r d - l o o k i n g women, the p i c t u r e is b leak . While t he lady

has re ta ined the pedestal ra ised f o r her in the l i t e r a t u r e of c o u r t l y love,

she is no longer ev iden t (as in t w e l f t h century France and the Eng l ish

c o u r t ) as a person w i t h her own ideas, f e e l i n g s and standards of c u l t u r a l

express ion in the a r t s . The setback has been remarked upon by the

p s y c h o l o g i s t Er ich Neumann in The Great Mother, an a n a l y s i s of m y t h o l o g i c a l ,

a rchaeo log ica l and a e s t h e t i c evidence of the femin ine a rche type . I quote

him in p a r t , where he discusses Renaissance p a i n t i n g :

The change of the t imes is ev iden t in the Renaissance p i c t u r e of Venus. With the development of the p a t r i a r c h a t e the Great Goddess has become the Goddess of Love, an^_,the Power of the femin ine has been reduced t o the power of s e x u a l i t y .

42

Whatever respect and admi ra t ion is owed t o woman from anc ien t t i m e s , has

been by now s a f e l y enthroned in the V i r g i n Mother, a defused C h r i s t i a n

v a r i a n t of the gener i c Great Mother archetype symbol iz ing e a r t h ' s power as

g i v e r and t a k e r of l i f e . The V i r g i n , a passive v e s t i g e of t h i s dynamic

concept , has been depr ived of a l l rea l power save t h a t of i n t e r c e s s i o n w i t h

her humanly born Son. In consequence, women are prey t o a l l k inds of

v i l i f i c a t i o n p red ica ted on t h e i r sex a lone . Such d i s t o r t i o n s of human

s e x u a l i t y , and of women's r o l e , have c h a r a c t e r i z e d the m a j o r i t y of poet ry

w r i t t e n by men in which women are imaged; among the few obvious and

honorable except ions are Shakespeare, of course , and t o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t ,

Donne. The basic enmity towards women t h a t u n d e r l i e s the E l izabethan love

l y r i c . — t h e c o n t i n u a t i o n of a t r e n d h i g h l i g h t e d by Jean de Meuns' m i s o g y n i s t i c

amb igu i t i es in the second p a r t of the Roman de la Rose—remains t o f i n d

expression in the C a v a l i e r , and t o a lesser ex ten t metaphys ica l , poet ry

of the seventeenth cen tu ry . E l i zabe th died a t i t s dawning, and Spenser 's

i d e a l i z a t i o n of the V i r g i n Queen as Goddess and emblem of n a t i o n a l power

is the l a s t medieval c o u r t l y g e s t u r e , made in deference t o the exe rc i se of

reaI femin ine power (as opposed t o mere a r i s t o c r a t i c e l e v a t i o n , o r the

p r i m i t i v e no t ion of woman's genera t i ve power) . C h r i s t i a n c u l t u r e cont inued

t o imply t h a t the sexual love of women was dangerous and a n t i t h e t i c a l

t o the love of God, though the Renaissance had brought c l a s s i c a l en l ightenment

t o the f o r e as expressed in secu lar A r i s t o t e I i a n i s m , the n e o - P I a t o n i s t s

and C h r i s t i a n humanists. The Res to ra t ion was t o b r ing about i t s own r e a c t i v e

changes t o narrow d o c t r i n e s . But l i t e r a t u r e has i t s own laws, in common

w i t h the o the r a r t s , and, in f o l l o w i n g these , as Bush has po in ted ou t

in h i s Mythology and the Renaissance Trad i t i o n in EnqI ish P o e t r y ,

43

"Humanism ceased t o be humanist ic when i t made s t y l e a supreme object 1, ' ;""" '

an o b s e r v a t i o n , i n c i d e n t a l l y , t h a t f i t l y descr ibes the f o r m a l i s t i c preoccu

pa t ion of t w e n t i e t h century leaders in poet ics. , a t whom we wi I I be looking

f u r t h e r on. The c l a s s i c a l h e r i t a g e a f f e c t e d Renaissance poetry in

England in s t i m u l a t i n g p roduc t ion of a vas t body of my tho log ica l ba l lads

and drama, wh i l e the medieval enthusiasm f o r Ovid reached new peaks in the

p roduc t ion of sensuous sonnets and l y r i c s , and a lso new d e c l i n e s : as

in S u c k l i n g ' s a n t i - c o u r t l y r e a c t i o n of an a p p e t i t i v e , and r a k i s h l y w i t t y

a r t . I t on ly awai ted S w i f t i a n exec ra t i on o f women of fash ion ( i n sexual

49

terms t h a t convey a spec ia l l oa th ing ) t o show how e a s i l y m o r a l i s t s and

aesthetes a l i k e submerge t h e i r d i f f e r e n c e s in the p a t r i a r c h a l stream which

makes of women i t s f a v o r i t e scapegoat.

When women take up again the l y r i c t r a d i t i o n in resumption of an

anc ien t i n i t i a t i v e , they n a t u r a l l y take t h e i r forms from the men d i r e c t l y

preceding them; t h a t i s , from a male t r a d i t i o n . Though some of Sappho's

work had begun t o be known through i t s recovery in the Renaissance, i t

took a w h i l e f o r her example t o mean something t o women. Aphra Behn (1640-

1689) d a r i n g l y addresses a poem t o a female lover and, in another poem, 50

makes an ob l i que re ference t o Sappho; but t h i s is a l ready in the

con tex t of Res to ra t ion comedy.

Behn occurs as something of an apocalypse in h i s t o r y . F i r s t l y , a

lone female, she stands out as a lus ty re fo rma t i ve s p i r i t in a l i b e r t i n e

age, her c r i t i c i s m of mores and manners making a p o i n t of the need f o r

change in marr iage customs, and her works openly c e l e b r a t i n g enjoyment

of the senses. She was o f t e n termed a Sappho by j e a l o u s contemporar ies

who thought so t o cas t a s l u r on her . Secondly, her breaking through the

44

e x c l u s i v e l y male s t rongho ld t h a t the l i t e r a r y and dramat ic scene in

England had been up u n t i l t h a t t ime leads t o a gradual involvement o f

more and more women in w r i t i n g . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , she has s u f f e r e d g r e a t

neg lec t a t the hands of p u b l i s h e r s and p r o f e s s o r s , i n fo rmat ion about her

having been made a v a i l a b l e on ly in f a i r l y recent years . Her e x t r a o r d i n a r y

p e r s o n a l i t y and achievement have been v i v i d l y brought t o l i f e in a

biography by George Woodcock, publ ished in 1948, and more r e c e n t l y , in

a c r i t i c a l a n a l y s i s of her work by F reder i ck M. L i n k , in 1968. Woodcock

r e f e r s t o "Mrs. Benn" as " t h e f i r s t g rea t woman in Engl ish l i t e r a t u r e . "

Her combined works, he says, "equal or surpass a l I but the best of her

contemporar i e s . " " ^

In a d d i t i o n t o poems, Behn produced a s e r i e s of p lays and novels f o r

which she is perhaps b e t t e r remembered, and a number of t r a n s l a t i o n s .

In t h i s v e r s a t i l i t y she resembles the c o n t i n e n t a l women a l ready ment ioned.

But Behn was more than j u s t a woman in t he l i t e r a r y vanguard (though t h i s

is q u i t e enough in i t s e l f ) : as Woodcock a s s e r t s , she was unprecedented in

b r i n g i n g about a number o f h i g h l y s i g n i f i c a n t changes:

F i r s t , she represents a r e v o l u t i o n a r y i n f l uence on the s o c i a l l i f e and l i t e r a t u r e of her age, and in her work can be t raced the beginnings of a number o f changes in w r i t i n g and thought t h a t have had a rea l i n f l uence on the l i t e r a r y and soc ia l development of subsequent c e n t u r i e s . She was the f i r s t woman t o earn her l i v i n g by w r i t i n g , and in her s t r u g g l e s t o overcome male pre jud ice^and j e a l o u s y , became a p ioneer in the f i g h t f o r women's emanc ipat ion .

Her f o r c e f u l and w i t t y s t y l e is seen in the f o l l o w i n g q u o t a t i o n from the

ep i logue t o her play S i r P a t i e n t Fancy (her b e s t , according t o Woodcock),

in which she a t t a c k s the a n t i - f e m i n i s t s who are always har rass ing her :

45

I here and the re o 'e rheard a Coxcomb c r y , Ah, Rot i t — ' t i s a Woman's Comedy, One, who because she l a t e l y chanced t o please us , With her damn'd S t u f f , w i l l never cease t o teaze us. What has poor Woman done, t h a t she must be Debar'd from Sense, and sacred Poetry? Why in t h i s Age has Heaven a l l o w ' d you more, And Women less of Wit than here to fo re? We once were fam'd in s t o r y and could w r i t e Equal t o Men; cou 'd govern , n a y — c o u ' d f i g h t . We s t i l l have passive Va lour , and can show, Wou'd Custom . g i ve us leave, the a c t i v e t o o , Since we no Provocat ions want from you. For who but we cou 'd your d u l l Fopperies bear, Your saucy Love, and your b r i s k Nonsense hear; Indure your worse than womanly A f f e c t a t i o n , Which renders you the Nuisance of the Nat ion

And i f y o u ' r e drawn t o t h ' L i f e , pray felloe t h e n , Why Women should not w r i t e as we l l as Men.

Behn's success stung the c r i t i c s who charged her w i t h p l a g i a r i s m and

indecency, f o r here was a woman who dared t o compete w i t h men as t h e i r

equa l . As in the pas t , women's oppression in 1670 was such t h a t

the l o t o f t he average woman was an i n t e l l e c t u a l barrenness, a complete i s o l a t i o n from contemporary s c h o l a r s h i p . . . . But she fought so we l l t h a t she e s t a b l i s h e d once and f o r a l l the r i g h t f o r women t o make a voca t ion o f l i t e r a t u r e . . . . By 1690, w i t h Aphra Behn's p ioneer work and the in f luence which women l i k e Sarah C h u r c h i l l and Mrs. Masham began t o w ie ld in g c - l i t i c a l l i f e , the i n t e l l e c t u a l sub juga t ion of women was c l e a r l y ended.

A l a s , i t should have been, but was i t ? The ev idence, in women's p o e t r y ,

a t l e a s t , suggests t h a t women f e e l subjugated i n t e l l e c t u a l l y , s e x u a l l y , and

- o t h e r w i s e , up t o t h i s very day. S t i l l , Woodcock summarizes what, up t o

the t ime of h i s w r i t i n g , were su re l y the most e x c i t i n g two decades in

women's l i t e r a r y h i s t o r y , superceded on l y by our own most recen t decades

which surpass in breadth and promise anyth ing t h a t has gone b e f o r e .

Three o t h e r women of note wrote poet ry in roughly Behn's p e r i o d ; of

t hese , Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1624-1674)—a b r i l l i a n t

46

w r i t e r by many accoun ts—was , a f t e r Behn, one of the f i r s t Eng l ish women

t o pub l i sh her work, though she enjoyed none of the l a t t e r ' s p o p u l a r i t y .

Kathar ine P h i l i p s , ( 1 6 3 1 - 1 6 6 4 ) , known as " t h e matchless O r i n d a , " was, on

the o the r hand, much admired. Marry ing a t the age of s i x t e e n , her home

became the cen t re of a fash ionab le c o t e r i e of d i s t i n g u i s h e d contemporar ies ,

Behn among them. According t o Bush, P h i l i p s "cont inued the P l a t o n i c c u l t

55 of the e a r l i e r age in her poems t o her women f r i e n d s , " a p r a c t i c e in

con fo rm i ty w i t h her warm advocacy of f r i e n d s h i p between women. Besides

w r i t i n g poems, p lays and t r a n s l a t i o n s , she was one of the two most

ce lebra ted l e t t e r w r i t e r s of a century which saw t h a t genre ra i sed t o an

a r t . Among these contemporar ies , Anne F inch , Countess o f Winchelsea

( 1 6 6 1 - 1 7 2 0 ) , comes c l o s e s t t o shar ing Behn's f e m i n i s t i c o u t l o o k .

Repeatedly in her poems she expresses resentment aga ins t a govern ing

a e s t h e t i c which ac ts on the presumptuous view t h a t "man" as a term f o r

human k ind means men, p r i n c i p a l l y . She a lso w r i t e s poems in p r a i s e of

women's genius and courage. She publ ished her f i r s t book anonymously,

probably in response t o the scorn f o r women poets she had o p p o r t u n i t y t o

exper ience dur ing her youth a t c o u r t . "Did I , my l i nes intend f o r p u b l i c k

v i e w , / How many censures, wou'd t h e i r f a u l t s pe rsue , " she g l o o m i l y

r e f l e c t s in a poem where she observes t h a t some men have made r e p u t a t i o n s

as w i t s s o l e l y on the basis of such f a u l t f i n d i n g w h i l e the r e s t s imply

d ismiss femin ine w r i t i n g as "woman's work . " "A las ! a woman t h a t

a t tempts the p e n , / Such an i n t r u d e r on the r i g h t s of men , " " ^ she says

w i t h a k ind of weary resentment. Towards the end of the century she

r e t i r e d w i t h her husband t o the c o u n t r y , where she wrote The P e t i t i o n f o r

an Absolute R e t r e a t , a poem be long ing , says E.M.W. T i l l y a r d , " t o the

47

a u t h e n t i c seventeenth century poet ry of r e t i r e m e n t , " and which he

p ra ises in terms s i g n i f i c a n t f o r the women's t r a d i t i o n . "One would

t h i n k , " he says, r e f e r r i n g t o so f i r m l y es tab l i shed a t r a d i t i o n as the

" r e t i r e m e n t m y t h , " t h a t i t was

ready t o go s t a l e . Yet t h a t myth, f a r from f o r c i n g Anne Finch t o the f r i g i d and the i n e r t , gave her^ the means of express ing a s i n g u l a r l y f r e s h set of personal f e e l i n g s .

Finch l i v e d i n t o the e igh teen th c e n t u r y , p u b l i s h i n g in 1713 a volume

e n t i t l e d M isce l lany Poems, which conta ined nature poems pra ised f o r

t h e i r f reshness and l y r i c i s m , a foreward looking poet ry which " i n cadence

58

and s p i r i t resembles the n ine teen th c e n t u r y . "

Poets such as P h i l i p s and Finch are r e f e r r e d t o by Woodcock as

t a l e n t e d amateurs who never rose t o Behn's s t a t u s on account of t h e i r

weal th and p o s i t i o n which served t o i n s u l a t e them from the a r t i s t ' s

soc ia l and economic necess i ty of s t r u g g l e ; f o r example, he cons iders t h a t Behn's b r i l l i a n t accomplishment owes as much t o her necess i t y t o

earn a l i v i n g as t o her innate g i f t s and c h a r a c t e r . I pe rsona l l y f i n d t h i s

hypothesis c o n v i n c i n g . The p ro fess iona l d r i v e which sharpened and

developed Behn's s k i l l s , ensur ing a c o n s i s t e n t l y high p r o d u c t i v i t y ,

a l so meant she competed w i t h men on terms they had t o accep t . Behn

enjoyed an e q u a l i t y she b o l d l y imposed, which makes her something of a

wonder. She enabled the host of p ro fess iona l women who came a f t e r her

t o f o l l o w up the advantage she had gained f o r them, though t h i s was

n e i t h e r e a s i l y nor q u i c k l y accompl ished. The important t h i n g , as Woodcock

says, is t h a t the female w r i t e r had come t o s t a y . Behn won her own p l a c e ,

and thereby a p lace f o r a l l women, not on ly through courage and competence,

59 but through innova t i ve techniques and dar ing ideas t h a t came t o a f f e c t

48

the f u t u r e course of w r i t i n g . Though her i n f l uence has been main ly f e l t

in the spheres of the novel and drama, we have t o a l low t h a t the poet ry

owes a t leas t i t s s p i r i t t o Behn's consciousness of her woman's r o l e in

shaping a l i t e r a t u r e represen t ing woman's v i e w p o i n t , wh i l e in c r a f t , i t

i s e a s i l y the equal of her male contemporar ies.

The seventeenth century is remarkable not on ly f o r the p ioneer ing work

of Behn, but f o r t h a t of her e l d e r contemporary Anne B r a d s t r e e t , who l e f t

England in 1630 t o take up l i f e in the New w o r l d , where she became i t s

f i r s t poet of consequence. Her f i r s t work was p u b l i s h e d , w i t h o u t her

consent , in London, by her b r o t h e r - i n - l a w , under a long t i t l e beginn ing

The Tenth Muse La te ly Sprung up in America. (He apparent ly was not averse

t o s e t t i n g up h is kinswoman as Sappho's equal in t h i s echo of P l a t o ' s

compl iment . ) But i t was not t i l l l a t e r . — f r o m 1650 o n — t h a t B rads t ree t

began t o come i n t o her own as a mature poet w r i t i n g more than merely

capable convent iona l ve rse . Th is was when her work began t o take on l i f e

as she turned t o domestic s u b j e c t s , w r i t i n g out of her own exper ience much

as d id Behn, but w i t h the huge d i f f e r e n c e of being conf ined w i t h i n a

c o n v e n t i o n a l , C h r i s t i a n woman's wor ld of the home. In a Foreword t o the

Pu r i t an p o e t ' s c o l l e c t e d works, the poet Adrienne Rich has t h i s t o say:

Anne Brads t ree t was the f i r s t n o n - d i d a c t i c American poe t , the f i r s t t o g i ve an embodiment t o American n a t u r e , the f i r s t in whom personal i n t e n t i o n appears t o precede Pu r i t an dogma as an impulse t o ve rse . . . . The web of her s e n s i t i v i t y . . . in i t s t e x t u r e is e s s e n t i a l l y both Pu r i t an and femin ine . . . her vo ice is d i r e c t and t o u c h i n g . . . . Her i n d i v i d u a l i s m l i e s in her choice of ma te r ia l r a t h e r than in her s t y l e . . . . To have w r i t t e n poems, the f i r s t good poems in America, wh i l e rea r ing e i g h t c h i l d r e n , l y ing f r e q u e n t l y s i c k , keeping house a t the edge of w i l d e r n e s s , was t o have managed a p o e t ' s range and extens ion w i t h i n con f ines as severe as any American poet has c o n f r o n t e d . I f the s e v e r i t y of these con f ines l e f t i t s mark on the poet ry of Anne B r a d s t r e e t , i t a l so forced i n t o c o n c e n t r a t i o n and permanence a g i f t e d energy t h a t m igh t , in angjher c o n t e x t , have spent i t s e l f in o t h e r , less endur ing d i r e c t i o n s .

49

Brads t ree t ce lebra ted the p a t r i a r c h a l o rder of her l i f e as she knew i t and,

w i t h i n her B i b l i c a l frame of r e f e r e n c e , g e n e r a l l y de fers t o male s u p e r i o r i t y ,

Never the less , l i k e Behn and F inch , she speaks b i t t e r l y o f having her

p o e t i c g i f t den ied , as in these l i nes from "The Pro logue : "

I am obnoxious t o each carp ing tongue Who says my hand a needle b e t t e r f i t s , A p o e t ' s pen a l l scorn I should thus wrong, For such desp i te they cas t on female w i t s : I f what I do prove w e l l , i t won ' t advance, ^ T h e y ' l l say i t ' s s t o l ' n , o r e l se i t was by chance.

She a lso takes g r e a t p r i de in the proven s u p e r i o r i t y of a woman who had

been one of England's g r e a t e s t and most ce leb ra ted r u l e r s ; here is p a r t

of a poem " I n Honour of t h a t High and Mighty Pr incess Queen E l i zabe th of

Happy Memory:"

Now, say, have women worth? o r have they none? Or had they some, but w i t h our Queen i s ' t gone? Nay mascu l ines , you have thus taxed us long, But she, though dead, w i l l v i n d i c a t e our wrong. Let such as say our sex is vo id of reason, ^ Know ' t i s a s lander now but once was t r e a s o n .

Such f e e l i n g s of j u s t resentment and p r i d e have analogues in a l l the

seventeenth century women poets mentioned so f a r , and indeed, in many of

those t o come. They are f e e l i n g s t h a t form the basis of a growing femin ism.

The f e a t u r e most shared in common by the poets discussed thus f a r is

the energy t h a t t h e i r poe t ry de r i ves from i t s emphasis on personal

exper ience. Women t i l l now wrote b e s t , i t would appear (meaning those who

surv ived the c o u r s e ) , w h e n — l i k e Sappho, g i v i n g form t o her most i n t i m a t e

f e e l i n g s and pass ions, l i k e Behn, s a t i r i z i n g i n j u s t i c e and speaking

f r a n k l y as a woman on mat te rs o f sex, and l i k e B r a d s t r e e t , reaching f o r

beauty wh i l e s t r u g g l i n g merely t o s tay a l i v e in a harsh , new e n v i r o n m e n t —

they wrote of the d a i l y l i f e , in i t s personal and concrete r e l a t i o n s w i t h

50

people and w i t h t h i n g s . T h e i r s is a human I y«-f ocused a r t . In t h e i r

de te rm ina t ion t o r i s e above oppress ive c o n d i t i o n s , such women poets

s t r i k e a un ive rsa l chord : one t h a t is not l i m i t e d t o women but sounds f o r

a l l human c r e a t u r e s .

'. In i t s f o l l o w - u p t o a century of such promise, the e igh teen th century

does not g i v e much cause f o r r e j o i c i n g . Mary Wort Iy Montagu is the

c e n t u r y ' s most f r e q u e n t l y noted female w r i t e r and she cont inues the

f e m i n i s t t r a d i t i o n along w i t h the e p i s t o l a r y one. A l b e r t C. Baugh in h i s

A L i t e r a r y H i s t o r y of England c i t e s her as Pope's " g r e a t r i v a l f o r

e p i s t o l a r y fame in h i s ha I f - c e n t u r y . I n p o e t r y , she u t t e r s l i nes t h a t

are amazingly ak in t o those of the t h i r t e e n t h century F l o r e n t i n e lady whose

poem I quoted e a r l i e r ; here i s Lady Montagu in an e x t r a c t from her poem,

" I n Answer t o a Lady who Advised Re t i remen t : "

In crowded c o u r t s I' f i n d myself a lone , And pay my worship t o a nob ler t h r o n e . Long s ince the value of t h i s wor ld I know, P i t y the madness, and despise the show. Well as I can my ted ious p a r t I bear , ^ And wa i t f o r my d ismiss ion w i t h o u t f e a r .

Her poem, "A Caveat t o t he F a i r Sex" i s , in i t s t u r n , a d i a t r i b e aga ins t

marr iage t h a t c l o s e l y foreshadows the e a r l y t w e n t i e t h cen tu ry poems o f

Anna Wickham on t h i s theme. The f o l l o w i n g . e x c e r p t from the beginn ing o f

"A Caveat" is o f f e r e d f o r compar ison:*

Wife and servant are the same, But on ly d i f f e r in the name; For when the f a t a l know is t y ' d , Which n o t h i n g , noth ing can d i v i d e ; When she the word obey has s a i d , And man by law supreme is made, Then a l l t h a t ' s k ind is l a i d a s i d e , ^ And noth ing l e f t but s t a t e and p r i d e .

*See "The Wi fe " and " D i v o r c e " by Anna Wickham in Sect ion F ive o f t he Antho logy .

51

Among o the r poets of the e igh teen th century are Jane El I i o t , Anna L a e t i t i a

Barbauld and Anna Seward; Mrs. Joanna Ba i l l i e takes us i n t o the n ine teen th

century and is best known as a p l a y w r i g h t . These and o t h e r poe ts , f o r

the most p a r t , l i v e on in obscure a n t h o l o g i e s . Barbauld wrote a poem

e n t i t l e d "The Rights of Women," in which she not on ly c a l l s on women t o

r i s e and a s s e r t t h e i r r i g h t s , but goes so f a r as t o adv i se :

Try a l l t h a t w i t and a r t suggest t o bend

Of t h y imper ia l foe the stubborn knee; Make t reacherous Man thy s u b j e c t , not thy frj_.gnd; Thou mayst command, but never canst be f r e e .

Th is r o l e - r e v e r s a l takes us back t o Eleanor of Aqu i ta ine and her t i m e s ,

but Barbauld is concerned w i t h j u s t i c e , not w i t h cou r tesy . J u s t i c e , she

f e a r s , can never mean freedom f o r women, s ince love so f tens and subdues

them. Women must res ign themselves t o t h e i r b i o l o g i c a l d e s t i n y , l e a r n i n g ,

" I n Na tu re ' s s c h o o l , by her s o f t maxime t a u g h t , / That separate r i g h t s

are l o s t in mutual l o v e . " ^ The humbling and h u m i l i a t i n g power o f love

is a theme we f i n d repeated many t imes in t w e n t i e t h century women poets .

With the precedents f o r women t o w r i t e f i r m l y es tab l i shed by now,

we begin t o hear from many more women whose major emphasis in w r i t i n g is

p o e t r y . The n ine teenth century produces several g r e a t names as wel l

as many lesser ones. I t is c lose enough t o our own t ime t o be, in the

long h i s t o r i c a l v iew, bare ly separate from i t ; in terms of a t t i t u d e ,

however, the n ine teen th century seems wor lds apa r t f rom o u r s . The

V i c t o r i a n age is unsympathet icaI Iy regarded, in one popular v iew, as a

per iod outgrown and surpassed (an a t t i t u d e of s u p e r i o r i t y which may

a f f o r d some f u t u r e h i s t o r i a n no l i t t l e i r o n y , cons ider ing the ho r ro rs

brought about by t w e n t i e t h century " e n l i g h t e n m e n t " ) . Th is general p r e j u d i c e

may account , in p a r t , f o r the d e c l i n e in a p p r e c i a t i o n of a poet of the

52

s t a t u r e of E l i zabe th B a r r e t t Browning.

Though she has been g r e a t l y , and i t is v a l i d t o say u n j u s t l y ,

overshadowed by her famous husband who o u t l i v e d her by many years of

p r o d u c t i v i t y , B a r r e t t Browning was, in her own age, more revered than he,

a f a c t t h a t is o f t e n put down t o the o v e r l y sent imenta l t a s t e o f the

t i m e s . Her poe t i c peers placed her foremost among t h e i r number,

apparen t ly a p p r e c i a t i n g her d i f f e r e n c e from themselves, f o r she was

immediate and contemporary in her concerns, as we l l as being considered

exemplary in her c r a f t . The i r approval ' of a poet who responded t o the

immediate present is worth n o t i n g , s ince most of the g r e a t V i c t o r i a n s

n o s t a l g i c a l l y looked towards the past (and can be thought of as escap is t

in t h a t sense) . Today she is ranked leas t among those V i c t o r i a n s , even

below the two o the r g r e a t women poets of the c e n t u r y , C h r i s t i n a Rosse t t i

and Emily D ick inson . Of the f i r s t rank, on ly Emily Bronte has a lesser

place ( t o g e t h e r w i t h her s i s t e r Anne, who wrote very l i t t l e ) and t h a t

probably owes as much t o her ou ts tand ing c o n t r i b u t i o n in the sphere of

the n o v e l , where she i s accorded f u l l honors, as t o the r a t h e r l i m i t e d

range of her sad, s t i l l music. Of B a r r e t t Browning's cons iderab ly large

corpus , on ly her sonnets g l o r i f y i n g her love f o r Robert are w ide ly c i r c u

la ted today ; the r e s t of the poems are most ly consigned t o o b l i v i o n .

Undoubtedly f i n e , the sonnets are hard I y adequate t o do t h i s poet j u s t i c e .

Much more e x c i t i n g , in my o p i n i o n , is ' her verse-novel Aurora Le igh ,

unique in i t s fo rm. Though i t s f a u l t s are i n v a r i a b l y c i t e d , where

c r i t i c s have even deigned t o comment on the work, i t s v i r t u e s remain

68

l a r g e l y ignored. A recent book- length study of the p o e t ' s work—whose

s ta ted purpose i s t o c a l l a t t e n t i o n t o an undeservedly neglected w r i t e r

5 3

( t h e o n l y such s t u d y I have been a b l e t o f i n d ) — c o n d e s c e n d s t o j u d g e i t ,

i n P l a t o ' s p h r a s e : a " n o b l e e r r o r . "

A u r o r a L e i g h d e s e r v e s s p e c i a l a t t e n t i o n here because o f i t s theme,

which i s c e n t r a l t o t h i s t h e s i s . W r i t t e n i n n i n e books o f f l o w i n g and

o f t e n b e a u t i f u l b l a n k v e r s e , t h e work i s p r i m a r i l y a p o r t r a i t o f t h e

a r t i s t as a young woman; i n i t a r e documented t h e s t r u g g l e and m i l i e u o f

a woman of t h e t i m e s who i s d r i v e n by t h e i n n e r n e c e s s i t y o f her c a l l i n g

t o r e p u d i a t e t h e t r a d i t i o n a l woman's l i f e of s u b m i s s i v e s e r v i c e i n t h e

name of d u t y , love and m a r r i a g e , i n o r d e r t o pursue an independent c a r e e r

as a w r i t e r and t h i n k e r . In t h e c o u r s e of her n a r r a t i o n , t h e h e r o i n e

comes t o r e a l i z e t h a t a r t w i t h o u t l o v e i s as b a r r e n as l i f e w i t h o u t a r t —

t h e l a t t e r t h e c h o i c e o f f e r e d by t h e would-be lover-and-husband who i s

f i r e d w i t h t h e i d e a l s of C h r i s t i a n S o c i a I i s m - - a n d she comes t o an

a r t i s t i c impasse. The p a i r a r e f i n a l l y u n i t e d as t h e l o v e r , a n o b l y -

i n t e n t i o n e d p h i l a n t h r o p i s t , broken and humbled by t h e f a i l u r e o f h i s

a p p l i e d i d e a l s , a r r i v e s , a t s e l f - k n o w l e d g e as i l l u m i n a t i n g as t h e h e r o i n e ' s ,

and as in need of b e i n g b a l a n c e d by i t s o p p o s i t e . "The book," w r i t e s

E l a i n e S h o w a I t e r , "shocked c r i t i c s w i t h i t s h e r o i n e ' s need t o d e f i n e

her own l i f e , and t o do her own work, r a t h e r t h a n a c c e p t a man's v i s i o n 69

of h e r , however a f f e c t i o n a t e . " The book c h a l l e n g e d o t h e r d e e p l y h e l d

p r e j u d i c e s i n r e g a r d t o women as w e l l , but t h e p u b l i c was e n t h u s i a s t i c

n e v e r t h e l e s s and i t s a u t h o r c o n t i n u e d t o w r i t e d e s p i t e s u s t a i n e d

i l l n e s s , f o u r m i s c a r r i a g e s and t h e b i r t h o f a.son. A u r o r a L e i g h i s a

c h r o n i c l e which abounds i n a s t u t e o b s e r v a t i o n s o f l i f e and a r t ;

p a r t i c u l a r l y i n c i s i v e a r e her d e l i g h t f u l v i g n e t t e s o f contemporary

c h a r a c t e r s , d r a m a t i c a l l y r e a l i z e d w i t h an economy and w i t comparable

54

t o Chaucer 's ; f o r example, t h i s d e s c r i p t i o n from the F i f t h Book,of

Lord Howe's w i f e a t a pa r t y at tended by the hero ine :

His w i f e is g rac ious w i t h her g lossy b r a i d s , And even v o i c e , and gorgeous e y e b a l l s , calm As her o the r j e w e l s . I f she 's somewhat c o l d , Who wonders, when her blood has stood so long In the ducal r e s e r v o i r she' c a l l s her l i n e ( I I . 582-586)

or t h i s of S i r B la i se Delorme ' : ( t h i r t y - f i v e and med iaeva l ) " whose

brow is h i g h , And n o t i c e a b l y narrow: a s t rong w ind , You fancy , might unroof him suddenly, And blow t h a t g r e a t top a t t i c o f f h i s head So p i l e d w i t h feudal r e l i c s . You admire His nose in p r o f i l e , though you miss h i s c h i n ; But though you miss h i s c h i n , you seldom miss His ebon cross worn innermos t l y , (carved For penance by a s a i n t l y S t y r i a n monk Whose f l e s h was too much w i t h h im, ) . . . ( I I . 669-678)

F i n a l l y , a sardonic c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n of the hero, Romney Le igh , put i n t o

the mouth of an a r rogan t young German s tuden t ; the lady r e f e r r e d t o in

paren thes is is the v i l l a i n e s s of the s t o r y whose lack of sc rup les in

t r y i n g t o win Romney have earned her the h e r o i n e ' s contempt:

Choose a w i f e Because of her s o f t skin? Not he, not he! He'd r a i l a t Venus' s e l f f o r c reak ing shoes, Unless she walked h i s way of r igh teousness ; And i f he takes a Venus M e r e t r i x (No imputat ion on the lady t h e r e ) Be su re , t h a t , by some s l e i g h t of C h r i s t i a n a r t , He has metamorphosed and converted her To the Blessed V i r g i n . . . ( I I . 761-769)

B a r r e t t Browning exce ls in o t h e r d e s c r i p t i v e w r i t i n g as w e l l . The

book 's main f a u l t i s a n a r r a t i v e p l o t t h a t f a l l s i n t o the melodramatic

indulgences of the age; t he re is a s t rong Dickensian f l a v o r in her

d e p i c t i o n of femin ine t y p e s : a young work ingc lass g i r l who r e t a i n s her

innate n o b i l i t y throughout a degrading and b r u t a l set of occurrences

55

caused by the r u l i n g c l a s s ' s oppression of the poor, and a scheming, e v i l

woman of t h a t c l a s s . The p o e t ' s soc ia l i n d i g n a t i o n is here undermined by

a s e n s i b i l i t y which t o us seems exaggerated and s e n t i m e n t a l . We cannot

b e l i e v e in such charac te rs or accept her view of the working poor as most ly

h o r r i b l e and r e p u l s i v e v i c t i m s , hopeless ly reduced t o cr ime and s e l f -

d e s t r u c t i o n . The f a c t t h a t E l i za b e th B a r r e t t was house-sequestered f o r so

long must p a r t i a l l y exonerate her f o r such f a u l t s . The poem is u n r i v a l l e d ,

however, in the c r i t i c a l s e l f - e x a m i n a t i o n of i t s c e n t r a l c h a r a c t e r ,

Auro ra , who is a p o r t r a i t of t he au tho r . The Second Book d r a m a t i c a l l y

presents the basis of the c o n f l i c t between Aurora and Romney. In the

excerp ts I am about t o quote , she has j u s t r e j e c t e d h is proposal of

mar r iage . Romney is h u r t and bewi ldered by her re fusa l t o see the compliment

in h i s o f f e r : was he so wrong, he asks her , in t a k i n g "The woman t o be

nob ler than the man,',' and h e r s e l f the nob l e s t o f . women in understanding

the nature of love? Was he so wrong " I n saying b l u n t l y , ven tu r ing t r u t h

on l o v e , / 'Come, human c r e a t u r e , love and work w i t h m e , ' " instead of

c o u r t i n g her w i t h romant ic phrases and f l o u r i s h e s ? Breaking in "With

q u i e t i n d i g n a t i o n , " Aurora argues:

You misconceive the ques t ion I i k e a man, Who sees a woman as the complement Of h i s sex mere ly . You f o r g e t t oo much That every c r e a t u r e , female as the male, Stands s i n g l e in respons ib le ac t and t h o u g h t , As a l so in b i r t h and death . Whoever says To a loyal woman, 'Love and work w i t h me, ' W i l l ge t f a i r answers, i f the work and love, Being good themselves, are good f o r h e r — t h e best She was born f o r . Women of a s o f t e r mood, Surpr ised by men when scarce ly awake t o l i f e , W i l l sometimes on ly hear the f i r s t word, love , And catch up w i t h i t any k ind of work, I n d i f f e r e n t , so t h a t dear love go w i t h i t :

56

I do not blame such womerl, though, f o r love , They p ick much oakum; e a r t h ' s f a n a t i c s make Too f r e q u e n t l y heaven's s a i n t s . But me, your work Is not the best f o r , — n o r your love the b e s t , Nor ab le t o commend the k ind of work For l ove ' s sake mere ly . ( I I . 433-452)

In the Eighth Book, the p o e t ' s case f o r a r t is presented by Romney who, now

owning Aurora t o have been r i g h t a l l a l o n g , quotes words she spoke t o him in

a former argument:

'You w i l l not compass your poor ends Of b a r l e y - f e e d i n g and mate r ia l ease Wi thout the p o e t ' s i n d i v i d u a l i s m To work your u n i v e r s a l . I t takes a soul To move a body: i t takes a high-sou led man To move the masses even t o a c leaner s t y ; I t takes the ideal t o blow an inch ins ide The dust of the a c t u a l ; and your Four ie rs f a i l e d , Because not poets enough t o understand That l i f e develops from w i t h i n . ' ( I I . 427-436)

Au ro ra ' s author presents t h i s d i a l e c t i c as a r e a l i s t i c issue t h a t doubt less

informs her own passionate commitment t o soc ia l j u s t i c e as an a r t i s t . Between

the poles of t h a t c o n f l i c t , she g ives us a p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y accurate d e s c r i p t i o n

of the agoniz ing burden of s e l f - d o u b t , lone I iness 'and increas ing i s o l a t i o n t h a t

can overcome the woman who e l e c t s t o f o l l o w a personal d i r e c t i v e in o p p o s i t i o n

t o the p rescr ibed soc ia l one, e s p e c i a l l y when t h a t choice invo lves denying

her own r i s i n g s e x u a l i t y and the c a l l o f love and companionship. For a woman

in the n ine teen th cen tu ry t o w r i t e o f such a dilemma was t o take up an issue

t h a t women had scarce ly dared t o perce ive as one. From t h i s t ime on, the

c o n f l i c t between being a woman and a w r i t e r i s one t h a t i n c r e a s i n g l y occupies

women poets .

A t y p i c a l c r i t i c a l a t t i t u d e towards B a r r e t t Browning is seen in E.K. Brown's

e d i t o r i a l comment in V i c t o r i a n Poe t ry : comparing her in t h i s anthology t o her

husband ( u n f a i r l y , s u r e l y ) , he f i n d s her s t y l e " t h i n and monotonous"; he a l so

reg re ts the "dominat ion of her temper [ w h i c h ] has in the end done her poet ry

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a d i s s e r v i c e . " The f a u l t seems t o l i e , once a g a i n , in t h a t she was too

much "a woman of her spec ia l t i m e . " " ^ Other e d i t o r s decry the e f f e c t s of her

moral earnestness upon the fo rm: "she f e l t t h a t form in l i t e r a t u r e was less

important than subs tance, " a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e comment informs u s , ^ t r e a t i n g

as a f a u l t what has been the mainstay and v i n d i c a t i o n of femin ine genius in

p o e t r y . L ike Behn two c e n t u r i e s e a r l i e r , B a r r e t t Browning was s t i r r e d t o

i n d i g n a t i o n aga ins t any form of i n j u s t i c e , but even t h i s is not a l lowed her ,

being ascr ibed t o C a r l y l e ' s i n f l uence on her though t . Her courageous

espousal of many unpopular causes (as exemp l i f i ed in such poems as Casa Gu i d i

Windows, Poems before Congress, and A_ Curse f o r a Nat ion) c e r t a i n l y demon

s t r a t e s how she f e l t . Her soc ia l consc ience, i n c i d e n t a l l y , was not shared

by her husband who was " i n d i f f e r e n t " t o such mat ters accord ing t o c r i t i c s .

The power t h i s d e d i c a t i o n gave her poe t ry i s ev iden t in "The Cry of

the C h i l d r e n , " a poem c i t e d as having a r o l e in he lp ing t o pass long-needed

l e g i s l a t i o n aga ins t the employment of young c h i l d r e n f o r long hours in the

mines and f a c t o r i e s . "The Cry of the C h i l d r e n " has been c a l l e d "one of the

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most a f f e c t i n g humani tar ian poems in the language." T h i s , by the same

e d i t o r who f i n d s her s t y l e " t h i n and monotonous." As f o r anyone's spec ia l

i n f luence in determin ing the passionate moral substance of her p o e t r y ,

eve ry th ing in t h i s r e s o l u t e and g i f t e d woman's biography shows t h a t her

moral c o n v i c t i o n is her own; her mentors , whether they were P l a t o , Wordsworth

or C a r l y l e , were chosen because they f i t t e d the needs of her own deeply f e l t

f a i t h and s t rong sense of i n t e g r i t y . In love, she chose a man whose commitment

t o a r t was equal t o her own, and whose whole-hearted admi ra t ion f o r her

a r t i s t r y and person bespeaks a sympathet ic shar ing of her i n t e r e s t s . . Her

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f a t h e r , w h i l e e x e r t i n g a t y r a n n i c a l dominance over her phys ica l f reedom,

never the less had supported and encouraged her i n t e l l e c t u a l g rowth , so t h a t ,

long before she marr ied a t the age of f o r t y , she had c u l t i v a t e d an independent

mind. Her poe t i c e f f o r t s as a c h i l d of nine a l ready g i ve evidence of a

s tagger ing e r u d i t i o n . Thus her emotional s u s c e p t i b i l i t y t o ideas of freedom

and j u s t i c e as a V i c t o r i a n was backed, not by i t s romant ic h e r i t a g e a lone ,

but by the broad learn ing of an acute i n t e l l e c t . Indeed, i t has had t o be

acknowledged t h a t "she possessed t e c h n i c a l s k i l l and o r i g i n a l i t y " along

w i t h o the r p o e t i c accomplishments which e n t i t l e her t o a p lace among " t h e

foremost women poets of E n g l a n d . " ^ Though t h i s kind of compliment comes

uncomfor tably c lose t o the "she 's -good- fo r -a -woman" k i n d , i t a t leas t puts

her in a b e t t e r perspec t i ve than what most c r i t i c a l eva lua t i ons have a l l owed .

I t need hard ly be belabored here t h a t the c r u c i b l e s wherein a female

p o e t ' s l i f e and a r t were forged were, up u n t i l the t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , ha rd l y

conducive t o t h e i r success. Yet t h i s is a f a c t a l l t o o e a s i l y dropped in

a e s t h e t i c e v a l u a t i o n s . I t took the combinat ion of deep c o n v i c t i o n and an

undefeatable courage f o r women l i k e Behn and, t o a lesser e x t e n t , B a r r e t t

Browning t o asser t themselves aga ins t the l i m i t a t i o n s of t h e i r s o c i e t i e s .

The f o c u s , in Aurora Le igh , upon the c o n f l i c t s between the woman and the

a r t i s t would in e a r l i e r t imes have appeared u n - C h r i s t i a n , s e l f - i n d u l g e n t ,

lack ing in decorum and f o o l i s h l y f u t i l e bes ides. Most women had t o overcome

t h e i r sexual yearn ings f o r the f u l f i l l m e n t of love , in o rder t o w r i t e — a s

Aurora Le igh , m i r r o r i n g her author, almost d i d , and as d id in real l i f e

such w r i t e r s as the Bronte s i s t e r s , C h r i s t i n a Rosset t i and Emily D ick inson .

That Rosse t t i stayed s i n g l e under the s t rong impress of r e l i g i o n , t h a t

Dick inson y i e l d e d t o the s t rong demand of her genius f o r an i n t e n s i v e

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s o l i t u d e in which t o un fo ld i t s e l f — - t h e s e are i n d i v i d u a l c i rcumstances

which r a t i o n a l i z e the general c i rcumstance t h a t women were s tunted by too

l i t t l e room in which t o grow and expand. The t h r e a t of having t o f o r g o love ,

the economic s e c u r i t y of mar r iage , and p o s s i b l y , c h i l d r e n , was enough t o

s u c c e s s f u l l y subdue most women who might have had c r e a t i v e i n c l i n a t i o n s o r

promptings towards a p ro fess iona l career in w r i t i n g . The choice was c r u e l .

No woman's poet ry of the past has remained untouched by such c o n s i d e r a t i o n s ;

femin ine genius bears the charac te r of the femin ine exper ience i t was molded i n .

The poets mentioned so f a r d i f f e r as g r e a t l y from one another in form

of express ion as in c i rcumstance: they have on l y t h e i r femaleness in common,

a n d . a l l t h a t denotes. But the deno ta t ion is g e n e r i c : a common exper ience

of c o n s t r i c t e d p o t e n t i a l , of being answerable t o a man's w o r l d , and of

an endurance st rengthened in a d v e r s i t y . Of t h i s combinat ion each makes her

own d i s t i n c t i v e shape; each f i n d s her own c h a r a c t e r i s t i c adjustment t o the

g r e a t quest ions and chal lenges of l i f e . Sharing a woman's p o s i t i o n in the

c u l t u r e , they speak from w i t h i n t h e i r own sens ib le spheres. They cannot , as

men do, speak from a p l a t f o r m in t he p o l i s , i . e . , from a s e c u r i t y and con

f idence of being a t home in the a f f a i r s of the populace. They have no use

f o r i n t e l l e c t u a l a b s t r a c t i o n s o the r than those which de r i ve from the s t r u g g l e

t o express the i n e f f a b l e , the mys t ic yearn ings which so o f t e n appear in

intense and s o l i t a r y na tu res . And women, as we have seen were pe r fo rce

s o l i t a r y in s t r i v i n g t o de f i ne themselves.

C h r i s t i n a Rosset t i had more con tac ts w i t h the m i d - V i c t o r i a n wor ld than

most women, becoming assoc ia ted through her b ro the rs w i t h the Pre-Raphael i tes

who p r i n t e d her f i r s t poems in t h e i r magazine. A l l the same she led a

t y p i c a l l y secluded l i f e , in the company of a mother she was deeply a t tached t o

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and whose C h r i s t i a n p i e t y she s h a r e d . The music of her p o e t r y , and she

i s a s i n g e r above a l l , i s imbued w i t h a r e s t r a i n e d , sad m y s t i c i s m and l o n g i n g

f o r escape i n d e a t h t h a t r e c a l l s t h e p o e t r y o f E m i l y B r o n t e , who a l s o l i v e d ,

a p a r t from a d r e a r y p e r i o d as a g o v e r n e s s , i n c l o s e f a m i l y s e c l u s i o n .

R o s s e t t i wrote a sonnet sequence on love which begs comparison w i t h B a r r e t t

B r owning's. U n l i k e h e r s , R o s s e t t i ' s s h o r t e r sequence i s permeated w i t h t h e

d y i n g f a l l o f r e n u n c i a t i o n and l o s s . She c o u l d w r i t e l i v e l y and u n i n h i b i t e d l y

i m a g i n a t i v e poems as w e l l , as t h e b e a u t i f u l l y r i c "A B i r t h d a y , " and t h e

s p e I I - c a s t i n g , e r o t i c a l l y c h arged " G o b l i n M a r k e t " p r o v e . The l a t t e r i s

s t r i k i n g as an o r i g i n a l n a r r a t i v e b l e n d o f f a i r y - t a l e , moral a l l e g o r y and

sensuous t e x t u r e , b u t u n l i k e The F a e r i e Queene, which t h i s may seem t o

d e s c r i b e , R o s s e t t i ' s f a s t - p a c e d t a l e of two s i s t e r s i s a l m o s t n a i v e i n i t s

s i m p l i c i t y . N e v e r t h e l e s s , her p r e v a i l i n g t o n e l a c k s e n e r g y , t h e s p i r i t u a l

d e n i a l of t h e body t h a t s e t s t h e t o n e r e s u l t i n g i n a p o e t r y t h a t i s o f t e n

p a l e and l a n g u i s h i n g . Her r e l i g i o u s p o e t r y i s c o n v i n c i n g enough i n i t s

a r d o r , but t h e t h o u g h t , I f i n d , i s t o o o f t e n c o n v e n t i o n a l . Where t h e

sensuous s i d e of her n a t u r e s u d d e n l y b r e a k s t h r o u g h r e s t r a i n t s , her form,

l i k e t h a t o f t h e s a i n t i n B e r n i n i ' s E c s t a c y o f S t . T h e r e s a i s i l l u m i n a t e d

from w i t h i n ; o t h e r w i s e , t h e l o n g i n g f o r r e s t i n death c o n t i n u a l l y e x p r e s s e d

t h r o u g h o u t her p o e t r y s u g g e s t s a l a c k o f v i g o r which s t r i k e s me as d e c a d e n t ,

so t h a t I c a n n o t a g r e e w i t h much p r e s e n t c r i t i c a l o p i n i o n which g i v e s her

f i r s t p l a c e o v e r o t h e r women p o e t s . Her i n f l u e n c e on t h e p o e t i c development

of her t i m e s i s i n keeping w i t h t h e t r a d i t i o n of her s i s t e r p o e t s , her

p o p u l a r i t y h a v i n g f o c u s e d a t t e n t i o n on t h e work of t h e P r e - R a p h a e l i t e p o e t s

i n whose i n n o v a t i v e n e s s she s h a r e s . As a femal e C h r i s t i a n m y s t i c who w r o t e

p o e t r y she i s a f a i r l y r a r e f i g u r e , i n v i t i n g c o m p a rison w i t h H i l d e g a r d o f B i n g e n .

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Emily Dick inson was born in 1830, the same year as Rosse t t i whose

preoccupat ion w i t h death she may be said t o share , and w i t h whose l i f e of

wi thdrawal her own may be compared. There the resemblance ends. D i c k i n s o n ' s

poet ry has a v i g o r and tens ion t h a t po in t s t o i t s o r i g i n s in the New Wor ld ;

but more of t h i s in a moment. In coming t o D i c k i n s o n , 1 agree w j th Conrad

74

Aiken who c a l l s her "one of the f i n e s t poets in the language." Th is is

one of the r a r e t imes a male c r i t i c drops the word "woman" t o q u a l i f y h i s

p r a i s e . D i c k i n s o n ' s genius r e s i s t s conf inement : in the t r a d i t i o n of her

femin ine f o r e r u n n e r s , she c rea tes her own d i s t i n c t i v e form out of the p a r t i c

u l a r needs of her c o n t e n t : i t s t h o u g h t , i t s emotional i n t e n s i t y , i t s purpose.

Probably in g r e a t e r degree than her predecessors, she "was p r i m a r i l y 75

i n t e r e s t e d not in form but in what she had t o say , " as A l f r e d Leete

Hamson, a c o - e d i t o r of her c o l l e c t e d poems comments. Making a more s p e c i f i c

p o i n t , another e d i t o r notes t h a t her imagery is taken from " t h e woman's

wor ld of her house, her c a l l e r s , her v i l l a g e landscape, and e s p e c i a l l y her , . . „76

re I i g i o n . "

So, a l s o , i t w i l l be r e c a l l e d , was the imagery of Anne B r a d s t r e e t , f i r s t

among American poets in b r ing t o l i f e the New World in her work. More in

touch w i t h the p r a c t i c a l aspects of the domestic l i f e than t h e i r e a r l i e r

s i s t e r s o f the c o u r t o r fash ionab le drawings-room, these poets w r i t e o f

sub jec ts as mundane as the everyday thoughts and f e a t u r e s of t h e i r woman's

housewi fe ly l i f e . There is a c e r t a i n dar ing in t h i s , an assumption t h a t the

ma te r ia l w i l l be i n t e r e s t i n g t o men. In the s h i f t of poet ry t o North America

can be read a change in woman's p o s i t i o n which g ives her more a r t i s t i c room

in which t o move. The American woman poet draws s t r e n g t h from a new sense

of s t a n d i n g , as;comparedi t o t h a t of women in the o l d w o r l d . Poss ib ly i t is

62

t h e redundancy of c l a s s d i f f e r e n c e s i n a p i o n e e r i n g community; p o s s i b l y

t h e f e e l i n g o f p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h e work of a c o u n t r y and c u l t u r e s t i l l i n

t h e making. Th e r e i s a b r e a d t h of freedom w a i t i n g t o be s e i z e d .

Y e t D i c k i n s o n i s n o t y e t ready t o e x p l o r e t h e b r o a d e r p o s s i b i l i t i e s :

she meets t h e c h a l l e n g e o f t h e New World from a c o r n e r i n i t , where i n

p r i v a c y she i s f r e e t o c r e a t e her own i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c p o e t i c w o r l d . Her

poems r e v e a l her t o us as both a m y s t i c and a t t h e same t i m e a most p e r c i p i e n t

o b s e r v e r o f e v e r y day r e a l i t y . Though i n P u r i t a n A m e r i c a she sought what we

toda y c a l l i n n e r s p a c e , t h e o u t e r space around h e r — t h e ground o f a new

c u l t u r e — u n d o u b t e d l y had i t s e f f e c t s upon h e r . A i k e n , f o r example, b e l i e v e s

she was aware t h a t "she came t o f u l l ' c o n s c i o u s n e s s ' a t t h e v e r y moment when

American l i t e r a t u r e came t o f l o w e r , " and t h a t she was s t i m u l a t e d and

i n f l u e n c e d by what was g o i n g on. He s u g g e s t s she was d i s p o s e d t o adopt t h e

then c u r r e n t and p o p u l a r Emersonian d o c t r i n e o f m y s t i c i n d i v i d u a l i s m . ^ T h i s

s e r v e s as a way o f e x p l a i n i n g t h a t D i c k i n s o n chose t o s e r v e h e r God by s e r v i n g

her Muse. Her p o e t i c c o m p u l s i o n may w e l l have made i t n e c e s s a r y f o r her t o

remove h e r s e l f from an en v i r o n m e n t i n which she saw God h i m s e l f as b e i n g

c o n f i n e d : made t o f u n c t i o n w i t h i n t h e narrow and r i g i d r u l e s o f a c l o s e d

P u r i t a n form.

O t h e r c r i t i c s f i n d D i c k i n s o n v e r y much a p r o d u c t o f h e r New England

t r a d i t i o n i n d i f f e r e n t ways; A l l e n T a t e , f o r i n s t a n c e , b e l i e v e s t h a t t h e

d e c l i n i n g v i g o r of P u r i t a n i s m p r e s e n t e d t h e v e r y b e s t l i t e r a r y s i t u a t i o n

f o r a probe o f i t s d e f i c i e n c i e s . A c c o r d i n g t o t h i s v i e w , she needed f i r s t

t o d i s s o c i a t e h e r s e l f from t h e f o r c e s t h a t had shaped her so t h a t she c o u l d

p e r c e i v e h e r s e l f i n r e l a t i o n t o them. Thus her p o e t r y comes t o be an

i n t e n s e l y p e r s o n a l r e v e l a t i o n , "of t h e k i n d , " says T a t e i n comparing her w i t h

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Donne, t h a t both Donne and she s t r o v e f o r " i n t h e e f f o r t t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e i r

78 r e l a t i o n t o t h e w o r l d . " Her b i o g r a p h e r Thomas H. Johnson s a y s : "She d i d

n o t f o l l o w t r a d i t i o n a l t h e o r i e s b u t d e v e l o p e d her own a l o n g h i g h l y o r i g i n a l

l i n e s , " a d d i n g t h a t " A c t u a l l y she was c r e a t i n g a new medium of p o e t i c 79

e x p r e s s i o n . " He goes on t o show t h a t her poems employ meters d e r i v e d from

E n g l i s h hymnology, which she f r e e l y a d a p t s . T a t e o b s e r v e s , i n t h i s r e s p e c t :

"There i s , i n s p i t e of t h e h o m i l e t i c v e i n of u t t e r a n c e , no a b s t r a c t s p e c u l a

t i o n , nor i s t h e r e a message t o s o c i e t y ; she speaks w h o l l y t o t h e i n d i v i d u a l

80 e x p e r i e n c e . " As A i k e n p u t s i t , "Grammar, rhyme, m e t e r - - a n y t h i n g went by

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t h e board i f i t s t o o d i n t h e way of t h o u g h t o r freedom of u t t e r a n c e . "

Such o b s e r v a t i o n s p o i n t up two a r e a s of p o e t i c k i n s h i p D i c k i n s o n s h a r e s

w i t h t h e m a j o r i t y of p o e t s b e i n g r e v i e w e d . In t h e f i r s t p l a c e , women p o e t s

t e n d t o speak o u t o f t h e i n t e n s e l y p e r s o n a l e x p e r i e n c e . S e c o n d l y , t h e y

e v o l v e t h e i r forms o u t of t h e needs o f • s u c h e x p r e s s i o n . I have a l r e a d y

commented on t h e l i n k between B r a d s t r e e t and D i c k i n s o n . The l a t t e r i s a l s o

r e l a t e d t o a n o t h e r p o e t i c " p i o n e e r " : Sappho. C r i t i c s o f t e n r e f e r t o t h e s e

two as " p u r e " p o e t s , a compliment t h a t , by p u t t i n g t h e emphasis on form,

seems t o me t o m i s s t h e mark. One way o r a n o t h e r , t h e p o e t s I have d i s c u s s e d

so f a r d e m o n s t r a t e q u a l i t i e s o f u n i q u e n e s s which u l t i m a t e l y d e r i v e not from

f o r m a l i s t i c p e r f e c t i o n , b u t from t h e i r woman's e s t a t e of f e e l i n g and p e r c e p t i o n .

The same i s t r u e of p o e t s y e t t o be d i s c u s s e d . The ground t h o s e of t h e

p a s t s h a r e w i t h t h o s e of t h e p r e s e n t i s seen so r e m a r k a b l y i n t h e A n t h o l

ogy as t o c o n f i r m t h a t , i n g e n e r a l , t h e f e m a l e p o e t ( t o r e p e a t t h e c l a i m

made f o r D i c k i n s o n ) i s " p r i m a r i l y i n t e r e s t e d not i n form but in.what she

has t o s a y . "

64

Emphasis on content i s , of course, no s p e c i a l prerogative of women.

But subject matter in t h e i r poetry i s t y p i c a l l y t o do with the content of

l i v e s experienced in a framework of su b j e c t i o n t o men; t h e r e i n l i e s a d i f f e r

ence. A s t a t e of oppression i s bound to produce a set of values t h a t i s

i n t r i n s i c to i t . There i s , though, a p o s i t i v e side t o what in women's

s i t u a t i o n would seem, and u s u a l l y i s , a l i m i t i n g circumstance. The l i f e of

home and f a m i l y t o which most women were f o r m i l l e n i a r e s t r i c t e d r e s u l t e d

in t h e i r developing a range of s k i l l s and c a p a c i t i e s , of both an emotional

and mental nature, which s t r e s s the g e n t l e r forms of l i f e , in which care

and compassion dominate over the competitive and w a r - l i k e nature of the world

run by men. Women have t r a d i t i o n a l l y been seen as complementing men and

completing them, by bearing the next generation. Men have never seen

themselves as complementing and completing women. The f a l s e dichotomization

of human experience i n t o halves f a v o r i n g the male complement has systematized

an i n e q u a l i t y from which both sexes s u f f e r . P a t r i a r c h a l s o c i e t y has deprived

most men of the closeness t o l i f e t h a t f o s t e r s loving and p r o t e c t i v e tendencie

t h i s sphere has been assigned t o women. Thus a woman's world i s one

which men, s o c i a l l y defined by t h e i r s u p e r i o r place o u t s i d e i t , see only

in r e l a t i o n t o themselves, never as i t r e a l l y i s . To bring the woman's

viewpoint i n t o a e s t h e t i c co n s i d e r a t i o n , as t h i s t h e s i s argues, i s t o begin

to recover realms of seeing and experiencing which the poetry of men

does not or cannot p r o j e c t . It i s t o begin overcoming a one-eyed perception

of "man's" achievement and a t t a i n a wholeness of v i s i o n heretofore

missing. More profoundly, even, i t i s to recover an e s s e n t i a l part of our

own basic humanity which has suffe r e d a h i s t o r y of oppression t h a t

begins with the oppression of se x ^ r o l e s t e r e o t y p i n g .

65

"She might have been the f a i t h f u l and devoted servant of a husband,"

says a reviewer hypothesizing about Emily Dickinson's "dreams of a 82

connubial happiness . . .[which] f a i l e d t o be r e a l i z e d . " i n s i n u a t i n g

t h a t her r e c l u s i v e singleness was not her f r e e cho i c e , and t h a t she was not

happy with i t , t h i s reviewer d i s p l a y s a t y p i c a l male a t t i t u d e in a s c r i b i n g

t o Emily a dream of loving s e r v i t u d e t o a man, h i s own a t t i t u d e revealed

in the word "servant," a p o s i t i o n one can hardly b e l i e v e he would d e s i r e f o r

himself. Servitude notwithstanding, many women look with p r i d e upon t h e i r

accomplishments in the home and fa m i l y which, though a p r i v a t e and unrecog

nized arena f o r the e x e r c i s e of s k i l l and imagination, may re q u i r e as

much managerial e n t e r p r i s e and c r e a t i v i t y as most p u b l i c arenas. It i s

s c a r c e l y so viewed by most men. T h e i r uncomprehendingness, the arrogant

presumption of man which f a i l s t o give woman her f u l l share of humanity

even where she f u l f i l l s the r o l e expected of her, forms the substance of

many poems w r i t t e n by women as complaints or p r o t e s t s . From such involvement

Dickinson spared h e r s e l f .

In her seIf-containment Dickinson can be seen as the very opposite of

B a r r e t t Browning, whose i n t e l l e c t u a l and emotional commitment was t o the

people of her time. Yet Dickinson, in preferred retirement in her f a t h e r ' s

house, where her mind was f r e e t o engage in i t s marvelous s p e c u l a t i o n s and

observations, and B a r r e t t , s t u d i o u s l y at work but unhappy t o the point of

losing the w i l l to l i v e in her enforced s e c l u s i o n , had t h i s in common:

t h e i r p o s i t i o n as women d i c t a t e d the d i r e c t i o n of t h e i r a r t . T h e i r being

women kept them from d i r e c t l y experiencing the c r e a t i v e stimulus and

exchange which men of l i t e r a r y bent have always been able to f i n d in each

other's company. Books became B a r r e t t ' s great source of i n s p i r a t i o n ,

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Dick inson drew on her correspondence w i t h no tab le contemporar ies and

on her own powerful p r i v a t e resources f o r hers . Though marr iage l i b e r a t e d

B a r r e t t from the t y ranny o f her f a t h e r , which held her c l o i s t e r e d , her

work cont inued t o bear the marks of long i s o l a t i o n from the l i t e r a r y and

soc ia l w o r l d . D i c k i n s o n ' s work gained where B a r r e t t ' s s u f f e r e d , but the

a e s t h e t i c s e n s i b i l i t y each developed was in desp i te of c o n s t r a i n t s

imposed upon i t . T h e i r femin ine exper ience is merged w i t h t h a t a e s t h e t i c .

Though an emphasis on con ten t is c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f women poe ts , such

an approach may be sa id t o c h a r a c t e r i z e whole epochs, the V i c t o r i a n being

a case in p o i n t . According t o E.K.oBrown, " I t seems t o have sought t e c h n i c a l

exce l lence in a v a r i e t y of d i r e c t i o n s , always remembering t h a t the form

83

of a poem should f l ow from i t s subs tance. " The same can be sa id of

women poets in t h e i r search f o r t e c h n i c a l e x c e l l e n c e . From t h i s p o i n t o f

view the V i c t o r i a n per iod provided a sympathet ic c l i m a t e f o r the blossoming

of femin ine p o e t i c genius a t t h i s t i m e . The V i c t o r i a n penchant f o r moral

earnestness gave women room f o r expressing and master ing in form f e e l i n g s

and op in ions which complemented o r were in accord w i t h men's. Such female

poets enjoyed g r e a t p o p u l a r i t y , even i f they sometimes of fended aga ins t a

prud ish m o r a l i t y as d id B a r r e t t Browning in Aurora Le igh . Th is ga in in

acceptance augured both f o r an increase in the number of women w r i t i n g and

f o r the f u r t h e r development of gen ius . As V i r g i n i a Woolf has so w ise l y

observed:

masterpieces are not s i n g l e and s o l i t a r y b i r t h s ; they are the outcome of many years of t h i n k i n g in common, of t h i n k i n g by the body of t h ^ poeple , so t h a t the exper ience of the mass is behind the s i n g l e v o i c e .

How t r u e t h i s is f o r women as a body, and e s p e c i a l l y in p o e t r y ! For t h e r e ,

67

u n l i k e l e t t e r s , t r e a t i s e s , novels and o the r prose genres in which women

were a l ready a t home by the n ine teenth c e n t u r y , women were j u s t beginning

t o ga in con f idence . They were a f t e r a l l c h a l l e n g i n g a very o l d , male-def ined

f i e l d j e a l o u s l y guarded by men as t h e i r own p r i d e and i n h e r i t a n c e . The

t imes were coming round f o r a more e q u i t a b l e balance of a f f a i r s in which

women's c la im t o t h e i r own t r a d i t i o n would be v i n d i c a t e d by the u n l i m i t e d

numbers o f poets ab le t o c a r r y i t f o r w a r d .

Nineteenth century women's success in meeting the cha l lenge i s

r e f l e c t e d in several ways: p a r t l y by the p u b l i c a t i o n , in 1848, of two

very s i m i l a r h i s t o r i c a l an tho log ies of B r i t i s h female p o e t s , one in

85 86 B r i t a i n , one in the U.S.A.; p a r t l y in the p u b l i c a t i o n of i n d i v i d u a l

poems and c o l l e c t i o n s by a large number of contemporary women poe ts , most ly

B r i t i s h , and by the emergence f o r the f i r s t t ime in Canada, of two female

poe ts , I s a b e l l a Valancy Crawford and E. PauI ine Johnson. I sha l l on ly

say of these two t h a t Crawford 's imag ina t i ve , ind igenous ly nor th -wes te rn

v i t a l i t y , and Johnson's r h y t h m i c a l l y a t tuned i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s w i t h the

landscape, along w i t h her s p i r i t e d expression of Mohawk Indian c u l t u r e ,

b r i n g a con ten t i n t o poet ry in Engl ish t h a t was not t he re b e f o r e , and t h a t

enr iches i t . Both publ ished towards the end of the c e n t u r y , as d id the few

American poets whose names I s h a l l mention p r e s e n t l y .

In the an tho log ies of B r i t i s h female poets of the per iod no poet i s

more pra ised than Mrs. Hemans, who wrote novels as w e l l . Echoing the

encomiums of her contemporar ies , Baugh speaks o f her " l o f t y i n t e n t i o n s ,

87

moral p u r i t y , and generous n a t u r e . " She was an extremely p r o l i f i c and

adventurous poet , expressing h e r s e l f in d ramat i c , n a r r a t i v e , l y r i c a l

and m e d i t a t i v e forms in p o e t r y . Her Eng l ish e d i t o r , F r e d e r i c Rowton,

68

lauds her works as "a p e r f e c t embodiment of woman's s o u l . " He e x t o l s her

" i n t e n s e l y feminine" s p i r i t , c h a r a c t e r i z e s her as pure, r e f i n e d , home-

lo v i n g , chaste, c l i n g i n g in a f f e c t i o n , g e n t l e , r e l i g i o u s , and more to the

same e f f e c t ; a choice of words t h a t t e l l s us more about male p r e j u d i c e and

the mores of the period than about the poet. Her American e d i t o r , George

W. Bethune, does e x a c t l y the same. She may be remembered as the author

of t h a t much-abused b a l l a d , "Casabianca," beginning: "The boy stood on

the burning deck," a poem about youthful heroism based on a t r u e event.

F e l i c i a Hemans t y p i f i e s the Age of S e n t i m e n t a l i t y .

R i v a l l i n g her in p o p u l a r i t y was L a e t i t i a E l i z a b e t h Landon, known as

"L.E.L." whose works, f a r from sharing Mrs. Heman's exuberance, are

permeated with melancholy and thoughts of death. A l s o popular was

C a r o l i n e Sheridan (The Honorable Mrs. Norton), granddaughter of Richard

B r i n s l e y Sheridan, who, besides novels, w r i t e s poems in the t a s t e of the

times with such t i t l e s as "The Mother's Heart," and "The Arab's Farewell

to h i s Steed," but, a l s o , poems out of her own l i f e ' s hardship. A b i o

g r a p h i c a l note on her in a twentieth century anthology t e l l s us t h a t she

was unhappily married enough t o leave home, a f t e r which her husband

brought a charge of misconduct against her which was dismissed. He then

f a i l e d t o pay her allowance,

and even claimed her l i t e r a r y r o y a l t i e s , presumably because at t h a t time a woman's money belonged t o her husband. This i n j u s t i c e caused the poet to w r i t e to Queen V i c t o r i a , no^gWithout e f f e c t , concerning divorce-reform and the legal s t a t u s of women.

89 It a l s o turned her i n t o a pamphleteer. Her most d i r e c t s t y l e i s seen in

t h i s sample from her poem of t r i b u t e "To the Duchess of Sutherland" (a

f r i e n d who saw her through her t r i a l s ) :

69

F o r easy a r e t h e alms t h e r i c h man s p a r e s To sons of G e n i u s , by m i s f o r t u n e bent;

But thou g a v ' s t me, what woman seldom d a r e s , B e l i e f — i n s p i t e of many a c o l d d i s s e n t —

When s l a n d e r ' d and m a l i g n ' d , I s t o o d a p a r t

From t h o s e whose bounded power ha t h wrung, n o t c r u s h ' d , my h e a r t .

The f o l l o w i n g l i n e s from one of h e r poems quoted i n e x c e r p t by Rowton

p r o v i d e y e t a n o t h e r i n s t a n c e 'of a k i n d of poem c o n s i s t e n t l y found i n t h e

women's t r a d i t i o n : t h e lament a g a i n s t i n j u s t i c e and o p p r e s s i o n : W a r r i o r s and statesmen have t h e i r meed of p r a i s e ,

And what t h e y do, o r s u f f e r , men r e c o r d ; But t h e long s a c r i f i c e o f woman's days

P a s s e s w i t h o u t a t h o u g h t , w i t h o u t a word.

B e f o r e l e a v i n g t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y I want t o mention two more p o e t s

who c o n t r i b u t e t o t h a t t r a d i t i o n : Mary H o w i t t , who, l i k e B a r r e t t B r o w n i n g ,

p l e a d s f o r t h e c h i l d r e n o f t h e p o o r , and a l s o , w r i t e s on t h e g l o r i e s o f t h e

e a s t e r n p a s t , on b i r d s , f l o w e r s , and on C h r i s t — i n a l l of which she

e x e m p l i f i e s her p e r i o d ; and Mrs. A m e l i a O p i e , whose moral s e n t i m e n t s

i n c l u d e i n d i g n a t i o n a g a i n s t war: A l a s ! t o t h i n k one C h r i s t i a n s o u l

a t War's red s h r i n e can w o r s h i p s t i l l , Nor heed, though seas o f c a r n a g e r o l l ,

Those a w f u l words—THOU SHALT NOT KILL,'

0 Lord of a l l , and P r i n c e of Peace, Speed, speed t h e l o n g - p r e d i c t e d day

When War t h r o u g h o u t t h e w o r l d s h a l l c e a s ^ ,

And Love s h a l l h o l d e t e r n a l sway!

W i t h t h i s p r a y e r , which t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y has b i t t e r l y answered

w i t h wars o f u n p r e c e d e n t e d , w o r l d - w i d e magnitude and h o r r o r s , of a n n i h i l a t i o n ,

we approach t h e end of a c e n t u r y u n r i v a l l e d i n p r e v i o u s h i s t o r y f o r i t s

r e c o g n i t i o n of women p o e t s , A few, born around m i d - c e n t u r y o r l a t e r ,

l i v e d on i n t o t h e t w e n t i e t h where t h e y appear i n a n t h o l o g i e s . N o t a b l e

among t h e s e a r e : t h e B r i t i s h p o e t s A l i c e MeynelI (1850-1923), Mary

70

Co ler idge (1867-1907), C h a r l o t t e Mew (1869-1928); and the American poets

L i z e t t e Woodworth Reese (1856-1935) and Louise Imogen Guiney (1861-1920).

Many poets who were born in the l a s t q u a r t e r of the century went on t o

produce some of the e a r l y present c e n t u r y ' s best and most innova t i ve p o e t r y .

I w i l l name these a f t e r speaking o f Gert rude S t e i n , in 1874 born j u s t a

hundred years ago today .

The present resurgence of i n t e r e s t in S te in is owing a t leas t as much

t o her dynamic p e r s o n a l i t y and a c u i t y as an a r t c o l l e c t o r as t o her

w r i t i n g ; and indeed, in approaching her w r i t i n g i t is hard t o separate

her ce lebra ted l i t e r a r y s t y l e from her e q u a l l y ce lebra ted soc ia l s t y l e .

In the most i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c and un rep resen ta t i ve way, she hera lds an

e g a l i t a r i a n sense among women t h a t is new. For i ns tance , when women i n s i s t ,

as they do today in a l l p a r t s of the w o r l d , in s e t t i n g values and s tandards ,

they are a t l a s t e x e r c i s i n g the same a r t i s t i c freedom t h a t men have

exerc ised w i t h f u l l conf idence even under regimes t h a t were p o l i t i c a l l y

h o s t i l e t o them. S te in acted w i t h t h i s conf idence and freedom. Her

a t t i t u d e i s summed up in a saucy l i t t l e q u a t r a i n wh ich , in i t s own way,

announces a new day in the balance o f a e s t h e t i c a f f a i r s i n v o l v i n g women:

I am Rose my eyes are blue I am Rose and who are you I am Rose and when I s i n g ^ I am Rose l i k e anyth ing

She manages in t h i s t o make fun o f the s ing-song t r a d i t i o n , o f the romant ic

t r a d i t i o n of the Rose, and ye t asse r t her independence in choosing t o

be as s ing ing a Rose as she sees f i t ; i . e . , in her own repeat ing rhythm and

by her own d e f i n i t i o n , which cha l lenges the o ld one. S t e i n ' s bold o r i g i n a l

and superb conf idence in her own powers s i g n a l s a new era in w r i t i n g f o r

71

women, though her s t y l i s t i c i n f luence has been f e l t most ly in male w r i t i n g .

94

Her p o e t i c and r e v o l u t i o n a r y prose s t y l e in f luenced Hemingway, and

i n d i r e c t l y through him, succeeding genera t ions of w r i t e r s up t o the p resen t .

S te in is s t i l l c i t e d in the i m p l i c a t i o n s her form has had f o r the development 95

of concrete p o e t r y .

From the year of S t e i n ' s b i r t h t o the c e n t u r y ' s end, the names of

women poets born i n t o t h i s per iod who l a t e r helped shape t h i s c e n t u r y ' s

t a s t e crowd i n c r e a s i n g l y . The year 1874 is the b i r t h date a l so of Amy L o w e l l ,

who was t o f i g u r e so prominent ly in the Imagist d i spu te w i t h Ezra Pound,

and of Anna Hempstead Branch. A f t e r them come o t h e r Americans: Ade la ide

Crapsey (1878-1914) , Lola Ridge (1882--1941 ) , Sarah Teasdale (1884-1933) ,

E l i zabe th Maddox Roberts (1885-1941), E l i n o r Wyl.ie (1885-1928), H.D. (1886-

1961), Marianne Moore (1887-1972) , Edna S t . Vincent Mi I lay (1892-1950) ,

Babette Deutsch (1895- ) , Louise Bogan (1897-1970) and Leonie Adams (1899-

There are fewer Engl ish names t o r e c o r d : Anna Wickham (1884-1947) leads, w i t h

Dame Ed i th S i t w e l l (1887-1964), V. Sackv i I le -West (1892-1962) and S y l v i a

Townsend Warner (1893- ) coming a f t e r . In Canada t h e r e i s M a r j o r i e

P i c k t h a l l (1883-1922). Undoubtedly t he re were many more born in these

years who l a t e r pub l i shed ; I have l i s t e d on ly those whose names a t leas t

occur f r e q u e n t l y in an tho log ies or who are o therw ise w ide ly read on t h i s

c o n t i n e n t . The number s u f f i c i e n t l y represents the ga the r i ng s t r e n g t h of

the woman's vo ice as i t comes i n t o i t s own in the t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .

Here my h i s t o r i c a l sketch ends.

A f i t t i n g conc lus ion t o t h i s I n t r o d u c t i o n is an u n t i t l e d poem by

Margaret Atwood from Power P o l i t i c s which b e a u t i f u l l y rounds o f f what

I have been saying and a p p r o p r i a t e l y g ives the poet the l a s t word;

72

At f i r s t I was g iven c e n t u r i e s t o w a i t in caves, in lea ther t e n t s , knowing you would never come back

Then i t speeded u p : , on ly several years between the day you j a n g l e d o f f i n t o the mountains, and the day ( i t was spr ing again) I rose from the embroidery frame a t the messenger's en t rance .

That happened t w i c e , o r was i t more; and the re was once, not so Iong ago, you fa i Ied , and came back in a wheelchai r w i t h a moustache and a sunburn and were i n s u f f e r a b l e .

Time before l a s t though, I remember I had a good e i g h t months between running a longs ide the t r a i n , s k i r t s h i t c h e d , handing you v i o l e t s in a t the window and opening the l e t t e r ; I watched your snapshot fade f o r twenty years .

And l a s t t ime ( I drove t o the a i r p o r t s t i l l dressed in my f a c t o r y o v e r a l l s , the wrench I had f o r g o t t e n s t i c k i n g ou t of the back pocket ; t h e r e you were, z ippered and helmeted, i t was zero hour , you sa id Be Brave) i t was a t leas t t h ree weeks before I go t the te legram and could s t a r t r e g r e t t i n g .

But r e c e n t l y , the bad evenings the re are on ly seconds between the warning on the rad io and the e x p l o s i o n ; my hands d o n ' t reach you

and on q u i e t e r n i g h t s you jump up from your c h a i r w i t h o u t even touch ing your d inner and I can scarce ly k i ss you goodbye before you run out i n t o the s t r e e t and they shoot

73

I I .

CRITICAL COMMENTARY

on the Poems

i n the

Anthology

74

Foreword

The number of women born in the present century who have publ ished or

are now p u b l i s h i n g poet ry is happ i l y d i f f i c u l t t o a s c e r t a i n ; c e r t a i n l y i t

i s a large enough number t o defy a ch rono log ica l l i s t i n g here t h a t would

account f o r a l l . The present Anthology represents f o r t y - f i v e poets of

whom t w e n t y - f i v e are American, f i f t e e n Canadian, f i v e Eng l i sh and one

A u s t r a l i a n . There are 133 poems in a l l , we l l under h a l f the number I

o r i g i n a l l y intended t o inc lude as p e r t i n e n t t o t h i s t h e s i s . Represented

are women who are c u r r e n t l y leading in the top ranks of American and

Canadian poets being pub l i shed , as wel l as women dead now who had d i s t i n

guished careers as poe ts , and o the rs who are j u s t becoming known.

Cur rent success in p u b l i s h i n g has been more than a l i t t l e due t o

the c l i m a t e o | acceptance f o r women which had i t s o r i g i n in the rap id

growth of the women's l i b e r a t i o n movement of the s i x t i e s , now become a

pervas ive in f l uence a f f e c t i n g a l l aspects of our c u l t u r e . Th is connect ion

w i t h a popular cause has i t s drawbacks; indeed, some poets acclaimed by

the movement have r e s i s t e d being i d e n t i f i e d w i t h i t / not w i l l i n g t o

have the success of t h e i r poems l i m i t e d t o the temporal success of the

movement. From the c r i t i c a l p o i n t of v iew, one has t o approach w i t h cau t ion

a p o p u l a r i t y which is as much a r e s u l t of the market p lace a s ' o f

informed t a s t e and o p i n i o n . For, the p o p u l a r i t y of the movement having

created a market f o r i t s l i t e r a r y p roduc ts , p u b l i s h e r s , e d i t o r s , bookse l l e rs

and o the r people in the communications media have not been slow t o pursue

t h i s advantage. That i t a l s o works t o the advantage of women poets i s

not the p o i n t , a l though the breakthrough f o r many of them is of no mean

75

importance.

What must i n t e r e s t anyone concerned with a e s t h e t i c standards in

poetry--and t h i s , of course, includes the p o e t — i s the danger t o c r i t e r i a

in the kind of p o p u l a r i t y I have described, as well as the danger t o a

l a s t i n g place in poetry f o r the poet once the s o c i a l c o n d i t i o n s which

gave r i s e t o i t have changed. We have t o guard against a l i b e r a l i z e d male

a t t i t u d e t o women (compounded of sympathy f o r t h e i r cause and the bigger

f a c t t h a t t h e i r w r i t i n g s s e l l ) which can conceal a basic i n d i f f e r e n c e t o

what women are saying. Given a market, reviewers w i l l d u t i f u l l y help s e l l

books; and the a p p e t i t e f o r women's poetry i s growing with the growing

number of women a s p i r i n g t o be poets. We are catching up with the past,

which i s a l l to the good. But we must take t h i s poetry s e r i o u s l y enough

to appreciate what i t demands of us. A l s o , the success of leading women

poets should be seen in r e l a t i o n t o the substructure of the women's

movement i f we would appreciate t h a t what women are saying, they are

saying not as i n d i v i d u a l s o n l y , but as poets speaking f o r a mass. It i s

important t h a t the c r i t i c a l awareness of t h i s mass be given d i r e c t i o n t o

enable i t and the p u b l i c a t large to demand the best in po e t i c expression.

As an example of my contention t h a t men are not r e a l l y Ii sten i ng t o

what women poets are c u r r e n t l y saying, l e t us b r i e f l y consider a t r i o of

the most popular poets being read today, from the point of view of t h e i r

p u b l i s h i n g success. These might include S y l v i a P l a t h , although she i s no

longer among the l i v i n g , Diane Wakoski and Margaret Atwood. Poets of

i n d i v i d u a l uniqueness and power, they are s u f f i c i e n t l y "feminine" t o be

admired f o r t h e i r frank and r u t h l e s s s t r i p p i n g away of a l l the f a l s e

conventions surrounding women, and they are s u f f i c i e n t l y "masculine,"

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in t h e i r handling of form, to be admired by male poets as tough, e n v i a b l e

competition. But i f these female poets—and others l i k e t h e m — p r o j e c t an

androgynous i d e a l , they a l s o a l l three e x c o r i a t e man's r o l e in a s o c i e t y

which has c y n i c a l l y used and abused women: they a l l f e e l oppressed by

men. Feminist expression of outrage has been g e t t i n g louder and c l e a r e r in

the past decade than ever before. That men countenance such c r i t i c i s m in

p o e t r y — t h e men, a t l e a s t who help put these poets in touch with t h e i r

p u b l i c — i n d i c a t e s t h a t they are hot threatened by i t : they do not take

the poetry, what i f i s saying, s e r i o u s l y . Insulated by t h e i r assumption of

t h e i r own a e s t h e t i c i n v u l n e r a b i l i t y (where p r o f i t i s not the motive), unable

t o imagine an order in which t h e i r supremacy does not r u l e , men are

l i b e r a l l y w i l l i n g t o grant women the space they take, i t s t i l l being a

su b s i d i a r y one.

My concern with c r i t e r i a i s a concern a l s o t h a t women should be not

only competent enough in t h e i r c r a f t t o merit approval, but c l e a r enough

in t h e i r o v e r a l l approach t o poetry t o continue going where t h e i r experience

leads them. In my o p i n i o n , the best women p o e t s — t h o s e in whom the

t r a d i t i o n f i n d s i t s f i n e s t e x p r e s s i o n — a r e the ones in whom a balanced

tension e x i s t s between an i n t e n s i t y of f e e l i n g wedded t o a moral concern,

and i t s t i g h t l y c o n t r o l l e d expression.

One needs t o see women's poetry not w i t h i n , but alongside, the male

t r a d i t i o n . An immediate advantage of looking a t both streams t h i s way

i s t h a t i t helps us see where poetry i s going. This i s important f o r at

le a s t the reason t h a t women w i l l be e x e r t i n g a f a r g r e a t e r i n f l u e n c e on

the a e s t h e t i c than was p r e v i o u s l y p o s s i b l e . In p r e d i c t i n g t h i s , I base

myself not only on the poetry in i t s increasing p l e n i t u d e and e x c e l l e n c e ,

77

but on the expec ta t ion t h a t women w i l l soon be e n t e r i n g the c r i t i c a l arena

w i t h p o s i t i o n papers, t h e o r e t i c a l innovat ions and c r i t i q u e s having t h e i r

locus in a s e l f - c o n f i d e n t femin ine v i e w p o i n t . I t is s t i l l t oo e a r l y t o

say whether t h i s w i l l take the form of pronouncing mani festoes and

bonding in c l i q u e s and schoo ls , as has been the way w i t h men; t he re is

no reason, a f t e r a l l , t h a t i t shou ld . Women's way may be q u i t e o t h e r .

But the c u r r e n t se l f - consc iousness of women poets as mani fested in t h e i r

p o e t r y , essays on p o e t r y , and rev iews ,^ is j u s t a step away from engaging

i t s e l f s p i r i t e d l y a t the t h e o r e t i c a l l e v e l . The r e s u l t s of such an

i n i t i a t i v e can on ly be of b e n e f i t t o a I I persons and causes concerned.

Once we accept t h a t the most a c t i v e p r i n c i p l e s governing women's

poet ry stem from a humanism t h a t has i t s roo ts in women's i n f e r i o r s t a t u s

and ye t suppor t i ve r o l e in h i s t o r y , we can begin t o apprec ia te t h a t

what t h e i r poet ry defends is the r i g h t t o be i t s e l f . What i t a t t a c k s — b y

the proof o f t h i s Antho logy , a t l e a s t — i s des t ruc t i veness in a l l i t s

d i ve rse forms: wars, overweening ar rogance, l us t s and oppress ions . The

need f o r an improved a e s t h e t i c is the need, t h e r e f o r e , f o r a humanis t ic

approach t o balance a n t i - h u m a n i s t i c c u r r e n t s in the f i e l d o f p o e t i c s .

In s t r e s s i n g t h i s , I p a r t l y have in mind the c r i t i c a l t h e o r i e s of

such f o r m a l i s t s as Rene Wei leek, Aus t i n Warren and, a t t i m e s , Northrop

4

Frye; but in i d e n t i f y i n g w i t h poets and how they t h i n k , I am more

i n t e r e s t e d in the s i g n i f i c a n c e t o poet ry of the avant-garde extremes t o

which formal ism has been taken by the w r i t e r s and t h e o r i s t s of Concrete

Poe t ry . I f i t is merely f a d d i s h , Concrete i s a I so a l og i ca l development

of a c l i m a t e of formal ism f o s t e r e d by the u n i v e r s i t i e s . Though i n t e r n a t i o n a l

in o r i g i n , the p o p u l a r i t y of Concrete in the U.S.A; and Canada is the

78

r e s u l t of a trend t h a t has been gathering strength and momentum since the

f i f t i e s . I t s e a r l y antecedents are u s u a l l y given as Gertrude S t e i n , Walt 5

Whitman, Ezra Pound and W.C. W i l l i a m s . The c o t e r i e known as the Black Moun

t a i n group founded by the now deceased Charles Olson has been most i n f l u e n t i a l ,

e s p e c i a l l y among west coast poets in c o n t r i b u t i n g t o the trend. An i n e v i t a b l e

sequel t o t h e i r " P r o j e c t i v e Verse" approach, Concrete Poetry comprises a

v a r i e t y of experimental forms which attempt t o give expression t o the t e c h

n o l o g i c a l ly determined way of l i f e t h a t c o n s t i t u t e s most of our environments.

The question i s whether or not such an a r t can r i s e above i t s environment.

The motive, the r e v i t a I i z a t i o n of the language in terms of the times, i s

hardly new: i t can be considered as having always been a task l a i d on the

poet. The Canadian poet Duncan Campbell Scott put i t n i c e l y in an essay,

in 1922, e n t i t l e d "Poetry and Progress." "The d e s i r e of c r e a t i v e minds

everywhere i s t o express the age in terms of the age, and by i n t u i t i o n t o

f l a s h l i g h t i n t o the f u t u r e , " he says. Concrete poetry b e l i e v e s i t i s i

doing t h i s . Women's poetry b e l i e v e s i t i s doing t h i s . And because the

aims and methods of the two are d i a m e t r i c a l l y opposed, I b e l i e v e i t i s

important t o enquire i n t o the philosophy of Concrete and b r i e f l y s p e l l

out some of i t s i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r the f u t u r e d i r e c t i o n of poetry.

Together with S p a t i a l Poetry,^ Concrete c o n s t i t u t e s a wave-of-the-

f u t u r e approach t o the o l d form-content argument, Concrete saying t h a t

the one i s equivalent t o the other. T h i s , by now, i s f a m i l i a r t o us as

the idea put f o r t h by the communications prophet Marshall McLuhan, in h i s

formula (or maxim): the medium i s the message, and i t s p l a y f u l c o r o l l a r y ,

the medium i s the massage. Put more b l u n t l y , t h i s means .

t h a t the packaging i s more important than the product. Indeed,

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apa r t from i t s own p l a y f u l n e s s , Concrete p r ides i t s e l f on minimal o r no

re ference t o personal t h o u g h t s , f e e l i n g s and emot ions. I t has developed

as a p a r t i c u l a r preoccupat ion w i t h images, o b j e c t s , and f i n a l l y , w i t h the

poem i t s e l f as an o b j e c t governed on ly by formal c o n s i d e r a t i o n s of s t r u c t u r e

and des ign . The very elements of language are o b j e c t i f i e d in Concrete

Poe t r y , so t h a t t he formal concern which p r e v i o u s l y governed what a poet

had t o say in any g iven poem now devolves upon i t s e l f . Only the b r i e f e s t

of d e s c r i p t i o n s must s u f f i c e here: the range, aims and var ious p o s i t i o n s

w i t h i n t h i s movement are g iven w i t h thoroughness and c l a r i t y in Concrete

Poe t ry : A World View, a survey and Anthology e d i t e d and in t roduced by Mary

E l l en S o i t . In t h i s book, the t h e o r i s t s and leaders of Concrete themselves

admit the d i f f i c u l t y o f d e f i n i n g t h e i r p o e t r y . One t h i n g c l e a r t o a non

p a r t i s a n reader i s t h a t a major p a r t of i t s theory has dec lared i t s

r e j e c t i o n of a l l mat te rs of concern t o the bu lk of humanity not involved

in a r t exp ress ion . Here are some t y p i c a I ( s t a t e m e n t s from the I n t r o d u c t i o n :

the concre te poet seeks t o r e l i e v e the poem of i t s c e n t u r i e s ' o ld burden of ideas, symbol ic re ference, a I I us ion and r e p e t i t i o u s emotional c o n t e n t ; of i t s s e r v i t u d e t o d i s c i p I i n e s o u t s i d e i t s e I f as an o b j e c t in i t s own r i g h t and f o r i t s own sake. ( p . 8)

" t h e value of each word is mod i f ied by the f a c t t h a t the poem belongs no longer t o a f l u x but t o a s t a t i c sys tem." (quoted is P i e r r e G a m i e r , France, p. 32)

The new poem should be thought of less as " a r t " and more as " t r a n s m i t t e d energy . " ( the quotes are of G a m i e r , pp. 33-34)

Th is phrasing r e c a l l s O lson 's in h i s 1950 essay, " P r o j e c t i v e V e r s e , " where

he says t h a t the poem "must , a t a l l p o i n t s , be a h i g h - e n e r g y - c o n s t r u c t and,

9

a t a l l p o i n t s , an energy d i s c h a r g e . " The Garn ie r /01 son language, w i t h i t s

p h a l l i c i m p l i c a t i o n s , presents a very male view of how t o keep pace w i t h

change. Worse, i t bet rays a mechanical determinism which can on ly produce

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a poet ry of means in which ends are subsumed. In i t s emphasis on fo rm,

Concrete Poetry dec lares i t s symbio t ic r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h t e c h n o l o g i c a l

advances in t o d a y ' s w o r l d . Though i t sees i t s e l f p o s i t i v e l y and h o p e f u l l y

a t tuned t o what i t c a l l s "p resent r e a l i t y , " Concrete P o e t r y ' s emulat ion

o f the t echno log i ca l r e a l i t y means i t has chosen a model w i t h ant i-human

i m p l i c a t i o n s over o the r poss ib le models o f r e a l i t y . The dominant phi losophy

of Concrete has no a e s t h e t i c d is tance from the c u l t u r e and t h e r e f o r e no

new percep t ions t o o f f e r t h a t are not a l ready o f f e r e d in the a d v e r t i s i n g

media. Formalism taken t h i s f a r has turned i t s back on a more human

d e f i n i t i o n of the w o r l d .

In c o n t r a s t , the poet ry of women i n s i s t s on the worth of the i n d i v i d u a l .

In t h e i r c o l l e c t i v e exp ress ion , love and hate are s t i l l r e a l , as are a l l the

emot ions, passions and ideas which belong t o the f l u x of l i f e . Women have

not been g iven t o poe t i c r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n s , but t h e i r poet ry speaks f o r

them. I t addresses i t s e l f t o problems of the age -in the o p t i m i s t i c hope t h a t

these problems can be so l ved . Th is poet ry operates on the o p t i m i s t i c

assumption t h a t , i f men begin t o see the adverse i m p l i c a t i o n s in t h e i r

support of a soc ia l system t h a t oppresses women and c h i l d r e n , such men w i l l

want t o stop using themselves as u n w i t t i n g agents of the system, thus

ending the oppression of women in p a r t i c u l a r , and people and the environment

in g e n e r a l . I t is a large assumpt ion. But t h a t is where the women's

avante-garde in poet ry i s , a t p resen t .

Most of the poems I have included in t h i s Anthology exempl i fy a new

s t y l e of personal candor. In them, a l l personal r e l a t i o n s h i p s take on

p o l i t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e : t h i s is new enough t o be p r o p h e t i c . The avan t -

garde nature o f the poet ry is ev iden t in sub jec t m a t t e r , t o n e , rhythm of

8 1

speech, imagery and a l l the other uses of language and p o e t i c form. If men

tend t o make a f e t i s h of form, women a s s e r t a d i f f e r e n t kind of i n i t i a t i v e - ,

f i g h t i n g f o r r e c o g n i t i o n of a l i v i n g content t o the form, the form of t h e i r

experience. Women's poetry i s , a f t e r a l l , the product of c o n d i t i o n s ' — s e x u a l ,

s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l — w h i c h up t o now required of women s p e c i f i c behaviors

very d i f f e r e n t t o those required of men. Where male bias sets i t s e l f up as

a u n i v e r s a l frame of reference f o r a e s t h e t i c p r i n c i p l e s , women's poetry

i s saying t h a t a body of poetry such as t h e i r s has i t s own concerns and

content, which must of ne c e s s i t y d i c t a t e i t s own forms and develop i t s

own standards.

In the present Anthology, women poets v o i c e p r o t e s t with an e n e r g e t i c ,

c r e a t i v e fervour confirming t h e i r t r a d i t i o n a l concern f o r the q u a l i t y of

l i f e and i t s p r e s e r v a t i o n in l o v i n g , personal forms. They are a s s e r t i n g

a g a i n s t the pressures and r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n s 'of a death-dealing c u l t u r e the

p r i o r claims of l i f e : the primary importance of f r i e n d l y and loving r e l a

t i o n s h i p s , the profound experiences of pregnancy and c h i l d b i r t h , the

r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s of parenthood and a r e f u s a l t o go along with r e p r e s s i v e

i n s t i t u t i o n s and v i o l e n c e in the s e r v i c e of power p o l i t i c s . They are a l s o

absorbed with the process of making a r t and of r e s o l v i n g the problems t h i s

poses f o r a woman. The embattled l y r i c impulse in today's angry women

poets needs then to be understood not as a s o c i a l phenomenon simply,

though i t i s t h a t , but as an i n f u s i o n of new blood i n t o an academically

c o n s t r i c t e d a e s t h e t i c .

A word about the order in which I have approached the Anthology and

i t s d i s c u s s i o n . 1 s t a r t in the f i r s t Chapter with Experiencing One's Body

because of i t s primacy or phys i c a l immediacy, and a l s o , because a woman's

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body o f f e r s a very d i f f e r e n t kind of i n s p i r a t i o n f o r women themselves than

f o r men. Pursuing t h i s l o g i c , I turn next in Chapter Two t o poems which

respond t o the most immediate t h r e a t t o the body: v i o l e n t a t t a c k upon i t ;

Repudiation of War and Violence being a Section in which women voice t h e i r

f e a r , g r i e f and anger at men's brut a l d i s r e g a r d f o r l i f e . Such emotions

have t h e i r roots in more personal r e l a t i o n s h i p s ; thus, Chapter Three: Anger

Against Male Presumption and Oppression, i s devoted t o poems which react

t o the o f f e n s i v e ways in which men use t h e i r p o s i t i o n s of s o c i a l and

sexual dominance. This abuse i s f e l t most keenly in the areas of Love,

Romance and Sex, the Section which the next Chapter takes up. A natural

sequel, the Section on Motherhood and Marriage forms the subject matter of

Chapter F i v e . The two f i n a l Chapters address themselves to the poet's sense

of her i d e n t i t y . D efining Oneself as A r t i s t , concentrates on poems in

which the poet discusses her a r t and a l s o her problems in pursuing i t ,

the most c e n t r a l of which i s the i n c o m p a t i b i l i t y of her two r o l e s : the

one of a woman who i s expected t o conform t o s o c i e t y ' s expectations of

her, and the one of an a r t i s t who must f o l l o w the d i c t a t e s of her own, often

non-conforming, c r e a t i v e impulse. The Chapter: What Does i t Mean t o be a

Woman? completes the C r i t i c a l Commentary by looking at poems in which

women r a i s e general questions about themselves t h a t the poems in the

preceding S e c t i o n s , in t h e i r s p e c i f i c focus, have not d e a l t with. I

proceed now with t h i s d i s c u s s i o n .

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C h a p t e r One

E x p e r i e n c i n g One's Body

The " t h i n f i r e " t h a t ran t h r o u g h Sappho's body d r a i n i n g her of b l o o d

and speech and t h r i l l i n g her senses as she spoke o f her b e l o v e d i n t h e

pr e s e n c e of a male r i v a l i s s t i l l p r o b a b l y one of t h e most g r a p h i c

d e s c r i p t i o n s a woman poet has g i v e n us of t h e e f f e c t s o f p h y s i c a l p a s s i o n

o r love--however we wi s h t o i n t e r p r e t i t — u p o n her mind and body. In t h e

t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y we a r e a g a i n i n a t i m e when i t i s p o s s i b l e f o r women

po e t s t o speak f r a n k l y o f such t h i n g s . F o r , from what we can g a t h e r of t h e

i n t e r i m c e n t u r i e s , i t was not p o s s i b l e , nor was i t even t h i n k a b l e , t h a t

women s h o u l d p u b l i c l y p r o f e s s t h e i r i n t i m a t e r e a c t i o n s t o sex and l o v e .

A s p l i t had de v e l o p e d between body and mind t h a t i s now coming t o be re g a r d e d

as f a l s e by many more pe o p l e t h a n was f o r m e r l y t h e c a s e . With t h e enormous

r e c e n t changes i n mores and m o r a l i t y , e s p e c i a l l y i n r e g a r d t o s e x u a l b e h a v i o r ,

i t has become commonplace f o r t h e body t o be o p e n l y d i s c u s s e d i n c a n d i d

t e r m s , a s i t u a t i o n t o which women p o e t s may j u s t l y be s a i d t o have c o n t r i b

u t e d .

In t h i s S e c t i o n , as i n t h e A n t h o l o g y as a whole, women r e v e a l t h e m s e l v e s

w i t h s c r u p u l o u s , o f t e n p a i n f u l , h o n e s t y , and w i t h an i n t e n s i t y a t t a i n e d

t h r o u g h s k i l f u l c o n t r o l of a l l t h e r e s o u r c e s of t h e c r a f t . The e f f e c t s a r e

o f t e n s t r i k i n g and sometimes s t a r t l i n g . The poems i n S e c t i o n One c o v e r a

range o f h i t h e r t o " s i l e n t " o r s u p p r e s s e d s u b j e c t s such as m e n s t r u a t i o n ,

m a s t u r b a t i o n , c l i t o r a l orgasm, s e x u a l i n t e r c o u r s e , pregnancy, b i r t h and

a b o r t i o n . U n d o u b t e d l y , t h i s c u r r e n t freedom t o e x p l o r e p o e t i c a l l y a r e a s

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f o rmer l y fo rb idden is due t o a general l i f t i n g of taboos in the western

c u l t u r e . But women's readiness t o reveal t h e i r inner p r i vacy i n d i c a t e s

something more: a d e s i r e t o g i v e a shape t o e x p e r i e n c e — a gamut o f

exper iences and v i e w p o i n t s — t h a t has never been put i n t o poet ry b e f o r e ; an

eagerness t o e x p l o i t a l l the o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r becoming known and under

stood t h a t the present c l i m a t e of acceptance a l l o w s . Here women can be

seen in a l l t h e i r human dimensions.

The dimension t h a t de f ines woman as woman is p r i m a r i l y the b i o l o g i c a l

o r phys ica l one. But , u n l i k e the male being whose sex l i kew ise i d e n t i f i e s

him, she is soc ia I Iy c o n t r o I Ied t o stay w i t h i n boundaries t h a t l i m i t her

t o her b i o l o g i c a l r o l e and f u n c t i o n s . In the main, t o be a woman in our

c u l t u r e is t o -be made aware, before any th ing e l s e , o f one 's b o d y — n o t as an

a t h l e t e , dancer or p r a c t i t i o n e r of Yoga, say, m i g h t — t h a t i s , as a b a s i c ,

i n d i v i d u a l resource t o be strengthened and d i s c i p l i n e d toward a t ranscendent

g o a l , but as a possession des i red by o t h e r s : a possession e x c i t i n g

i n t e r e s t acco rd ing l y as i t measures up t o r u l i n g standards of sexual

d e s i r a b i l i t y . Appearance, the major emphasis in t h i s , has determined

women's l i v e s t o a degree t h a t many women now r e c o i l f rom, though the

emphasis on the body was probably never g r e a t e r than i t is now. Women's

phys ica l , beauty , t h e n , i s not a sub jec t t h a t w i l l be found in t h i s S e c t i o n ,

though f o r male poets t h a t s u b j e c t has been an age-o ld p reoccupa t ion .

Women poets may ex to l the beauty of another woman in poems of love and

f r i e n d s h i p , , but t y p i c a l l y , the t r i b u t e does not assume a phys ica l focus .

A notab le except ion t o the general case is Diane Wakoski, who is c h a r a c t e r

i s t i c a l l y much concerned ( o f t e n , i t seems, t o the p o i n t o f obsession) w i t h

beauty of appearance as an i n d i c a t o r of sexual d e s i r a b i l i t y , though her

8 5

poem " B e l l y Dancer" i n t h i s S e c t i o n has a d i f f e r e n t f o c u s . An example of

t h e importance she a s c r i b e s t o p h y s i c a l beauty i s seen i n " I s o l a t i o n of

B e a u t i f u l Women" in S e c t i o n Seven of t h i s A n t h o l o g y . But " B e l l y Dancer"

a f f i r m s t h a t i t i s woman's s e n s u a l awareness o f her s e x u a l power, not

t h e i d e a l i z e d n o t i o n of her beauty,' t h a t i s t h e magnet of her b o d i l y

a t t r a c t i v e n e s s t o both women and men a l i k e .

The poems i n S e c t i o n One r e f l e c t women r e j o i c i n g i n t h e i r b o d i e s ,

and c o n v e y i n g j o y i n t h e s e n s e s , m o s t l y i n r e g a r d t o body use and f u n c t i o n .

The p o e t s may embrace sensuous d e l i g h t by c e l e b r a t i n g t h e erogenous a r e a s

of t h e body a s s o c i a t e d w i t h r e p r o d u c t i o n , as does Anne S e x t o n , o r t h e y

may r e f e r t o sex p l a y f u l l y , i n an e x e r c i s e of w i t t y innuendo as does

Gwendolyn MacEwan; t h e approach v a r i e s w i t h t h e i n d i v i d u a l and t h e mood.

To be s u r e , not a I I e x p e r i e n c i n g of t h e s e x u a l n a t u r e of t h e body i s

s i m i l a r l y j o y o u s and r e l a x e d , n o r , i n d e a l i n g w i t h t h e more p a i n f u l

a s p e c t s of s e x u a l i d e n t i t y and r e l a t i o n s h i p , do t h e p o e t s s p a r e t h e m s e l v e s .

A t t h e most n e g a t i v e end of t h e spectrum a r e poems i n which s e x u a l a c t i v i t y

and i t s e f f e c t s a r e d e s c r i b e d i n c h i l l i n g p r o j e c t i o n s of t e r r o r , shock,

h o r r o r , anger and h a t r e d . The e x p l o i t i v e b e h a v i o r which produces such

r e a c t i o n s i s b i t i ng I y condemned i n poems by M a r g a r e t Atwood and J o y c e C a r o l

O a t e s . In a n o t h e r k i n d of poem by May S a r t o n , where t h e p e r s o n a has

o r d e r e d t h e d i g g i n g of an a r t e s i a n w e l l , she s u f f e r s t h e r e s u l t a n t a c t i v i t y

as a rape of t h e e a r t h , but f e e l s t h e g r a t e f u l r e l i e f o f a mother a t d e l i v e r y

of a l i v i n g c h i l d when t h e much-needed w a t e r i s s t r u c k and pours f o r t h .

Body r e a c t i o n and body awareness a r e complex i s s u e s i n t h e s e poems. They

e x p r e s s a range t h a t i n c l u d e s t h e d e e p l y d i s t u r b e d p h i l o s o p h i c a l m e d i t a t i o n s

of A d r i e n n e R i c h , as w e l l as t h e p u z z l e d but s y m p a t h e t i c r e a c t i o n of

86

Diane Wakoski's " B e l l y Dancer" t o t h e women i n her a u d i e n c e whose f e a r f u l ,

f a s c i n a t e d r e s p o n s e t o h e r movements she sees as a measure o f t h e i r

r e p r e s s e d d e s i r e s f o r sensuous e x p r e s s i o n . W i t h i n t h i s wide range a l s o ,

a r e poems e x p l o r i n g l e g e n d a r y and pre-human themes. MacEwan e x p e r i e n c e s

p o s s e s s i o n by an a r c h e t y p a l demonic fema l e s p i r i t i n " L i l i t h , " w h i l e i n

"The Godhead as Lynx," a y e a r n i n g f o r i m p o s s i b l e r e l e a s e from i n t e l l e c t u a l

and moral r e s p o n s i b i l i t y i s g i v e n u t t e r a n c e by S a r t o n i n a f a n t a s y of shed

d i n g human form where she would submerge h e r s e l f i n some dim p r e h i s t o r i c

w o r l d o f animal e x i s t e n c e .

On t h e p u r e l y n e g a t i v e s i d e , a l o n g w i t h t h e poems d e p i c t i n g r e v u l s i o n

from l o v e l e s s s e x u a l e n c o u n t e r , a r e t h r e e poems which c o n c u r i n r e g a r d i n g

t h e e f f e c t s o f m e n s t r u a t i o n as b a n e f u l . Somewhat a n a l o g o u s i n t h e i r s h a r e d

sense o f c u r s e , l o s s and g u i l t a r e t h e poems c e n t e r i n g on a b o r t i o n , w h i l e

t h e s u b j e c t of m a s t u r b a t i o n i s t r e a t e d d r a m a t i c a l l y by Anne Sexton i n a

poem which s t a r k l y p r o j e c t s t h e p e r s o n a ' s s u f f e r i n g of a j o y l e s s a l t e r n a t i v e

t o s hared s e x u a I . f u I f i I I m e n t .

At t h e p o s i t i v e end, a g a i n , on a par w i t h t h e poems r e j o i c i n g i n t h e

body a r e t h r e e d e a l i n g w i t h pregnancy and g i v i n g b i r t h . In c h o o s i n g a

s u b j e c t w i t h which t o b e g i n p a y i n g c l o s e a t t e n t i o n t o t h e t e x t , pregnancy

has seemed t o me t h e most l o g i c a l p l a c e t o s t a r t , s i n c e pregnancy and

i t s c u l m i n a t i o n i n g i v i n g b i r t h c o n s t i t u t e s f o r most women t h e fundamental

f e m i n i n e e x p e r i e n c e ( t h e m e n s t r u a l c y c l e i n t h i s r e s p e c t b e i n g endured

s i m p l y as an u n a v o i d a b l e n u i s a n c e ) . I b e g i n , t h e n , w i t h P a t Lowther's

"May Chant" as t h e f i r s t o f t h e poems f o r extended d i s c u s s i o n .

In "May Chant," t h e s u b j e c t o f pregnancy i s reduced t o e s s e n t i a l s ,

shorn o f a l l i m p i n g i n g s o c i a l c i r c u m s t a n c e s ; what we a r e g i v e n i s t h e

8 7

a r c h e t y p a l mother i n l a b o r , b e a r i n g down, c r y i n g o u t . The poem b e g i n s

w i t h t h i s image of l a b o r , p o w e r f u l l y compact i n i t s p h y s i c a l immediacy,

which t h e n expands i n t o m y t h i c a l t i m e and s p a c e , a v a s t encompassing. I t

borrows i t s means from t h e p r i m i t i v e p r a c t i c e o f m i m e t i c r i t u a l : t h e

l a b o r of t h e pr e g n a n t woman i s e n a c t e d i n o r d e r t h a t t h e a c t u a l b i r t h and

d e l i v e r y o f t h e c h i l d w i l l be f a c i l i t a t e d , t h e a c t i o n meanwhile b e i n g

s u p p o r t e d by c h a n t i n g and i n v o c a t i o n t o t h e a n c e s t o r - g o d s . These gods,

in t h e poem, a r e i d e n t i f i e d w i t h t h e immanent c h i l d , t h e e t e r n a l son

born t o s u f f e r and d i e by t h e hands o f o t h e r s . The woman a t t h e c e n t e r

of t h i s m y s t e r y of l i f e and death becomes t h e p r i m o r d i a l E a r t h - M o t h e r

h e r s e l f . The r i t u a l f u n c t i o n o f t h e poem i s announced i n t h e t i t l e :

t h e c h a n t , w i t h i t s u r g e n t "Come down" r e p e a t e d f i v e t i m e s (once each i n

t h e f i r s t and t h i r d s t a n z a s , t h r e e t i m e s i n t h e m a g i c - i n v o k i n g c e n t r a l

s t a n z a which c a l l s down t h e gods)-, i s a t t e n u a t e d t o w a r d s the' end of t h e

poem where i t g i v e s way t o a prophecy t h a t r e s o l v e s t h e t e n s i o n c r e a t e d

a t t h e b e g i n n i n g . In t h i s s u b s i d e n c e t h e mother draws b r e a t h t o p r o c l a i m

her s a v i n g r o l e i n man's s e l f - d e s t r u c t i o n . What g i v e s her t h i s power i s

her r o l e as c r e a t o r ; she i s t h e h e a l e r and r e s t o r e r o f man t o r n and

fragmented by h i s own in h u m a n i t y : she renews l i f e even as she b o d i e s i t

f o r t h whole i n t h e b e g i n n i n g : i n her t h e c y c l e o f l i f e f o r e v e r d e f e a t s

d e a t h . In t h e t h r o e s o f l a b o r as she c r i e s ( c a l l s o u t i n p a i n , laments,

c a l l s t o ) " t h e c h i l d Come Down," she s u f f e r s , a l o n g w i t h t h e p h y s i c a l

c o n t r a c t i o n s , t h e pangs o f f o r e k n o w l e d g e . She e x p e r i e n c e s h e r s e l f as a

l i n k of t h e " b l o o d y c o r d " o f m o r t a l i t y ; t h i s c h i l d o f her f l e s h i s a l s o

born t o s u f f e r and d i e , and her b e i n g i s s t r e t c h e d i n an e c s t a c y o f

"knowing" l i f e and death as o p p o s i t e s o f t h e same e x i s t e n t i a l t r u t h . Only

88

t o woman is g iven t h i s power, through and in her own body, of exper ienc ing

the c e n t r a l immutable rhythm of e x i s t e n c e , says "May Chant . "

The poem achieves i t s elemental p r o p o r t i o n in t he f i r s t two l i n e s ,

beginning w i t h the word "May" s e t , f o r g r e a t e r e l l i p t i c a l f o r c e , on a l i n e

by i t s e l f , and fo l l owed by "and I squat in l a b o r , " which c a t a p u l t s us

i n t o the p r i m i t i v e awesomeness o f the occas ion . Before pursu ing the image,

l e t us cons ider some connota t ions of "May." The f i f t h month o f t he year ,

i t is a t ime of g rowth , f e r t i l i t y and sp r ing t ime r i t u a l observances t h a t

go back t o a n t i q u i t y . In many r u r a l p a r t s of England, a Queen of the May

is crowned w i t h f l owers in a c i r c l e dance around a Maypole on the f i r s t day

of the month. As a f o l k - d e r i v a t i v e of the T r e e - o f - L i f e , the pole r e c a l l s

anc ien t t r e e worsh ip , the t r e e being a l so a symbol of w o r l d - a x i s / Tree

s p i r i t s were c r e d i t e d , among o t h e r t h i n g s , w i t h he lp ing "women t o b r ing f o r t h

2

e a s i l y . " S q u a t t i n g , of course, i s a very p r i m i t i v e mode of g i v i n g

b i r t h alone and unaided, so t h a t a l ready in t h i s poem a huge s t r e t c h of

t ime and space has been te lescoped in word-symbolism and image.

The t h i r d l i n e cont inues t o p u l l inward, t i g h t e n i n g the t e n s i o n by

o m i t t i n g the p r e p o s i t i o n " t o " where i t would normal ly occur . The

e l l i p t i c a l grammar of " c r y i n g the c h i l d " makes " t h e c h i l d " a d i r e c t o b j e c t

o f " c r y i n g , " so t h a t what is conveyed is an almost supernatura l a c t : one

c r i e s t e a r s in usual grammatical speech, here what is c r i e d is a s o l i d

body, a foe tus about t o make i t s p a i n f u l e n t r y i n t o the w o r l d . And indeed,

i t s c ry is p r e f i g u r e d in the mother ' s c r y i n g o u t ,

Sure Iy I am on Iy a partway unwound s p i r a l of bloody cord

89

exper ienc ing h e r s e l f as a p o r t i o n of the endless s p i r a l of b i r t h s , one

in a long l i n e of such s u f f e r i n g mothers. "Come down" is in t h i s sense

a prayer commanding the son down from h is mother 's cross as wel l as h i s

own; i t is not on ly he, on h i s "male c r o s s , " who is in a long l i n e of

" o t h e r s and o t h e r s / b e f o r e h i m . "

The poem takes on f r e s h meaning, f o r in thus c r y i n g the c h i l d down

from h is c r u c i f i x i o n , the poet g ives us an image of the Mater Do lorosa,

g r i e v i n g as an emblem of the whole race of i n j u r e d mothers depr ived of

power and a u t h o r i t y in l i f e . The sons have been ra ised above them in

p r i d e and pre-eminence. But t he exa l ted male c h i l d c l a im ing t o be

of the race o f gods must descend t o m o r t a l i t y , f o r in coming down out of

the mother, he comes from no heaven but from the human vessel of f l e s h ,

blood and bone who bore him: hence he is no supe r io r of hers but her

e q u a l , who shares her f a t e . That the mother f e e l s t h i s f l e s h l y symbiosis

as a pr imary t r u t h of her r o l e in c r e a t i o n , even as she c a l l s out in

t r a n s p o r t t o a succession o f d i v i n e l y exa l ted sons, i s seen in her t h i r d

despa i r ing c a l l upon the "King of the k i s s i n g k i l l i n g / m i s t l e t o e . " Th is

is a f o r m u l a t i o n which evokes C h r i s t a g a i n , though i t may w i t h equal

v a l i d i t y r e f e r t o D iana 's p r i e s t , The King of the Wood, o r t o a D r u i d i c

d e i t y and h is form of worship."^ While a l l these gods are resur rec ted ones,

assoc ia ted w i t h e a r l i e r vege ta t i on gods d e r i v i n g from p r e - h i s t o r i c a g r i

c u l t u r a l and probably m a t r i a r c h a l s o c i e t i e s , the mention o f m i s t l e t o e most

r e a d i l y b r ings t o mind Chr is tmas, g i v i n g emotional emphasis t o the s t i l l

l i v i n g C h r i s t over gods no longer worshipped. The ambivalent d e s c r i p t i o n

" k i s s i n g k i l l i n g " in t h i s con tex t suggests , through a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h the

k i s s of Judas, man's be t raya l of what he most worsh ips . Un l i ke Dionysus

90

and O s i r i s , t h i s K i n g i s not named e x c e p t by t i t l e : h i s i d e n t i t y , though

ambiguous, may be i n f e r r e d both from t h e naming of h i s manner of death

(on t h e c r o s s ) and from t h e r e f e r e n c e t o m i s t l e t o e , a s s o c i a t e d by us w i t h

C h r i s t m a s and v e n e r a t e d as a s y m b o l i c p l a n t i n v a r y i n g ways t h r o u g h o u t

Europe and i n o t h e r p a r t s o f t h e w o r l d . The E n g l i s h custom o f k i s s i n g

under t h e m i s t l e t o e d u r i n g t h e f e s t i v i t i e s c e l e b r a t i n g C h r i s t ' s b i r t h no

doubt l i n g e r s on as a v e s t i g e o f a n c i e n t D r u i d i c p r a c t i c e . Used by t h e

C e l t s i n t h e i r f e r t i l i t y r i t e s , t h e m i s t l e t o e s y m b o l i z e s r e g e n e r a t i o n and 4

c u r e , and i t s g a t h e r i n g i s u s u a l l y d e t e r m i n e d by t h e phase of t h e moon.

I t i s s i g n i f i c a n t l y r o o t l e s s , u n l i k e t h e h o l y t r e e t h e oak, t h a t i t f e e d s

upon: i t i s a p a r a s i t e which t a k e s i t s s u b s t a n c e from t h e "mother." The

r e f e r e n c e t o m i s t l e t o e i n t h i s poem, r e i n f o r c e d by t h e symbolism of May and

t h e c r o s s , makes i t c l e a r t h a t t h e s p e a k e r i d e n t i f i e s her sex w i t h t h e

t r e e as a r o o t e d c o n s t a n t from which man d e r i v e s h i s no u r i s h m e n t and

u l t i m a t e l y , h i s b e i n g .

S i r James G. F r a z e r has i m a g i n a t i v e l y d e p i c t e d a t i m e i n which p r e -

C h r i s t i a n Romans, b o r r o w i n g from b l o o d i e r A s i a t i c r i t u a l s , p r a c t i c e d a t y p e

of magic i n which t h e e f f i g y o f a young man was t i e d t o t h e t r u n k o f a c u t

t r e e and brought i n t o t h e s a n c t u a r y of C y b e l e , a P h r y g i a n - f e r t i I i t y goddess 5

whose s o n - l o v e r A t t i s he r e p r e s e n t e d . In t h i s e a r l y " c r u c i f i x i o n , " t h e

d i v i n e son r e p r e s e n t s a s a c r i f i c e t o t h e p o w e r f u l f o r c e o f n a t u r e , a

s a c r i f i c e deemed t o h a s t e n and e n s u r e her g e n e r a l r e s u r r e c t i o n , and so

g u a r a n t e e an abundance of f o o d . He does n o t " d i e " f o r t h e s i n s o f humanity,

but f o r i t s good, i t s b e n e f i c e n c e . He r e n d e r s s e r v i c e and honor t o t h e

f e m i n i n e p r i n c i p l e i n n a t u r e , and so t o woman. C i v i l i z a t i o n has, however,

demoted both woman and n a t u r e t o se c o n d a r y p l a c e , g a i n i n g c o n t r o l o v e r

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b o t h . Thus, t h e poet c a l l s down t h e gods, not i n a s p i r i t t h a t pays

t r i b u t e , but i n a t o n e o f p a i n and p r o t e s t :

D i o n y s u s Come down Os i r i s Come down King o f t h e k i s s i n g k i l l i n g M i s t l e t o e

Come down.

Th a t t h e son of woman s h o u l d e x a l t h i m s e l f w i t h s u p e r n a t u r a l p r e t e n s i o n s

i s an i n v e r s i o n o f t h e n a t u r a l p r o c e s s by which man i s born o f , and, i n

a c e r t a i n s e n s e , c r e a t e d by, woman; he comes down (f r o m t h e womb, t h e

t r e e , t h e c r o s s ) , r a t h e r t h a n a s c e n d s , from h e r . The p a r a s i t i c m i s t l e t o e

which k i l l s i n i t s " k i s s i n g " f u r t h e r m o r e i m p l i e s r e p u d i a t i o n and b e t r a y a l :

so does man b e t r a y h i s o r i g i n i n e x a l t i n g h i m s e l f above i t , assuming

a u t h o r i t y o v e r t h e e a r t h , h i s mother, i n s t e a d of r e v e r e n c i n g her i n due

homage.

A c c o r d i n g l y , i n r e s p o n s e t o t h e ' c a l l , no gods appear; " I t i s t h e men

who come." They s i n g t h e b a l l a d of t h e murder of John B a r l e y c o r n , a

p e r s o n i f i c a t i o n of m a l t l i q u o r . Neumann has t h i s t o say about t h e symbolism

i n h e r e n t h e r e : The woman i s a g i v e r and t r a n s f o r m e r of n o u r i s h m e n t , but a t t h e same t i m e we f i n d t h e n e g a t i v e meaning of t h e symbol i n t h e death mi I I as an a t t r i b u t e of t h e T e r r i b l e Mother. The death of t h e g r a i n god i n t h e m i l l was l a t e r t r a n s f e r r e d t o C h r i s t , and i t s t i l l s u r v i v e s i n t h e E n g l i s h b a l l a d . "John B a r l e y c o r n . " Thus t h e m i l l becomes a goddess of death . . .

but i t was my c h i I d my husband t h e y k i I Ied

p r o t e s t s t h e p e r s o n a . I t i s not t h e e a r t h t h a t k i l l s : k i l l i n g i s done

by men, t h e e a r t h m e r e l y r e c e i v e s . Man a g a i n s t h i m s e l f b e t r a y s t h e mother,

t h e spouse. But she c a n n o t by h e r n a t u r e ( u n l e s s made t o go a g a i n s t i t ,

d r i v e n mad by t h e power of D i o n y s u s ) do o t h e r t h a n r e c e i v e him back i n t o

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her bosom, g i v i n g him a new wh o l e n e s s , a new b i r t h , as t h e e a r t h does i n

metamorphosing f l e s h and b l o o d i n t o v e g e t a t i o n , and the n back i n t o animate

l i f e , c o m p l e t i n g t h e c y c l e of death and l i f e . " I t i s I , " says t h e mother

now d a r k l y i d e n t i f y i n g w i t h myth h e r s e l f , who

under t h e sea I p e l e d e a r t h w i l l c r y t h e good o f h i s b l o o d and meat Come down

t o t h e r o o t s of t h i n g s

and who, by her h e a l i n g power w i l l r e s t o r e l i f e t o t h e fr a g m e n t s of h i s

b u t c h e r e d body, as I s i s d i d f o r O s i r i s . T h i s l a s t "Come down" becomes

a c e l e b r a t i o n of t h e m y s t e r y , a h o l y communion which e x a l t s man as c h i l d

wedded t o t h e e a r t h ; no godhead. With n a t u r a l o r d e r r e s t o r e d , t h e poem

r i s e s on a note of p r o p h e t i c a f f i r m a t i o n as t h e persona,, f u l l y e n t e r e d

i n t o t h e Good Mother a s p e c t of t h e E a r t h - G o d d e s s , p r o m i s e s s a l v a t i o n :

she w i l l i n t h e d a r k n e s s of g e r m i n a t i o n s t e a I t h i I y g a t h e r h i s s c a t t e r e d members and b i n d them whole

There i s no p e r i o d e n d i n g t h e poem, j u s t as t h e r e i s no p u n c t u a t i o n t h r o u g h

o u t i t : t h e p r o c e s s i s a f l o w i n g c o n t i n u i t y . The poem ends, d e a t h t a k i n g

i t s p l a c e i n a n a t u r a l p e r s p e c t i v e as an ongoing a c t i v i t y of l i f e . The

mother's c e n t r a l i t y has been a t t e s t e d by e v o c a t i o n and c h a n t and t h e

prophecy has been g i v e n : t h e l a b o r does not end. A l s o , t h e poet has c l a i m e d

t h e woman's p r e r o g a t i v e of p o e t i c u t t e r a n c e as p a r t o f t h e h e r i t a g e which

r e c o g n i z e s her r o l e i n c r e a t i o n . George Thomson here comments on t h i s

" m o t h e r - r i g h t : "

9 3

J u s t as magic was f o r a long t i m e t h e s p e c i a l p r o v i n c e o f women, so we f i n d a l l o v e r t h e w o r l d t h a t i n s p i r a t i o n i n prophecy and p o e t r y b e l o n g s e s p e c i a I Iy' t o them. The e v i d e n c e i s a l l t h e more s t r i k i n g because t h e i r p a r t i n p r i m i t i v e l i f e i s n o t n e a r l y so w e l l documented as t h e men's.

Lowther uses t h e p r o p h e t i c t o n e as her m o t h e r - r i g h t . By a f f i r m i n g woman as

t h e c r e a t o r and s a v i o r as a g a i n s t man t h e p r i d e f u l d e s t r o y e r , Lowther d e p i c t s

woman as h a v i n g a c e r t a i n s u p e r i o r i t y by v i r t u e o f her e n d u r i n g m e t a p h o r i c a l

a f f i n i t i e s w i t h t h e Whole.

A s i m i l a r s e n t i m e n t imbues Sandra MacPherson's poem "Pregnancy." As

t h e t i t l e i n d i c a t e s by i t s unadorned d i r e c t n e s s , t h i s poet t a k e s a more

modern f u n c t i o n a l view o f t h e b e a r i n g phase. There i s no c o n j u r i n g h e r e ,

where pregnancy i s d e - m y t h o l o g i z e d i n t h e f i r s t two l i n e s :

I t i s t h e b e s t t h i n g .

I s h o u l d a l w a y s l i k e t o be p r e g n a n t .

T h i s woman, t h e n , has a c h o i c e : she does not have t o assume t h e burden

f o r mankind. The modern woman chooses her t i m e as w e l l . How d i f f e r e n t

from t h e p a s t i n which women had t o submit t o t h e i r e x p e c t e d r o l e , i n t h e

c o u r s e o f which t h e y r e a l l y d i d e n a c t n a t u r e ' s i n e x o r a b i l i t y . Here t h e t o n e

i s c o n f i d e n t , even c o s y and d o m e s t i c , as i n t h e use of t h e words "tummy" and

" y o g h u r t . " But i n t h e t h i r d c o u p l e t t h e poem s u d d e n l y undergoes a y e a s t - l i k e

e x p a n s i o n : t h e woman i s equated w i t h "A queen," who " i s a l w a y s p r e g n a n t w i t h

her c o u n t r y . " Sheba i s mentioned a l o n g w i t h a r e f e r e n c e t o pagan f i g u r e s o f

f e m i n i n e a u t h o r i t y i d e n t i f i e d i n myth, but t h e q u e s t i o n s of p r o o f and o r i g i n

l e a v e t h e poet unmoved. I t i s enough t h a t t h e woman s i m p l y i s . B u t , " P r e g

n a n t , " she warns us i n t h e n i n t h c o u p l e t , "I'm h i g h l y e x p l o s i v e " —

You can f e e l i t , long b e f o r e Your seed w i l l run back t o hug y o u — S q u a r i n g and c u b i n g

I n t o r e c k l e s s bones . . .

9 4

And s o , muses t h i s l i b e r a t e d woman o f o u r t i m e , "The queen's o n l y a

f i g u r e h e a d . " The poem moves d r a m a t i c a l l y towards i t s c l o s e , " t h e moon

sIoop i ng

Through i t s amnion s e a ,

T r a p p e d , stone-mad . . . and t h r e e B e i n g s ' l i v e s g e l i n my womb.

The woman has e n c a p s u l a t e d n a t u r e , no l o n g e r a t i t s mercy, though she

s t i l l f e e l s h e r s e l f a t such a t i m e t h e c o n t i n u o u s medium t h r o u g h which

t h e cosmos c o u r s e s .

The t h i r d poem on pregnancy i s by G e n e v i e v e T a g g a r d , t h e e a r l i e s t of

t h e t h r e e p o e t s and, i n both a t t i t u d e and t r e a t m e n t of form, t h e most

t r a d i t i o n a l . "With C h i l d " p l a c e s i t s emphasis on t h e human i s s u e r a t h e r

t h a n on t h e mother. I t i s permeated w i t h a p o i g n a n t sense of m o r t a l b r e v i t y

and t h e u l t i m a t e l o n e l i n e s s of t h e i n d i v i d u a l . The p o e t ' s c o n c e r n w i t h

t i m e makes i t s e l f f e l t w i t h t h e o p e n i n g words: "Now I am s l o w . " She

uses t h e s i s and a n t i t h e s i s t o r e v e a l an a m b i v a l e n c e t o w a r d s t h e p r o c e s s

of g e n e r a t i o n t h a t i s a l s o e v i d e n t i n her c h o i c e of a n t i p h o n a l words and

d e s c r i p t i v e p h r a s e s charged w i t h f i r s t p o s i t i v e , t h e n n e g a t i v e meaning.

Hence she i s both "a s l e e k b e a s t " and "a worn one," a t t h e same t i m e

"musing and mellow," y e t " s t u p i d as a s t o n e . " P a t t e r n e d rhyme and meter

p r o v i d e a m usic t h a t r i s e s and f a l l s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e s e m a n t i c s of t h e

poem, g i v i n g a f o r m a l beauty t o t h e c o m munication. The poem i s s y m m e t r i c a l l y

s t r u c t u r e d i n t h r e e s t a n z a s of s i x , e i g h t and s i x l i n e s r e s p e c t i v e l y ,

w hich pay equal a t t e n t i o n t o t h e t h r e e human p r i n c i p a l s i n v o l v e d . The

f i r s t s t a n z a d w e l l s on t h e s p e a k e r as t h e s u b j e c t of t h e c o n d i t i o n , t h e

second a d d r e s s e s t h e f a t h e r as t h e l o v i n g p a r t n e r who has done h i s p a r t ,

and t h e - t h i r d i s c o n c e r n e d w i t h the. new l i f e s t i r r i n g w i t h i n t h e mother's

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body. The middle stanza in a d d i t i o n encompasses the th ree l i v e s , beg inn ing :

"You c l e f t me w i t h your beau ty ' s p u l s e , and now/ Your pulse has taken body."

In t h i s v i v i d p h a l l i c image, w i t h i t s echo of the rock being s t r u c k

by Moses, the speaker pays t r i b u t e t o the male p r i n c i p l e , a s c r i b i n g beauty

t o i t as wel l as power, even though she is of necess i ty tu rned inward now,

" t o r p i d , " w i t h " E a r t h ' s u rge , not mine—my l i t t l e dea th , not h e r s . " In her

commitment t o love, the poet as woman accepts her e x c h a n g e a b i l i t y , her

l i f e ' s replacement by another l i f e . "B ig w i t h t h i s l o n e l i n e s s , " she now

leaves the lover alone t o ponder t h e i r love , w h i l e " the pure beauty" t h a t

"yearns and s t i r s " w i t h i n he r , t u r n s

With sec re ts of i t s own, i t s own concerns, , ' Towards a windy wor ld o f i t s own, toward s t a r k And s o l i t a r y p laces .

I t i s " d e f i a n t , " t h i s unborn l i f e s t r u g g l i n g in the dark t o be "untang led

from these mother 's bones." Exper iencing h e r s e l f a t the cen t re of the

morta l s t r u g g l e , the poet cannot help but fee l a d e a t h - g r i e f , even as she

r e j o i c e s in the beauty o f l i f e and love.

Of the th ree poems on pregnancy, t h i s is the on ly one t h a t r e l a t e s

i t t o the concepts of love and beauty. Taggard 's sense of the prec ious

b r e v i t y o f l i f e d i r e c t s her f e e l i n g and compassion towards the human

c o n d i t i o n , even though she, t o o , in her c o n d i t i o n is i n s u l a r , l i k e the

o t h e r two poets d iscussed. Lowther 's phys ica l s tance , in s q u a t t i n g , is

one of p r o t e s t , and of a s s e r t i n g k insh ip w i t h the e a r t h . MacPherson

comfor tab ly agrees t h a t woman's b i o l o g i c a l c e n t r a l i t y demands respect

(though behind her r e l a t i v e complacence one senses the debt owing t o the

p i l l . ) Taggard is alone in g i v i n g we igh t , along w i t h her own image of

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h e a v i n e s s , t o t h e b e l o v e d b e g e t t e r o f t h e c h i l d , t h e e v e n l y w e i g h t e d b a l a n c e

of her form e x q u i s i t e I y i n harmony w i t h t h e s t a t e m e n t . What t h e s e poems

have i n common i s a s h a r e d e x p e r i e n c e e x c l u s i v e t o women, but t h e f a c t

t h a t no two women's e x p e r i e n c e i s t h e same i s r e f l e c t e d i n t h e f a c t t h a t

no two poems a r e a l i k e . Each poem i s uniq u e i n i t s p e r c e p t i o n s , b e i n g

e x p r e s s i v e of i n d i v i d u a l i t y r a t h e r t h a n ^ o f mass.

C l o s e l y r e l a t e d t o t h e above poems i s Anne S e x t o n ' s " I n C e l e b r a t i o n

of My U t e r u s , " and t o a l e s s e r e x t e n t , her poem "The B r e a s t . " The f o r m e r

b e g i n s as a paean of t r i u m p h c e l e b r a t i n g a v o i d a n c e of s u r g e r y t h a t would

have removed t h e s p e a k e r ' s u t e r u s ; r e t u r n e d h e a l t h has v i n d i c a t e d her i n

r e f u s i n g t h e o p e r a t i o n and her g r a t i t u d e r i s e s t o a d i t h y r a m b of p r a i s e

" i n c e l e b r a t i o n o f t h e woman I am." L i k e most of S e x t o n ' s poems, t h i s one

seems t o be a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l . The poem c a t a l o g u e s a v a r i e t y o f women,

each caught by t h e p o e t ' s camera-eye i n a p a r t i c u l a r a c t i v i t y o f t h e moment,

and a l l , l i k e t h e poet " s i n g i n g " t h e i r g l a d n e s s a t b e i n g women, i . e . , c h i l d -

b e a r e r s . The l a s t s t a n z a a d d r e s s e s t h e u t e r u s as "Sweet w e i g h t " i n a

p r a y e r t h a t a s k s t h e poet be a l l o w e d t o do t h e t h i n g s an o r d i n a r y woman

ca n , i n t e r m i t t e n t l y q u a l i f y i n g t h e i t e m i z e d r e q u e s t s w i t h a modest

" ( i f t h a t i s my p a r t ) " . She i s ready t o r e n d e r any a p p r o p r i a t e s e r v i c e ,

i n t h a n k s g i v i n g , f o r which she a s k s o n l y :

l e t me s i n g f o r t h e supper f o r t h e k i s s i n g f o r t h e c o r r e c t y e s .

A l o n g w i t h t h i s poem w h i c h , i n i t s t o n e and i t s abundance of l i s t i n g ,

b r e a t h e s a h o l y " y e s " t o l i f e and t h e g e n e r o s i t y o f t h e womb, i s "The

B r e a s t , " i n which t h e poet r e l a t e s her j o y a t s e x u a l s e I f - d i s c o v e r y . Here

9 7

t r i a d i c s t a n z a s e n f o r c e t h e more even r h y t h m i c s t r u c t u r e . Sexton g l o r i e s

i n t h e m i l k - g i v i n g f u n c t i o n of t h e b r e a s t as w e l l as i n i t s s e n s u a l

d e l i g h t s :

Now I am you r mother, y o u r d a u g h t e r , y o u r brand new thing*--a s n a i l , a n e s t , I am a l i v e when you r f i n g e r s a r e .

Above a l l she i s "mad t h e way young g i r l s a r e mad,/ w i t h an o f f e r i n g ,

an o f f e r i n g . . ." S e x t o n ' s rhythms a r e u r g e n t , as though she were b e i n g

d r i v e n t o u t t e r a n c e as a s y b i l d e m o n i c a l l y p o s s e s s e d .

Less p a s s i o n a t e i n u t t e r a n c e i s t h e poem " L i - l i t h " by Gwendolyn

MaeEwan, i n which t h e p o e t makes an e x p l i c i t c l a i m f o r p o s s e s s i o n . She

b e g i n s on a note o f prophecy:

Have no doubt t h a t one day she w i l l be r e b o r n h o r r e n d o u s , w i t h c o i l i n g h o r n s , p u b i s a b l a z e o f b l a c k s t a r s

The poem goes on t o t e l l how t h e v e n g e f u l s p i r i t has e n t e r e d her and t a k e n

o v e r :

And I have f e l t h e r m i n d l e s s mind w i t h i n my mind u r g i n g me t o c a I I down heaven w i t h a word.

Unable t o r i d h e r s e l f o f t h e demon by t h e e x e r c i s e o f r e a s o n , t h e poet

compromises:

See you i n my dreams, Whore of B a b y l o n , Theodora u t t e r l y u n q u i e t f i e n d , t h o u Scream

The sudden immediacy and t o n e o f t h e a d d r e s s c r e a t e s here an e x c i t e m e n t

a k i n t o t h a t f e l t i n poems r i t u a L i s t i c a I l y e m p l o y i n g r e p e t i t i o n f o r a

l a r g e p a r t o f t h e i r e f f e c t s . " L i I i t h " does not r h y t h m i c a l l y convey

a g i t a t i o n i n t h e way t h a t , f o r i n s t a n c e , Sexton does: MaeEwan d e s c r i b e s ,

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r a t h e r than p resen ts . But these s i n i s t e r l a s t l i n e s , r i s i n g in a phonet ic

p i t c h of c o n t r o l l e d i n t e n s i t y c rea te t h e i r own k ind of magic. The

rhyming vowels in each l i n e s i l e n t l y s t r e t c h and purse the mouth in t h e i r

a l t e r n a t i o n s , he lp ing form the s i l e n t "Scream" the poem ends on .

R i t u a l is again the mode in a s h o r t poem by Mir iam Waddington which

borrows i t s t i t l e from i t s f i r s t l i n e . T h i s , and the second l i n e are

repeated as a r e f r a i n a t the end of the poem:

Women who l i v e alone beware the menstrua I c rone!

The crone is clawed l i k e a b i r d or c r a b : she is the legendary harpy in

t h i s incanta ion used as a charm aga ins t e v i l . Of t he o t h e r two poems on

the s u b j e c t , Edna S t . V incent Mi I l a y ' s "Menses" i s i n t e r e s t i n g f o r i t s

unusual v i e w p o i n t , which is t h a t of the woman's but g iven t o a man t o convey

as h i s own. The dramat ic monologue of t h i s speaker, husband or l o v e r ,

enables him t o both comment on her c o n d i t i o n and quote her . Mi I l a y ,

the woman, stands o u t s i d e of h e r s e l f , as i t were, too ashamed t o speak in

her own vo ice about behavior which is so r e p r e h e n s i b l e , so i r r a t i o n a l and

y e t , so h e l p l e s s . " I sha l l be b e t t e r soon , " she promises a t the end,

being al lowed the l a s t word: " J u s t Heaven consign and damn/ To t e d i o u s He l l

t h i s body w i t h i t s muddy f e e t in my m i n d ! " Lynn Lawner's "May Song" (which

is more of a lament) expresses deep g r i e f and a sense of cosmica l l y

p ropor t ioned loss in twe lve s h o r t l i n e s . At a t ime when eve ry th ing is

b u r s t i n g i n t o f l o w e r , she f e e l s , upon m e n s t r u a t i n g , t h a t the p o t e n t i a l

l i f e w i t h i n her is w a i l i n g , drowned " i n a tomb/ Of red seas, where no

Moses" w i l l s t r u g g l e h i s ce lebra ted way t o a " q u i v e r i n g s h o r e . " She i s

the d e p r i v e d , would-be mother who might have borne a p rophe t , and w i t h each

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f a i l u r e of l i f e t o begin anew w i t h i n her each month she must say: " I

move towards my d e a t h . " Bound t o a p a t r i a r c h a l t r a d i t i o n , t h i s speaker

cannot c la im her own p rophe t i c one. Her f a i l u r e t o j u s t i f y h e r s e l f in

producing a male redeemer leaves her b e r e f t .

The poems on a b o r t i o n take the theme of loss and g u i l t a step f u r t h e r .

Here the woman w i l f u l l y i n t e r r u p t s a na tu ra l process and i s h e r s e l f

respons ib le f o r death . The personas presented by Gwendolyn Brooks and

AnneSexton cannot escape the moral i m p l i c a t i o n of t h e i r a c t s , though in

Brooks ' poem ci rcumstances g iven imply t h a t her pe rsona—a poor b lack

working-woman—had l i t t l e rea l choice in c a r r y i n g out her desperate d e c i s i o n s ,

acted on more than once. Sexton g ives us no m i t i g a t i n g con tex t f o r her

d e c i s i o n , j u s t a h y p n o t i c a l l y r e l a t e d account of the t r i p t o and from

the a b o r t i o n i s t ' s , the t h r i c e repeated r e f r a i n "Somebody who should have

been bo rn / is gone, punc tua t ing the t a l e w i t h whip lash e f f e c t of c a s t i g a t i o n

and s e l f - h a t r e d .

Brooks ' "The Mother" is d i s t i n g u i s h e d by the persona 's understanding

o f the t r a g i c , though h a u n t i n g , nature of the n e c e s s i t y . " A b o r t i o n s , "

she says, naming the deed a t the very o u t s e t , " w i l l not l e t you f o r g e t . /

You remember the c h i l d r e n you got t h a t you d id not g e t . " The second

sentence is b r i l l i a n t l y t e l l i n g in i t s a s s e r t i o n and d e n i a l : " t h e c h i l d r e n

you g o t " shows how deeply imbedded in the mother 's psyche is the r e a l i t y of

these c h i l d r e n "you d id not g e t . " Brooks I i nge rs y e a r n i n g l y over such

c h i l d r e n in images she c rea tes o f them, images t h a t show t h i s is a mother

who knows what i t is t o have c h i l d r e n :

You w i l l never leave them, c o n t r o l l i n g your lusc ious s igh Return f o r a snack of them, w i t h gobb l ing mother-eye.

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The language of a p p e t i t e r e v e a l s t h e a l m o s t d e v o u r i n g n a t u r e o f her m a t e r n a l

l o v e . L o v i n g c h i l d r e n w i t h such a p a s s i o n , t h e s p e a k e r u n d e r l i n e s t h e

heavy s a c r i f i c e she endures i n h a v i n g t o d e s t r o y embryonic c h i l d r e n who

a r e an a c t u a l p h y s i c a l p a r t of her b e i n g . The poem i s one of atonement f o r

l o s s more th a n f o r g u i l t , an e x o r c i s m o f t h e u n f o r g e t t a b l e unborn. In

t h e second s t a n z a , she r e l a t e s how she has a t t e m p t e d i n mind t o g i v e

b i r t h and suck t o them; has t r i e d by a s o r t o f s y m p a t h e t i c magic t o

overcome her " c r i m e " o f d e n y i n g l i f e t o them. But she ca n n o t : though

gone, t h e i r r e a l i t y remains w i t h h e r . "How i s t h e t r u t h t o be s a i d ? "

she a s k s w r e t c h e d l y , f i n a l l y f o r m u l a t i n g an answer:

You were b o r n , you had body, you d i e d . I t i s j u s t t h a t you never g i g g l e d o r planned o r c r i e d .

B e l i e v e me, I loved you a l l .

B e l i e v e me, I knew you, though f a i n t l y , and I l o v e d , I loved

A l l .

:\ S e x t o n ' s "The A b o r t i o n " i s marked by a muted t o n e of s e l f - c o n d e m n a t i o n

t h a t , i n t h e f i n a l s t a n z a , c u t s t h r o u g h l i k e a k n i f e as t h e poet c o n f r o n t s

h e r s e l f w i t h t h e t r u t h of what she has done and f a c e s t h e i m p l i c a t i o n s .

The poem d e s c r i b e s her d r i v i n g s o u t h from her home s t a t e t o P e n n s y l v a n i a ,

where she "met a I i t t l e man, not R u m p e l s t i I t s k i n , a t a I I, a t a I I . . . he t o o k t h e f u l l n e s s t h a t l o v e began.

No f a i r y - t a l e e n c o u n t e r , though on her way she had noted t h e humped

lands c a p e " w e a r i n g , l i k e a c r a y o n e d c a t , i t s green h a i r , " which s u g g e s t s

her mind's s e I f - p r o t e c t i v e d i s s o c i a t i o n from her purpose i n a r e t r e a t t o

t h e i n n o c e n t , s a f e p l a n e o f c h i l d h o o d . T h i s d i v i d e d s t a t e of mind i s

b e a u t i f u l l y conveyed by t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l a c c u r a c y o f t h e p r e s e n t a t i o n : an

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a l t e r n a t i o n o f t h e i n n e r v o i c e i n t h e c o n s c i e n c e - s t r i c k e n , i t a l i c i z e d

r e f r a i n , w i t h t h e o b s e r v a t i o n s o f t h e r e c o r d i n g eye, g i v i n g a d e t a i l e d

r e p o r t of t h e s c e n e r y . F i n a l l y r e j e c t i n g t h i s as a s u b t e r f u g e l e a d i n g t o

" l o s s w i t h o u t d e a t h , " she c o n c l u d e s by b i t t e r l y a c c u s i n g h e r s e l f : "say

what you meant,/ you coward . . . t h i s baby t h a t I b l e e d . "

B e f o r e l e a v i n g S e x t o n , who c o n t r i b u t e s t h e most poems t o t h i s

S e c t i o n , l e t us look a t "The'.Ballad o f t h e L o n e l y M a s t u r b a t o r , " a poem

in which she a g a i n u s e s - a r e f r a i n , each t r a d i t i o n a l l y rhymed s t a n z a

( o d d l y i n harmony w i t h t h e u n t r a d i t i o n a I s u b j e c t - m a t t e r ) e n d i n g w i t h t h e

same d i r g e - l i k e l i n e . The poem i s a d d r e s s e d t o a l o v e r who has l e f t

t h e p e r s o n a f o r a r i v a l he has m a r r i e d . "The end of t h e a f f a i r i s a l w a y s

d e a t h , " b e g i n s t h e poem s t a r k l y . The s t a t e m e n t i s ambiguous i n t h a t i t

seems t o r e f e r both t o t h e s p e a k e r ' s l o v e - r e l a t i o n s h i p and t o t h e f e e l i n g

o f let-down f o l l o w i n g t h e a c t of m a s t u r b a t i o n . The r e f r a i n , "At n i g h t ,

a l o n e , I marry t h e bed," c o n t a i n s both meanings. The s p e a k e r ' s h u r t ,

shame and resentment a r e t u r n e d a g a i n s t h e r s e l f i n t h i s agony of t h w a r t e d

lo v e and d e s i r e ; t h e l o v e r i s not ju d g e d o r blamed. L i k e any good

t r a d i t i o n a l b a l l a d , t h i s one has i t s s e n s a t i o n a l a s p e c t s , p r o j e c t e d i n

imagery, r a t h e r t h a n i n r e p o r t a g e , though t h e r e i s , o f c o u r s e , an a n a l o g y

h e r e . In t h e l a s t s t a n z a , t h e s p e a k e r v e n t s her r e p r e s s e d h a t r e d i n a

s a f e l y g e n e r a l i z e d d i r e c t i o n upon t h e "boys and g i r l s " who a r e t h i s

n i g h t e n j o y i n g t h e s a t i s f a c t i o n she i s m i s s i n g i n her l o s s . The s p e c t r e of

becoming o l d , of l o s t o p p o r t u n i t y f o r l o v e , i n f o r m s t h e s a v a g e r y of t h e

f i naI I i nes:

The g l i m m e r i n g c r e a t u r e s a r e f u l l o f l i e s . They a r e e a t i n g each o t h e r . They a r e o v e r f e d . At n i g h t , a l o n e , I marry t h e bed.

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The f r e q u e n t use of p e r i o d s , of s h o r t d e c l a r a t i v e s e n t e n c e s i n t h e poem

g i v e s i t something of a p e r c u s s i v e rhythm, once more showing S e x t o n ' s

c o n t r o l o v e r , and m a s t e r y o f , her c r a f t .

The s e I f - 1 a c e r a t i n g f r a n k n e s s of such poems i s a new t h i n g i n women's

p o e t r y . With what seems t o be r e l i e f t h a t t h e y can t r u l y . b e t h e m s e l v e s a t

l a s t , women p o e t s have begun t a k i n g f u l l a dvantage of t h e freedom from

p r e c e d e n t e s t a b l i s h e d by p o e t s of t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y i n which no

s u b j e c t i s any l o n g e r s a c r o s a n c t . S p e a k i n g o u t o p e n l y , women r e l e a s e a

f l o o d o f pent-up e m o t i o n s , f e e l i n g s and p e r c e p t i o n s about t h e m s e l v e s , and

t h e w o r l d i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e m s e l v e s . They shed c o n v e n t i o n s about b e h a v i o r —

f o r i n s t a n c e , m o d e s t y - - i n a way t h a t must f o r e v e r change o u r g e n e r a l

n o t i o n s o f " f e m i n i n e " p s y c h o l o g y . An example i s t h e v i e w p o i n t of a

" B e l l y Dancer," as p e r c e i v e d by Diane Wakoski i n t h e f o l l o w i n g l i n e s ,

where t h e s p e a k e r r e f e r s t o t h e men who " s i m p e r and l e e r " a t her

sensuous, s e l f - d e l i g h t i n g g y r a t i o n s :

They do n o t r e a l i z e how I s c o r n them; o r how I dance f o r t h e i r f r i g h t e n e d , unawakened, sweet women.

T h i s s c o r n o f t h o s e who o n l y see them as s e x u a l o b j e c t s o f g r a t i f i c a t i o n ,

not as p e o p l e w i t h needs and d e s i r e s of t h e i r own which have been s t u l

t i f i e d and r e p r e s s e d , , i s r e p e a t e d i n M a r g a r e t Atwood's poem ( u n t i t l e d )

from Power P o l i t i c s . Here t h e emotion i s immediate and i n t e n s e , compounded

of f e a r and shock as t h e poet speaks from t h e bed, as i t were:

What i s i t , i t does not move l i k e l o v e , i t does not want t o know

a b e g i n n i n g which i s f o l l o w e d by more e x p e r i e n c e s of n e g a t i o n u r g e n t l y

http://truly.be

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b u i l d i n g up t o an a n x i e t y t h a t c l i m a x e s i n s h o r t gasps o f i n t e r p r e t i v e

i n s i g h t :

wounded, you a r e h u r t , you h u r t you want t o g e t o u t , you want t o t e a r y o u r s e l f o u t , I am

t h e o u t s i d e

T h i s woman i s e x p e r i e n c i n g her body i n t e r r o r and a l i e n a t i o n as b e i n g

m e r e l y used by a l o v e r s u d d e n l y p e r c e i v e d as a s t r a n g e r — h e i s n o t even

t r y i n g t o communicate: he i s u s i n g her t o prove h i s e x i s t e n c e , a f f i r m

h i s i d e n t i t y . D i s c o v e r i n g h i s dependence on h e r , he d e s p e r a t e l y wants t o

f r e e h i m s e l f , r e c o v e r h i s maleness w i t h o u t g i v i n g a n y t h i n g o f h i m s e l f

away. The s p e a k e r has been u t t e r l y r e j e c t e d , i n t h e name of l o v e . The

p o p u l a r i t y of such v e r s e w i t h women s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e t r u t h of t h e i r

l i v e s has never been t o l d b e f o r e , c e r t a i n l y n ot w i t h such s t i n g i n g c l a r i t y

and p e r f e c t i o n . T h i s p o e t r y produces a shock o f r e c o g n i t i o n i n women. A

s i m i l a r l y e f f e c t i v e poem i s "A G i r l a t t h e C e n t e r o f Her L i f e , " by J o y c e

C a r o l O a t e s .

T h i s poem d e a l s w i t h t h e f i r s t s e x u a l e n c o u n t e r o f a young g i r l . I t

i n v o l v e s a d i f f e r e n t k i n d o f a n g u i s h , where l a c k of any r e a l r e l a t i o n s h i p ,

o r l o v e , has l e f t t h e g i r l i n a s t a t e o f angry shock, shame and bewi Iderment.

" T h i s man, h a l f a boy," has d r i v e n her t o t h e f i e l d where t h e y have l a i n ,

and now, d i s t a n c e d from h e r , he w a i t s a t t h e c a r f o r her t o c o l l e c t h e r s e l f .

The poem i s an i n c i s i v e p o r t r a i t o f a g i r l who, w i t h o u t h a v i n g been aware

of t h e consequences o f her a c t i o n s , f i n d s h e r s e l f s u d d e n l y a t t h e c r o s s - r o a d s

o f h e r i d e n t i t y . The s e x u a l shock of becoming known t o h e r s e l f as a woman

becomes p a r t o f t h e shock o f r e a l i z i n g t h a t t h e a c t has c o s t her t h e

c a r e f r e e innocence she had b e f o r e : she has l o s t h er p r o t e c t e d p l a c e i n

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s o c i e t y . In t h e v e r y a c t of becoming a woman she i s found g u i l t y o f b e i n g

one. Stunned, she i s u n a b l e t o g r a s p a l l t h a t has happened. The f i e l d s ,

i n d i f f e r e n t t o her chaos i n d i c a t e she s h o u l d have been wary t o know "you

must c u r v e / and c a l c u l a t e t o g e t / where you're g o i n g , " as t h e boy presumably

knew who l e d her h e r e . We g e t a b r i e f g l i m p s e o f him, w a i t i n g f o r her a t

t h e c a r . He i s " p u z z l e d " but he s t a n d s a p a r t from t h e f e m i n i n e dilemma.

The e x p e r i e n c e f o r him has been d i f f e r e n t . F o r , i n her f i r s t knowledge

of sex t h e g i r l g r i e v i n g l y - k n o w s - h e r s e l f c h e a t e d of l o v e and h u m i l i a t e d by

b e i n g now i n t h e c a t e g o r y of a f a l l e n woman: she has " l o s t her v i r g i n i t y ; "

t h e boy on t h e o t h e r hand has l o s t n o t h i n g . In f a c t he has g a i n e d h i s

manhood; as a "man" now he t a k e s h i s p l a c e i n t h e w o r l d of men. She i s

f o r e v e r i n f e r i o r t o him from t h i s day on. The g i r l i s a l l a l o n e and has

j u s t u n d e r s t o o d her c r i s i s : her s o c i e t y v i c t i m i z e s g i r l s who have f a i l e d

t o p r i z e and p r o t e c t t h e i r v i r g i n i t y as a m a r k e t a b l e p r o d u c t . She i s i n a

t u r m o i l of rage and resentment a t t h i s i n j u s t i c e : she has j u s t f e l t t h e

f u l l w e i g h t o f f e m a l e o p p r e s s i o n . F e e l i n g l o s t , s o i l e d , b e t r a y e d , she

can o n l y s u f f e r , mute as a b e a s t , i n a s i t u a t i o n f o r which t h e r e i s no

h e l p and from which t h e r e i s no escape back i n t o t h e unknowing freedom

of c h i l d h o o d . The drama i s p o w e r f u l l y p o r t r a y e d . O a t e s' c h o i c e of

d e t a i l i s r e l e n t l e s s l y , p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y d e l i b e r a t e , her imagery a l o n g w i t h

t h e rhythm p r o f o u n d l y moving, as i n t h i s c o n c l u s i o n :

A young g i r l , i n t e r r o r not young, i s no c o l t now but a s o r e r - j o i n t e d cow whose po r e s s t u t t e r f o r h e l p , h e l p , and whose sweaty s k i n has g a t h e r e d seeds upon i t , and t i n y d r y b i t s o f g r a s s .

I t i s something of a r e l i e f t o t u r n from such s t a r k l y p r o b i n g s t u d i e s

i n : p a i n t o s e x u a l e x p e r i e n c e framed i n a h a p p i e r mode. The s u b t i t l e o f

105

E m i l y S i o n ' s " A l l Anatomy" i n f o r m s us t h e poem i s a " S c u l p t u r e o f a S e l f -

G l o r i e d C I i t o - O r g a s m , " which may mean t h e orgasm i s not a s h a r e d but a

s o l i t a r y e x p e r i e n c e . The d i s t i n c t i o n i s not i m p o r t a n t . The r e l e v a n t

p o i n t here i s t h e p l a s t i c c o n t o u r of t h e poem-act i t s e l f , i n which t h e

arrangement of l i n e s and m o d e l l i n g o f s i g n i f i c a n t words and images makes

a shape of g a t h e r i n g e x c i t e m e n t and r e l e a s e . The f i n a l metaphor o f " a l l

anatomy" d i s s o l v i n g " i n t o hooves o f l i g h t " c o n v eys t h e f l i g h t o f t h e

p o e t i c i m a g i n a t i o n as w e l l as t h e pounding i n t e n s i t y o f t h e p h y s i c a l

e x p e r i e n c e . T h i s poem v e e r s towards t h e C o n c r e t e but remains geared t o i t s

i d e a , o r s u b j e c t i v e c o n t e n t . In "Womb: Some Thoughts and O b s e r v a t i o n s , "

Gwendolyn MaeEwan uses t h e ide a of t h e body as her s u b j e c t r a t h e r t h a n

t h e body i t s e l f . The f i r s t o f t h e s e "Thoughts" i s a poem r e p o r t i n g

a c o n v e r s a t i o n i n which t h e poet a l l o w s us t o s h a r e her w h i m s i c a l r e s p o n s e s .

The poem owes much of i t s humor^to i t s t o n e of g i r l i s h i ngenuousness.

The i d e a i s a l s o f u n n y , ' t o p p e d o f f by t h e l a s t l i n e w hich ends w i t h t h e

words " e x a c t i n g a c t , " i n which t h e rhyming s y l l a b l e s c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e

b a w d i l y s u g g e s t i v e c o n c l u s i o n t h e r a t h e r c oy s p e a k e r has come t o i n

p u r s u i n g h e r t h o u g h t s . The second poem a d o p t s a more s o p h i s t i c a t e d t o n e

i n i t s " O b s e r v a t i o n s . " U n f o r t u n a t e l y , c o y n e s s f a i l s h ere as i t s t r a i n s f o r

a w i t t y e f f e c t a c h i e v e d e f f o r t l e s s l y i n t h e f i r s t poem. P a r t l y , t h e f a u l t

i s t h a t t h e i d e a here i s t o o c o m p l i c a t e d f o r t h e space t h a t i s t a k e n . The

c e n t r a l image of Salome as a r e s e a r c h s c i e n t i s t p r e t e n d i n g , from her'"" lab

i n A r g e n t i n a , " t o " f r e e women from t h e t y r a n n y of t h e Moon" w h i l e s e c r e t l y

e n t e r t a i n i n g men i n her chamber who "come and go i n c y c l e s , l i k e e t e r n a l

t i d e s , " becomes a r a t h e r b e l a b o r e d j o k e .

106

In most of t h e o t h e r poems i n t h i s S e c t i o n , t h e body i s e x p e r i e n c e d

as b e i n g t o o d e e p l y i n v o l v e d w i t h e x i s t e n c e t o a l l o w f o r t h e k i n d o f

d i s t a n c e i n t e r p o s e d between t h e s p e a k e r and her body here i n MacEwan. In

"An A r t e s i a n W e l l , " May S a r t o n goes so f a r as t o i d e n t i f y w i t h t h e

a s s a u l t e d e a r t h , and i n "The Godhead as Lynx," she y e a r n s so much t o be

d i v e s t e d of her human form, t h a t she f e e l s bound t o pray f o r mercy.

" K y r i e E l e i s o n , 0 w i l d l y n x , " she p r a y s , r e c o g n i z i n g her r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o

"our own/ God." A d d r e s s i n g "The m o t h e r - l y n x i n her pre-human p l a c e , "

she speaks of t h e bed she longs t o i n h a b i t :

To submerge s e l f i n t h a t e s s e n t i a l f u r , And s l e e p c l o s e t o t h i s a n c i e n t w o r l d of g r a c e , As i f t h e r e c o u l d be h e a l i n g n e x t t o h e r .

But o f c o u r s e t h e r e c a n n o t , f o r t h i s g o d - l i k e m a t r i x i s a c r u e l one " t h a t

d e v o u r s w i t h o u t a qualm." The s p e a k e r must l ay a s i d e " t h e beauty of t h e

l y n x / To be t h i s l a b o r i n g s e l f who g r o a n s and t h i n k s . "

F i n a l l y we come t o t h e g h a z a l s o f A d r i e n n e R i c h , two poems from a

sequence e n t i t l e d " G h a z a l s : Homage t o G h a l i b . " A n o t e on t h e t i t l e t o

h e l p e x p l a i n t h e form: G h a l i b i s a d i s t i n g u i s h e d Urdu poet o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h

c e n t u r y , h i s g h a z a l s a form o f M i d d l e - E a s t e r n v e r s e c o n s i s t i n g of c o u p l e t s ,

each complete and u n r e l a t e d t o each o t h e r , a s i n g l e poem u s u a l l y c o m p r i s i n g

f i v e such c o u p l e t s , i n which a l l e l e m e n t s a r e l i n k e d o n l y by rhyme and

s t r u c t u r e . In t r i b u t e t o an o l d e r c u l t u r e and i t s a r t i s t , R i c h a d a p t s

t h i s form t o s u i t t h e E n g l i s h language and h e r own, w e s t e r n r e f l e c t i o n s on

l o v e , humanity and e x i s t e n c e . She l i n k s h er poems f i r s t , by d a t i n g them

in a sequence l i k e a d i a r y , each poem c e n t e r i n g on a theme, t h e whole

c o n s t i t u t i n g a s e r i a l poem i n which a c o l l a g e of images, o b s e r v a t i o n s and

moods combine t o r e v e a l t h e p o e t ' s s t a t e o f mind o v e r a p e r i o d o f t i m e .

107

The poems a r e dense, f a s c i n a t i n g , and i l l u m i n a t i n g as t h e y open up under

s c r u t i n y t o r e v e a l t h e i r inmost c o n n e c t e d n e s s .

In t h e f i r s t o f t h e s e e x c e r p t s , t h e poet m e d i t a t e s on o p p o s i t i o n a l

themes of s i m i l a r i t y and d i f f e r e n c e , i n d i v i d u a l i t y and c o n f o r m i t y . The

second poem, d a t e d a week - l a t e r , e x p l o r e s t h e n a t u r e o f r e l a t i o n s h i p ,

t a k i n g t h e p r e c e d i n g q u e s t i o n s a s t e p f u r t h e r i n her probe of t h e meaning

of t h i n g s . Because t h e q u e s t i o n s were o n l y m o m e n t a r i l y r e s o l v e d i n t h e p r i o r

poem, t h e second p r o c e e d s w i t h an i n c r e a s i n g sense o f d e s p a i r a t what i s

t a k i n g p l a c e i n t h e American e n v i r o n m e n t , e n d i n g w i t h a c r y of a n g u i s h .

In t h i s l a t t e r poem b e g i n n i n g w i t h a moment of s e x u a I / s p i r i t u a I

communion, t h e poet comments on t h e n e c e s s i t y of S o c r a t i c l o v e between

t e a c h e r and s t u d e n t , c o n j e c t u r e s on I i v i n g o u t s i d e t h e law, c o n s i d e r s how

words sometimes e s c a p e t h e " e l e c t r o n i c j u n g l e , " b u t i s f i n a l l y u n a b l e t o

r e s o l v e t h e c o n f l i c t r e n d i n g h e r : how can beauty s t i l l l i v e w i t h i n t h e

death-camp, where i t must appear an i l l u s i o n ? M e t a p h y s i c s , f o r t h e p o e t ,

b e g i n s w i t h t h e body. "When your sperm e n t e r s me, i t i s a l t e r e d , " s a y s t h e

poet s t a r t i n g o u t w i t h an i n t e n s e l y p h y s i c a l f o c u s . She draws a p a r a l l e l

between t h e body and t h e mind i n t h e next l i n e : "When my t h o u g h t a b s o r b s

y o u r s , a w o r l d b e g i n s . " In t h i s complex s h i f t of f o c u s , she a p p e a r s t o

say t h a t though each subsumes t h e o t h e r ' s e s s e n c e , each remains whole.

Thus i t s h o u l d be between t e a c h e r and s t u d e n t :

If t h e mind of t h e t e a c h e r i s not i n l o v e w i t h t h e mind of t h e s t u d e n t ,

he i s s i m p l y p r a c t i c i n g r a p e , and d e s e r v e s a t b e s t o u r p i t y .

One must t a k e r i s k s , as i n l i v i n g o u t s i d e t h e l a w — a t e m p t a t i o n . But

what i s " o u t s i d e ? " L o o k i n g o u t an "open window," t h e poet he a r s " e l e c t r i c

1 0 8

f e n c e s t r i l l i n g . " F e a r and t e r r o r a r e everywhere d i f f u s e d . She h a l l u c i n a t e s :

"What a r e you d o i n g here a t t h e edge of t h e death-camps, V i v a l d i ? " And what

i s t h e p o e t ' s o r d e r e d music d o i n g i n an e n v i r o n m e n t t h a t d e f e a t s a humanly

p o s s i b l e , l o v i n g way t o l i v e ? There a r e no answers. R i c h here r e c a l l s g

t h e f o l l o w i n g l i n e s from a poem by P h y l I i s Webb, "And i n o u r Time:"

what can l o v e mean i n such a w o r l d and what can we o r any l o v e r s h o l d i n t h i s immensity

of hate and broken t h i n g s ?

The q u e s t i o n i s one b e i n g asked e v e r more i n s i s t e n t l y by t h e women p o e t s

o f t o d a y . In more r e c e n t poems, R i c h ' s r e v u l s i o n from t h e American i n v o l v e

ment w i t h war and v i o l e n c e has t a k e n a f e m i n i s t t u r n as she r e s i s t s

d e s p a i r i n an i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h women who a r e l e a r n i n g t o say "no" t o

t h e men t h e y t i o l d r e s p o n s i b l e (see " T r y i n g t o T a l k w i t h a Man," S e c t i o n Two).

If t h e r e i s any one c o n c l u s i o n t o be drawn from t h e poems i n S e c t i o n

One, i t i s s u r e l y t h a t , f o r many women, t h o u g h t i s e x p e r i e n c e d i n d i r e c t

r e l a t i o n t o how t h e y e x p e r i e n c e t h e i r b o d i e s . The wide range of s u b j e c t

m a t t e r , t h e s u b t l e t i e s i n p e r c e p t i o n and t h e v a r i e t y of t r e a t m e n t i n t h e

work show how r i c h a s o u r c e t h e body can be t o t h e p o e t i c i m a g i n a t i o n .

The l i k e o f t h e s e poems has n o t been seen b e f o r e . T h e r e i n l i e s t h e i r

s p e c i a l v a l u e . F o r i n a t i m e o f sharpened c o n f l i c t between t h e s e x e s ,

t h e l i b e r a t e d c o n s c i o u s n e s s i n p o e t r y p r o v i d e s new i n s i g h t s , d r a w i n g

a t t e n t i o n t o i s s u e s of p r o f o u n d c o n c e r n t o a l l . I n s i s t i n g on p h y s i c a l

p r i m a c y , t h e s e p o e t s probe t h e b a s i c and i n e s c a p a b l e q u e s t i o n s of b i r t h ,

sex and d e a t h , r e s t o r i n g t o o u r c u l t u r e a f e m i n i n e v i e w p o i n t on t h e s e

m y s t e r i e s t h a t t h e r a c e once r e s p e c t e d but which h i s t o r y has a l l but

e f f a c e d from t h e r e c o r d s .

1 0 9

C h a p t e r Two

R e p u d i a t i o n of War and V i o l e n c e

The l i t e r a t u r e o f war has tended more and more i n o u r c e n t u r y t o

r e f l e c t a gro w i n g d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t t h a t goes beyond g r i e f f o r t h e b r u t a l

and s e n s e l e s s l o s s o f l i f e and p r o p e r t y t o t h e f u t i l i t y o f i t a l l , war

h a v i n g proved t h a t , f a r from s o l v i n g any p r o b l e m s , i t j u s t c r e a t e s more.

B e i n g d i r e c t l y i n v o l v e d w i t h war t o a g r e a t e r e x t e n t t h a n e v e r b e f o r e

t h r o u g h e n l i s t m e n t i n c i v i l i a n as w e l l as armed s e r v i c e s , women i n t h e l a s t

s i x t y y e a r s have become v o c a l about t h e i r d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t , j o i n i n g i n t h e

g e n e r a l p o p u l a r o u t c r y . Out of a l l t h i s mixed i n v o l v e m e n t has de v e l o p e d an

a n t i - m i I i t a r i s t i c r e a c t i o n which does not d i s t i n g u i s h between j u s t and

u n j u s t wars, i . e . , t h o s e waged i n d e f e n s e o f homeland o r "freedom," and

t h o s e waged f o r t e r r i t o r i a l , economic o r p o I i t i c a I g a i n , A l l war i s seen

as i n d e f e n s i b l e . The s e e m i n g l y j u s t i f i a b l e war a g a i n s t H i t l e r and f a s c i s m

e l i c i t s t h e same r e v u l s i o n from women p o e t s i n t h e i r moral d i s g u s t w i t h

k i l l i n g as do t h e most r e c e n t a t r o c i t i e s committed by Am e r i c a n s a g a i n s t

t h e V ietnamese. W r i t i n g d u r i n g World War Two, one poet s t a n d s a p a r t from

t h e r e s t of t h e p o e t s i n s u b m i t t i n g t o war as a n a t u r a l and t h e r e f o r e

n e c e s s a r y e v i l . In t h i s she i s u n t y p i c a l of t h e t i m e s and an e x c e p t i o n

t o t h e r u l e of p r o t e s t t h a t u n i t e s t h e r e s t of t h e p o e t s i n . t h i s S e c t i o n ,

The p o e t s t h u s range i n t h e i r e x p r e s s i o n from t h i s f a t a l i s t i c lament

of t h e woman t r a d i t i o n a I l y bereaved o f " h e r - m e n - b y war, w r i t t e n by K a t h l e e n

R a i n e , t o t h e poems of t h e a I i e n a t e d women of tod a y who a n g r i l y see war

1 1 0

as an a s p e c t of male dominance c a r r i e d t o i t s most v i o l e n t and c o n s c i e n c e

l e s s extreme. Most of t h e p o e t s f a l l i n t o t h i s l a t t e r c a t e g o r y . Somewhat

i n between i s Nan Braymer, a poet o f t h e o l d e r g e n e r a t i o n whose p r o t e s t

s h a r e s a po I i t i c a I I y^-minded approach w i t h t h e be t t e r - k n o w n p o e t s w r i t i n g

t o d a y , e x c e p t t h a t , u n l i k e them she i d e n t i f i e s h e r s e l f w i t h t h e a n t i - w a r

movement which i n c l u d e s men and women a l i k e . The p o e t s of a younger

g e n e r a t i o n l i k e M a r g a r e t Atwood and A d r i e n n e R i c h r e g a r d war as a c r i m e

p r e d o m i n a n t l y caused and c a r r i e d o u t by men. These p o e t s imply t h a t , h i s

t o r i c a l l y , war can be t r a c e d t o t h e unequal r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e

s e x e s . They r e f l e c t , i n t h e i r poems, a c u r r e n t f e m i n i n e d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t

w i t h war which has come t o be a d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t w i t h men f o r t h e i r r o l e

i n i t . T h i s i s s t r o n g e s t i n t h e poems where p o l i t i c s , f o r t h e p e r s o n a ,

b e g i n i n t h e home, i n d o m e s t i c r e l a t i o n s h i p s . The s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e t h a t

d e f i n e s p e r s o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s k e e p i n g women s u b o r d i n a t e and dependent i s

t h e same s t r u c t u r e , say t h e s e p o e t s , as t h e one which men of power use t o

t h e i r advantage i n v y i n g f o r p o s i t i o n s of c o n t r o l and p r e s t i g e i n t h e

w o r l d . The s p i r i t o f r e v o l t t h a t burns t h r o u g h t h i s S e c t i o n o f t h e

A n t h o l o g y and t h e n e x t , on male o p p r e s s i o n , i s a c c o r d i n g l y t h e r e s u l t of

an o u t l o o k which does not s e p a r a t e t h e two q u e s t i o n s but sees war as t h e

i n e v i t a b l e e x t e n s i o n o f t h e many forms of o p p r e s s i o n used a g a i n s t women,

u n f o r g i v e a b I e because i t i s k n o w i n g l y p e r p e t r a t e d a g a i n s t h e l p l e s s

c h i l d r e n . The poems of D i l y s L a i n g and D e n i s e L e v e r t o v f o c u s on t h i s

c r i m e . Indeed, L e v e r t o v has devoted an e n t i r e book o f poems t o p r o t e s t i n g

t h e Vietnamese war.^ To u n d e r s t a n d what has b r o u g h t women t o t h e i r p r e s e n t

angry r e j e c t i o n o f t h e v i o l e n t w o r l d of men, i t may be u s e f u l t o r e v i e w

b r i e f l y t h e e v e n t s l e a d i n g t o t h i s outcome.

The movement of popular p r o t e s t in the f i f t i e s and s i x t i e s saw

thousands of women become more broadly involved in p o l i t i c a l a c t i v i s m than

they ever had before in the s u f f r a g i s t and labor movements of the n ine teen th

and e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r i e s . A genera t ion of youth was becoming p a r t

o f the p o l i t i c a l process on campuses, in g h e t t o e s , in song and in choosing

" l i f e - s t y l e s " t h a t ran counter t o the c u l t u r e . The s inger Joan Baez who

rose t o the s t a t u s of a f o l k - h e r o i n e in her crusade f o r peace epi tomized

f o r many young women the new femin ine s p i r i t of a s s e r t i o n we f i n d in poet ry

today . No longer could t h o u g h t f u l , i d e a l i s t i c women e a s i l y excuse non-

p a r t i c i p a t i o n in the p u b l i c sphere. P r o t e s t i n g in marches and meetings

a longs ide men they experienced an e q u a l i t y which taught them t o see

p o l i t i c s as a pervas ive process, not l i m i t e d t o government but p a r t of t h e i r

own everyday l i f e . In r e l i n q u i s h i n g the passive r o l e they entered a new

consciousness of t h e i r p o t e n t i a l p o l i t i c a l power. Th is consciousness is

a r t i c u l a t e d by the poets c u r r e n t l y p r o t e s t i n g war, and they are d i f f e r e n t

consequent ly from e a r l i e r women poets who, however angry o r hear tb roken ,

w r i t e from a sense of being on looke rs . Though cond i t i oned along, w i t h

everyone e lse by the " h o t " and " c o l d " wars of our century t o regard war

as inborn and i n e v i t a b l e , the new poets r e j e c t war as i nsuppo r tab le ,

r e f u s i n g t o see i t as s imply a r e g r e t t a b l e f l aw of human nature which i t

i s useless t o c h a l l e n g e . For one t h i n g , they p r o t e s t , i t i s no p a r t

of t h e i r femin ine n a t u r e . I t has taken on ly a t h i r d of a century t o

produce such a change, i t being probably the f i r s t t ime in h i s t o r y t h a t

women have a r t i c u l a t e d so damning a c r i t i c i s m of men's mismanagement of

human a f f a i r s .

112

To see how f a r women have come towards t h i s e m b i t t e r e d a t t i t u d e , one

has o n l y t o r e c a l l ^ t h a t i n a n c i e n t t i m e s women were sometimes as m i l i t a r i s t i c

and v i o l e n t as men. E v i d e n c e i s p r o v i d e d by t h e Song of Deborah w i t h i t s

p r i d e i n J a e l , by t h e legend o f t h e Amazons, and by e a r l y w a r l i k e s o c i e t i e s

such as t h e S p a r t a n and c e r t a i n N o r t h American I n d i a n , i n which women h a v i n g

a l a r g e measure of s t a t u s and power ( e . g . , I r o q u o i s and Haida) gave t h e i r

s u p p o r t t o t h e w a r r i o r s . Then, of c o u r s e , t h e r e a r e f i g u r e s l i k e B o a d i c e a

and Joan of A r c . In l i t e r a t u r e , t h e r e i s C h r i s t i n e de P i s a n who i n t h e 2

f i f t e e n t h c e n t u r y was a f e r v e n t a d m i r e r o f J o a n , and Aphra Behn who i n t h e

s e v e n t e e n t h t o o k p r i d e i n a n t i q u e h e r o i n e s who "cou'd g o v e r n , n a y — c o u ' d

f i g h t . " In o p p o s i t i o n t o t h e u s u a l f e m i n i n e i d e a l s , women i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h

and p r e s e n t c e n t u r i e s have a l s o s u p p o r t e d wars t h e y f e l t were m o r a l l y

j u s t i f i e d . E l i z a b e t h B a r r e t t Browning excused v i o l e n c e i n a cause she saw

as worthy when, i n s u p p o r t i n g Napoleon, she t o o k t h i s " p a r e n t a l " view of

h i s t o r y : C h i l d r e n use t h e f i s t

U n t i l t h e y a r e o f age t o use t h e b r a i n ; And so we needed C a e s a r s t o a s s i s t

Man's j u s t i c e , and Napoleon t o e x p l a i n

God's c o u n s e I .

These examples o f a n o t h e r k i n d o f t r a d i t i o n t h a n t h e one I have t r a c e d i n

t h i s t h e s i s show t h a t women do not alw a y s s t o p s h o r t o f v i o l e n c e i n t h e i r

p a s s i o n f o r moral j u s t i c e and w i l l r i s e t o i t s d e f e n c e , making common cause

w i t h men who t a k e up arms i n a p p a r e n t l y s i m i l a r good f a i t h . The p r e s e n t

t u r n i n g away from men t h a t we see i n t h i s A n t h o l o g y i s because t h e p o e t s

see m e n — n o t o n l y t h o s e i n power but t h e i r l o v e r s and h u s b a n d s — b e t r a y i ng

i d e a l s o f moral and s o c i a l j u s t i c e . Many women w i l l no l o n g e r r e a d i l y

1 1 3

excuse o r g i v e t h e i r l o y a l s u p p o r t t o men who lend t h e m s e l v e s t o i n d e f e n

s i b l e a c t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g s e x i s t a c t i o n s which i n t h e p a s t were n o t r e g a r d e d

as o f f e n s i v e . S p e a k i n g f o r such women, t h e po e t s here would break t h e

t r a d i t i o n a l s y m b o l i c a l l i a n c e between Venus and Mars by g e t t i n g r i d o f

him e n t i r e l y .

However women were wont t o bestow t h e i r s y m p a t h i e s i n t h e p a s t ,

t h e p o e t s i n t h i s S e c t i o n show no sympathy f o r any k i n d o f a c t u a l v i o l e n c e ,

though t h e i r f r u s t r a t i o n s may le a d them i n t o f a n t a s i e s o f revenge.

C o l l e c t i v e l y , t h e poems imply t h a t a way must be found t o r e c o n c i l e men

and women i n d i v i d u a l l y , and t h u s t h e w o r l d , i n a p e a c e f u l c o ^ e x i s t e n c e t h a t

r e c o g n i z e s s u r v i v a l i s c o n d i t i o n a l upon e n d i n g t h e e x p l o i t a t i o n o f women

and c h i l d r e n , of m i n o r i t i e s and of m i l i t a r i l y weaker n a t i o n s . From t h i s

i t may be i n f e r r e d t h a t a s u b s t a n t i a l number of female p o e t s w r i t i n g a t

t h i s t i m e d i f f e r from male p o e t s i n l o c a t i n g t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r war.

Most o f t h e women here p l a c e i t w i t h men whom t h e y i d e n t i f y w i t h . t h e s o c i a l

s ystem, i . e . , t h e p a t r i a r c h a l s t r u c t u r e t h a t r e i n f o r c e s g e n e r a l male

advantage o v e r women. T h i s i s q u a l i t a t i v e l y d i f f e r e n t from hoi d i n g w r^s

do most male p o e t s on w a r — t h a t r e s p o n s i b i l i t y r e s t s w i t h a b s t r a c t c a t e g o r i e s

such as government o r n a t i o n : c a t e g o r i e s r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e t a c i t , i f not

a c t i v e s u p p o r t o f women who a r e i n a s u b o r d i n a t e p o s i t i o n w i t h i n them. Such

s u p p o r t t h e s e p o e t s make i t known t h e y have w i t h d r a w n ,

Women i n t h i s S e c t i o n f e e l k e e n l y t h e i r h e l p l e s s n e s s t o a I t e r s i g - r

n i f i c a n t l y t h e v i e w p o i n t s o f men who p r a c t i c e o r s u p p o r t a g g r e s s i o n .

R a i n e sees war as a n a t u r a l d i s a s t e r c l e a r o f human r e s p o n s i b i l i t y ; her

v i e w p o i n t borrows from r e l i g i o n t h e idea t h a t t h e s a c r i f i c e o f sons and

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lovers is the p r i c e women pay f o r t h e i r r o l e in c r e a t i o n . Hold ing men

respons ib le f o r war, t he o t h e r poets make moral judgments, though as

women w i t h o u t a u t h o r i t y they despa i r t h a t t h e i r appeals w i l l be heeded.

Th is is t r u e even of Braymer in whose poem men are b r o t h e r s - i n - a r m s aga ins t

war. Though she seems t o i n d i c t the government, she, l i k e Lever tov , cannot

r e f r a i n from ho ld ing her countrymen t o account , which b r ings her t o a p i t c h

of f r u s t r a t i o n s ince t h e r e is no c l e a r c u l p r i t f o r her t o vent her rage

upon. Atwood, Rich and Laing suggest the c u l p r i t is male supremacy. L ike

war, of which i t is a p roduc t , male supremacy has ex i s ted f o r so long t h a t

i t passes in the wor ld f o r the na tu ra l and i n e v i t a b l e human o r d e r . In

c o n t r a d i c t i o n t o Ra ine 's poem, the poems of these th ree poets imply t h a t

war i s n e i t h e r na tu ra I not i n e v i t a b l e : i t i s merely h i s t o r i c . Near ly

a l l the poems show a r e v u l s i o n f o r b ru te f o r c e , and where the t h r e a t of

phys ica l a t t a c k i s immediate, the r e a c t i o n i s " g u t " f e a r . When, f o r

i ns tance , Joy Kogawa i d e n t i f i e s w i t h a chicken being s laughtered in a

peaceful count ry lane, her exaggerated response i n d i c a t e s the e x t e n t t o

which women in c i v i l i z a t i o n have been t e r r o r i z e d by f e a r : the f e a r

women more p h y s i c a l l y vu lne rab le than men f e e l when conf ron ted by v io lence

and b l o o d - l u s t .

From the sense o f v u l n e r a b i l i t y so s t r o n g l y conveyed in Kogawa, we

move t o poems expressing h o r r o r and h a t r e d . Human d e s t r u c t i o n and cr imes

aga ins t nature c a r r i e d out as a p a r t of war are mourned over and c r i e d

out aga ins t in anguish and despa i r . Profound g r i e f such as Ed i th S i t w e l l ' s

on the occasion o f the dropping o f t he f i r s t atomic bomb, has evolved in

t ime t o outraged anger in poets w r i t i n g about t he war in Vietnam. These

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p o e t s t a k e a p o l i t i c a l s t a n c e t o w a r d s what t h e y see as t h e i r c o u n t r y ' s

c r i m i n a l i n v o l v e m e n t i n a war a g a i n s t t h e p e a c e f u l and i n n o c e n t . As i n

L a i n g ' s poem w r i t t e n d u r i n g World War Two, i t i s t h e b r u t a l i t y of d e s t r u c t i o n

when i t i s k n o w i n g l y c o n c e i v e d a g a i n s t c h i l d r e n and t h e i r mothers t h a t

s i c k e n s t h e p o e t s most and c h a l l e n g e s t h e i r c o m p r e h e n s i o n , however much

t h i s c e n t u r y has c o n d i t i o n e d them t o a c c e p t war as an end r e s u l t o f male

a m b i t i o n and f o i l y .

Here a q u e s t i o n o f f e m i n i n e g u i l t r a i s e d i n t h e l a s t C h a p t e r begs some

a t t e n t i o n . T h i s i s t h e g u i l t and remorse e x p r e s s e d i n t h e poems on a b o r t i o n .

The emphasis on l i f e and c r e a t i o n i n S e c t i o n One t h r o w s t h e s e poems i n t o

r e l i e f , showing how h e a v i l y women bear t h e r e s u l t s of d e s t r u c t i o n when

t h e y t h e m s e l v e s a r e g u i l t y o f p r e v e n t i n g an i n d i v i d u a l l i f e from coming

t o b i r t h . Thus when men d e c i d e upon and c a r r y o u t l e g a l i z e d mass murder

a g a i n s t t h e l i v i n g , women a r e a p t t o r e c o i l i n h o r r o r a t t h e magnitude o f

t h e c r i m e , f e e l i n g i t w i t h an a l m o s t p h y s i c a l sense o f i d e n t i f i c a t i o n .

S i m i l a r l y , p o e t s who i d e n t i f y w i t h t h e e a r t h as mother, g i v e r o f l i f e , may

e x p e r i e n c e i n j u r y t o t h e e a r t h as s y m b o l i c wounds. The w o r l d no l o n g e r

seems v i a b l e t o t h e persona i n R i c h ' s poem where a husband t e s t s bombs i n

t h e d e s e r t w i t h c o n f i d e n t e f f i c i e n c y o r , i n a n o t h e r poem, r i s e s from t h e i r

bed t o go o u t and d e f o l i a t e t h e f i e l d s . P l a n n e d v i o l e n c e seems so b a s i c a l l y

f o r e i g n t o t h e women w r i t i n g , e s p e c i a l l y when t h e y have a s h a r e i n i t ,

t h a t what t h e y f e e l most i s t h e u n n a t u r a I n e s s o f t h e a c t , as i n B r o o k s '

poem on a b o r t i o n , o r t h e u n r e a l i t y o f t h e a c t , as i n Sex t o n ' s poem on t h e

same theme.

The v e r y i d e a o f war i s humanly o u t r a g e o u s t o women l i k e Edna S t .

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V i n c e n t Mi I l a y , who, on m e r e l y r e f l e c t i n g i n h e r poem " t h a t t h e w o r l d i s

ready t o go t o war a g a i n , " l a s h e s o u t i n f u r y . Her f i t o f rage i n c l u d e s

t h e e n t i r e " d e t e s t a b l e r a c e " which she e x c o r i a t e s f o r i t s s t u p i d i t y and

a v i d i t y f o r s e l f - d e s t r u c t i o n . Her a n g e r , l i k e S i t w e l l ' s g r i e f on t h e

morning of t h e e x p l o s i o n of t h e f i r s t a t o m i c bomb o v e r H i r o s h i m a , a d d r e s s e s

i t s e l f t o "Man." Both p o e t s u n d o u b t e d l y r e f e r t o t h e human r a c e , but t h e

ambiguous word "man" th r o w s emphasis on t h e male c u l p r i t i n t h e c o n t e x t ,

s i n c e i t i s d o u b t f u l t h a t t h e i r c r i t i c i s m would be l e v e l l e d w i t h equal f o r c e

a t women who, l i k e t h e m s e l v e s , a r e w i t h o u t power t o b r i n g a b o u t , d e c l a r e ,

c o n d u c t , o r f i g h t , wars. The poems a d d r e s s t h o s e most r e s p o n s i b l e : t h e

r u l e r s and t e c h n o l o g i c a l e x p e r t s o f a male-dominated o r d e r which has

bro u g h t t h e w o r l d t o t h e b r i n k of d e s t r u c t i o n . W i t h o u t s a y i n g "man"

s p e c i f i c a l l y , L e v e r t o v i n her poem a l s o p o i n t s a f i n g e r of a c c u s a t i o n a t

t h o s e i n t h e armed f o r c e s whose m i s s i o n i s t o k i l l . T h i s poem combines

anger and g r i e f so t e l l i n g l y as t o s u g g e s t i t s e l f . a s a f i r s t c h o i c e f o r

c l o s e r e x a m i n a t i o n .

"You who go o u t on s c h e d u l e / t o k i l l . , .:" t h u s L e v e r t o v . b e g i n s

t h e poem e n t i t l e d "Two V a r i a t i o n s . " Of a l l t h e war poems, L e v e r t o v ' s i s

t h e most immediate, p u t t i n g t h e r e a d e r on t h e judgment s e a t a l o n g w i t h

t h e men of t h e armed f o r c e s i n t h e f i r s t p a r t of t h e poem, and i n t h e

second " z e r o i n g i n " t o t h e t e s t i m o n y o f a v i c t i m of war so p i t i a b l e as

t o make t h e c r i m e a g a i n s t her c r y o u t f o r j u s t i c e , The poem i s a

po w e r f u l condemnation of t h e c a l l o u s , i n d i f f e r e n t b r u t a l i t y o f modern

w a r f a r e . The t w o f o l d s t r u c t u r e of t h i s poem g i v e s i t i t s p e c u l i a r l y

e f f e c t i v e s t r e n g t h , t h e two v i e w p o i n t s ' — t h e one o m n i s c i e n t , t h e o t h e r

17

s u b j e c t i v e ' — a c t i n g l i k e t h e two I i dI e s s eyes of t h e s u r v i v o r which a r e

"open f o r e v e r , " ! i n t h e i r h o r r i f i c s e e i n g . In them i s f o r e v e r r e - e n a c t e d

t h e napalm d e a t h s o f her f i v e c h i l d r e n ; t h e c o n v e r g i n g v i e w p o i n t s of t h e

two p a r t s of t h e poem f i x i n g t h e image so t h a t t h e poem i t s e l f i s a

c o n t i n u o u s " s e e i n g . "

The f i r s t " V a r i a t i o n " e n t i t l e d " E n q u i r y , " which b e g i n s by c h a l l e n g i n g

t h e k i l l e r s , ends w i t h t h e p r o p h e t i c judgment t h a t t h e k i n d of s e e i n g t h e y

have c r e a t e d w i l l remain t h r o u g h o u t h i s t o r y t o a c c u s e them w i t h t h e

knowledge of t h e i r i n h u m a n i t y . The rhythms of t h e v o i c e i n t o n i n g i t s

c h a r g e s a r e t e r s e and d e l i b e r a t e w i t h such r e p e t i t i o n s as "and buy . . .,"

"and s e l l . . .," "and s l e e p ? " ; "She i s . . .," "she whose , , ,," "she

w i l l . . .," "She saw . . .," "she began . . .," p r o d u c i n g an i t e r a t i o n

t h a t s u g g e s t s t h e t e c h n i q u e o f . p o l i c e i n t e r r o g a t i o n . . The g r i m n e s s of t h e

c h a r g e w e i g h t s each r e l e n t l e s s l i n e :

do you know t h e r e a r e eyes t h a t watch you, eyes whose l i d s you burned o f f , t h a t see you e a t y o u r s t e a k and buy y o u r g i r I f I e s h and s e l l y o u r PX goods and s l e e p ?

The p r o s e c u t i n g v o i c e p o i n t s o u t t h a t t h e young mother wi I I . never.now.sleep:

She saw h e r f i v e young c h i l d r e n w r i t h e and d i e ; i n t h a t hour she began t o watch you

she whose eyes a r e open f o r e v e r .

In t h e c o n t e x t of t h i s h o r r o r , t h e c o n f i d e n t b u y i n g and seI l i n g o f women

and r a t i o n s r e s p e c t i v e l y by.men who e a t s t e a k i n a c o u n t r y where t h e .

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meagre s t a p l e i s r i c e conveys the i m p e r i a l i s t arrogance of an invading

m i l i t a r y f o r c e s u c c i n c t l y and damningly. The men r e s p o n s i b l e — e a c h o n e —

f o r both t h e i r i n d i v i d u a l and c o l l e c t i v e war crimes are on t r i a l in t h i s

poet's t r i b u n a l , though t h e i r g u i l t i s already proved, since the evidence

she presents l i t e r a l l y speaks f o r i t s e l f . Levertov brings us face t o face

with i t in the second " V a r i a t i o n " where we are made t o see through the eyes

of the v i c t i m i z e d mother, as well as hear. "Seeing," as t h i s part of

the poem i s c a l l e d , i s the thought we overhear v o i c i n g i t s e l f in her mute

testimony. The poet brings us in c l o s e :

Hands over my eyes I see blood and the l i t t l e bones; or when a blanket covers the sockets I see the

weave; at night the g l a r e softens

But her new power t o see now i s only a v i s i o n of "gray/ on gray"; the

l i v i n g and the dead seem interchangeable; her youngest son p u l l s at her breast but there i s no m i l k ;

he i s a ghost; through h i s f l e s h I see the dying of those s a i d t o be a l i v e , they eat r i c e and speak t o me but I see d u l l death in them

The monotone of these observations: deadly, hopeless, uncomplaining, i s

l i k e the sound of the t e l l - t a l e heart, in Poe's s t o r y , which f a l l s on

the g u i l t y — h e r e , a l l who are implicated in f u r t h e r i n g American m i l i t a r y

aggression. The reader who must see, with the v i c t i m ' s own eyes, as

upon a screen the t o r t u r e d death of the c h i l d r e n t h a t i s being enacted,

i s not spared e i t h e r . The poem ends with t h i s image, or r a t h e r , with the

a p o c a l y p t i c moment th a t preceded the dying. Contrasted t o the mention of

hands at the beginning where the mother t r i e s t o s h i e l d h e r s e l f with them

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from t h e h u r t o f t h e l i g h t and t h e s l e e p l e s s n i g h t m a r e i s t h e me n t i o n of

a hand a t t h e end. T h i s i s t h e poem's open-ended c o n c l u s i o n :

eyes t h a t see a hand i n t h e unclouded s k y , a human hand, r e l e a s e wet f i r e , t h e r a i n t h a t gave my eyes t h e i r v i g i l a n c e .

The hand of a man, not of God; t h u s i n l o o k i n g back a t t h e poem we can

see why t h e s p e a k e r views t h e f a m i l y a l t a r w i t h o u t e m o t i o n , as she v i e w s

e v e r y t h i n g e l s e t h a t has l o s t i t s meaning. The gods a r e "gone" from t h e

human h e a r t , as i n S i t w e l l ' s poem where t h e f i r s t shock of an e a s t e r n

p e o p l e ' s b e i n g s u b j e c t e d t o t e r r o r of an unprecedented magnitude had not

y e t been a s s i m i l a t e d by e i t h e r t h e poet o r her c o n t e m p o r a r i e s , L e v e r t o v

reminds us we have become i n u r e d t o a t r o c i t y ,

. Thus, w i t h o u t e v e r m e n t i o n i n g V i e t n a m , t h e a u t h o r o f "Two V a r i a t i o n s "

i n d i c t s t h e g u i l t y hand of h e r countryman i n a s t a t e m e n t t h a t i s e x p r e s s l y

p o l i t i c a l . I t i n v o k e s s o c i a l c o n s c i e n c e and moral r e s p o n s i b i I i t y .through

an approach t h a t i s i n t e n s e I y p e r s o n a I, though t h e a p p e a l , i s t h r o u g h

i n d i r e c t i o n o f method, emotion i n t h e poem b e i n g c a r r i e d by image, rhythm,

tone' 1 and s t r u c t u r e , r a t h e r t h a n by argument, L e v e r t o v . documents a human

t r a g e d y ; she does not g e n e r a l i z e . She uses c l o s e - u p t e c h n i q u e s t o g i v e

s i g h t and sound t o t h e h o r r o r s t e c h n o l o g y i s c a p a b l e o f when c r i m i n a I Iy

c o n c e i v e d and.used a g a i n s t t h e d e f e n c e I ess.and t h e i r d e f e n d e r s ,

Contemporary p o e t s Atwood, R i c h and Braymer s h a r e L e v e r t o v ' s . p o I i t i c a I Iy

i n v o l v e d c o n c e r n . In t h i s t h e y d i f f e r from t h e p o e t s w r i t i n g d u r i n g World

War Two who can o n l y rage a g a i n s t , o r mourn, man's i n h u m a n i t y , • w i t h o u t

f e e I i n g themseIves i n any way r e s p o n s i b l e , The d i f f e r e n c e can be

t r a c e d t o t h e h i d e o u s e n d i n g of t h a t war w i t h a t o m i c bombs-expIoded o v e r

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e n t i r e c i t i e s , a shock t o t h e w o r l d which S i t w e l l ' s poem e l o q u e n t l y

r e g i s t e r s . P e o p l e i n t h e west were l e f t burdened w i t h g u i l t , w h i l e a p p r e

h e n s i o n mounted o v e r t h e arms r a c e and s t o c k p i l i n g of n u c l e a r weapons. A l o n g

w i t h men, women who f o r m e r l y would not have become i n v o l v e d i n p u b l i c a c t i o n

g r e e t e d new o u t b r e a k s of h o s t i l i t i e s w i t h o r g a n i z e d i n d i g n a t i o n , demanding

n u c l e a r disarmament and an end t o a l l war. B e i n g i m p l i c a t e d now i n

i n j u s t i c e , women f e l t a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o f i g h t a g a i n s t i t , a s t h e new a n t i

war poems show. T h i s has been t r u e even i n Canada, where we a r e n o t

d i r e c t l y i n v o l v e d w i t h c o n t i n u i n g . mi 1 i t a r y a g g r e s s i o n i n t h e e a s t .

P a s s i v i t y , u n l e s s p o l i t i c a l l y p r a c t i c e d as a counters-weapon t o v i o l e n c e ,

no l o n g e r i s r e l e v a n t . T h i s awareness,, and an a c c e p t a n c e of r e s p o n s i b i I i t y

f o r making t h e i r o p i n i o n s known about war a r e t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n t o d a y ' s

women p o e t s a r e making t o b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g and p o l i t i c a l change,. T h e i r

sense o f r e s p o n s i b i l i t y e n t a i l s making t h e m s e l v e s heard and a c c e p t e d as

e q u a l s i n a u t h o r i t y not o n l y i n t h e c o u n c i l s of t h e w o r l d , but where

c o n f l i c t , l i k e outmoded c h a r i t y , b e g i n s : i n t h e home. Or where Atwood

and R i c h u n f I i n c h i n g I y say: i n t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between l o v e r s .

.Atwood exposes t h e myth of c i v i l i a n non*-i nvol vement i n p r e s e n t i n g a

p e r s o n a who i s g u i l t y mere I y . t h r o u g h a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h what t h e newspapers,

w i t h t h e i r a c c o u n t s of war and w a r r i n g p o l i t i c s , b r i n g home. Presumably

w r i t i n g about, h e r s e I f , t h e w r i t e r s - p e r s o n a c o u l d j u s t as w e l l be male, f o r

her p o i n t i s t h a t none of us can c l a i m p r i v a t e space any.more. V i o l e n t

a g g r e s s i o n anywhere i n t h e w o r l d can a t any moment p u l l us i n . R i c h speaks

o f such danger, and of g u i l t - b y - a s s o c i a t i o n a l s o , though she l i n k s her

p e r s o n a ' s problem more i n t i m a t e l y t o t h e c a use of war by showing h e r

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marr ied t o a man in the government s e r v i c e of t e s t i n g l e tha l m i l i t a r y

weapons. Braymer, in her l a te s e v e n t i e s , w r i t i n g from the cen t re of the

s t r u g g l e , broods over Vietnam from Monday through F r i d a y , her " requiem"

ending in an impassioned prayer t o God t o avenge the betrayed by s t r i k i n g

down the g u i l t y who sub jec t the people of one count ry a f t e r another t o

impl ied s t a t i o n s of the c r o s s . In t h e i r va r i ed r e a c t i o n s t o present

c r i s i s , what these poets have in common is t h e i r c o n v i c t i o n t h a t a way

must be found t o undo the legacy of v i o lence t h a t leads masses of men—

the oppressed along w i t h t h e i r r u l e r s — t o dominate over those w i t h even

less power than themselves, and t o k i l l in the se rv i ce of dubious or

downr ight i nde fens ib le " i d e a l s . " Because the task seems so huge and hopeless,

expressions of courage are o f t e n over taken in the poems by expressions of

despa i r.

In c o n t r a s t t o these l i v i n g contemporar ies , the f o u r poets inc luded

here who were w r i t i n g a t the t ime of World War Two convey a sense of

looking a t someone e l s e ' s p e r f i d y and madness from a d is tance t h a t

v a r i o u s l y con ta ins them. However necessary the war aga ins t fasc ism may have

been, the k i l l i n g and maiming on both s ides aroused a ho r ro r t o which these

p o e t s — D i l y s La ing , Edna S t . V incent Mi I l ay , Ed i th S i t w e l l and Kathleen

R a i n e — v i o l e n t l y r e a c t : t h e i r s is a humane r a t h e r than a p o l i t i c a l

response. Ra ine 's poem is t o t a l l y a p o l i t i c a l : i t is a woman's lament t h a t

could have been w r i t t e n in any age, though i t s da t i ng toge the r w i t h i t s

re ference t o the deser t and sea in the t h i r d stanza i d e n t i f i e s i t w i t h

the North A f r i c a n campaign.

"Mourning in S p r i n g , 1943" is a poem in which Raine c a l l s upon

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young women t o j o i n w i t h her i n g r i e v i n g f o r "our l o v e r , d y i n g a l l o v e r t h e

w o r l d . " B e g i n n i n g w i t h an imp a s s i o n e d c a l l :

0 you g i r l s , g i r l f r i e n d s , you who have a l s o loved The f e r t i l e gods O s i r i s , and' A d o n i s

Whose garden has f l o w e r e d f o r c e n t u r i e s from o u r b l o o d ,

t h e poem ends w i t h t h i s f I a t f i n a I i t y : And now o u r s t e r i l e wombs and broken h e a r t s

A r e t h e measure o f war's d i s a s t e r , and l o v e ' s p r i c e .

R a i n e i d e n t i f i e s h e r s e l f w i t h mother goddesses i n a way t h a t d i f f e r s f rom

a n c i e n t f e r t i l i t y r i g h t s p e r t a i n i n g t o t h e goddesses as t h e s e have been

r e p r e s e n t e d i n most books on mythology. She responds t o t h e d e a t h s of t h e

male v e g e t a t i o n gods as a s h e d d i n g of t h e mother's own b l o o d , as i f t h e

f l e s h and b l o o d between them were i n d i v i s i b l e . In t h i s c o n t e x t , g i v i n g

b i r t h i s i t s e l f a s a c r i f i c e . If t h e r i t u a l s a c r i f i c e of men t o t h e e a r t h

i s b a r b a r i c , i t i s a l s o t h e way of n a t u r e , she s u g g e s t s , d r a w i n g a s t r a n g e

p a r a l l e l between p r i m i t i v e s a c r i f i c e o f t h e v e g e t a t i o n d e i t y t o e n s u r e

t h e e a r t h ' s f e r t i l i t y , and t h e s a c r i f i c e o f men t o war. Pr e s u m a b l y ,

s i n c e t h e i r b o d i e s go t o n o u r i s h t h e e a r t h and, i n t i m e , become i t , t h e i r

d e a t h s a r e j u s t i f i e d . War i s s i m p l y a p a r t o f t h e l i f e - d e a t h c y c l e and

t h e r e f o r e n e i t h e r a v o i d a b l e n o r e v i l , s i n c e e v i l i m p l i e s c h o i c e . T h i s

l e a v e s t h e poet w i t h o u t b i t t e r n e s s towards an enemy; a Mater-'Dolorosa, she

has no h e a r t f o r anger. (One r e c a l l s a d i f f e r e n t m a t e r n a l t r a d i t i o n i n

C I y t e m n e s t r a ' s revenge on her husband f o r t h e s a c r i f i c e i n t i m e of war

of her d a u g h t e r I p h i g e n i a . ) In her g r i e v i n g o v e r t h e l o s s of sons and

l o v e r s , t h e poet sees them as one and t h e same m a n i f e s t a t i o n o f t h e adored ma Ie ch i I d :

Our s o n s , our d a r l i n g s t h a t we have c h e r i s h e d from t h e w o r l d ' s c r e a t i o n ,

These were t h e l o v e r s t h a t wiped a l l t e a r s from o u r eyes

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Ra ine 's sorrow is focused e x c l u s i v e l y on the loss of the men engaged in

f i g h t i n g ; in her i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h myth ica l and C h r i s t i a n models,

and in con t i nu ing a t r a d i t i o n a l k ind of lament, she seems s t r a n g e l y

o b l i v i o u s t o bombs r a i n i n g from the sk ies on defenseless c i v i l i a n popu

l a t i o n s . C i v i l i a n c a s u a l t i e s amounted t o a t leas t h a l f the deaths

4

recorded in World War Two. Th is es t imate no doubt inc ludes the inmates

of H i t l e r ' s infamous death camps which Raine could not have known about in

I943. S t i l l , though l y r i c a l l y moving in i t s keening rhythm and choice of

language, f o r me, a t l e a s t , the poem stands c u r i o u s l y apar t from the

t w e n t i e t h century r e a l i t y of war which does not d i s c r i m i n a t e in i t s

human t a r g e t . In t h i s concern I am not a lone , o the r poets in t h i s Sect ion

r e a c t i n g t o the techno log i ca l ho r ro rs of World War Two w i t h v i o l e n t

a g i t a t i o n as e a r l y as 1939.

Raine invokes r e l i g i o n and myth in a way t h a t c o n t r a s t s w i t h Pat

Lowther 's poem in Sect ion One where t h e speaker a lso i d e n t i f i e s as archetypa l

mother. In Lowther, t he re is a causal r e l a t i o n s h i p between the con tex t

of g i v i n g b i r t h and the p o e t ' s anger t h a t the sons proc la im themselves

gods on ly t o go about desecra t ing the l i f e t h a t has been given them. In

Raine, the occasion f o r the re ference t o the gods is the death of sons,

which the mothers are not r e l a t e d t o , except in mytho log ica l i m p l i c a t i o n s

which the poet does not c a r r y t h rough . Her ear th-mother is l e f t impotent

and " s t e r i l e " w i t h the death of the men, whereas the powerful mother in

Lowther 's poem binds her l o v e r ' s sca t te red members toge the r t o make him

whole a g a i n , in the image of I s i s r e s t o r i n g O s i r i s . Ra ine 's i n t e r p r e t a t i o n

of the myth seems t o be o v e r l a i d w i t h C h r i s t i a n adora t ion of the Son by a

1 2 4

s o r r o w i n g mother who has no such p r i m i t i v e power. A l l woman can do, i n her

image, i s n o u r i s h w i t h her b l o o d t h e f l o w e r i n g garden b e l o n g i n g t o t h e

" f e r t i l e gods." T h i s seems an odd i n v e r s i o n of t h e c o n c e p t t h a t i t i s mother

e a r t h who i s f e r t i l e , v e g e t a t i o n b e i n g m e r e l y an e x p r e s s i o n o r m a n i f e s t a t i o n

of her f e r t i l i t y . How her b l o o d i s . r e l a t e d t o t h e s a c r i f i c e o f men's b l o o d

as e x a c t e d by war i s not c l e a r , u n l e s s we a c c e p t t h a t , i n s p i l l i n g t h e i r

own b l o o d , the. men a r e by e x t e n s i o n s p i l l i n g t h e i r m others'. T h i s a p p ears

t o be t h e p o e t ' s c o n c l u s i o n i n s t a t i n g t h a t women pay t h e p r i c e o f war.

Ra i n e i m p l i e s t h a t women l i v e o n l y i n t h e m a n i f e s t a t i o n o f what t h e y have

n o u r i s h e d . Though a t r i u m p h o f t h e p a t r i a r c h a l p o i n t of v i e w , t h e poem

conveys love and compassion so s t r o n g l y t h a t i t s appeal t o t h e emotion s

has t h e i r r e s i s t a b l e e f f e c t of d r a w i n g one i n t o s h a r e i t s r i t u a l , o f

mou rn i ng.

The f o u r p o e t s mentioned above d i f f e r from t h e n e w e r . v o i c e s i n t h a t

t h e y can s t i l l see t h e m s e l v e s w i t h o u t g u i l t , as a p a r t from what Mi I l a y

c a l l s t h e " d e t e s t a b l e w o r l d " bent on d e s t r o y i n g i t s e l f . S e e mingly dashed

o f f i n a w h i t e h e a t o f r a g e , h e r "Apo s t r o p h e t o Man" i s a poem.of e x t r a s

o r d i n a r y energy, c r e a t e d by t h e p o e t ' s h a v i n g packed t h i r t y v e r b s . - ^ a l l but

t h r e e o f them a c t i v e o n e s — i n t o a poem of t w e l v e l i n e s . W r i t t e n upon

h e a r i n g t h a t t h e w o r l d was about t o embark on y e t a n o t h e r war, i t i s a

s t i n g i n g d e n u n c i a t i o n o f man who, c l a i m i n g s u p e r i o r a b i I i t y t o g u i d e .the

a f f a i r s o f t h e n a t i o n under which t h e p o p u l a c e s h e l t e r s , has s t u p i d l y

and t r a g i c a l l y a b r o g a t e d t h e t h i n k i n g r o l e t o h i m s e l f , b r i n g i n g t e r r o r

and t h e t h r e a t o f a n n i h i I a t i o n . u p o n t h e w o r l d . Her sense of o u t r a g e d

b e t r a y a l i s made s u c c i n c t i n t h e e p i t h e t e n d i n g t h e poem:

1 2 5

B r e e d , crowd, e n c r o a c h , expand, expunge y o u r s e l f , d i e o u t , Homo caI Ied S a p i e n s .

T h i s w i t h e r i n g c o n c l u s i o n s h a r e s some a f f i n i t y w i t h t h e f o l l o w i n g l i n e s of

S i t w e l l from " D i r g e f o r t h e New S u n r i s e , " t h e f i r s t o f "Three Poems f o r t h e

Ato m i c Age" ( t h e o t h e r two not i n c l u d e d here) which t h e poet d a t e s t o t h e

mi n u t e and hour of t h e w o r l d ' s f i r s t a t o m i c bomb dropped by t h e U n i t e d

S t a t e s on H i r o s h i m a :

But I saw t h e l i t t l e Ant-men as t h e y ran C a r r y i n g t h e w o r l d ' s w e i g h t o f t h e w o r l d ' s f i l t h And t h e f i l t h i n t h e h e a r t of Man--Compressed u n t i I t h o s e l u s t s and g r e e d s had a g r e a t e r heat t h a n

t h a t of t h e Sun

D e s p i t e t h e s c o r n e v i d e n t i n t h e s e l i n e s , t h e t o n e o f t h i s moving poem i s

d e e p l y e l e g a i c . I t marks t h e b l a c k c l o s e of t h e war Mi I l a y i n v e i g h e d

a g a i n s t a t i t s b e g i n n i n g . S i t w e l l w r i t e s from t h e shocked c e n t e r of her

b e i n g , r e a c h i n g i n t o c l a s s i c a l a n t i q u i t y f o r t h i s f i r s t image: "Bound t o my

h e a r t as I x i o n t o t h e w h e e l , " and f o l l o w i n g i t up w i t h : " N a i l e d t o my

h e a r t as t h e T h i e f upon t h e C r o s s . " The p a r a l l e l c o n s t r u c t i o n s u p e r i m p o s e s

t h e second image upon t h e f i r s t , d o u b l i n g and s t r e n g t h e n i n g t h e sense of

s u f f e r i n g endured by t h e s p e a k e r as she hangs "between o u r C h r i s t and t h e

gap where t h e w o r l d was l o s t . " B e a u t y , innocence and love a r e a l s o l o s t ;

what i s l e f t i s a h o r r i b l e t r a v e s t y : "The l i v i n g b l i n d and s e e i n g Dead

t o g e t h e r l i e / As i f i n l o v e . " The poem c o n c l u d e s w i t h an e p i t a p h : "Gone i s

t h e h e a r t of Man," a l l hope abandoned i n t h e i n f e r n a l r e g i o n s where a

"murdered Sun" no l o n g e r sends i t s " h o l y L i g h t . " Because she i d e n t i f i e s

w i t h C h r i s t i n h i s i n n o c e n t s u f f e r i n g , S i t w e l l i s more s i n n e d a g a i n s t

t h a n s i n n i n g i n t h i s t o t a l b e t r a y a l o f t h e s a c r e d h e a r t . R e l i g i o n p r o v i d e s

i t s own k i n d o f d i s t a n c e .

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Di lys Laing dates "A f te rnoon T e a , " F a l l , 1939, which places her poem

a t the s t a r t . o f the war but l a t e r than Mi I l a y ' s would appear t o be. She

d e p i c t s th ree women, German, Engl ish and Jewish , p r a c t i s i n g "a l o s t w o r l d ' s

r i t e of tea and t o a s t and b u t t e r , " as they ga ther in a neu t ra l land t o

speak of what is on t h e i r minds:

Freed of our f l a g s , we s t r i v e t o comprehend The rup tu re of a wor ld we love in common.

N a t i o n a l i t y and i t s symbols become r e s t r i c t i v e t o people such as these

who recogn i ze.. on I y t h e i r common humanity in t h e i r shared love of l i f e ;

war is incomprehensible t o them as t o the speakers in most of the poems in

t h i s S e c t i o n . The l a s t stanza of La ing ' s f o r m a l l y balanced poem of f o u r

q u a t r a i n s ends w i t h t h i s u n f o r g e t t a b l e image;

The decorous room w i t h s a n i t y encloses our bod ies , but our outraged thoughts are f l e d t o c i t i e s where our s i s t e r s , screaming mad, hunt f o r small corpses in the wreck of houses.

The most untenable t ragedy of war f o r La ing , as f o r Lever tov , r s : t h e f a c t

of c h i l d murder, a barbar ism Laing equates w i t h i n s a n i t y . Mi I lay 's :poem

views war i t s e l f as insane.

The c u r r e n t f e e l i n g t h a t one is onesel f a cause of war i f one is

not a c t i v e l y opposing i t is s ta ted w i t h c l a r i t y and f o r c e in " I t is

Dangerous t o Read Newspapers." As in her poem w i t h which I have concluded

the H i s t o r i c a l I n t r o d u c t i o n , Atwood g ives a b r i e f p i c t o r i a l synopsis of

events leading up t o the present dilemma of the speaker, here less a

symbol ica l woman than an actua l person, a w r i t e r , seated a t her desk. Even

as a c h i l d b u i l d i n g sandcast les in the s e c u r i t y of the sandbox, she was not

s a f e : e lsewhere, h a s t i l y dug p i t s were " f i l l i n g w i t h bu l l^dozed c o r p s e s . "

1 2 7

P o s i t i v e and n e g a t i v e a r e n i c e l y c o n t r a s t e d i n t h e s e convex and concave

images. T h i s s p e a k e r was born i n t o war, grew up w i t h i t ; w h i l e she was s t i l l

a s c h o o l g i r l , bombs were f a l l i n g and now, though she s i t s " q u i e t l y as a

f u s e , " " t h e j u n g l e s a r e f l a m i n g . " The poet c r e a t e s a sense o f t h e i n v e r s i o n

of t h e n a t u r a l o r d e r , a f e e l i n g of incomprehension s i m i l a r t o t h e one i n

poems a l r e a d y d i s c u s s e d :

t h e names on t h e d i f f i c u l t maps go up i n smoke. I am t h e c a u s e , I am a s t o c k p i l e of c h e m i c a l t o y s , my body i s a dead Iy g a d g e t , I r e a c h o u t i n love,~ my hands a r e guns, my good i n t e n t i o n s a r e c o m p l e t e l y l e t h a l .

From b e i n g n e i t h e r s a f e h e r s e l f , she has become dangerous t o o t h e r s w i t h i n

her home s a n c t u a r y . Newspaper communications d e s t r o y t h e peace t h a t a r t

would f a s h i o n :

Each t i m e I h i t a key on my e l e c t r i c t y p e w r i t e r , s p e a k i n g o f p e a c e f u l t r e e s

a n o t h e r v i l l a g e e x p l o d e s

Why? Because, s u g g e s t s t h e poem, t h e w r i t e r s h a r e s t h e same advanced

t e c h n o l o g y t h a t p e r m i t s bombs t o be a c q u i r e d , t e s t e d and dropped and news

of t h e v i c t i m s t o p e n e t r a t e her d o m e s t i c e n c l o s u r e . B e n e f i t i n g from t h i s

t e c h n o l o g y , she c a n n o t c l a i m immunity from t h e d i s a s t e r s d i c t a t e d by t h e

e v i l ends t o which t e c h n o l o g y i s d i r e c t e d .

Atwood's use of t h e long "o" i n t h i s poem d e s e r v e s n o t i c e , as does her

c r a f t i n e x p l o i t i n g t h e p h o n e t i c v a r i a t i o n s o f t h e v o w e l . The long "o" i s

r e p e a t e d i n t h e words b u l l d o z e d , combed, grown-up, s o l d i e r s , go, smoke,

phot o , e x p l o d e s ; t h e vowel i s v a r i o u s l y sounded i n sandbox, c o r p s e s ,

d e t o n a t e d , bombs, s t o c k p i l e , body, l o v e , pocked, s t o p , a n o t h e r . The

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c u m u l a t i v e e f f e c t o f sounds and eye-rhymes r e i n f o r c e s t h e meaning of t h e

words which add up t o a s i n i s t e r c o m p i l a t i o n . Her b r i l l i a n t l y e c o n o m i c a l

t e c h n i q u e i s a g a i n e x e m p l i f i e d i n a l i k e manner i n t h e m i d d l e t h r e e

l i n e s o f t h o s e l a s t q u o t e d , where she uses t h e long vowel " e " t o produce

a g r i m l i p - t i g h t e n i n g e f f e c t by r e p e a t i n g t h e sound i n q u i c k s u c c e s s i o n ,

a d e v i c e t h a t s t r e t c h e s i t t o a t e n s i o n t h a t i s r e l e a s e d i n t h e word

" e x p l o d e s " which t e r m i n a t e s t h e poem.

In " T r y i n g t o t a l k w i t h a Man," R i c h a l s o g i v e s a b r i e f background

t o t h e p r e s e n t s t a t e o f a s p e a k e r who i s t r y i n g t o m a i n t a i n a f o r m e r

peace w i t l v t h e w o r l d and f a i l i n g . The poet s k e t c h e s a c o m f o r t a b l e m i d d l e -

c l a s s e x i s t e n c e of r e c o r d c o l l e c t i o n s , home movies and a f t e r n o o n s on t h e

r i v e r b a n k " p r e t e n d i n g t o be c h i l d r e n : " t h e l i f e "we've had t o g i v e up t o

g e t h e r e . " "Here" i s a d e s e r t where "we a r e t e s t i n g bombs," t h e s p e a k e r

i n c l u d i n g h e r s e l f i n t h i s , though c l e a r l y i t i s t h e man's j o b : she has

mer e l y come a l o n g as w i f e . What i s l a t e r i m p l i e d i s t h a t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p

i t s e l f has t h e p o t e n t i a l of a bomb. Meanwhile t h e r e i s a s i l e n c e

t h a t sounds l i k e t h e s i l e n c e o f t h e p l a c e e x c e p t t h a t i t came w i t h us and i s fami I i a r and e v e r y t h i n g we were s a y i n g u n t i l now was an e f f o r t t o b l o t i t o u t .

The s i l e n c e i s t h e i n a d m i s s i b l e f a c t o f t h e i r c o m p l i c i t y , t h e i r g u i l t i n

" p r e t e n d i n g " innocence w h i l e g o i n g a l o n g , l i k e t h e r e s t o f t h e p e o p l e i n

t h e g i v e n - u p n e i g h b o r h o o d s , w i t h government p o l i c i e s p r o m i s i n g d e a t h . The

s i l e n c e i s a f e a r and a d e f e n c e . The w i f e wants t o break i t b u t here she

is.more v u l n e r a b l e t h a n a t home, and f a c e t o f a c e w i t h t h e u g l y i m p l i c a t i o n s

b e s i d e s :

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Out here I fee l more he lp less w i t h you than w i t h o u t you

She is unable t o communicate the s i c k dread she f e e l s under t a l k of "people

ca r ing f o r each o t h e r / in emergencies." Her problem is the man whose

exci tement over h i s job of a u t h o r i t y makes him o b l i v i o u s , perhaps imperv ious,

t o her f e e l i n g s and so t o the widening d is tance in t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p . He

has become a t h r e a t t o her , a s t r a n g e r ! h i s "d ry heat f e e l s l i k e power,"

h i s eyes are " s t a r s o f a d i f f e r e n t magnitude" r e f l e c t i n g " l i g h t s t h a t spe l l

ou t EXIT." He paces the f l o o r

t a l k i n g of the danger as i f i t were not ourse lves

as i f we were t e s t i n g anyth ing e l s e .

Danger f o r R i c h , as f o r Atwood, is d i f f u s e d throughout the oppress ive

atmosphere, searching out the person whether she i s alone in the s i l e n c e

of her thoughts or i s o l a t e d w i t h i n the c o m p l i c i t s i l e n c e of a community t h a t

re fuses t o acknowledge the c r i s i s always e x p l o d i n g .

In her e a r l i e r poem dated 1967, Rich presents a speaker as ye t not

a l i e n a t e d , though she broods over her s leep ing love w i t h a f r u s t r a t i o n

c lose t o d e s p a i r . " E v e r y t h i n g , even y o u , / c r i e s s i l e n t l y f o r h e l p , " run

her though ts : "What can I do f o r you?/ what can I do f o r you?" I t is .

i n t e r e s t i n g t o compare the f o l l o w i n g l i nes from t h i s poem, " N i g h t Watch" :

I stand in my o l d nightmare beside the t r a c k , wh i l e you, and over and over and always you plod i n t o the death cars

w i t h l i nes from Atwood's poem in the H i s t o r i c a l I n t r o d u c t i o n , where the

speaker remembers the months between

running a longs ide the t r a i n , s k i r t s h i t c h e d , handing you v i o l e t s in a t the window and opening the l e t t e r ; I watched your snapshot fade f o r twenty years

130

In " N i g h t Watch," R i c h i s s t i l l bending p r o t e c t i v e l y o v e r t h e l o v e r ,

s e e i n g him as v i c t i m . In "The Phenomenology of Anger," a poem from her

most r e c e n t l y p u b l i s h e d book (as i s " T r y i n g t o t a l k w i t h a Man"), d e s p a i r

has hardened t o b i t t e r h a t r e d . " F a n t a s i e s of murder" a r e not enough f o r t h e

s p e a k e r , because " t h e k i l l e r goes on h u r t i n g . " Her f r u s t r a t i o n s e e k s an

o u t l e t i n s t e a d i n a dream i n which v i o l e n c e i s used c o n s t r u c t i v e l y : a c e t y l e n e ,

used i n m e l t i n g m e t a l , r i p p l e s from her body

p e r f e c t l y t r a i n e d on t h e t r u e enemy

r a k i n g h i s body down t o t h e t h r e a d of e x i s t e n c e b u r n i n g away h i s I i e l e a v i n g him i n a new w o r l d ; a changed man

The man has become so r o b o t - l i k e i n h i s i m p e r v i o u s n e s s t o human rea s o n

and f e e l i n g t h a t t h e s p e a k e r can o n l y t h i n k of match i n g him w i t h a

c o r r e s p o n d i n g hardness t h a t comes c l o s e t o madness. Be h i n d such dreams

and f a n t a s i e s i s t h e r e a l i t y of l i v i n g w i t h a man she has come t o p e r c e i v e

as a human monster:

T h i s morning you l e f t t h e bed we s t i I 1 s h a r e and went o u t t o s p r e a d impotence upon t h e w o r l d

I h a te you. I h ate t h e mask you wear, yo u r eyes assuming a depth t h e y do n o t p o s s e s s , drawing me i n t o t h e g r o t t o of y o u r s k u l l t h e l a ndscape of bone

Because i t i s not informed by t h e h e a r t , t h e b r a i n has become a w a s t e l a n d .

S i t w e l l ' s v i s i o n of t h e a t o m i c age has been p o e t i c a l l y c o n f i r m e d .

131

A poem t h a t works up t o a s i m i l a r d e s p e r a t e p i t c h o f h ate i s

Braymer's " F i v e - d a y Requiem f o r V i e tnam." E n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t i n i t s f o c u s ,

however, i t i s t h e v o i c e of a seasoned p o l i t i c a l w orker r e a c t i n g t o t h e

i m p e r s o n a l " V o i c e " o f t h e b r o a d c a s t e r " t a b u l a t i n g d e a t h l i k e b a s e b a l l

s c o r e s . " Or, t h e " V o i c e " may be t h a t of a government l e a d e r ; no m a t t e r ,

whoever he i s he has her s p e n d i n g Monday i n a rage of s i c k h o r r o r and

impotence, l i s t e n i n g . Tuesday she i s roused t o moral i n d i g n a t i o n , a s k i n g :

Who made them c r a w l i n mud who t a u g h t them t o murder who s e n t them t o d i e o r even worse t o l i v e l e g l e s s o r b l i n d o r j u s t remembering

— l i s t i n g t h e h o r r o r s , w i t h t h e a f t e r t h o u g h t "--And what would J e s u s s a y ? "

e n d i n g t h e s t a n z a w i t h a mocking d e n u n c i a t i o n of t h e c u l t u r e . Wednesday

she p l e a d s "What must we do b e f o r e you hear u s ? " — p r e s u m a b l y a d d r e s s i n g

t h e government who has t h e power t o do what i n d i v i d u a l s , even i n t h e mass,

can n o t . Speaking as a v o i c e of p u b l i c p r o t e s t she d e t a i l s her e x a s p e r a t i o n :

We march, t e a c h , w r i t e , s i n g o u r anger p a i n t banners i n o u r b l o o d , burn up c a r d s t h a t b i d us t o t h e s l a u g h t e r , and i n t h e u l t i m a t e scream i g n i t e o u r f l e s h .

Braymer speaks w i t h a sense o f t h e u n i t y between men and women in t h e

s t r u g g l e g a i n s t war. Y e t Thursday she i s g i v e n o v e r t o d e s p a i r and shame

f o r her c o u n t r y and i t s p e o p l e "who l e t such monstrous t h i n g s go on."

F r i d a y her anger t u r n s r i g h t e o u s : " I who am not a t home w i t h p r a y e r / f i n d

m y s e l f m u t t e r i n g L o r d , s t r i k e them dead." G r e a t e r t h a n t h e sum o f i t s

modes: p a r t p r i v a t e c i t i z e n , p a r t p u b l i c o r a t o r , p a r t B i b l i c a l l a m e n t a t i o n ,

p a r t c o n f e s s i o n , p a r t p o l i t i c a l harangue, i s t h e f r u s t r a t i o n r u n n i n g t h r o u g h

t h i s poem r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of a g e n e r a t i o n f r a y e d w i t h t h e u n c e a s i n g c o n f l i c t s

o f a w o r l d a t war, p e o p l e whose s o c i a l c o n c e r n w i l l not l e t them r e s t . A

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M a r x i s t - m i n d e d p r o t e s t o r , t h e s p e a k e r d e v o t e s a l l her e n e r g i e s t o p u b l i c l y

f i g h t i n g f o r peace w h i l e her younger f e m i n i s t s i s t e r s c o n d u c t t h e i r o f t e n

more i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c b a t t l e s i n v o l v i n g a s i n g l e male f i g u r e . In Braymer,

t h e angry r e s p o n s e has t o t a l l y e c l i p s e d r e s i g n e d o r p r i v a t e d e s p a i r .

We have come a long way from t h e woman p r e s e n t e d as p a s s i v e v i c t i m

i n Kogawa's "The C h i c k e n K i l l i n g . " V i o l e n c e i s so o m n i p r e s e n t a t h r e a t

f o r t h e s p e a k e r i n t h i s poem t h a t , on a walk t h r o u g h a q u i e t c o u n t r y l a n e ,

even t h e d r y i n g r i c e i n t h e f i e l d s t a k e s on m i l i t a r y s u g g e s t i v e n e s s f o r h e r ,

a p p e a r i n g "propped i n l i n e s l i k e s o l d i e r s on parad e . " W a l k i n g on, she sees

f i v e men c l u s t e r e d around a c h i c k e n i n a d r a m a t i c scene t h a t has t h e

f l a v o r of an A z t e c b l o o d - s a c r i f i c e :

Sweat c l o t h s around f o r e h e a d s , open u n d e r s h i r t s , b l a c k c l o t h b o o t s , One w i t h k n i f e , one g r i n n i n g t o o t h l e s s — Plump w h i t e c h i c k e n h e l d f e e t f i r s t f l u t t e r s w h i l e b l o o d D r i p s from t h e s l i t i n i t s neck

The b i r d s t r u g g l e s , "Then f l u n g a s i d e , d i e s , " as t h e s p e a k e r c o n t i n u e s her

walk down t h e " t r e m b l i n g r o a d , "

F e e l i n g on my neck t h e s l i g h t s a l t i n e s s o f a q u e s t i o n — I am d a n g l i n g f e e t f i r s t from t h e sky — P e r h a p s i f I do not s t r u g g l e —

W i t h t h i s echo of t h e a r c h e t y p a l woman pun i s h e d f o r her l a c k o f p r o p e r

r e s p e c t , Kogawa l e a v e s us w i t h Hera, hung from t h e sky f o r i n s u b o r d i n a t i o n

t o her Lord and ma s t e r : an image t o make any woman of s p i r i t r a g e . Whether

t h e f e a r i s w e l l - f o u n d e d i n t h i s poem, i t i s t h e r e , and w i t h good r e a s o n :

so w e l l have women been i n t i m i d a t e d .

But t h e more p r e v a l e n t f e a r o f war w i t h i t s t h r e a t o f r e a l , i n d i s c r i m

i n a t e a t t a c k i s not o n l y w e l l - f o u n d e d : i t f u n c t i o n s as a s t i m u l u s t o

mass a c t i o n i n which t h e common d e t e r m i n a t i o n t o oppose o r g a n i z e d k i l l i n g

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b u i l d s a s t r e n g t h of r e s i s t a n c e . In L e v e r t o v and Braymer, anger informed

by g r i e f c h a l l e n g e s t h e m u r d e r e r s w i t h a p r o p h e t i c d e n u n c i a t i o n and c a l l i n g

down of vengeance which r e c a l l s both t h e g r e a t p r o p h e t s t h u n d e r i n g a g a i n s t

war and c o r r u p t i o n and, r e c o v e r i n g a f e m i n i n e t r a d i t i o n , t h e F u r i e s .

Women as F u r i e s p r e s e n t a f a r more h o p e f u l r e s p o n s e t o a t r o c i t y t h a n do

women as p a s s i v e v i c t i m s subdued by p a t r i a r c h a l dominance; read i n t h i s

s e n s e , t h e poems i n t h i s S e c t i o n and i n S e c t i o n Three d e c r y i n g male

p r e s u m p t i o n and o p p r e s s i o n m a n i f e s t a l i f e f o r c e , a commitment t o t h e f u t u r e ,

t h a t i s one of t h e few b r i g h t s p o t s i n a t i m e and c u l t u r e g r i e v o u s l y

b e i n g d e s t r o y e d by i t s o b s e s s i o n w i t h v i o l e n c e and d e a t h .

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C h a p t e r T h r e e

Anger A g a i n s t Male P r e s u m p t i o n and O p p r e s s i o n

As a gro u p , t h e poems i n t h i s S e c t i o n a r e p r o b a b l y more r o o t e d i n

t h e f e m i n i s t t r a d i t i o n t h a n any o t h e r i n t h e A n t h o l o g y . We may r e c a l l

t h a t p o e t i c p r o t e s t a g a i n s t male p r e s u m p t i o n — t a k i n g h e a r t from Aphra

Behn's e x a m p l e — b e g a n t o g a t h e r momentum t h r e e c e n t u r i e s ago, t h e t i m e of

women's f i r s t b e g i n n i n g t o be e f f e c t u a l l y heard i n s e c u l a r p o e t r y . The

s t r u g g l e f o r women's s u f f r a g e i n t h e e a r l y p a r t o f o u r p r e s e n t c e n t u r y ,

f o l l o w e d by t h e p r e s e n t l i b e r a t i o n movement w i t h i t s f a r more comprehensive

c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f t h e i r unequal p o s i t i o n i n s o c i e t y , has had a p r o f o u n d e f f e c t

on contemporary women p o e t s , p r o v i d i n g them w i t h f r e s h m a t e r i a l . In ques

t i o n i n g anew t h e a t t i t u d e s and p r a c t i s e s of male dominance, women tod a y

a r e w i t h o u t r e s e r v e : as p o e t s t h e y a r e e x p o s i n g t h e most i n t i m a t e d o m e s t i c

and p h y s i c a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e p u b l i c ones of draw i n g room,

s t r e e t and p u l p i t . No a r e a e s c a p e s t h e i r s c r u t i n y . As a r e s u l t , most men

a r e b e i n g found g u i l t y o f forms of p r e s u m p t i o n t h a t many of our grandmothers,

c o n d i t i o n e d t o a c c e p t f e m i n i n e r o l e s d e f i n e d f o r them by r e l i g i o n and s o c i a l

custom, would have approved as t h e n a t u r a l o r d e r .

What a r e t h e forms of male p r e s u m p t i o n t o which contemporary women

r e a c t ? The poems speak of two main forms w h i c h , t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e t y p e s

of f e m a l e r e s p o n s e t o them, I s h a l l t a k e up i n t u r n . The g r e a t e s t form o f

pr e s u m p t i o n i s t h e d e e p l y imbedded n o t i o n t h a t women e x i s t t o s e r v e men.

Women a r e e x p e c t e d t o s e r v e men not o n l y as g r a t i f i e r s o f t h e i r s e x u a l

d e s i r e s , b u t , as w i v e s , t o p r o v i d e t h e p e r s o n a l a t t e n t i o n s o f a s e r v a n t

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c a t e r i n g t o a v a r i e t y of needs and d e s i r e s , i n c l u d i n g t h e c r e a t i o n o f a

home en v i r o n m e n t t o r e f l e c t t h e husband's s o c i a l s t a t u s ; as mo t h e r s , t o

t a k e on t h e f u l l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of i n f a n t and c h i l d c a r e , s e r v i n g t h e

c h i l d r e n ' s needs t i l l t h e y a r e o l d enough f o r independence; and, i n any

c a p a c i t y — a s young women, l o v e r s , w i v e s , mothers and d a u g h t e r s — t o

f u n c t i o n as ego and mora l e b o o s t e r s : c e n t e r s of warmth, u n d e r s t a n d i n g

and s h e l t e r f o r men from t h e c o m p e t i t i v e p u b l i c w o r l d . Though t h e poems

do not deal w i t h women i n t h e p a i d work f o r c e , t h e f a c t t h a t women a r e

h i r e d t o do p r e d o m i n a n t l y t h e same k i n d o f r o u t i n e s e r v i c e j o b s t h a t t h e y

do i n t h e home speaks f o r i t s e l f .

The p o e t s ' d i r e c t r esponse t o t h e s e b a s i c forms of o p p r e s s i o n i n

a l l but two of t h e poems here i s p a i n and anger. The anger i s sometimes

e x p e r i e n c e d as l i b e r a t i n g and sometimes as d e s t r u c t i v e . In t r a c i n g t h e i r

anger t o i t s s o u r c e , t h e women i n poems by Sharon S t e v e n s o n , Lynne Lawner

and J o y c e C a r o l Oates speak of h a v i n g t r i e d t o p l e a s e men whose s e l f -

c e n t e r e d n e s s and i n s e n s i t i v i t y d r ove t h e women e v e n t u a l l y t o t u r n t h e i r

backs on them. The d e s i r e t o p l e a s e i s a n a t u r a l consequence o f l o v e ,

i t would seem, b u t t h e s e p o e t s f i n d t h a t i t i s e x p e c t e d by men as t h e i r

due, w i t h o u t need f o r r e c i p r o c i t y . T h i s i s so t y p i c a l l y t h e c a s e t h a t women

soon l e a r n t o p l e a s e as t h e p r i c e of a c c e p t a n c e and a p p r o v a l by t h e master

se x , n ot o n l y i n m a t t e r s of love (and m a r r i a g e , as Oates so b i t t e r l y

p r o t e s t s ) b u t , i n g e n e r a l : as we see i n Dorothy L i v e s a y , S t e v i e S m ith

and P.K. Page, p o e t s who r e a c t t o t r a d i t i o n a l male dominance w i t h dismay

o r sorrow r a t h e r t h a n w i t h anger. Among c h a r a c t e r i s t i c r e s p o n s e s m e r e l y

i m p l i e d by t h e poems i n t h i s S e c t i o n a r e t h e f o l l o w i n g : l a c k of s e l f -

c o n f i d e n c e and i n i t i a t i v e ; f e a r of f a i l u r e ; f e a r o f t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y

136

of s u c c e s s ; f e a r of b e i n g t h o u g h t u n f e m i n i n e ; f e a r of. h a v i n g t o e a r n a

l i f e - l o n g l i v i n g i n a s o c i e t y t h a t c h a n n e l s women i n t o t h e d u l l e s t , low-

p a y i n g j o b s ; and f e a r of becoming a l i e n a t e d and u n l o v e d . To t h e s e must

be added t h e f e a r of rape e x p r e s s e d by Kogawa i n t h e p r e v i o u s S e c t i o n .

Because of a l l t h e s e f e a r s , women a c c e p t , o r adapt t o , t h e i r i n f e r i o r

r o l e s , c h e e r f u l l y making t h e b e s t of them i n some c a s e s , becoming i l l w i t h

nervous and p s y c h i c d i s t u r b a n c e s because t h e y a r e u n a b l e t o a d a p t , i n

o t h e r s . S e c t i o n Three p r e s e n t s women who have run t h e gamut of such

e x p e r i e n c e s , and who e i t h e r vehemently r e j e c t t h e men t h e y h o l d r e s p o n s i b l e ,

o r l i k e L i v e s a y and Page, le a v e them t o t h e r e a d e r ' s judgment. T h e i r s

a r e t h e o n l y two poems not o v e r t l y c o n c e r n e d w i t h p r o t e s t .

R e l a t e d t o t h e i d e a t h a t women e x i s t t o s e r v e men i s t h e form of

male p r e s u m p t i o n t h a t t a k e s male s u p e r i o r i t y f o r g r a n t e d . T h i s a t t i t u d e

a l l o w s men a u t o m a t i c a l l y t o assume male p r i o r i t y i n p u b l i c o r p r i v a t e

l i f e i n a way t h a t i g n o r e s o r t a k e s precedence o v e r women's own i n t e r e s t s

and d e s i r e s . T h i s h u r t s most i n i n t i m a t e r e l a t i o n s h i p s . The l o v e r s

a d d r e s s e d i n t h e s e poems i n e s c a p a b l y s e r v e t o f o c u s t h e p o e t s ' g r i e v a n c e s

a g a i n s t men who d i s r e g a r d t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s t h a t women-*-as p e o p l e w i t h

t h e i r own g o a l s and p o t e n t i a I s — h a v e t o t h e m s e l v e s . T h i s l e a d s M a r g a r e t

Atwood t o expose i n a l l h i s a b s u r d p r e t e n t i o u s n e s s t h e s e l f - m a d e h e r o —

a c t u a l l y , t h e a v e r a g e e g o t i s t i c a l male*—-who c o n f i d e n t l y assumes l e a d e r s h i p

in any g i v e n s i t u a t i o n , c o n v i n c e d he has t h e q u a l i t i e s t o l e a d . Her

s a t i r e e v i d e n t l y p r o c e e d s from a more f a v o r a b l e sense o f . h e r own s t r e n g t h

t h a n i s conveyed by o t h e r p o e t s . Atwood's s c o r n f u l l a u g h t e r i s n o t s h a r e d ,

f o r i n s t a n c e , by S m i t h , who s e e s no humor i n a s i t u a t i o n which v i c t i m i z e s

humanity t h r o u g h making v i c t i m s of women; h e r s i s a more c o m m i s e r a t i n g ,

i f no l e s s c r i t i c a I , . v i e w . Smith sees men as w i l l i n g dupes of r e l i g i o n s

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which c o n f e r a s p u r i o u s s u p e r i o r i t y on t h e i r h a l f o f t h e r a c e , t h e r o o t

o f a l l e v i l i n C h r i s t i a n c u l t u r e s b e i n g , she s a y s , t h e myth of Eve's

r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r man's f a l l . The p a t r i a r c h a l r e l i g i o n s o f t h e w o r l d have

e n a b l e d men t o t a k e i t o v e r i n t h e b e l i e f i t i s t h e i r r i g h t , a j u s t i f i c a t i o n ,

a c t u a l l y , o f t h e i r g r e e d and w i l l t o power. The w o r l d runs on t h e male

b e l i e f t h a t t h e y a r e s u p e r i o r i n knowing how t o g o v e r n , t o t h i n k i n l a r g e

and a b s t r a c t t e r m s , t o i n v e n t , a n d — t h o u g h t h e p o e t s do n o t s p e l l i t a l l o u t —

on t h e c o n v i c t i o n o f t h e i r s u p e r i o r i t y i n p r a c t i c a l and a r t i s t i c knowledge,

in s t r e n g t h , i n i n i t i a t i v e and in' t h e i r a b i l i t y t o make enormous sums

of money: a v a l u e i n w e s t e r n c u l t u r e which bestows a u t h o r i t y and i n f l u e n c e

on such men w i t h t h e a b s o l u t i s m o f r e l i g i o n .

Indeed, male p r e s u m p t i o n makes man l o r d of a l l c r e a t i o n , woman b e i n g

h i s most v a l u a b l e , because humanly e x p l o i t a b l e , p o s s e s s i o n . B e c a u s e , t h e

bond between them i s b i o l o g i c a l r a t h e r t h a n p u r e l y economic, as i n t h e

case o f s l a v e s o f both s e x e s , man can lean on woman f o r a l l h i s de e p e s t

needs: f o r m o t h e r i n g , f o r n o u r i s h m e n t , f o r f u l f i l l m e n t of a l l k i n d s and,

in a c r u d e s o r t of way, f o r f u n . In one of Lynne Lawner's two poems h e r e ,

t h e man i s d e p i c t e d u s i n g her as he would an a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o p e r t y ;

because she y i e l d s t o him, he e x p e c t s . t o . I i v e o f f her f e m i n i n e r e s o u r c e s

of l o v e as he would o f f a f i e l d o f g r a i n . Women as food f o r men i s t h e

theme of two o t h e r poems b e s i d e s Lawner's. L i v e s a y i s d i s t r e s s e d when

a l o v e r t r e a t s her not as t h e i n d i v i d u a l she presumes he l o v e s , but as

any woman r e q u i r e d t o s a t i s f y h i s s e x u a l a p p e t i t e s ; i n t h i s he i s no

d i f f e r e n t from t h e b l a c k man who, d e s p i t e h a v i n g a h i s t o r y of o p p r e s s i o n

l i k e h e r s e l f , o r d e r s her about as she p r e p a r e s a meal f o r him, s e c u r e i n

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h i s assumed male p r i v i l e g e . In P a t Lowther's poem, t h e woman i s e x p e c t e d

t o deny her i n t e l l i g e n c e so t h a t she w i l l be more " d i g e s t i b l e " t o t h e

man who wants t o consume her . Here t h e poet i s a b l e t o r e s i s t w i t h s p i r i t

and humor. Up t i l l t h e r e c e n t p a s t , t h e p r o h i b i t i v e c o s t o f such d e f i a n c e

kept women i n c h e c k , as Page shows i n d e p i c t i n g a d a u g h t e r ' s l i f e o f

s a c r i f i c e t o a t y r a n n i c a l f a t h e r t y p i c a l of a bygone day; though her

s u b j e c t and mode e x c l u d e r e s e n t m e n t , t h e t r a g e d y of a s e l f i s h l y e x e r c i s e d

p a t e r n a l a u t h o r i t y makes i t s own s t a t e m e n t . Di l y s L a i n g a n g r i l y r e p u d i a t e s

Pope P i u s X I I f o r h i s a s s e r t i o n of t h e t e a c h i n g of t h e Church f a t h e r s

t h a t women s h o u l d humbly r e s i g n t h e m s e l v e s t o b e i n g men's burden f o r

t h e purpose o f p r o c r e a t i o n . F i n a l l y , i n t h i s o v e r v i e w o f t h e S e c t i o n ,

D e n i s e L e v e r t o v i s overcome w i t h r e v u l s i o n a t b e i n g t h e o b j e c t of d e g r a d i n g

male c a t c a l l s on t h e s t r e e t . To be a woman, a c c o r d i n g t o t h e w i t n e s s of

t h e s e poems, i s t o be v u l n e r a b l e t o a l l such a t t a c k s on human d i g n i t y .

For c l o s e r e x a m i n a t i o n , I w i l l t a k e L i v e s a y ' s "The Taming," f i r s t ,

s i n c e i n i t s uneasy s u b m i s s i o n t o male dominance i t seems n a t u r a l l y t o

succeed t h e poem l a s t d i s c u s s e d i n d e t a i l a t t h e end of t h e p r e v i o u s

C h a p t e r : Kogawa's "The C h i c k e n K i l l i n g . " B o t h poems d e a l w i t h f e m a l e

s u b m i s s i o n , and both p o e t s i n t r o d u c e a c h i c k e n t o p o i n t up t h e s p e a k e r ' s

sense of h e r s e l f as h e l p l e s s (though f o r d i f f e r e n t r e a s o n s ) i n c o n f r o n t a t i o n

w i t h t h e male. In Kogawa's poem, t h e c h i c k e n s u f f e r s v i o l e n t d e a th as

t h e o b j e c t o f a c r u e l s o r t of game; in L i v e s a y ' s poem, t h e c h i c k e n i s

m e r e l y s e r v e d up by t h e s p e a k e r as f o o d f o r a s t r a n g e r . D e s p i t e t h e v e r y

r e a l - d i f f e r e n c e i n t o n e as w e l l as use of imagery i n t h e s e poems, t h e

s p e a k e r i s p a s s i v e , v e n t i n g no a nger o r p r o t e s t , though L i v e s a y , a t l e a s t ,

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suggests t h a t these p a r t i c u l a r emotions are being smothered. She g ives

them on ly enough space t o show under the sur face of the poem, as i t were:

as in the f o l l o w i n g l i nes where the persona r e a l i z e s the lesson she was

u n w i t t i n g l y taugh t

t h a t n i g h t when you denied me darkness, even the r i g h t t o t u r n in my own l i g h t .

Th is is the same lesson taugh t her by a b lack s t ranger whom she d id the i

kindness of p repar ing him a meal . Impat ient w i t h her f o r not cooking i t

t o h i s t a s t e , he rudely c o r r e c t s her w i t h the command: "Do what I say,

woman." The poet shows t h a t , desp i te h i s fo rbears once having been s laves

in America, h i s s u p e r i o r i t y as a man g ives him the arrogance t o t r e a t her

as h i s s l a v e . Her w i l l i n g n e s s t o serve i s taken f o r g r a n t e d : i t is what

makes her "woman." Sexual compliance is an ex tens ion of t h i s learned

obedience, though the speaker f i n d s t h i s lesson p a r t i c u l a r l y p a i n f u l in

t he con tex t of love. S t i l l , she seems t o accept i t . The man must be

catered t o in mat te rs o f a p p e t i t e a t the p r i c e of woman's having t o

f o rgo the p leasures and f u l f i l l m e n t s of love. Her subservience is under l ined

in the lover being shown t o use almost the same words as the b lack man t o

subdue her t o h i s d e s i r e s :

Do as I say, I heard you f a i n t l y over me f a i n t i n g , be woman.

"The Taming" asks t o be completed w i t h the phrase "o f the Shrew," an

i r o n i c a f t e r t h o u g h t in view of the speaker 's seemingly meek and ready

compl iance. Yet women are " tamed" by being reduced t o a c a p t i v i t y in

which s e l f - s a c r i f i c e is the on ly v i a b l e means of earn ing a p p r o v a l , To be or

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not t o be " c h i c k e n : " t h i s is the quest ion Kogawa and Livesay r a i s e . There

i s t h e . f u r t h e r p o s s i b i l i t y in L i vesay 's poem t h a t the speaker 's d o c i l i t y

r e f l e c t s her p leasure in being used,sexuaI Iy , a t l e a s t , as she i s ; which

would i n d i c a t e t o me, a t l e a s t , t h a t some people learn t o f i n d an advantage

in c o n d i t i o n s they accept as d e f i n i t i v e . " T h a t ' s what i t is t o be a

woman," one can hear a host of women s igh ing as they accept t h e i r i n f e r i o r

pos i t i o n .

The th ree poems by Sharon Stevenson present as oppos i te a v iew, as

we w i l l f i n d . They t r a c e the progress of a l o v e - r e l a t i o n s h i p , each poem

represen t ing a consecut ive stage in i t s development. From her i n i t i a t i o n

i n t o the be loved 's charac te r in " F i r s t I n c i s i o n , " the speaker proceeds

through an i n t e r i m r e p o r t a f t e r "4 & 3/4 Months" o f male presumpt ion, t o

her own r e f l e x i v e " i n c i s i o n : " a c u t t i n g percep t ion of how each views the

o the r in " L o v e r ' s Anatomy." The tone in t h i s progress ion changes from

one of shocked p a i n , in the f i r s t poem, t o a m ix tu re of f e a r , h u r t and

anger in the second, t o c o l d , w i t h e r i n g scorn in the t h i r d . In " F i r s t

I n c i s i o n , " t he lover is charged w i t h b l i t h e l y t r y i n g t o remodel h i s woman

i n t o an ideal he has obta ined through h i s researches on o ther women who

pleased h i s t a s t e s . The susta ined re ference t o music in t h i s poem c a r r i e s

a wry echo o f : " I f music be the food of love, p lay on . . . " The

woman's pain in being used as an o b j e c t t o s u i t h i s moods is captured in

t he l a s t stanza where he is shown as " c o m f o r t i n g " her over her v i o l e n t

o b j e c t i o n s by saying " i t was a l l f o r / fun &/ good v i b e s . " The f l i p p a n t ,

fash ionab le slang emphasizes h i s i n s e n s i t i v i t y . The second poem revea ls

what a few months of t h i s s o r t of t rea tment have done t o love. He is

h u r t a t her m i s t r u s t , s ince she came t o him w i t h "open hands." He j u s t

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cannot understand why her love " c o u l d n ' t / b u i l d cocoons" f o r h i s plans

" t o nest i n . " The woman as man's warm s h e l t e r : the mother-womb from

which he s t i l l demands p r o t e c t i o n and t ime t o mature i n , is t y p i c a l of

men's presumpt ion. Th is emotional p a r a s i t i s m hardens the speaker 's

response i n t o something l i k e d i sgus t by the t h i r d poem. " L o v e r ' s

Anatomy" is b r i l l i a n t in i t s t e r s e o p p o s i t i o n of the images each has of

the o t h e r . He has not changed, but by now the woman is no longer emot iona l l y

v u l n e r a b l e : res i s tance necessary t o her se l f -es teem has s t i f f e n e d her

so t h a t she now sees him as no more important t o her than her t o e n a i l ,

which she de f ines as

u s e f u I , necessary t o be c I i pped i f p a i n f u l

In coming t o t h i s conc lus ion Stevenson speaks f o r a new genera t ion of

angry women who have l i b e r a t e d themselves from s t e r e o t y p i c a l expec ta t ions

of subserviency and who are a s s e r t i n g in t h e i r poems t h a t they are t h e i r

own woman.

Here, f o r example, i s Lynne Lawner in a shor t poem which begins

w i t h the t i t l e " I n your Ar rogance, " c o n t i n u i n g ;

You t h i n k t h a t when a woman y i e l d s

You.own a t l eas t what you, har row ing , h u r t .

Refusing t o be owned as the l o v e r ' s c u l t i v a b l e p r o p e r t y , the speaker,

l i k e Stevenson 's , re fuses t o be a l s o the v i c t i m who w i l l show a mother ' s

love in f o r g i v i n g her be loved, and who w i l l always be the re f o r h im.

Though she i d e n t i f i e s h e r s e l f as a golden Demeter in her ea r th imagery, she

w i l l not lend.her t r a d i t i o n a l " h e a l i n g " powers t o such i r r e s p o n s i b l e male

weakness. " T h i s is not your ha rves t , these are not your f i e l d s ! " she warns,

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w i t h d r a w i n g her bounty. In "Tongue of C r i s p O l e a n d e r , " Lawner a g a i n

uses n a t u r a l imagery, here p e r c e i v i n g t h e l o v e r as a f l o w e r i n g shrub

o r s t r o n g t r e e - t r u n k (a male v e g e t a t i o n god?) u n t i l she e x p e r i e n c e s h i s

r e s p o n s e t o her l o v e as " g r e n a d e - h a r d s e e d , " a s h i f t t h a t t i p s t h e

language towards mi I i t a r y imagery:

You move t h r o u g h me as r i f l e - f i r e , No r e c o g n i z i n g r a i n E n g e n d e r i n g d e s t i n y , d e s p e r a t i o n . . . But we never t o u c h .

No love e x i s t s where t h e r e i s n o t a m u t u a l i t y of p e r c e p t i o n , say

t h e s e p o e t s . The man who uses t h e woman as s l a v e t o h i s s e x u a l a p p e t i t e ,

as engenderer of h i s s e e d , or->-as i n M a r g a r e t Atwood's poem-—as a d o r i n g

mother, n u r s e , v a l i d a t o r o f h i s manhood and camp f o l l o w e r a l l wrapped

up i n t o one, may t e m p o r a r i l y p o s s e s s her body, but a t t h e expense of l o v e ,

and c e r t a i n l y a t t h e expense of t h e s o u l . "My b e a u t i f u l wooden l e a d e r , "

b e g i n s t h i s u n t i t l e d poem from Power P o l i t i c s . , Atwood s a r d o n i c a l l y

p u t t i n g t h e man i n h i s p l a c e from t h e s t a r t . " G e n e r a l , " she mocks,

you en I i s t my body i n your h e r o i c s t r u g g l e t o become r e a l

Her contempt f o r t h e p i t i f u l l y p o s t u r i n g hero mounts w i t h each l i n e

u n t i l , i n t h e l a s t s t a n z a , she has him s i l h o u e t t e d i n t h e frame of her

r i d i c u l e as i n a f a d e - o u t e n d i n g t o a cowboys-and-Indians movie. That i s

t h e l e v e l of h i s m e n t a l i t y , she i m p l i e s , e n t e r t a i n i n g t h e a u d i e n c e w i t h

t h i s image a t h i s expense:

M a g n i f i c e n t on y o u r wooden h o r s e you p o i n t w i t h y o u r f r i n g e d hand t h e sun s e t s , and t h e p o e p l e a l l r i d e o f f i n t h e o t h e r d i r e c t i o n

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There i s no c h a r i t y h e r e , as i n L i v e s a y , nor imp I i c i t a p p e a l , as i n

Lawner. The persona i s a t t h e f u r t h e s t r e a c h of f e m i n i s t s c o r n f o r t h e

man p u f f e d up w i t h p r e t e n t i o u s n o t i o n s of h i s f i t n e s s t o l e a d . Her

emphasis on h i s s t a t i c , "wooden" q u a l i t y as m i l i t a r y hero shows what she

t h i n k s of man's p r o g r e s s . The wooden h o r s e c o n j u r e s up T r o y , t h e

f r i n g e d j a c k e t , W i l d ' B i l l H i c k o c k . Whether p o s i n g as a G r e e k hero o r a

w h i t e s k i n n e d brave i n b u c k s k i n , t o d a y ' s man i s e q u a l l y a b s u r d i n h i s

r e g r e s s i v e b e h a v i o r . There a r e no more f r o n t i e r s t o conquer. Atwood and

Lawner both use a m i l i t a r y metaphor, but Atwood's s p e a k e r has t h e d i s t a n c e d

s u p e r i o r i t y o f a c r i t i c h o l d i n g up a p a t h e t i c performance t o r i d i c u l e .

P a t Lowther i n v o k e s t h e c o m i c , t o o , i n a d e f i a n t r e s p o n s e t o t h e man

in "Baby you t e l l me," who, l i k e t h e t o r m e n t o r i n Oates' poem, " P a i n , "

t r i e s t o d i c t a t e t o t h e p e r s o n a how she s h o u l d t h i n k . In Lowther, t h e

man wants h i s woman t o " c r u n c h down on/ t h e g r i s t l i e s t p a r t s " of her

b r a i n so as t o make her "more d i g e s t i b l e , " but she r e f u s e s t o do h i s

" d i r t y work" f o r him. She l e t s him know t h a t , i f he t h i n k s he has her

where she i s v u l n e r a b l e : i . e . , has d i s c o v e r e d h e r " s o f t s p o t " o r

f o n t a n e l Ie> he i s m i s t a k e n ; she w i l l not be b u l l i e d o r m a n i p u I a t e d t h i s

way:

Anybody's g o i n g t o e a t me he's g o i n g t o know he's had a meaI.

(shades of c h i c k e n again.') Humor i s g r i m i n t h e s e poems but t h e language

of h u r t i s grimmer.

I t becomes q u a n t i t a t i v e , a s a v i n g s a c c o u n t of o p p r e s s i o n i n J o y c e

C a r o l Oates. " C o n v e r s a t i o n a l p i t y urged me on/ and gave me f u n d s , " she

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s a y s i n t h e f o r e b o d i n g o p e n i n g l i n e s of " P a i n , " t h e t h i r d o f f i v e poems

i n a s e r i e s r e l a t i n g ^ f a i l e d m a r r i a g e . Here, t h e s p e a k e r ' s d i s t u r b i n g use

o f t h e monetary word " f u n d s " s u g g e s t s a l i m i t e d amount o f exchange c a p i t a l , .

h a r d l y a d e f i n i t i o n o f l o v e . But i s love t h e i s s u e ? In t e l l i n g h er s t o r y

of d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t , t h e s p e a k e r c l a i m s t h a t a l l she g o t f o r her i n v e s t m e n t

o f p i t y was a f a l s e i n t i m a c y , " l i k e garments f l u n g down t o m u s i c . "

She a s s u r e d l y does n o t mean t o i n v i t e compassion f o r t h e man, y e t t h i s

c r i t i c i s m of a cheap and shaI Iow performance she has a f t e r a l l bought w i t h

d u b i o u s c o l l a t e r a l r e v e a l s a n a i v e e x p e c t a t i o n a t b e s t . Whatever her hopes

f o r t h i s i I I - c o n c e i v e d m a r r i a g e , t h e y have been quashed by a husband who

has made her pay more t h a n she b a r g a i n e d f o r , i n t h e form of i n s u l t i n g and

e g o c e n t r i c demands t h a t she remodel h e r s e l f a l o n g t h e l i n e s he d i c t a t e s .

T h i s r e c a l l s S t e v e n s o n , but Oates i s more s p e c i f i c , q u o t i n g :

Learn t o smoke b e f o r e a m i r r o r , you s a i d : Get r i d o f c o r n y g e s t u r e s . J_ t h i n k , J_ know, j _ want, you s a i d . . .

She b i t t e r l y r e f e r s t o " t i m e d and p r e - t h o u g h t " love-making which she c a l l s

" h a l f - l i e s " as opposed t o " t r u e s i n s " more d i f f i c u l t t o l o c a t e . The poet

i s n o t s u r e whether t h e y e x i s t i n p a i n o r i n t h e p o e t r y of p a i n . "The

t i n k l e of k n i v e s i s t r u e , my f r i e n d , " she t e l l s him, r e s o l v i n g t h e

i s s u e . She compares h i s t r e a t m e n t o f her t o a s e r i e s o f a b o r t i o n s o r

perhaps r e f e r s t o a b o r t i o n s he i n s i s t e d on her h a v i n g : t h e c a s e i s not

made c l e a r t o t h e r e a d e r . Whatever i t was, i t has t a u g h t her t o w i e l d her

own k n i f e i n d e f e n s e , c u t t i n g away h i s "words" and "symbols"*--! i e s which

o b s c u r e t h e r e a l p a i n t h i s "song of h a t e " means t o e x o r c i s e . She i s

t h r o u g h w i t h r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n s :

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A woman, I t h i n k of no symbols, r e c a l l none, have no t h o u g h t s , f e e l p a i n . Symbols belong t o men. There are no symbols, t he re is on ly p a i n .

A poem t h a t responds t o men's degrading behavior towards women w i t h

a s i m i l a r , i f less in tense , g r i e f is Denise L e v e r t o v ' s "The Mutes . "

Since i t has no sharp , personal f o c u s , i t i s ab le t o take more room f o r

unders tand ing . "The Mutes, " l i k e " P a i n , " is concerned w i t h the oppress ive

use men make of language-communication. "Those groans men use/ passing a

woman on the s t r e e t " t o s igna l the response of t h e i r f l e s h t o her femaleness,

wonders the speaker: are they a s o r t of ug ly song meant f o r music,

Or are they the muf f led r o a r i n g o f deafmutes t rapped in a b u i l d i n g t h a t is

s lowly f i l l i n g w i t h smoke?

Perhaps b o t h , she t h i n k s w i t h some compassion, and ye t she has t o admit

t h a t i t is some s o r t of t r i b u t e : " i t ' s not on ly t o say s h e ' s / a warm h o l e . "

S t r u g g l i n g w i t h her assau l ted f e e l i n g s she t r i e s t o f i n d a j u s t i f i c a t i o n v

f o r the cause, names i t

a word

in g r i e f - l a n g u a g e , noth ing t o do w i t h p r i m i t i v e , not an u r - language ; language s t r i c k e n , s ickened, cas t down

in dec rep i tude .

But such exp lana t ions do not h e l p . She i s v i c t i m i z e d a l l the same: she

must bear her d i s c o m f o r t and out rage w i t h o u t a s ign o r e l s e i n v i t e f u r t h e r

odious a t t e n t i o n . The c o r r u p t i o n s t i c k s t o her , the noise pursuing her ,

f o r c i n g a change in the way she wa lks , in her f e e l i n g s and p e r c e p t i o n s ,

and f i n a l l y , de fea t i ng her , as i t j o i n s w i t h the j a r r i n g rhythm of the advan

c ing and receding subway t r a i n s . She is by now depleted of energy.

146

" L i f e a f t e r l i f e a f t e r l i f e goes b y , " she i n t e r p r e t s m ise rab ly :

w i t h o u t p o e t r y , w i t h o u t seeml iness, w i t h o u t love.

One hears the f a i n t echoes in t h i s o f "Sans t e e t h , sans eyes, sans t a s t e ,

sans e v e r y t h i n g , " along w i t h "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow . . . "

That language which has been ra ised t o such he igh ts in poet ry should have

f a l l e n so low, in the dehumanized sounds meant t o a t t r a c t her as a woman

is f i n a l l y f e l t by the speaker t o f a l l w i t h the c rush ing weight o f

an inconso lab le g r i e f .

Laing deals w i t h misuse of language a l s o , in her poem punningly

e n t i t l e d "P ius Thought , " where she comments on the two*-sidedness o f an

address g iven by Pius X I I , p re fac ing her poem w i t h a q u o t a t i o n from i t .

Though the " t w e l f t h of h i s name p i o u s l y " pronounces t h a t woman "was by God

created equal w i t h man," he never the less a d v i s e s , says the poe t , t h a t

the Convert preaches t h a t woman.must be humble and mute and lay her down under the burden of man and be h i s b r u t e .

Anger here f i n d s o u t l e t in a bawdy pun. Woman is reduced t o the s t a t u s

of an ass f o r men t o r i d e upon; the poet f i g h t s language she f i n d s

h y p o c r i t i c a l w i t h her own d e l i b e r a t e doubIe-entendres•

The two remaining poems by Smith and Page are as d i f f e r e n t from each

o the r as they are from the r e s t of the group. In "How Cruel is the Story

of Eve," S tev ie Smith accuses the C h r i s t i a n r e l i g i o n of g i v i n g women a

m o t h e r - o f - t h e - r a c e image which is shameful and demeaning t o a l l , but

which hu r t s women most s ince i t j u s t i f i e s men in sub jugat ing them and

punish ing them f o r t h e i r " s i n " of being made in t h a t image. Lamenting

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the e v i l c o n s t r u c t i o n put on the innocent p leasure of touch between

l o v e r s , she charges t h a t the tenderness of love has been s a c r i f i c e d t o

the exchange value of mar r iage , which p r o f i t s on ly the male sex:

Put up t o b a r t e r

The tender f e e l i n g s Buy her a husband t o r u l e her Fool her t o marry a master She must o r rue i t The Lord sa id i t .

V a r i a t i o n s on the opening r e f r a i n are set between such s tanzas , t h e i r

Iament—

Oh what c r u e l t y

In h i s t o r y what misery

— a commentary on the e v i l s she l i s t s . Made s l a v e s , women soon learn

cunn ing , p l a y i n g the m a s t e r ' s game in o rde r t o win necessary concessions.

In u n f o l d i n g her se rmon- l i ke j e r e m i a d , Smith a n t i c i p a t e s a fo rseeab le

o b j e c t i o n :

I t i s on l y a legend You say? But what Is t he meaning o f the legend I f not To g i v e blame t o women most And most punishment?

The poet de r i ves some comfor t from the thought t h a t had men and women

taken the exemplum of Eve t o h e a r t , they would.have forsworn sexual con tac t

and the race would have died out long ago. She concludes on a mournful

no te , however, s h i f t i n g ambiguously t o f i n d nature cu lpab le r a t h e r than

man:

Oh dread Nature , f o r your purpose To have made them love so.

She does not see an end t o the misery because the I i f e ^ i n s t i n e t works

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t h r o u g h n a t u r a l d e s i r e w h i c h , on t h e women's s i d e , makes them submi t t o

and endure t h e i r o p p r e s s i o n , even t o f i n d i n g t h e i r " h a p p i n e s s " t h e r e .

In t h e o n l y poem of t h i s group t h a t f o c u s e s on a r e l a t i o n s h i p t h a t

i s n ot a s e x u a l one, Page g i v e s us a b e a u t i f u l p o r t r a i t o f a d a u g h t e r

s a c r i f i c e d t o her f a t h e r ' s t y r a n n i c a l d o m i n a t i o n . Though " P o r t r a i t o f

M a r i n a " c a i I s t o mind t h e d a u g h t e r of P e r i c l e s , t h e a l l u s i o n c a r r i e s

l i t t l e more t h a n t h e m u s i c a l echo ( l i k e a s h i p ' s b e l l , p e r h a p s ? ) of a

name s i g n i f y i n g a m o t h e r l e s s h e r o i n e whose l i f e has been c o n d i t i o n e d by

h a v i n g begun w i t h a s h i p w r e c k . Beyond t h a t , and t h e s u g g e s t i o n of c o n t i n

u i t y , I f i n d no p a r a l l e l i s m , S h a k e s p e a r e ' s independent and r e s o u r c e f u l

h e r o i n e h a v i n g l i t t l e i n common w i t h Page's m a r t y r e d v i c t i m whose e n f o r c e d

v i r t u e of s u b m i s s i o n and o b e d i e n c e t o a s e l f i s h f a t h e r i s i n no way

l i k e t h e moral v i r t u e which d i s t i n g u i s h e s t h e d a u g h t e r of P e r i c l e s ,

e n a b l i n g her t o t r i u m p h o v e r a d v e r s i t y . In her p o r t r a y a l of y e t a n o t h e r

f a t h e r - d a u g h t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p o f a t y p e t h a t i s n o t d e p i c t e d i n t h e p l a y ,

Page may be seen as g r a c i n g t h e g a l l e r y . w i t h an h i s t o r i c a l l y i m p o r t a n t

a d d i t i o n . " P o r t r a i t of M a r i n a " i s a c t u a l l y a s e r i e s of p o r t r a i t s s y m b o l i c a l

c o n t a i n e d w i t h i n t h e framework of a wool .-embroidered p i c t u r e of t h e o l d

s k i p p e r ' s " l a s t sh.ipwreck," of which M a r i n a i s " t h e s o l e s u r v i v o r . "

S t r u c t u r a l l y , t h e poem may a l s o be s a i d t o resemble t h e waves of t h e

s e a , i n i t s o v e r l a p p i n g images. M a r r i e d t o t h e s e a , t h e m a r i n e r (Whose w i f e

M a r i n a ' s mother, i s never mentioned) i s d e p i c t e d v i r t u a l l y t y i n g h i s

d a u g h t e r t o him w i t h a wool c o r d , in h i s o l d age; i n h i s y o u t h , by h i s

naming of her i n hopes she would become "a w a t e r woman, r i c h w i t h b e l l s . "

To t h e a c t u a l M a r i n a , land-bound t o h i s d o m e s t i c c a l l s ,

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t h e name M a r i n a s i m p l y meant he h e l d h i s f u r i o u s n e e d l e f o r her t h i n f i n g e r s t o t h r e a d a g a i n w i t h more b l u e wool t o sew t h e ocean of h i s memory.

T h i s scene frames i t s e l f i n t h e memory of a g r e a t - g r e a t - g r a n d c h i l d —

"a d i m i t y / young i n l a n d h o u s e w i f e , " who has i n h e r i t e d t h e p i c t u r e a l o n g

w i t h o t h e r V i c t o r i a n m e m o r a b i l i a of her f o r b e a r s . The d i g n i f i e d cadence

o f i a m b i c pentameter i s i n k e e p i n g w i t h t h e n o s t a l g i c f l a v o r o f c o n t i n u i t y

and t r a d i t i o n h e r e , a p a t i e n t rhythm t h a t c a p t u r e s t h e t i m e - c o n t a i n e d ,

s t a t i c qua I i t y o f a t a l e o f days gone by. S e p a r a t e d i n t o t h r e e p a r t s , t h e

poem g i v e s f i r s t a h i s t o r y , p r o c e e d i n g as t h e s t o r y behind t h e p i c t u r e ,

t h e n a c l o s e - u p of t h e e m b r o i d e r e d s h i p w r e c k w i t h t h e g h o s t l y image of

M a r i n a u n f o r g e t t a b l y superimposed upon i t , and f i n a l l y a s o r t of e p i t a p h

on h e r . T h i s l a s t i s s e t i n c o n t r a s t a g a i n s t t h e ebb and f l o w of t h e r e a l

sea which M a r i n a ' s f a t h e r e f f e c t i v e l y t h r o u g h o u t her l i f e p r e v e n t e d her

from h a v i n g any r e a l c o n t a c t w i t h . I t was a l w a y s " F a t h e r ' s F e a r f u l Sea."

The q u a l i t y of her l i f e i s g r a p h i c a l l y c a p t u r e d i n t h i s d e s c r i p t i o n from

t h e c e n t r a l p o r t i o n :

She walked f o r e v e r a n t l e r e d w i t h m i g r a i n e s her p a i n f o r e v e r p u t t i n g f o r t h new s h o o t s u n t i l her s t r a n g e u n l o v e l y head became a k i n d of c a n d e I a b r a - - d e I i c a t e - - v; where a l l her t e a r s were p e r i l o u s l y hung and c a u g h t t h e I i g h t as waves t h a t c a t c h t h e sun.

W i t h t h i s b e a u t i f u l image of p a i n and g r i e f one i s l e f t t o muse upon

t h e g e n e r a t i o n s of women, c o u n t l e s s as t e a r s o r waves, w h o s e - l i v e s

were l i v e d i n a. s i m i l a r s e r v i c e of a t t e n d a n c e upon a f a t h e r ' s t y r a n n i c a l

demands. Page t e l l s t h e s t o r y w i t h o u t t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n

t y p i c a l of so much contemporary w r i t i n g , and w i t h o u t making any moral

150

judgment of t h e c h a r a c t e r s . Her p o r t r a i t , e x e c u t e d w i t h e x q u i s i t e economy,

makes us f e e l as w e l l as see and hear. In p o e t i c a l l y r e c o n s t r u c t i n g a

t r a g e d y , l a r g e l y o f t h e p a s t , she q u i e t l y reminds us o f t h e w i d e s p r e a d

wreckage of g i r l s and women i n t h e long wake of a p a t e r n a l dominance

based on p a t r i a r c h a l r e l i g i o n and c u l t u r e .

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C h a p t e r Four

Love, Romance and Sex

Love: "They who g i v e i t l a r g e names a r e l i a r s , o r / They a r e f o o l s , "

s a ys B a b e t t e Deutsch i n her sonnet! i n t h i s S e c t i o n . "No, no, not l o v e ,

not l o v e . C a l l i t by name," a t t e m p t s Edna S t . V i n c e n t Mi I l a y i n a poem

e m o t i o n a l l y a d d r e s s e d t o a " l a d y , " t h e s p e a k e r d e n y i n g hate i n t r y i n g , by

naming, t o f i n d a "road l e a d i n g o u t w a r d " from t h e p l a c e o f her s u f f e r i n g .

" T h i s f e v e r and t h i s f o l l y , " i s one of t h e ways i n which D o r o t h y L i v e s a y

d e s c r i b e s t h e p r o b l e m a t i c f a l l i n g i n l o v e of an o l d e r woman w i t h a y o u t h .

" T h i s l o v e , so b l e s s e d , " p r a i s e s C a r o l y n K i z e r i n her " E p i t h a I am i o n " of

s e x u a l communion. "A woman i n love i s a l l t h e t r e e s of an o r c h a r d , "

c a r o l s Joan Finnegan i n an e c s t a t i c c a t a l o g u i n g o f t h e b l e s s i n g s a woman

in t h e f i r s t f l u s h o f love i s r o m a n t i c a l l y f i r e d w i t h . " L u s t , " s i n g s

A d r i e n n e R i c h . "Love . . ."--"One/ whose name has been, and i s / and w i l l

be, t h e / j _ AM," pronounces M a r g a r e t A v i s o n i n a poem which j o y f u l l y

s u b m i t s , t h r o u g h i t s s p e a k e r , t o t h e r e v e a l e d e x p e r i e n c e of God's l o v e .

These g i v e some i n d i c a t i o n o f t h e v a r i e t i e s o f emotion commonly

termed l o v e , as e x p e r i e n c e d by women, and of t h e range of f e e l i n g s and

p e r c e p t i o n s w h i c h , i n t h e t e s t i m o n y o f t h e p o e t s , r e s i s t s a common d e f i n i t i o n .

The p r e s e n t S e c t i o n c o n t a i n s a f a i r s a m p l i n g o f t h a t v a r i e t y and range.

A few poems a r e l e s s d e s c r i p t i v e l y " l o v e " poems, i n t h e more g e n e r a l s e n s e ,

t h a n t h e y a r e poems hav i n g t o do w i t h s i m p l e s e x u a l o r c a s u a l e r o t i c

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r e l a t i o n s . The t o n e i n such c o m p o s i t i o n s i s t y p i c a l l y u n t r o u b l e d , as

i n t h e poems o f R i c h and Se x t o n h e r e which a r e f r a n k l y c e l e b r a t o r y .

Romance, on t h e o t h e r hand--when by romance we mean t h e i d e a l i s t i c a u r a

s u r r o u n d i n g f a b l e d l o v e r s , and t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g haze of h o p e f u l e x p e c

t a t i o n s and i l l u s i o n s t r a d i t i o n a l l y roused i n young women's b r e a s t s as

p a r t of t h e i r s o c i a l c o n d i t i o n i n g f o r m a r r i a g e — i s n o t a b l y a b s e n t i n

t h e s e poems. Romance as a d e f e a t e d hope f o r m u t u a l l y t e n d e r l o v e j_s

p r e s e n t , however, i n t h e d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t , p a i n and a l i e n a t i o n of poems

mourning l o v e ' s f a i l u r e t o blossom from t h e e a r l y p r o m i s e ( t h e promise

c a l l i n g f o r t h F i n n e g a n ' s e x u b e r a n t r e a c t i o n s ) . Take, f o r example, what

Sharon Stevenson i n " F l o w e r Song" has f i r s t t h o u g h t t o be "a l i l a c /

s m e l l i n g so g a r i s h / f o r j o y , " which p a i n f u l l y f o r t h e s p e a k e r t u r n s o u t t o

be

t h e f o l d i n g up of t h e w h i t e n a r c i s s u s you caI I l o v e

— a s e l f - a b s o r p t i o n on t h e p a r t of t h e b e l o v e d t h a t ends by g o r g i n g on

i t s e l f . Thus from r a d i a n t y o u t h f u l awakening t h r o u g h t h e changes and

f a c e t e d v a r i e t i e s t h a t w i t h such l i n g u i s t i c inadequacy go by t h e s i n g l e

name of l o v e , we read a c o m p l e x i t y t h a t has r a r e l y i f e v e r been r i v a l l e d

by t h e p o e t r y of men d e a l i n g w i t h t h e s u b j e c t . Between extremes of

a f f i r m a t i o n and r e j e c t i o n , we a r e a d m i t t e d t o t h e v u l n e r a b l e i n n e r

p l a c e s where women e i t h e r a m b i v a l e n t l y rue u n s e a s o n a b l e o r i I I-matched

l o v e s , o r as i n D e u t s c h ' s poem, come t o terms w i t h t h e g i v e n h e t e r o s e x u a l

c o n d i t i o n by i n s i s t i n g t h a t t h e l o v e r f a c e s up t o i t s l i m i t a t i o n s .

The one e x c e p t i o n t o t h e s e e x p e r i e n c e s o f s e x u a l l o v e i s p r o v i d e d

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in A v i s o n ' s poem which ce leb ra tes union w i t h God as an a l l - embrac ing

form of t r u t h and ecs tacy . The vow of f o r s a k i n g a l l o the rs t h a t is taken

in a C h r i s t i a n marr iage ceremony is made t o seem but a metaphor f o r

the b l i s s awa i t i ng the lover o f C h r i s t . The i n c l u s i o n here of a poem of

such in tense ly r e l i g i o u s focus may seem dubious or unwarranted under

a Chapter and Sect ion heading which seems t o concern i t s e l f s o l e l y w i t h

human sexual r e l a t i o n s h i p s . But as a statement of the t r a n s f i g u r i n g

power of what i s f e l t as love, "The Word" seems t o me t o be not t oo

f a r - f e t c h e d a choice s i n c e , in essence, i t represents an aspect of the

same generous impulse t h a t animates o the r poems of c e l e b r a t i o n in t h i s

S e c t i o n . One d i f f e r e n c e is t h a t in love poems about human lovers the

i d e n t i t y of the beloved is i r r e l e v a n t i nso fa r as the reader is concerned,

but in A v i s o n ' s poem, though C h r i s t is s imply addressed as " you" and

not more s p e c i f i c a l l y i d e n t i f i e d , h i s i d e n t i t y is made t o dawn s low ly on

the reader through the con tex t of the words. In t h i s manner the poet

recrea tes the sense of r e v e l a t i o n she exper iences in C h r i s t , t a k i n g us

along w i t h her . He is named f i n a l l y as t he "J_ AM": the f o r e v e r s p r i n g i n g

m a n i f e s t a t i o n of the love of God- in -us . "The Word" is a s k i l f u l shaping

of the p o e t ' s shared, almost stammering d e l i g h t upon r e a l i z i n g t h a t

"Forsak ing a l l " means t h a t C h r i s t implores her t o "so f a l l / in Love,"

t h a t she becomes "One" w i t h him. Exp lo r ing what h i s " b e i n g . a I I -ou t "

means, she exper iences the j o y of t o t a l submiss ion; the un iverse opens

before her , t h robb ing w i t h h is " r i v e r i n g f i r e . " The poem is s t a r t l i n g in

i t s blend of a d i c t i o n which combines speech t h a t i s almost g a i l y

c o l l o q u i a l w i t h u t te rance of a formal d i g n i t y : the one mode conveying

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t h e e x c i t e m e n t , t h e o t h e r r e s t r a i n i n g , c o n t r o l l i n g i t . The approach i s

d i s a r m i n g l y i n t i m a t e : one i s i m m e d i a t e l y t a k e n i n t o t h e s p e a k e r ' s

c o n f i d e n c e as she s a y s — a s though p i c k i n g up a ph r a s e t h a t has j u s t been

d r o p p e d — " F o r s a k i n g a l l — y o u mean/ head o v e r h e e l s , f o r good,/ f o r e v e r . . ."

p u r s u i n g t h e q u e s t i o n t h r o u g h i t s s e v e r a l p o s s i b i I i t i e s as t h e op e n i n g

p h r a s e echoes w i t h i t s o t h e r a l l u s i o n s t h r o u g h o u t t h e poem.

Anyone who has e x p e r i e n c e d l o v e as m i r a c l e w i l l i m m e d i a t e l y e n t e r ,

t h e emotion i n f o r m i n g t h i s poem-experience of C h r i s t i a n r e v e l a t i o n . As a

woman's poem, i t i s d i f f e r e n t from comparable poems by H e r b e r t , Donne

o r H o p k i n s , f o r i n s t a n c e , w i t h whom one i s i m m e d i a t e l y tempted t o

a s s o c i a t e i t . But A v i s o n does not p r o j e c t as t h e y do a m a s c u l i n e w i l l t h a t

has t o be subdued. She does not have t o p l e a d o r p r a y : her y i e l d i n g i s

s p o n t a n e o u s l y l i g h t and j o y o u s , o f f e r i n g no r e s i s t a n c e . S i n c e t r u l y

r e l i g i o u s p o e t r y i s r a r e a t any t i m e i n t h e modern w o r l d , A v i s o n i s

unusual t o t h e e x t e n t t h a t she may seem w o r l d s a p a r t from t h e p r e s e n t

c o n c e r n s of women. But though she may be a t y p i c a l o f her t i m e s , she i s

not a t y p i c a l of her s e x , hav i n g a n t e c e d e n t s t h a t go back t o H i l d e g a r d

i n t h e M i d d l e A g e s J A more r e c e n t c o n n e c t i o n w i t h C h r i s t i n a R o s s e t t i ,

however, may come more q u i c k l y t o mind. The love women have t o o f f e r as

t h e i r s u b j e c t f o r p o e t r y has alw a y s embraced t h e whole human range o f l o v e ' a

power and p o s s i b l e meanings.

Thus s e v e r a l o f t h e poems f a l l i n t o a "male" c a t e g o r y which t h e

m e d i e v a l i s t P e t e r Dronke has termed t h e " c o u r t l y e x p e r i e n c e " : a

s e n s i b i l i t y , c o n d i t i o n o r c o n c e p t not l i m i t e d t o any h i s t o r i c t i m e ,

p l a c e , s o c i a I c l a s s o r e l i t e ( i n t h e way t h a t amour cou r t o i s i s usua I l y

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l i m i t e d ) but o c c u r r i n g as a " u n i v e r s a l l y p o s s i b l e " human phenomenon.^

However, women are not covered by h i s terms of d e f i n i t i o n . He c la ims t h a t

the " u n i v e r s a l c o u r t l y exper ience" is " e s s e n t i a l l y a man's concept ion o f

l o v e , " d i s t i n g u i s h i n g i t f rom the " u n i v e r s a l womanly exper ience" t h a t i s

the w e l l - s p r i n g of w in i Ieodas and t h e i r descendants. Win i leodas , i t w i l l

be r e c a l l e d from the H i s t o r i c a l I n t r o d u c t i o n , are women's " f r i e n d - l a y s "

o r songs f o r a l ove r . Dronke c i t e s the f o l l o w i n g poem by Sappho:

" P a r a l y s i s , " as "a p e r f e c t ins tance" of such a song in i t s purest fo rm:

Sweet mother, I can no longer

work a t the loom, s t r i c k e n w i t h love- long ing f o r a boy

by the s lender A p h r o d i t e . (Diehl 114)

To h i s example I would add another , though the lover addressed here is

( u n t y p i c a I l y , from Dronke's p o i n t o f view of the " p u r e s t win i leod") a

woman. The poem is Sappho's " S e i z u r e : "

To me t h a t man equals a god as he s i t s before you and l i s t e n s c l o s e l y t o your sweet vo ice

and love ly l a u g h t e r — w h i c h t r o u b l e s the hear t in my r i b s . For now as I look a t you my vo ice f a i l s ,

my tongue i s broken and t h i n f i r e runs l i k e a t h i e f through my body. My eyes are dead t o I i g h t , my ears

pound, and sweat pours down over me. I shudder, I am p a l e r than grass and am in t ima te w i t h d y i n g - - b u t

I must s u f f e r e v e r y t h i n g , being poor. (Diehl 2 , Barnstone 9)

Both these poems have t h e i r c o r o l l a r i e s in t h i s S e c t i o n . L i vesay ' s

"The Skin o f Time" i s an extended v a r i a t i o n on the theme of " P a r a l y s i s , "

and i t is i n t e r e s t i n g t o see how in Mi I l a y ' s poems, the t r a d i t i o n of

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p a s s i o n a t e a t t r a c t i o n t o a n o t h e r woman i s c a r r i e d f o r w a r d i n i t s c o u r t l y

e x p r e s s i o n . The poems by Sappho d e p i c t l o v e - a t t r a c t i o n i n i t s s i m p l e s t

form b e f o r e i t i s imbued w i t h t h e C h r i s t i a n i d e a l i s m which has shaped o u r

c o n c e p t i o n o f l o v e . The e r o t i c p a s s i o n she d e s c r i b e s undergoes changes,

in a C h r i s t i a n c u l t u r e , which r e f l e c t t h e i n f l u e n c e of J e w i s h and I s l a m i c

as w e l l as C h r i s t i a n t h o u g h t , and r e p r e s e n t a r e f i n e m e n t on t h e Greek a t t i

t u d e t o l o v e ; t h e y a l s o t e n d t o i d e a l i z e and a b s t r a c t t h e image o f t h e

fem a l e b e l o v e d a l o n g w i t h e n n o b l i n g h e r . We w i l l n ot f i n d such a mode h e r e ,

but we wiI I f i n d some of t h e el e m e n t s o f t h e s e n s i b i l i t y i n f o r m i n g i t : a

sense o f : f a t a I i t y , t h e i d e a o f l o v e - s e r v i c e o r s e r i o u s committed p a s s i o n ,

r e v e r e n c e and w o r s h i p . The " c o u r t l y e x p e r i e n c e " i s t h u s not n e c e s s a r i l y

l i m i t e d t o men. Though women i n h i s t o r y d i d not produce enough l o v e -

p o e t r y t o q u a l i f y as c o u r t l y i n Dronke's t e r m s , h i s r e c o g n i t i o n o f t h e

u n i t y between t h e p o p u l a r and c o u r t l y l o v e l y r i c i m p l i e s t h a t i t i s

p o s s i b l e f o r women's songs t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n f e e l i n g s o f love which a r e

not c o n v e n t i o n a l l y r o l e - o r i e n t e d i n t h e m a s c u l i n e t r a d i t i o n . I t a k e

h i s p h r a s e : " t h e u n i v e r s a l womanly e x p e r i e n c e , " as broad enough t o

embrace e v e r y t h i n g p o s s i b l e t o t h e human i m a g i n a t i o n : t h i s e a s i l y i n c l u d e s

a c o n c e p t i o n of t h e b e l o v e d which t a k e s i t s form from t h e " c o u r t l y

e x p e r i e n c e " and i t s " s e n s i b i l i t y . " However, I have s l e n d e r p o e t i c e v i d e n c e

t o s u p p o r t t h i s o p i n i o n , t h e poems of Mi I lay b e i n g t h e o n l y pure though

l i m i t e d examples of t h e c o u r t l y s e n s i b i l i t y I can o f f e r ( s e v e r a l o f my

own which q u a l i f y even b e t t e r , b e i n g i n a d m i s s a b l e as e v i d e n c e ) . The

r e s p e c t i v e poems by L i v e s a y and L o w e l l here have some, but not enough,

c o u r t l y a s p e c t s t o q u a l i f y them i n a s t r i c t s e n s e . In her m y s t i c a l

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e x p e r i e n c e of t h e d i v i n e l o v e r , A v i s o n ' s t o t a l and j o y f u l s u r r e n d e r

r e p r e s e n t s y e t a n o t h e r a s p e c t of t h e c o u r t l y s e n s i b i l i t y ; she p a r a l l e l s

p o e t s who e x p e r i e n c e d i v i n i t y i n a human l o v e . T h e . l o v e t h i s s e n s i b i l i t y

i n s p i r e s i s a l w a y s e x p e r i e n c e d by t h e poet as a r e v e l a t i o n of a h i g h e r

t r u t h , i t s m y s t e r i o u s f o r c e endowing t h e b e l o v e d w i t h such beauty t h a t

t h e p o e t i s f o r e v e r s u b j u g a t e d by i t s power. Such a b e l o v e d i s by

d e f i n i t i o n s e e m i n g l y u n o b t a i n a b l e , b e i n g r a i s e d t o p e r f e c t i o n , and as Muse

i s l i k e l y t o e n f o r c e a h e l p l e s s and sometimes c r u e l d e v o t i o n . In i t s

g e n t l e s t g u i s e , c o u r t l y l o v e produces pure j o y i n a d o r i n g c o n t e m p l a t i o n of

t h e b e l o v e d .

One would n o t r e a d i l y e x p e c t t o f i n d i n o u r p r e s e n t p r a g m a t i c and

s e x - o b s e s s e d s o c i e t y c u r r e n t examples of such a f a t a l i s t i c view o r e x p e r

i e n c e o f l o v e , e s p e c i a l l y among women. I have a l r e a d y d i s c u s s e d t h i s q u e s t i o n

i n p a r t . The t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y t e n d e n c y has been f o r women t o r e b e l a g a i n s t

l o v e as a s u b j u g a t i n g f o r c e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h male dominance: t h i s i s so

from t h e e a r l y poems of Mi I l a y t o t h e most r e c e n t l y p u b l i s h e d of any

number of p o e t s . But t h e c o u r t l y e x p e r i e n c e p e r s i s t s , b e a r i n g o u t Dronke's

p r e m i s e of i t s u n i v e r s a l and t i m e l e s s o c c u r e n c e . Perhaps not s t r a n g e l y , i n

v i e w of women's d i f f e r e n t e x p e r i e n c e o f men ( l o o k i n g a t c o u r t l y e x p r e s s i o n

as a male norm), i t p e r s i s t s i n them as a c o n t i n u a t i o n o f t h e S a p p h i c

t r a d i t i o n , where l o v e f o r a woman o r y o u t h i s how i n s p i r a t i o n i s most

d i r e c t l y c o n c e i v e d by t h e p o e t . F a t e f u l l o v e and l o s s a r e i n t h e t a p e s t r y

l i k e enchantment of Mi I l a y ' s h a u n t i n g "Aubade," and i n . h e r two o t h e r

t h e m a t i c a l l y r e l a t e d poems. W o r s h i p f u l l o v e i s i n t h e r e v e r e n t i a l , t e n d e r

t o n e of L o w e l l ' s "Madonna o f t h e E v e n i n g F l o w e r s , " w h i c h , i n p l a c e of t h e

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u s u a l u n s a t i s f i e d l o n g i n g , r e j o i c e s i n d o m e s t i c s e r e n i t y . "The S k i n o f

Time" by L i v e s a y i s , l i k e L o w e l l ' s poem not grounded i n t h e c o u r t l y

e x p e r i e n c e , but s h a r e s something of i t s a n i m a t i n g s t r e n g t h : i n L i v e s a y ,

l o v e i s f e l t as t h e m i s c h i e v o u s f o r c e o f E r o s ; i n L o w e l l , as t h e i n s p i r i n g

b eauty of A p h r o d i t e , though t h e s e f o r c e s a r e not p e r s o n i f i e d by t h e i r

Greek names. E x c e p t f o r l o s s , which s i n k s i t s v i c t i m s i n t o a v e r i t a b l e H e l l

o f s u f f e r i n g , t h e s e l o v e s b e a t i f y t h e i r p o e t s , even i f o n l y f o r a b r i e f

w h i l e which i s e x p e r i e n c e d as t i m e l e s s . L i v e s a y ' s i n t i m a t i o n o f i m m o r t a l i t y ,

f o r example, i s m e r e l y t h e promis e of a " f u l l j o y " she laments not

h a v i n g been a b l e t o consummate. In t h e i r commitment, t h e e l e v a t i n g j o y s

s p o n s o r e d by a human b e l o v e d a r e not so d i f f e r e n t from t h e m y s t i c a l j o y

spoken of by A v i s o n .

The t r u e poems of c o u r t l y s e n s i b i l i t y d i f f e r i n two main r e s p e c t s

from t h e o t h e r s i n t h e group: f i r s t and more i m p o r t a n t l y , i n t h e i r sense

of t h e t r a g i c , and second , i n t h e f a c t t h a t t h e y a r e m a i n l y a d d r e s s e d t o

women (which does n o t , by i t s e l f , have any s i g n i f i c a n c e , as S e x t o n ' s

"Song f o r a L a d y " — w h i c h i s not a c o u r t l y poem—makes c l e a r ) . The t h r e e

poems by Mi I l a y as noted above: "Aubade," p l u s t h e o t h e r two<«^"Evening on

Lesbos" and "What Savage Blossom," c e n t e r on a t r a g i c l o v e f o r a l o s t

" l a d y . " These poems e x i s t i n a s t a s i s o f profound g r i e f , and i n d e e d ,

s t a s i s i s of t h e e s s e n c e i n t h e w o r l d o f t h e c o u r t l y l o v e r , where l o v e

e x i s t s i n limbo o r suspended between heaven and h e l l . In "Aubade," t h e

e x p e r i e n c e i s s e n s u o u s l y conveyed by t h e t e x t u r e o f t h e poem: an enchantment

of words, cadence, imagery and mood.which c r e a t e s i t s own o t h e r w o r l d l y

perfume. With i t s l a s t l i n e : "But never d i d I a r i s e from l o v i n g h e r , "

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t h e poem r e c e i v e s i t s c o u r t l y s i g n a t u r e . " E v e n i n g on Lesbos" mourns t h e

l o s s o f t h e b e l o v e d t o a r i v a l , i t s c e n t r a l s t a n z a f i x i n g t h e moment w i t h

b r i I I i a n t c l a r i t y :

T w i ce have I e n t e r e d t h e room, n o t knowing she was h e r e . Two a g a t e e y e s , two eyes of m a l a c h i t e , Twice have been t u r n e d upon me, hard and b r i g h t .

There i s something inhuman i n t h i s a p p a r i t i o n f o r t h e p e r s o n a , s i n c e she

i s e x c l u d e d from s h a r i n g t h e s e c r e t l i f e b e h i n d t h e g l a s s y b a r r i e r o f

i m p e n e t r a b l e c a t - l i k e e y e s . The r e p e t i t i o n s o f "Two" and "Twice" i n t h e

poem emphasize t h e shock t h e l o v e r f e e l s on f i n d i n g h e r s e l f an o u s t e d

t h i r d . "What Savage Blossom" speaks f u r t h e r and more b i t t e r l y about t h e

obduracy o f t h e b e l o v e d ; i t s l i n e s a r e heavy w i t h r e c r i m i n a t i o n . A l l

t h r e e poems lament t h e l o s s o f a b e l o v e d i n t o n e s t h a t convey t h e i n e f f a b l e

q u a l i t y o f an unconsummated r o m a n t i c p a s s i o n . The s p e a k e r i s bound t o

t h e p a s t i n an e t e r n a l t o r m e n t o f s u f f e r i n g t h a t s t a n d s i n c o n t r a s t t o

f o r m e r j o y s e i t h e r e x p e r i e n c e d o r r o m a n t i c a l l y e n v i s i o n e d .

"Madonna of t h e E v e n i n g F l o w e r s " i s l i k e a f r a g r a n t and s o o t h i n g balm

a f t e r such p a i n . I t i s f i l l e d w i t h t h e t i r e d s a t i s f a c t i o n o f work

a c c o m p l i s h e d , a s u d d e n l y f e l t need, a l o n e l i n e s s and t h e n t h e need answered.

The s p e a k e r , g o i n g i n s e a r c h o f t h e b e l o v e d , f i n d s h e r i n t h e ga r d e n amid

a p r o f u s i o n o f blooms, " w i t h a b a s k e t of r o s e s " on her arm, a l m o s t as

in a v a l e n t i n e ; e x c e p t t h a t t h e poem ne v e r descends t o s e n t i m e n t a l i t y i n

i t s s e n s i t i v e e v o c a t i o n o f t h a t h a r d e s t of t h i n g s t o e x p r e s s p o e t i c a l l y : a

l o v i n g , d o m e s t i c space. L o w e l l d e p i c t s t h e b e l o v e d w i t h a r e s t r a i n t t h a t

m e r e l y emphasizes t h e p a s s i o n t h e language so c o o l l y c o n t a i n s ;

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But I look a t you, h e a r t of s i l v e r , W hite h e a r t - f l a m e o f p o l i s h e d s i l v e r , B u r n i n g beneath t h e b l u e s t e e p l e s of t h e l a r k s p u r , And I long t o kneel i n s t a n t l y a t y o u r f e e t , W h i l e a l l about us peal t h e l o u d , sweet Te Deums of t h e

C a n t e r b u r y be I I s .

To t h e e x t e n t t h a t t h e y embody o r s h a r e i n t h e c o u r t l y e x p e r i e n c e , t h e

poems t h a t a r e a d d r e s s e d t o women r a i s e an i n t e r e s t i n g a r e a f o r d i s c u s s i o n ,

as does L i v e s a y ' s poem which speaks of t h e l o v e o f an o l d e r woman f o r a

y o u t h . A l l of t h e s e d e p a r t from t h e h e t e r o s e x u a l norm t y p i c a l o f t h e l a r g e

body of c o u r t l y p o e t r y w r i t t e n by men. In t h a t body, woman i s e l e v a t e d as

a symbol of b e a u t y , v i r t u e and p e r f e c t i o n ; she becomes f o r t h e man an

image o f t h e u n a t t a i n a b l e , a l l t h e more d e s i r a b l e b e c a u s e , b e i n g a f l e s h l y

woman, she can be o b t a i n e d : t h e s u i t must o n l y be p e r s i s t e n t and worthy

enough. Now i t has not been e x p e c t e d o f women t h a t t h e y s h o u l d have o r

e x p r e s s a s i m i l a r d r i v e f o r p e r f e c t i o n ; t h e i r s o c i a l i z a t i o n i n h i s t o r y

has d i r e c t e d them t o f a r more s e r v i c e a b l e ends. In men's p o e t r y , f o r

i n s t a n c e , t h e y have an a r t i f i c i a l l y h i g h p l a c e t h a t i s i n extreme c o n t r a s t

t o t h e a c t u a l p o s i t i o n s t h e y h e l d . S e r v i n g men as Muses, e x c l u d e d from

w r i t i n g p o e t r y t h e m s e l v e s , t h e y c o u l d h a r d l y r e v e r s e r o l e s and c a l l on

t h e m s e l v e s f o r i n s p i r a t i o n . Nor was t h e r e a p o e t i c c o n v e n t i o n i d e n t i f y i n g

t h e Muse as male.

S i m p l y , t h e r e has n o t been a Muse f o r women. A s p i r i n g f e m a l e p o e t s

have had t o work around t h a t d i f f i c u l t y ; and s i n c e t h e main c o r p u s of

women's p o e t r y i s t h e p r o d u c t of l i t t l e more t h a n a hundred y e a r s , we

have l i t t l e enough r e v e a l i n g i n f o r m a t i o n of how t h e i r inmost u r g i n g s and

a s p i r a t i o n s were m o t i v a t e d . I t i s o n l y v e r y r e c e n t l y t h a t p r i v a t e f e e l i n g s

have had a c o n v e n t i o n a l c l i m a t e i n which t o make t h e m s e l v e s known.

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On t h e s u r f a c e , we may be s u r e t h a t most women "went a l o n g " w i t h t h e images

made of them, l i v i n g up t o e x p e c t a t i o n s and demands as p e o p l e do, i n s o c i e t y .

In l i f e as i n l i t e r a t u r e , however, men were f r e e t o make of women what t h e y

w i l l e d : e t h e r e a l i z e d paragons o f v i r t u e , o r menacing devil-women: t h e

two s t e r e o t y p e s rampant i n l i t e r a t u r e . As p o e t s , men had Muses t o i n v o k e ,

a l l o w i n g them whatever d i r e c t i o n i n s p i r a t i o n m i ght t a k e . Women, on t h e

o t h e r hand, s h o u l d t h e y be moved t o i d e a l i z e an o b j e c t o f d e s i r e , were

seldom f r e e t o t a k e such l i b e r t i e s w i t h men, o r w i t h each o t h e r f o r t h a t 4

m a t t e r (Aphra Behn b e i n g perhaps t h e o n l y one who d a r e d ) . As a m a r r i e d

woman, E l i z a b e t h B a r r e t t Browning c o u l d e v e n t u a l l y e x t o l her love f o r

Ro b e r t i n p a s s i o n a t e v e r s e , b u t t h e n he acknowledged h i s w i f e as h i s

s u p e r i o r and wo r s h i p p e d h e r , i n t u r n , as a r e a l woman, not as a d i s t a n t

i d o l . Not t o o many women p o e t s have been as l u c k y , from t h e e v i d e n c e .

Anne B r a d s t r e e t w r o t e f e e l i n g l y of her h a p p i n e s s w i t h her husband, and

E m i l y D i c k i n s o n and C h r i s t i n a R o s s e t t i w r o t e p a i n f u l l y o f t h e i r renounced

l o v e s , but t h e s e were n o t , i n t h e c o u r t l y s e n s e , p o e t s who found t h e i r

i d e n t i t y i n t h e loved one. Y e t l o o k i n g back o v e r t h e c e n t u r i e s , i t can be

assumed t h a t women of a c e r t a i n temperament sh a r e d by men needed, no l e s s

t h a n t h e y d i d , t h e o u t l e t o f a c o n v e n t i o n i n p o e t r y f o r e x p r e s s i n g t h e

a r d o r o f a l i t e r a r y i m a g i n a t i o n tuned t o a b s o l u t e s . Though a f a i r l y r e c e n t

example, t h e r e i s B a r r e t t , f o r one, f o r t u n a t e i n f i n d i n g a p e r f e c t l o v e and

ha v i n g t h e ready v e h i c l e f o r i t . There i s , o f c o u r s e , n o t h i n g i n women's

p o e t r y t o compare w i t h t h a t l a r g e h o s t o f male l o v e - s i n g e r s , c o u r t i e r s

and p o e t s who d e d i c a t e d t h e m s e l v e s , more o r l e s s s i n c e r e l y , t o t h e p r a i s e s

o f f e m i n i n e p e r f e c t i o n , a few of whom had a p a s s i o n a t e v i s i o n of t r u t h and

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b e a u t y . Among t h e s e , Dante's s p i r i t u a l v i s i o n o f B e a t r i c e as a g u i d e t o

h e a v e n l y t r u t h s t a n d s h i g h e s t . In t h e s e c u l a r v i s i o n , t h e r e i s t h e model

of P e t r a r c h ' s l o v e f o r L a u r a , a lady embodying p e r f e c t i o n and t h u s c a l l i n g

f o r t h p e r f e c t d e v o t i o n , though t h e l o v e r i n t h i s c a s e i s l e f t more p h y s i c a l

f r u s t r a t e d t h a n s p i r i t u a l l y f u l f i l l e d ; t h i s i s t h e model so w e l l e l a b o r a t e d

in t h e E l i z a b e t h a n l o v e l y r i c . The f e m i n i n e r e a c h f o r p e r f e c t i o n , whether

d i v i n e l y o r s e c u l a r l y i n s p i r e d has i t s comparable e x p r e s s i o n i n C h r i s t i a n

m y s t i c i s m as i n pagan c e l e b r a t i o n ; we f i n d i n i n H i l d e g a r d o f Bingen as

i n Sappho, i n t h e r e l i g i o u s poems of R o s s e t t i as i n t h e c l a s s i c a l l y pagan 5

e v o c a t i o n s o f Mi I l a y and H.D. ( n o t i n c l u d e d h e r e ) . The o b j e c t s o f

e l e v a t i o n i n such p o e t r y have i n common t h a t t h e y e p i t o m i z e a p e r f e c t i o n

which has t h e poet "be-Mused."

However, of t h o s e few women who have dared t o p r o f e s s i n s p i r a t i o n i n

a f e m i n i n e s o u r c e , not a l l a r e n e c e s s a r i l y a r d e n t s o u l s i n need of an

o b j e c t t o i d e a l i z e . R a t h e r , t h e c h o i c e o f a f e m i n i n e i d e a l may r e f l e c t ,

as i n contemporary p o e t s , a h e i g h t e n e d s e n s i b i l i t y t o t h e o f f e n s i v e n e s s

o f o c c u p y i n g a s u b s e r v i e n t p l a c e i n men's l i v e s ; o r s i m p l y , t h e c h o i c e

may r e f l e c t an e x e r c i s e o f t a s t e . The p o i n t i s r e a l l y t h a t l o v e poems

a d d r e s s e d t o women e x i s t : a S a p p h i c r e s p o n s e t o t h e beauty and power o f

e r o t i c i s m as p e r s o n i f i e d i n t h e goddess o f Beauty and her o f f s p r i n g , Love;

a r e s p o n s e sometimes q u a l i f i e d by t h e c o u r t l y e x p e r i e n c e which owes a t

l e a s t p a r t o f i t s a l l e g i a n c e t o l a t e r gods. The v a r i e t y o f e x p e r i e n c e i n

even so sma I I a group of poems as a r e i n c l u d e d here which f o c u s l o v e on

e i t h e r a woman o r a y o u t h show how s u b t l e and r i c h l y complex t h e t o p i c o f

l o v e , g i v e n i t s p l a c e i n women's h e a r t s , can be i n t h e i r p o e t r y .

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The r e s t of the poems in t h i s S e c t i o n , in so f a r as they r e f l e c t

h o s t i l i t y o r resentment, o r f i n d p leasure in the s t a t e of being in love o r

making i t , are of a very d i f f e r e n t c h a r a c t e r , having noth ing o f the

worsh ip fu l o r t r a g i c in them. They are more consonant w i t h the r e s o l u t e l y

pragmat ic , an t i -me taphys ica I s p i r i t of the t imes (which may be changing,

however) , though t o begin w i t h , we have a poem which, in i t s romant ic

t o n e , harks back t o the n ine teen th c e n t u r y . Joan Finnegan g ives express ion

t o the f i r s t i n t o x i c a t i o n o f love in an exuberant poem t h a t r e l i e s main ly

on d e s c r i p t i o n : "A woman in love i s a l l the t r e e s of an o r c h a r d / drunk on

the v i n rose -of A p r i l , " she beg ins , the poem borrowing i t s t i t l e from

the f i r s t l i n e . Finnegan e c s t a t i c a l l y r o l l s o f f a l i s t of a l l the sense-

i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s w i t h nature t h a t accompany the wel l -known romant ic v i s i o n .

The poem con ta ins a s t r i k i n g image t h a t redeems the c l i c h e s of the r e s t of

the poem:

Her f I e s h

having been se t f i r e t o in the n i g h t , burns a l l day long down i n t o the low bushes o f her bones.

Most ly the poem does not c rea te t h i s sense of immediacy because, speaking

in the t h i r d person, the poet does not a l low us t o exper ience the emotions

through her , but g e n e r a l i z e s from them ins tead , The m a j o r i t y of the

o the r poems c e l e b r a t i n g a s i m i l a r set of emotions do so in the f i r s t

person and in the sexual con tex t of two people in bed. Rather i n s t r u c t i v e l y

f o r the modern temper, however, they do not c a l l the exper ience of mutu

al i t y , love:

Sex, as they harsh ly c a l l i t , I f e l l i n t o t h i s morning a t ten o ' c l o c k , a d r i z z l i n g hour of t r a f f i c and wet newspapers.

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So begins Adrienne Rich in the f i r s t of her "Two Songs," wry ly p l a y i n g on

the idea of how people used t o " f a l l in l o v e " ; here t h a t phrase i s debunked

as o u t - o f - d a t e , romant ic . C i t y t r a f f i c and annoyingly wet newspapers are

the more common s e t t i n g f o r contemporary " l o v e " enounters and suggest

t h e i r c a s u a l , s h o r t - l i v e d n a t u r e .

I 'd c a l I i t love i f love d i d n ' t take so many years but l u s t too is a jewel a sweet f l ower

says Rich sage ly , r e j o i c i n g in what js_, and f e e l i n g a kind of wondering

g r a t i t u d e t h a t is

pure happiness t o know a l l our h igh- toned quest ions breed in a l i v e l y an ima l .

The second "Song" descr ibes an ac t of coi tu.s as a moon-race in which both

"make i t . " On recover ing they acknowledge each o the r w i t h courteous

c i v i I i t y in language

picked up through c u l t u r a l exchanges . . . we murmer the f i r s t moonwords: Spas i bo. Thanks. 0_.J<.

The l o v e r s , speaking d i f f e r e n t languages are c u l t u r a l s t r a n g e r s , though

communion in the space age remains poss ib le and s t i l l , on a body l e v e l ,

s a t i s f y i n g . I t is the same in Sexton 's poem "Dec. 1 1 t h , " where the l o v e r ' s

" tongue ha I f - c h o c o l a t e " and " s t e e l wool h a i r " suggest a b lack l o v e r . Though

in a t tempt ing t o reach the ecstacy of c l imax they "gnaw a t the b a r r i e r

because we are t w o , " they a l so achieve harmony in u n i o n :

We are bare. We are s t r i p p e d t o t he bone and we swim in tandem and go up and up the r i v e r , the i d e n t i c a l r i v e r c a l l e d Mine and we en te r t o g e t h e r . No one 's a lone .

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There i s again j o y f u l a f f i r m a t i o n of communing w i t h a bed - fe l l ow in

Sexton 's "Song f o r a Lady." As in R i c h ' s f i r s t song, r a i n is found here

t o o . I t forms a running c o u n t e r p o i n t t o the j o y r i s i n g in the poem,

being c h a r a c t e r i z e d th roughout as " b a d , " " l i k e a m i n i s t e r , " and even

" s i n i s t e r " in i t s dropping " l i k e f l i e s " on the couple in bed, as i f i t s

suggest ions of f e r t i l i t y and i n d i s c r i m i n a t e breeding were a moral rebuke.

Never theless the speaker f e e l s h e r s e l f caressed in r e l i g i o u s terms though

she acknowI edges the lady somewhat incongruous ly , in consumer te rms , as

"a n a t i o n a l product and power." On t h i s t r i b u t e she concludes w i t h

g r a t i t u d e and comic tenderness in which t h e r e is a l so e x u l t a t i o n :

0 my swan, my drudge, my dear wooly rose , even a no tary would n o t a r i z e our bed as you knead me and I r i s e l i k e bread.

These l o v e r s , u n l i k e the heterosexual ones in Rich are not c u l t u r a l

s t r a n g e r s . The speaker recognized t h e i r sameness: l i k e the lady she,

t o o , is a " n a t i o n a l product and power" in her r o l e as a domestic consumer

and g l a m o r - g i r l . But they a l so speak the same language of love . In the

face of r e l i g i o u s and soc ia l d i s a p p r o v a l , t h i s sameness of r o l e and sex

becomes s u f f i c i e n t j u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r t h e i r de f iance of the convent ions .

In "The Skin of Time" by Dorothy L ivesay , the speaker and the o b j e c t

o f her love are s t rangers across a genera t ion of t i m e . Here the dominant

emotion is one of f a I I i ng w i l d l y in love, and having t o check the f a I I ,

though the persona soars e u p h o r i c a l l y f o r a w h i l e , "Stunned w i t h t h i s

j o y , t h i s p r i z e . " Feel ing the unseasonabIeness of such a pass ion , and

wish ing she were o l d enough t o be s a f e l y beyond i t , she movingly p r o t e s t s :

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How can I c r y t o age-Deepen my w r i n k l e s , Smooth o u t l o v e ' s f i e r c e rage?

How can I c r y , when I Fe e l t i m e l e s s , a g e l e s s , h i g h

But though she arg u e s w i t h h e r s e l f , she c a n n o t s u s t a i n " t h i s f e v e r and t h i s

f o l l y , " f o r i t i s t i e d , l i k e a k i t e , t o t h e s e I f - c e n t e r e d n e s s o f y o u t h :

I c a n n o t s o a r f o r e v e r a t you r w i l l ,

Nor f l u t t e r down whenever you a r e s t i l l .

Nor, on r e f l e c t i n g , i s she f r e e t o l o v e him: t h e " c o n c l a v e " o f h e r

memories keeps her "home." Comparing h e r s e l f t o " t h e s i m p l e r man" i n t h i s

c o n t e x t (a husband?) who can c h e e r f u l l y a c c e p t t h e m y s t e r y of a g i n g , s h e ,

"midway between" h i s p o s i t i o n and t h a t o f t h e y o u t h can o n l y see in t h e w r i n k l e ' s seam

The s t i t c h t h a t shrouds me from A w i d e r room:

— t h e age d i f f e r e n c e t h a t has kept her from e x p e r i e n c i n g t h e " f u l l j o y "

she i s s u r e was i n her r e a c h . She r e b e l s t h a t m a t u r i t y i n y e a r s s h o u l d

mean s a c r i f i c i n g her impulse t o y o u t h — t o r e g e n e r a t i o n t h r o u g h l o v e :

L a s t s p r i n g he came; and I Stood h e l p l e s s by: Masked i n t h e s k i n o f t i m e , The s t u t t e r i n g tongue of rhyme.

I n s t e a d o f h a v i n g been a b l e t o speak love f l u e n t l y , f r e e l y " r h y m i n g " her

body w i t h t h e y o u t h ' s , she has t o use h e r p o e t ' s t o n g u e , s t u t t e r i n g , i n

her c h a g r i n of f r u s t r a t e d d e s i r e . Beneath t h e w r i n k l e d mask o f age i s

a p a s s i o n a t e young woman. P o e t r y here f u n c t i o n s as a t i m e l e s s , i n f e r i o r

s u b s t i t u t e f o r l i f e l i v e d i n t h e f l e s h , w hich a l s o has i t s " a g e l e s s "

moments. S u r e l y women p o e t s i n t h e p a s t c o u l d not speak w i t h such h e a r t

b r e a k i n g f r a n k n e s s o f a v e r y common phenomenon: t h e love o f age f o r y o u t h ,

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t h e a r t i s t ' s need t o i d e n t i f y w i t h t h e s e x u a l energy of innocence i n i t s

c r e a t i v e c a l l t o c e l e b r a t i o n .

There a r e o n l y two poems which speak h a p p i l y of a h e t e r o s e x u a l

r e l a t i o n s h i p t h a t i s consummated and t h a t i s not c a s u a l . " E p i t h a I amion"

by C a r o l y n K i z e r c e l e b r a t e s a n i g h t i n which t h e l o v e r s a r e committed t o

each o t h e r . The poem i s an e l a b o r a t e metaphor of t h e l o v e r s as p r o t e a n

s e a - c r e a t u r e s t a k i n g t h e i r i d e n t i t y from t h e e l e m e n t a l d i m e n s i o n of t h e i r

u n i o n . The s p e a k e r muses: "You l e f t me g a s p i n g on t h e s h o r e / A f a b u l o u s

f i s h , a l l g i l l / And g i l d e d s c a l e s , " m e t i c u l o u s l y r e c o n s t r u c t i n g t h e d e t a i l s

o f her f u l l j o y . The room i s l i k e n e d t o a bay i n which t h e two-as-one

f l o a t , " r e e l " in each o t h e r , a r e beached, p i l e up as l o g s , p i t c h , r i s e ,

r o c k , t o u c h , f o u n d e r , swoon, swim, drown, and r e v i v e a t dawn. The sea

i s f e l t as a p r e s e n c e i n a w e a l t h of imagery and d e s c r i p t i v e d e t a i l , t h e

rhythm of t h e l i n e s f a l l i n g and r i s i n g l i k e t h e waves of p a s s i o n overcoming

t h e e x h a u s t e d l o v e r s , who l i e "Sanded, on t h i s p u r e , s o l a r l i f t o f hour,/

Wreathed i n o u r b r e a t h i n g . " The s p e a k e r e x p a n s i v e l y e n v i s i o n s t h e

c o n t i n u i t y of such h a p p i n e s s :

We w i l l exceed o u r s e l v e s a g a i n ; P u t o u t i n s t o r m s , and p i t c h our wave on waves. My s o u l , you w i l l a n t i c i p a t e my s h o u t i n g as you r i s e Above me t o t h e l u n a r t u r n of u s , As s k i e s c r a c k s t a r s upon o u r symmetries E x t i n g u i s h e d as t h e y t o u c h t h i s smoky n i g h t , And we e x h a l e a g a i n o u r fume o f b l i s s .

S i n g i n g above t h e r e s t l e s s volume of t h i s poem i s a s p i r i t which s o a r s i n

a sense of freedom and e q u a l i t y r a r e i n o t h e r poems of lo v e by women. I t

i s e x p r e s s e d here as w e i g h t l e s s n e s s , t h e buoyancy and depth of t h e p h y s i c a l

u n i o n a r e s u l t of l o v e t h a t f e e l s i t s e l f " b l e s s e d " i n i t s b a l a n c e and

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c o n t a i n m e n t . " P o s s e s s i o n " by Lynne Lawner p r e s e n t s a v e r y d i f f e r e n t view

of l o v e . The s p e a k e r i n t h i s poem c o n f e s s e s t h a t ,

Each t i m e h i s w i l l a b d i c a t e d , The u n d i s p u t e d a c r e a g e Of what he owned of me Grew

S i n c e he d i d not t r y t o impose on what was n o t c o v e r e d i n t h i s c o n t r a c t ,

t h e s p e a k e r r e c o u n t s how she was g r a d u a l l y won o v e r , so t h a t her body

Was s i g n i n g away l a n d s , s t o c k s , e s t a t e s To t u r n o v e r t o him, Over and o v e r .

I'd come a long way f o r someone s c a r e d t o t r u s t .

T h i s woman c l e a r l y sees m a r r i a g e i n terms of s e I f - a b d i c a t i o n and p r o p e r t y

r i g h t s . Her v a l u e s a r e e x p r e s s e d i n t h e language of r e a l e s t a t e ; she

j o y f u l l y a c c e p t s t h e man's r i g h t t o own h e r , i n f e e o f l o v e g r a n t e d , and

i n g r a t i t u d e t h a t he has n o t presumed t o o f a r on h i s a c c o r d e d p r i v i l e g e .

Love, s u g g e s t s Susan Musgrave i n "Once More," must be a f r e e and

v o l u n t a r y o f f e r i n g . The s p e a k e r i n t h i s poem a d d r e s s e s a p e r s i s t e n t ,

s e l f - c e n t e r e d s u i t o r f o r whom she f e e l s she i s t h e "day's f e e d " : E v e r y t h i n g t h a t I d i d n ' t want t o know about you you t o l d me i n t h e f i r s t f i v e m i n u t e s we were a l o n e . A f t e r t h a t t h e r e was n o t h i n g more wo r t h m e n t i o n i n g .

As a woman, t h e s p e a k e r i s e x p e c t e d t o be i n t e r e s t e d , s y m p a t h e t i c and

g r a t e f u l f o r t h i s mark of a t t e n t i o n . The s u i t o r burdens her w i t h h i s

p r o b l e m s , demanding her s u p p o r t . Though she t r i e s , she f e e l s her endurance

worn down w i t h t h e p r i c e he e x a c t s . " I c o u l d l a s t , " she t e m p o r i z e s ; but i t

i s i n t h e c o n c l u s i o n of t h e poem t h a t her own d e f e a t e d hopes f o r a ;

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r e l a t i o n s h i p of r e c i p r o c a l c a r i n g shows: "What m i g h t v a n i s h / i s t h e

o f f e r i n g I n e v e r made." An even more b i t t e r d i s i I I usionment marks Sharon

S t e v e n s o n ' s " F l o w e r Song," where t h e p e r s o n a ' s l o v e r i s so n a r c i s s i s t i c a I Iy

consumed by h i s own s e l f - l o v e t h a t he h o l d s her a t arm's l e n g t h , not

m e r e l y i n s e n s i t i v e t o her " c e n t r e , " but u n w i l l i n g t o l e t her s h a r e h i s .

J o y c e C a r o l Oates c a l l s t h i s s o r t of c o n d i t i o n " V a n i t y , " i n a poem t h a t

g e n e r a l i z e s t h a t a l l l o v i n g i s i n v a i n ; t h e r e i s no hope even of communing:

The b e l o v e d i s a cage you c a n n o t e n t e r . O t h e r s e n t e r c h e a p l y

and

If you l i e a t n i g h t w i t h someone i t i s a l w a y s someone e l s e .

The o b j e c t o f one's love c a n n o t even be h e l d i n dreams, she c l a i m s , f o r

t h e b e l o v e d i s e l u s i v e : " n i m b l e of f o o t and v a i n / and i m m o r t a l " t h e r e .

In t h e p o e t ' s judgment, we make gods o r demi-gods of t h o s e we l o v e , and

s u f f e r a c c o r d i n g l y . T h i s i s not t o o f a r from t h e c o u r t l y e x p e r i e n c e ,

viewed n e g a t i v e l y .

B a b e t t e Deutsch s t a t e s f l a t l y i n "Dogma" t h a t "Love i s not t r u e . "

I t i s n e i t h e r " s t r i c t as number," nor as " e n d u r i n g . " Nor i s i t f r e e ;

b e s i d e i t , o n l y

t h e g r a v e ' s n a r r o w e r Than t h e l i t t l e space i n which t h i s p a s s i o n moves, With a door t h a t opens inward: he who l o v e s Measures h i s paces I i k e a p r i s o n e r .

M a i n l y , t h e s p e a k e r i s i n c e n s e d a t t h e " l a r g e names" love i s g i v e n ,

an e n l a r g i n g t h a t l e a d s t o f a l s e n e s s and i l l u s i o n . S o f t e n i n g her f i r s t

d e n i a l i n a . d i r e c t a d d r e s s t o one w i t h whom she o b v i o u s l y has a l o v e

r e l a t i o n s h i p , she a d m i t s t h a t n e i t h e r " a l g e b r a i s t " o r " d i c t a t o r " c o u l d

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teach them "much of t r u t h or t y r a n n y . " Presumably the couple have

experienced b o t h , a p o i n t the poet makes by ending her poem;"Look a t me.

Do not speak. But t h i s is l o v e . " Deutsch 's sonnet d e l i v e r s i t s message

in s h o r t d e c l a r a t i v e o r imperat ive phrases which convey the f o r c e of the

argument. Mi I l a y ' s sonnet # x i i f l ows w i t h a rhythm t h a t is d i f f e r e n t but

no less d e c i s i v e . Both octave and s e s t e t are composed of a s i n g l e sentence

each, the conc lus ion of which f o l l o w s from a c o l o n , g i v i n g an a i r of

f i n a l i t y t o the s ta tements ; i t s c losures are made t o seem i n e v i t a b l e . There

i s a measured argument o f p r o t e s t t h a t t he speaker, "be ing born a woman

and d i s t r e s s e d / By a l l the needs and no t ions of my k i n d " shou ld , on

t h a t account , be ob l i ged by a man's mere presence t o f i n d h is "person

f a i r " and f e e l "a c e r t a i n z e s t " f o r bear ing the weight of h i s body on hers .

Feminine resentment a t being t ime arid again "undone, possessed" through

what she c a l l s n a t u r e ' s design leads her t o scorn the man who t h i n k s t o

p r o f i t by her sexual s u s c e p t i b i l i t y . Perhaps she enjoys t h i s aspect of

t h e i r r e l a t i o n s , but she re fuses t o l e t i t s u f f i c e as love. She t h e r e f o r e

re fuses t o remember such a man (who presumably is not i n t e r e s t i n g t o her

in more i n t e l l e c t u a l o r i n d i v i d u a l ways)

w i t h love, o r season My scorn w i t h p i t y , - - l e t me make i t p l a i n : I f i n d t h i s f renzy i n s u f f i c i e n t reason For conversa t ion when we meet a g a i n .

T h i s , as in Deutsch, is the woman's defence aga ins t male c o n c e i t , a

coup-de-grace t h a t g ives both poets the s u p e r i o r l a s t word. I t i s a

weapon a t leas t as o i d as Aphra Behn and her contemporar ies .

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Whether l o v e ! i s any worse o f f tod a y t h a n i t was i n f o r m e r t i m e s i s

d e b a t a b l e . I t i s a t l e a s t c l e a r from t h e s e poems t h a t what used t o be

c a l l e d t r u e l o v e i n p o p u l a r custom i s r e g a r d e d w i t h g r e a t s c e p t i c i s m t o d a y .

F o r t h i s , t h e a l i e n a t i n g c o n d i t i o n s o f modern l i f e a r e u n d o u b t e d l y r e s p o n

s i b l e . F r e e r r e l a t i o n s between t h e sexes have a l s o c r e a t e d new o p p o r t u n i

t i e s f o r women t o be s e x u a l l y and p s y c h i c a l l y e x p l o i t e d under t h e i l l u s i o n

t h a t t h e y were f o r m i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s o f l o v e . No wonder, t h e n , t h a t t h e

g r e a t m a j o r i t y o f t h e poems i n t h i s S e c t i o n a r e u n r o m a n t i c i n t h e i r

t r e a t m e n t o f l o v e , r e f u s i n g t o g i v e i t t h e a u r a o f an i d e a l i z e d s t a t e o f

b e i n g . The most p o s i t i v e s t a t e m e n t s here a r e t h o s e d e a l i n g w i t h t h e

p l e a s u r e s of love-making. Y e t s e x u a l e n c o u n t e r e n j o y e d m e r e l y f o r i t s own

s a k e , w i t h o u t l o v e , i g n o r e s t h e i n d i v i d u a l i t y o f t h e person as much as

does t h e i n f a t u a t i o n w i t h romance o r t h e c o u r t l y i d e a l i z a t i o n o f t h e

l o v e - o b j e c t . Hence t h e r e i s a g r e a t d e a l of un h a p p i n e s s and compromise

w i t h h a l f measures r e p o r t e d . A t l e a s t h a l f t h e p o e t s r e p r e s e n t e d e x p r e s s

n e g a t i v e f e e l i n g s and o u t r i g h t d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t w i t h l o v e . I t i s not so

much t h a t t h e y have had r o m a n t i c hopes d i s a p p o i n t e d as t h a t t h e y have

been b i t t e r l y h u r t i n h a v i n g t h e i r f e e l i n g s and s e l f - r e s p e c t v i o l a t e d

by i n s e n s i t i v e and e g o t i s t i c a l s e x u a l p a r t n e r s . The p o e t s imply t h a t

what t h e y e x p e c t e d o f l o v e was a s h a r e d t e n d e r n e s s and a r e s p e c t f o r t h e

i n d i v i d u a l i t y o f both p a r t n e r s . The s p e a k e r s i n t h e poems s i m p l y c e l e

b r a t i n g s e x u a l e n c o u n t e r a v o i d t h e problem: t h e y b r i n g no such hopes t o t h e

b r i e f r e l a t i o n s h i p , t o be d e f e a t e d . They a r e r e a l i s t s w i t h a l i m i t e d but

r e a l i z a b l e g o a l . The t r o u b l e comes when love i s t h e g r e a t h o p e f u l i s s u e ,

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and men t r a d u c e l o v e by d e v a l u i n g i t . As a g r o u p , t h e p o e t s a r e about

e v e n l y d i v i d e d i n whether t h e y e x p e r i e n c e l o v e and sex a f f i r m a t i v e l y as a

l i f e - g i v i n g impetus, o r d e c r y l o v e , e x p e r i e n c i n g i t as a f a i I u r e — m o s t Iy

on t h e p a r t of m e n — t o l i v e up t o i t s hopes. The unhappy s o c i a l , as

w e l l as p e r s o n a l , r e p e r c u s s i o n s of such f a i l u r e a r e seen i n t h e n e x t S e c t i o n

on Motherhood and M a r r i a g e .

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Chapter Five

Motherhood and Marr iage

In t h i s Chapter we deal f o r the f i r s t t ime w i t h a soc ia l i n s t i t u t i o n :

mar r iage . I have pa i red i t w i t h motherhood because, though independent of

a soc ia l c o n t r a c t , motherhood has come t o be seen as a f u n c t i o n of marr iage

through the i n s t i t u t i o n o f the p a t r i a r c h a l f a m i l y . . The ex is tence of a

p r e h i s t o r i c m a t r i a r c h a t e in which women exerc ised a t leas t comparable

a u t h o r i t y w i t h men has been b r i l l i a n t l y argued by a succession of scho lars

cha l leng ing the deeply-entrenched no t ion t h a t the p a t r i a r c h a l f a m i l y

i s the basic u n i t t h a t always has been, i s and w i l l remain, t he foundat ion

o f human s o c i e t y . ^ U n f o r t u n a t e l y , few examples o f ma t r i a rcha l o r g a n i z a t i o n

e x i s t today s i n c e , as George Thomson has s a i d , " I t l i e s bur ied beneath

i»2

the c i v i l i z a t i o n s erec ted on i t . Never the less i t has been shown t h a t ,

in ach iev ing a c o n t r o l over nature ( w i t h whom woman in her f e c u n d i t y was

mag ica l l y i d e n t i f i e d ) men g r a d u a l l y brought women under c o n t r o l as w e l l .

Progress toward c i v i l i z a t i o n has e n t a i l e d a combinat ion of i n t i m i d a t i o n ,

f o r c e and cunning in which the phys ica l and i n t e l l e c t u a l sub juga t ion of

women gained a men's e l | t e the p a t r i a r c h a l dominance i t has held in h i s t o r y .

At the same t ime the p a t r i a r c h a l r u l e r s gained c o n t r o l of o the r men, thus

ach iev ing a dominat ion over human p r o d u c t i v i t y as we l l as r e p r o d u c t i o n .

The study of anc ie n t l i t e r a t u r e in i t s e l f revea ls how men g r a d u a l l y

abrogated the sanct ion of d i v i n e law t o j u s t i f y and make unassa i l ab le the

o therwise i n d e f e n s i b l e r i g h t t o r u l e over women and c h i l d r e n . As men

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became more s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t in the mode of p r o d u c t i o n , they became more

possessive of p roper ty and progeny w i t h t he r e s u l t t h a t c o l l e c t i v e marr iage

as p r a c t i s e d between an unknown number of c lans in the e a r l y stages of

t r i b a l e v o l u t i o n broke down. Thus, from i t s beg inn ing , monogamous

marr iage as we know i t takes on the s o c i a l cha rac te r o f male dominance. I t

is t h i s cha rac te r t h a t i s causing the breakdown in marr iages today as

r e f l e c t e d by the poems in t h i s S e c t i o n . While inc reas ing numbers of women

are choosing not t o ge t m a r r i e d , e x i s t i n g soc ia l s t r u c t u r e s and the weight

of t r a d i t i o n s t i I I lead most women i n t o marr iages where the re i s s t rong

pressure f o r them t o d i s s o l v e t h e i r own developing i d e n t i t y in one which

supports the man's r o l e in s o c i e t y .

The t r a d i t i o n a l marr iage requ i res women t o make motherhood a career

a t the expense of o t h e r needs and i n t e r e s t s they may have. A man has no

s i m i l a r - o b i i g a t i o n l a i d on him, the idea of making fa therhood a c a r e e r —

assuming i t is j u s t as na tu ra l f o r him t o s tay home and r a i s e c h i l d r e n -

being so lud ic rous and repel l en t t o most men as t o reveal the t h r e a t t o

t h e i r assumed s u p e r i o r i t y . Women's s o c i a l l y cond i t i oned and o f t e n s e l f -

accepted s e r v i t u d e as wives and mothers is mainta ined as the na tu ra l

o rder because i t p r o f i t s men, leaving them f r e e of a l l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y save

t h a t o f earn ing a l i v i n g f o r the f a m i l y . Women earn a l i v i n g t o o , by t h e i r

work in the home, but not being recognized as p roduc t i ve and t h e r e f o r e

worthy of pay, such work i s taken f o r g r a n t e d . In a g r e a t many cases,

the w i f e ' s dependence upon a husband f o r support encourages her being t r e a t e d

as a minor ; t h e era o f t e l e v i s i o n has been r i f e w i t h demeaning s te reo types

of the s c a t t e r - b r a i n e d , c h i l d - l i k e w i f e , e . g . , Gracie A l l e n : a comic b u t t

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whose r o l e was t o r e i n f o r c e her comedian husband's s u p e r i o r i t y . Present

f i c t i o n shows " t h e l i t t l e woman" symdrome is f a r from e x t i n c t : in Margaret

Laurence's most recent n o v e l , The D i v i n e r s , an Eng l ish p ro fessor c o n t i n u a l l y

addresses h i s f i v e - f o o t - e i g h t w i f e , a n o v e l i s t , as " l i t t l e one" and " c h i l d , "

and before making love t o her p lays a game of reward in which she must

answer t o : "Have you been a good g i r l , love?"^ I t would appear t h a t

Ibsen 's A Do I I ' s House •. i s as t r u e a m i r r o r of contemporary r e a l i t y as i t

was in h i s own day. Even i f a w i f e seeks and can get paid work in a d d i t i o n

t o the work she does in the home, the economic preferment g iven men means

she is s t i l l b e l i t t l e d , made t o f e e l s u b s i d i a r y . Required by the economic

system, hab i t s of male dominance s t r o n g l y p e r s i s t . Th is is the r e a l i s t i c

background t o the misery and resentment expressed in the poems on mar r iage ;

the poems on motherhood tend most ly t o bypass the m a r i t a l s t a t e .

For the most p a r t , the poets d i s t i n g u i s h c l e a r l y between the two

sub jec t m a t t e r s , the poems on marr iage f a l l i n g i n t o one d i s t i n c t g roup,

those on motherhood i n t o another ; one poem forms a b r idge between the two

groups which are almost evenly d i v i d e d . Marr iage is t r e a t e d as the main

t h e a t e r of a c o n f l i c t of i n t e r e s t s between the sexes. Motherhood i s t r e a t e d

as a c lose k insh ip r e l a t i o n : between daughter and mother where the former

i s the speaker, and between mother and c h i l d or c h i l d r e n where the poet

speaks f o r the mother. One poem in which a marr iage of love is successfu l

stands in i s o l a t e d c o n t r a s t t o the r e s t of the group. The poem which ac ts

as a b r idge between the groups dep ic t s an unhappy w i f e and mother whose

sense of s e l f - w o r t h has been undermined by the soc ia l i n f e r i o r i t y o f her

r o l e and by the c o r r o s i v e wear on body and s p i r i t o f un re l i eved house

keeping and c h i l d ca re .

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Because most of the poems on motherhood s t r e s s the primacy of the

mother 's r o l e in ch i ld -deve lopment , they reverse the s u p e r i o r importance

the p a t r i a r c h a l o rder of s o c i e t y has assigned t o monogamous marr iage over

the o r i g i n a l a u t h o r i t a t i v e importance of the mother. Motherhood is shown

as the base from which women der i ve t h e i r emulat ive emphasis on love and

t h e i r care f o r the peaceful c o n t i n u i t y of l i f e . The absence of f a t h e r s

in these poems r e f l e c t s the d i v i s i o n of r o l e s in s o c i e t y which makes

mothers, but not f a t h e r s , p r i m a r i l y respons ib le f o r n u r t u r i n g and tend ing

t h e i r mutual o f f s p r i n g . In two poems where f a t h e r s are ment ioned, one

is a b ru te who beats h i s w i f e and t e r r o r i z e s t h e i r c h i l d , the o t h e r an

o u t s i d e r t o the t i e of k insh ip the daughter f e e l s w i t h the mother. A

speaker who is not a mother speaks r u e f u l l y of the maternal love she has

lav ished on a l o v e r , making almost a god of him. A poem about an unmarried

mother d e p i c t s her as a v i c t i m of soc ia l c o n d i t i o n i n g : though the newborn

c h i l d s t i l l f e e l s a p a r t of her , she succumbs t o pressure t h a t she g i v e i t

up out of a sense of moral wrong in having conceived i t i l l e g i t i m a t e l y .

In two poems war comes between mothers and t h e i r c h i l d r e n . In s h o r t , though

the nine poems in t h i s group t r e a t the re I a t i o n s h i p f rom as many v i e w p o i n t s ,

the na tu ra l soc ia l u n i t is seen not as the f a m i l y w i t h the f a t h e r a t i t s

head, but as the mother and c h i l d . When resentment aga ins t the domestic

r o l e which enslaves and exhausts her s p i l l s over onto the c h i l d r e n , i t

s i g n i f i e s not a f a i l u r e of love but i nd i ca tes a r e a c t i o n anyone might

have t o o the rs w i t h an u n q u a l i f i e d c la im on t h e i r ene rg ies . Oppressed

and e x p l o i t e d peoples know wel l t h i s resentment. The t r u t h about motherhood

is f a r from the sent imenta l image of i t c u l t i v a t e d by both the p a t r i a r c h a l

t r a d i t i o n and the commercial media. A daugh te r ' s love f o r her mother,

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w i t h whom she i d e n t i f i e s h e r s e l f i s v e r y d i f f e r e n t , f o r i n s t a n c e , from a

s o n ' s , who may see h i m s e l f as t h e young god. A mother's l o v e f o r h e r

c h i l d r e n may compensate her f o r t h e c o n d i t i o n s of her o p p r e s s i o n .

W h i l e l o v e i s i m p l i c i t i n poems about t h e bond between mother and

c h i l d , l o v e i s r a r e enough t o be e x c e p t i o n a l i n poems about m a r r i a g e .

D e n i s e L e v e r t o v i s t h e o n l y one i n t h e m a r r i a g e group t o d e p i c t mutual

l o v e i n t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p . Her poem "The W i f e " i s a d e l i g h t f u l l y v i g o r o u s

a f f i r m a t i o n of j o y and g r a t i t u d e i n b e i n g so b l e s s e d . The o t h e r p o e t s

w r i t i n g on m a r r i a g e p r e s e n t m o s t l y d i s m a l , f r i g h t e n i n g o r p r o f o u n d l y

p a t h e t i c comments on t h e s i t u a t i o n . Perhaps t h e most c e n t r a l o f t h e s e

i s "Leda," by Mona Van Duyn, a poem which g e t s t o t h e c r u x of t h e i s s u e ,

f o r which r e a s o n I w i l l t a k e i t up f i r s t . Because of i t s s a t i r i c a l d i s

t a n c e from t h e s u b j e c t , t h i s poem i s e a s i l y t h e w i t t i e s t o f t h e l o t ,

d e v e l o p i n g a woman's v i e w p o i n t of t h e myth of Leda w i t h sharp s a g a c i t y and

humor.

Van Duyn b e g i n s her poem.with a q u o t a t i o n , s e t o f f above i t , o f t h e

l a s t two l i n e s o f Y e a t s ' poem, "Leda and t h e Swan," i . e . , " D i d she put on

h i s know ledge w i t h h i s power/ B e f o r e t h e ind i f f e r e n t beak c o u I d l e t her drop?

"Not even f o r a moment," Van Duyn comes back. The r e s t of t h e poem i n f o u r

q u a t r a i n s t e l l s why. To b e g i n w i t h , gods no l e s s t h a n men a r e s a t i s f i e d

when t h e y see a f l a t t e r i n g image of t h e m s e l v e s r e f l e c t e d i n t h e eyes of

t h e woman t h e y have chosen. T h a t supreme e g o t i s t Zeus "knew f o r one t h i n g ,

what he was;" he was not about t o s h a r e g o d l y p r e r o g a t i v e w i t h a mere

o b j e c t o f d e s i r e . B r u t e f o r c e , i n i t s p o e t i c beauty o f i n e v i t a b i l i t y , as

Y e a t s saw i t , was s i m p l y t h e n e c e s s a r y means t o an end. B u t - K i n v o l v e d

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d e c e p t i o n . M a s t e r e d by winged beauty as much as by v i o l e n c e , Leda had no

c h o i c e but t o s u r r e n d e r . In t h i s e s s e n t i a l l y male v i c t o r y , woman l o s e s

h e r c o n s c i o u s i n d i v i d u a l i t y a c c o r d i n g t o Van Duyn's r e a d i n g o f t h e myth:

In t h e f i r s t look o f love men f i n d t h e i r g r e a t d i s g u i s e , and c o l l e c t i n g t h e s e r a r e p i c t u r e s o f h i m s e l f was h i s l i f e .

Her body became t h e consequence o f h i s j u i c e ,

w h i l e her mind c l o s e d on a b i r d and went t o s l e e p .

The poet now c o m p l e t e s t h e s h i f t from myth t o p r e s e n t d o m e s t i c r e a l i t y .

She makes t h e p o i n t t h a t myth f i x e s a moment i n t i m e w h i c h , from t h e n on,

has t h e f o r c e o f an e p i p h a n y , whereas l i f e i s c o n t i n u o u s and r e p e t i t i v e .

In r e a l l i f e Leda i s both commonplace and t r a g i c ; she s u f f e r s t h e f a t e o f

women i n d i f f e r e n t l y dropped i n t o m a r r i a g e from a momentary p e r c h o f r o m a n t i c

g l o r y i n which t h e y a r e r a i s e d t o g o d l y h e i g h t s ( b u t w i t h o u t g o d l y knowledge

o r power). T h e n c e f o r t h t h e y l i v e w i t h o u t beauty and w i t h o u t l o v e , t h e s e

h a v i n g been but a d e l u s i o n t o g e t them p r e g n a n t . They do not know i t ,

but t h e y have been had. " L a t e r , " s a y s Van Duyn, p r e s e n t i n g Leda as

p r o t o t y p i c a l , " w i t h t h e c h i l d r e n i n s c h o o l , she opened her e y e s / and saw

her own openness, and f e l t r e l i e f . " But whereas t h e myth l e a v e s Leda f r o z e n

i n "a g l a s s y shape,/ s t r i c k e n and m y s t e r i o u s and i m m o r t a l " a f t e r t h e r a p e ,

t h e r e a l Leda i s n o t , " f o r such an e n d i n g , a b s t r a c t enough. She t r i e d f o r a w h i l e t o u n d e r s t a n d what i t was t h a t had happened, and then d e c i d e d t o l e t i t d r o p .

The i r o n y i n l e t t i n g " i t d r o p " i s a sad one; what Zeus l e t drop was an

o b j e c t he had no f u r t h e r use f o r , what t h e woman l e t s drop i s a q u e s t i o n she

c a n n o t even f o r m u l a t e , l e t a l o n e answer: t h e q u e s t i o n o f why she i s

immortal i n myth and.romance and i n s i g n i f i c a n t i n l i f e . Van Duyn p u t s a

t w i s t on t h i s i r o n y w i t h g l e e f u l b l a c k humor:

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She marr ied a smal le r man w i t h a beaky nose, and melted away in the storm of everyday l i f e .

Such a conc lus ion represents the " r e a l " area o f cho i ce : in the f a l l from

d imly remembered winged h e i g h t s , w i t h t h e i r storm of pass ion , the woman

has no v i a b l e o p t i o n s . The f i n a l ignominy is femin ine d i s s o l u t i o n ; the myth

remains, pure and gemlike in i t s power of t r u t h , but the essence of t h a t

t r u t h here is t h a t the woman whose body f u r n i s h e s the substance of the

myth has no p o s i t i o n of importance in the stormy a f f a i r s t h a t r u l e everyday

l i f e .

Between myth and i n d i v i d u a l r e a l i t y stands s o c i e t y , whom S y l v i a P l a t h ,

in her t e r r i f y i n g poem "The A p p l i c a n t , " p e r s o n i f i e s as a j ob i n t e r v i e w e r .

To be a successfu l candidate f o r membership in our soc ie t y is t o q u a l i f y

accord ing t o s t r i c t norms. " F i r s t , are you our s o r t o f person?" asks a

disembodied v o i c e , r u t h l e s s l y beginning t o s t r i p an impl ied male a p p l i c a n t

of a l l d i g n i t y and defences. "Our s o r t " demands u t t e r con fo rm i t y t o h i s

p r e j u d i c e s . He asks embarrassing q u e s t i o n s :

Do you wear A g lass eye, f a l s e t e e t h o r a c r u t c h , A brace o r a hook,

Rubber b reas ts or a rubber c r o t c h ,

In o the r words is he handicapped or sexua l l y abnormal? The i n t e r v i e w e r

sounds d isappo in ted w i t h the answer: "No, No?, Then/ How can we g i ve you •

a t h i n g ? " T h i s , a f t e r a l l , is the l i b e r a l wh i te s o c i e t y ; i t takes p i t y on

those whom i t h u m i l i a t e s . Since the a p p l i c a n t ' s hand i s empty, t he

vo ice has a s o l u t i o n f o r i t ,

a hand

To f i I I i t and w i l l i n g To b r i n g teacups and r o l I away headaches And do whatever you t e l I i t . W i l l you marry i t ?

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Th is is the " t h i n g , " t h e n , t h a t is o f f e r e d as a recompense f o r having

n o t h i n g ; even the poorest man can a f f o r d i t . I t is a hand "guaranteed" t o

serve t i l l death and then " d i s s o l v e of so r row, " a phrase t h a t r e c a l l s

Van Duyn's image of the w i f e who "melted away." Soc ie ty is even w i l l i n g

t o o f f e r the man, naked in h i s help lessness and want, a s u i t t h a t is

"B lack and s t i f f , but not a bad f i t . / W i l l you marry i t ? " The s u i t i s

a c t u a l l y a c o f f i n , impervious t o damage and so , a l so guaranteed, and in

asking h i s t r u c u l e n t quest ion the i n t e r v i e w e r is coerc ing the man i n t o

a marr iage t h a t w i l l be the death of him: " B e l i e v e me, t h e y ' l l bury you

in i t . " The aggress ive ly d i r e c t tone of f a l s e int imacy catches the North

American idiom of t h i s s l i c k b r u t a l i t y d isgu ised as concern. The hapless

c i t i z e n obv ious ly needs t o be educated t o know what he needs:

Now your head, excuse me, is empty. I have the t i c k e t f o r t h a t .

Come here , sweet ie , out of the c l o s e t .

And f o r t h w i t h the man's he lp-meet , h i s f e i l o w v i c t i m , is t r i u m p h a n t l y

d e l i v e r e d up from the dark con f ines where she i s kep t , naked as h i m s e l f ,

f o r j u s t such an emergency; h i s complement and h i s s a l v a t i o n . She is

presented as "A l i v i n g d o l l , " an investment whose value w i l l increase

w i t h age; " i n t w e n t y - f i v e years s h e ' l l be s i l v e r , / In f i f t y , g o l d . "

Moreover, says the salesman, " i t w o r k s " — t h e e s s e n t i a l p i t c h f o r an a r t i c l e

of dubious v a l u e . Having now run through h is s p i e l , the bureaucrat throws

in a t h r e a t t o c l i n c h the d e a l , h i s h a r d - s e l l i ns i s tence b r i n g i n g the poem

t o a bludgeoning c l o s e :

My boy, i t ' s your l a s t r e s o r t . W i l l you marry i t , marry i t , marry i t .

And the poem ends w i t h what is a command r a t h e r than a q u e s t i o n . P l a t h ' s

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savagery i s equal in technique t o the technique she a s c r i b e s t o her antag

o n i s t , in t h i s c h i l l i n g dramatic monologue, though one i s i n c l i n e d t o wince

at the pain which pushes the w r i t i n g t o i t s b r i l l i a n t extreme of counter

at t a c k . U n l i k e the other poets who a l s o f i n d marriage oppressive, P l a t h

shows t h a t , as the i n s t i t u t i o n supporting the r u l i n g c l a s s in power,

marriage i s as d e s t r u c t i v e of the manias of the woman.

The remaining poems c r i t i c i z i n g marriage have t h e i r viewpoint in the

wife as speaker, and so express aspects of her personal s u f f e r i n g . Let

us take the poems of Anna Wickham, which are the most t r a d i t i o n a l , f i r s t .

In them marriage i s seen as a;prison in which the wife i s s u f f o c a t i n g l y

confined, with husband as j a i l e r . An En g l i s h poet of the e a r l y t wentieth 4

century unappreciated in her own time and long out of p r i n t , Wickham

p r o j e c t s p o e t i c a l l y as a v i t a l and passionate woman who d e l i g h t s in the

senses; t h i s i s remarkable enough f o r the times she was w r i t i n g i n , but

she combines i t with an eq u a l l y remarkable feminism, i n d i g n a n t l y denouncing

male i n j u s t i c e towards women. The two poems here belong t o the l a t t e r

category; "The Wife" i s a complaint in three stanzas employing rhyme in

couplets and t r i p l e t s ; "The Divorce" i s another such l y r i c , with a r e f r a i n

repeated a t the end of each of i t s three stanzas. Though f i t t i n g her

form t o her matter, Wickham was.conscious of the l i m i t a t i o n s of t r a d i t i o n a l

technique, as in t h i s exerpt from a poem e n t i t l e d "Note on Rhyme":

Rhymed verse i s a wide net Through which many s u b t l e t i e s escape. Nor would I t a k ^ i t t o capture a strong t h i n g Such as a whale

Yet she does capture the whale of women's t r a d i t i o n a l longing f o r freedom.

Did she t h i n k f r e e verse, then, not s u i t e d t o the subject of unfree women?

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One wonders. The poems here s t r o n g l y resemble t h e i r f e m i n i s t f o re runners

in the seventeenth century both in form and tone of p r o t e s t . "The Wi fe"

is t e r s e and d i r e c t ; the woman's common comp la in t , " I spend my days/ In

d u l l sequestered ways," s t i l l t r u e of m i l l i o n s of housewives desp i te the

enormous changes t h a t have taken place in the wor ld over the l a s t ha l f

c e n t u r y . Wickham speaks f o r a l l women, e s p e c i a l l y among the poor , whose

l i v e s are burdened w i t h the never-ending round of c h i l d r e n , meals and c l e a n i n g ,

who c r y : "My b ra in d i e s / For want of e x e r c i s e . " For such v i c t i m s of

mar r iage , e s p e c i a l l y those f o r whom d ivo rce is insuperably d i f f i c u l t t o

o b t a i n , t he re is no r e l i e f : " I am a man's w i f e / For a l l my l i f e . "

" D i v o r c e , " desp i te i t s t i t l e , o f f e r s no escape e i t h e r . The speaker merely

longs, w i t h a desperat ion near pan i c , t o escape her enforced lowl iness in

the v a l l e y where marr iage keeps her a p r i s o n e r in her home, f o r a high

e s t a t e o f f reedom-seeking adventure on the h i l l s . Up the re is " t h e hero"

who c a l l s t o her t o j o i n Mm in h i s l i f e of cha l lenge and exc i tement .

" L e t me out t o the n i g h t , l e t me go, l e t me g o , " c r i e s the w i f e in a

repeated r e f r a i n . Wickham sees the prospect of " f i g h t i n g , v i c t o r y or

qu ick deathVjas a freedom vouchsafed the male on ly in an ex is tence which

de r i ves i t s worth from the v i t a l and necessary s t r u g g l e she demands t o

j o i n .

Babette Deutsch, o f the same genera t ion as Wickham, regards woman in a

somewhat d i f f e r e n t , l i g h t , as the na tu ra l v i c t i m in " M a r r i a g e . " The w i f e

is compared t o a t r e e which submits t o being plundered of i t s f r u i t ,

maimed and broken. Her l o t is in the very nature of t h i n g s ; "A w i f e is

one who cannot cease t o g i v e / Flowers of her body, and g r a f t i n g s from

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her s o u l . " L i v i n g w i t h the man, she w i l l never own h e r s e l f nor be " w h o l e , "

f o r he w i l l "go on having as much o f " her as he can t a k e . She is h i s

inst rument o f p l e a s u r e , he her seasons: " t h e wind t h a t makes the leafage

s i n g / And s t r i p s the branches t h a t i t qu i ve rs t h r o u g h . " Despi te i t s

harsh s ta tement , the poem has a musical eloquence which, l i k e i t s metaphor

of the t r e e , a t t e s t s t o gent leness and beauty in the face of rough

e lements, s o f t e n i n g t h e i r impact.

"A Marr ied Woman's Song" by Joyce Carol Oates is the second of a

t r i l o g y of which the t h i r d , " P a i n , " was discussed in Chapter Three. The

b i t t e r n e s s of the l a t t e r is p r e f i g u r e d in t h i s second poem which speaks of

the exhausted love of a marr iage in which the husband has made the young

w i f e s u f f e r the f a i l u r e of h i s prev ious mar r iage . " I need h e l p , " she

admits m ise rab l y :

Marr iage a u s p i c i o u s l y Drapes you in w h i t e , and then

rapes you w i t h hung Bodies of broken b i r d s .

Such i s her exper ience . She f e e l s " p a i d / J n f u l l f o r t a k i n g another w i f e ' s

man"; though in having made such a mistake what crushes her most is her

own s u r p r i s e . I never thought I 'd disband My youth so young, recover t i e s

w i t h dead cancerous k i n , And imagine ch i ldhood a land Across a r i v e r .

The couple shun each o t h e r now in a mechanical round of avoidance, having

noth ing t o say t o each o t h e r . " I s i t p o s s i b l e , " she asks a p p a l l e d , " y o u ' l l

move on , y o u ' l l never see/ What v io lence we've done, you and me?" Though

t h i s speaker l i k e Deutsch 's sees h e r s e l f as v i c t i m , she accepts p a r t o f

the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y ; she is not near l y as passive a s u f f e r e r , which may

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r e f l e c t the change in temper of the t i m e s , not f o r g e t t i n g t h a t t he re

have always been passionate f i g h t e r s l i k e Wickham.

In ^ H a b i t a t i o n , " Margaret Atwood goes f u r t h e r than any of the poets .':

discussed in d e f i n i n g marr iage as a shared r e s p o n s i b i l i t y , though her

concept ion of i t is extremely b leak :

Marr iage i s not

a house o r even a t e n t

i t is before t h a t , and co lde r

— i t is a remnant of the ice age where those who have managed t o l i v e

through i t draw toge the r f o r warmth. Squat t ing p r i m i t i v e l y , " e a t i n g

popcorn" o u t s i d e unpainted s t a i r s " a t the b a c k " — s h e does not say of w h a t —

the speaker presents h e r s e l f and the man w i t h her as e n t i r e l y a lone in a

deso la te landscape, a w i lderness h o s t i l e t o a l l l i f e . Her t a r g e t of

c r i t i c i s m is not marr iage i t s e l f , a p p a r e n t l y , but the a l i e n a t i n g q u a l i t y

o f l i f e in an environment

where p a i n f u l l y and w i t h wonder a t having surv ived even t h i s f a r

we are learn ing t o make f i r e

Mar r iage , Atwood here i m p l i e s , is a t best a p r i m i t i v e s o l u t i o n t o the

inhumanity o f the wor ld around us.

Denise L e v e r t o v ' s "The Wi fe " is as f a r in the oppos i te d i r e c t i o n as

i t is poss ib le t o go in these nervous t i m e s . A f f i r m a t i v e l y j o y o u s , the

poem is a c e l e b r a t i o n of marr ied love, the persona e a r t h i l y comparing h e r s e l f

f i r s t t o

A f r o g under you, knees drawn up ready t o leap out of t i m e ,

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then t o a s n u f f i n g dog seeking a scen t , an "answer" t o the ques t ion of

whether her love is s u f f i c i e n t , G iv ing up, she r e a l i z e s t h a t " I t ' s enough

t o be/ so much h e r e , " e s p e c i a l l y when she catches the man's

mind in the ac t of p Iuck i ng t r u t h from the dark surrounding nowhere

as a swaI low skims a gnat from the deep sky

D e l i g h t i n g e q u a l l y in a n i m a l i t y as in percep t ion of the mind 's winged

v i c t o r i e s , the love the speaker f e e l s makes her " laugh f o r j o y . " The

sound is s l i g h t l y s t a r t l i n g f o r being heard so seldom in women's p o e t r y .

But our p rog ress , a l a s , must c a r r y us downward again t o Wickham's

v a l l e y of despa i r where most of our poets f i n d t h e i r t r o u b l e d i n s p i r a t i o n .

" I n the Park" by the A u s t r a l i a n poet Gwen Harwood d r a m a t i c a l l y presents

a w i f e and mother dragged down by everyday t r i v i a I i t y and the r e l e n t l e s s

t a k i n g care of c h i l d r e n . Her low op in ion of h e r s e l f is i n t e n s i f i e d when

"Someone she loved once" passes by. Recognized and fo rced t o exchange

p l e a s a n t r i e s w h i l e her c h i l d r e n "whine and b i c k e r " and tug a t her outdated

c l o t h e s , she is on ly t oo aware of the man's rea l sent iments of p i t y ,

scorn and r e l i e f , o r so she i n t e r p r e t s them. "From h i s neat head unques

t i o n a b l y r i s e s / a small ba l loon . . . ' b u t f o r the grace of God . . . . ' "

She p a i n f u l l y t r i e s t o rescue her p r i d e : " ' I t ' s so sweet/ t o hear t h e i r

c h a t t e r , watch them grow and t h r i v e , ' " she p re tends , p r o j e c t i n g the

s tereotyped image in women's magazines o f the successfu l happy mother.

But as he - leaves, s m i l i n g , she s i t s nurs ing her youngest c h i l d , " s t a r i n g

a t her f e e t . / To the wind she says, 'They have eaten me a l i v e . ' " In

t h i s p o w e r f u l l y r e a l i z e d scene, Harwood g ives us a c lose-up of the most

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t y p i c a l femin ine malaise s u f f e r e d in a s o c i e t y t h a t imposes upon women r o l e s

t h a t they are led t o be l i eve are t h e i r own f r e e cho i ce . Should they f a i l

t o f i n d f u l f i l l m e n t in these r o l e s , the blame f a l l s on the i n d i v i d u a l

as respons ib le f o r her own personal f a i l u r e . The f e e l i n g s of inadequacy

and i n f e r i o r i t y presented in t h i s poem are a r e f l e c t i o n o f the o b j e c t i v e

r e a l i t y faced by women in which they are t r e a t e d as inadequate and

i n f e r i o r , and t h e r e f o r e f e e l so . The p r o t a g o n i s t ' s resentment, anger

and burning sense of shame t u r n inward a s o c i a l i n j u s t i c e which she has no

means of t u r n i n g outward: an i l l u s t r a t i o n of how women are v i c t i m i z e d in

modern s o c i e t y not on ly outward ly b u t , consequent ly , i nward ly . Harwood's

poem, a sonnet in form t o match i t s t r a d i t i o n a l sub jec t m a t t e r , leads i n t o

t he second group which concerns i t s e l f s o l e l y w i t h t he s t a t e of motherhood

and the r e l a t i o n between mothers and c h i l d r e n .

"The Ch i ld ren of The Poor" is the f i r s t in a se r i es of sonnets c a l l e d

"The Womanhood," by Gwendolyn Brooks, She uses the octave in t h i s poem

t o descr ibe c h i l d l e s s poeple as compared, in t he s e s t e t , w i t h "we o t h e r s , "

a category which does not n e c e s s a r i l y l i m i t i t s e l f t o mothers. The se r i es

t i t l e , however, i nd i ca tes the focus . Her a t t i t u d e as mother is d i r e c t l y

s ta ted in the opening l i n e : "People who have no c h i l d r e n can be h a r d , "

a judgment which c a r r i e s w i t h i t the suggest ion o f a s i g h . Brooks c l e a r l y

does not envy them in the d e s c r i p t i o n which f o l l o w s , though she observes

t h a t o b j e c t i v e l y t h e i r c o n d i t i o n is a f r e e r and more c a r e f r e e one. In

c o n t r a s t ,

we o the rs hear The l i t t l e l i f t i n g he lp lessness , the queer Whimper-whine; whose u n r i d i c u l o u s Lost so f tness s o f t l y makes a t r a p f o r us.

187

Yet desp i te i t s " c u r s e , " i t s "ma locc lus ions , the i n c o n d i t i o n s of l o v e , "

having c h i l d r e n , Brooks m a i n t a i n s , c rea tes an i n e f f a b l e sweetness t h a t was

not t he re b e f o r e , which is a va lue in i t s e l f .

Something of t h i s sweetness is recaptured in a poem by Lor i Whitehead

c a l l e d "Mother S i n g i n g , " in which a grown daughter looks back on shared

moments of c loseness w i t h her mother. In t h i s s h i f t of v iewpo in t from

parent t o c h i l d , we f i n d a harsh judgment of the f a t h e r : "Dad tapped the

wheel w i t h h i s r i n g and drove too f a s t , / so much the f a t , the qu ick r i c h

business man." Though d is tanced from h is daughter , he earns her a f f e c t i o n

w i t h h i s good-natured s ing ing on these long n i g h t d r i v e s , an a f f e c t i o n amoun

t i n g t o love when he "hummed," l e t t i n g daugh te r ' s and mother 's vo ices

blend in song. The daughter remembers the p r i de of shar ing a sweet secre t

of k insh ip w i t h her mother along w i t h the j o y of being t r e a t e d as an

e q u a I , the mother

hugging my comrade's shou lder , proud ( f o r once I was sure) of my harmony, of the f r e e ease w i t h which we met in t he o l d songs;

Th ink ing of her as i f she were h e r s e l f now mother t o t h a t mother, the speaker

is w i s t f u l : " I f e l t you t h e r e , I f e l t I almost knew you, and I knew/ t h a t

I was l o s t in nowhere, l o s t in y o u . "

Diane Wakoski goes b a c k . f u r t h e r in her evocat ion of ch i ldhood sympathy

w i t h a mother who, in t h i s ins tance , is a v i c t i m of her husband's b r u t a l i t y .

The con tex t f o r t h i s remembering i s an o l d f e e l i n g of f e a r and he lp lessness .

"Wind Secre ts " beg ins :

I I i ke the w i nd w i t h i t s pu f fed cheeks and c losed eyes. Nice wind.

1 8 8

The s p e a k e r i s r e l i v i n g her c h i l d h o o d h e r e , r e v e r t i n g t o an o l d escape

mechanism f o r c o p i n g w i t h u n b e a r a b l e e x p e r i e n c e . But t h e memory o f i t

p e r s i s t s :

I would hear mother c r y i n g under t h e wind. " N i c e w i n d , " I s a i d But my h e a r t l e a p t I i k e a d a r t i n g f i s h .

The wind i s remembered because " I t was t h e f i r s t t h i n g I h e a r d / b e s i d e s my

f a t h e r b e a t i n g my mother." A t _ s u c h t i m e s t h e g l o w i n g c o a l s from t h e s t o v e

would look a t her " w i t h angry e y e s , " a c c u s i n g her f o r her h e l p l e s s n e s s .

Even now she i s s t i l l v u l n e r a b l e :

N i c e wind. N i c e wind. Oh, c l o s e y o u r e y e s . There was n o t h i n g I c o u l d do.

The mother as v i c t i m : a fami I i a r theme; b u t , i n " I n d u s t r i a l

C h i l d h o o d " by Sharon S t e v e n s o n , v i c t i m i z a t i o n i s r e f u s e d by t h e mother

and so i t i s not passed on t o t h e n e x t g e n e r a t i o n . T h i s mother was a

woman of s t u r d y courage and independence i n t h e f a c e of p o v e r t y and

h a r d s h i p . Her d a u g h t e r remembers b e i n g l e f t " t o c o m f o r t / you, o l d e r

b r o t h e r , " w h i l e t h e mother went o f f t o work, t h e mother's s t r e n g t h b e i n g

assumed by t h e c h i l d as p a r t of her own. T h i s was t h e mother's l i f e :

In t h e morning she made ca n s . In t h e e v e n i n g she w a i t e d on t a b l e s

and c a r r i e d a m i l k b o t t l e , b r o k e n , f o r p r o t e c t i o n .

Nor d i d she n e g l e c t t o pass on her l o v e of m usic and l e a r n i n g t o t h e

c h i l d r e n , l e a v i n g them t o be guarded by a r e c o r d i n g of " P e t e r and W o l f "

( s i c ) i n t h e m o r n i n g s , and l a t e r i n t h e m i n i n g town t o where t h e y moved

r e a d i n g them "Fenimore Cooper" a t bedtime. Forming a c o l l a g e of i m p r e s s i o n s ,

t h e c h i l d who i s now t h e poet c o n s t r u c t e d a w o r l d which t o o k i t s f e a t u r e s

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from both the rea l in her environment and the imag ina t i ve , h e r s e l f

knowing on ly the b lack shot s l a t e o u t s i d e the window

the lacy women who must have c a r r i e d m i l k b o t t l e s , broken,

somewhere, and the magic Indians who could

do eve ry th ing but s u r v i v e .

Stevenson's poem of a mother whose example prov ided i n s t r u c t i o n in the

p r a c t i c a l ways of s u r v i v a l as in the ways of the imaginat ion p o i n t s up

an impor tant aspect o f woman's h i s t o r i c r o l e in s o c i e t y as c u l t u r e - b e a r e r

and educator of her c h i l d r e n .

With the next poem, "To My Son," by Babette Deutsch, we r e t u r n t o

the mother as speaker. In i t s advice t o a son a t war, t h i s poem c a r r i e s

on the p r o t e c t i v e and s p i r i t u a l l y n u r t u r i n g t r a d i t i o n noted above. Addres

s ing a c h i l d who is caught , f a r from home, in the "Gehenna" of mutual

murder, the mother cont inues t o o f f e r what love and wisdom she s t i l l may:

I cannot hide you now, Or s h e l t e r you eve r ,

Or g i ve you a guide through h e l l ,

she r e g r e t s , f a c i n g even her l i m i t a t i o n s as a poet in t h a t l a s t l i n e which

seems t o a l l u d e t o Dante, but she can g i v e her son her counse l :

You, in an obscure room in a master I ess school Must f i n d the f a i t h t h a t cements

The promises p u b l i c events and p r i v a t e b lunders have broken.

She would not have him become c y n i c a l ; he must w r e s t l e a lone " I n the

stony n i g h t l i k e the Jew/ Compell ing the awful a n g e l . " For i t is " l o v e

of the imposs ib le , " says t h i s mother,

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t h a t forms t h e dove and t h e l i o n . I t i s love o f t h e i m p o s s i b l e T h at b r i n g s t h e s o u l t o i t s own.

An o t h e r mother, i n a newer, more t e r r i b l e war, le a n s o v e r t h e c r i b

o f her i n f a n t i n s l e e p l e s s a n x i e t y , i n A d r i e n n e R i c h ' s " N i g h t - P i e c e s : F o r

a C h i l d . " Here f e a r i s uppermost. As t h e c h i I'd s t a r t s awake, and, s t i l l

i n a dream screams a t t h e s i g h t o f h e r , she i s a p p a l l e d , t h i n k i n g , "Mother

I no more am/ but woman, and n i g h t m a r e . " She i s indeed i n need o f c o m f o r t

h e r s e l f , as we see i n t h e second poem e n t i t l e d "Her Waking." Now i t i s

she who j e r k s " a s t a r t i n a d a r k / h o u r l e s s as H i r o s h i m a ; " t h e n i g h t m a r e

i s p e r v a s i v e . R e l i e v e d t o f i n d t h e c h i l d s t i l l b r e a t h i n g , she sees her

"murderous dream" r e c o i l "back i n t o t h e egg of dreams." " A l l gone," she

s a y s , as t o a c h i l d awake, s p e a k i n g her t h o u g h t s :

But you and I : — swaddled i n a dumb d a r k o l d as s i c k h e a r t e d n e s s , modern as pure a n n i h i l a t i o n — ! -

we d r i f t i n i g n o r a n c e .

H e l p l e s s a g a i n s t t h e h o r r o r o f p r e s e n t e v e n t s , she i s reduced t o w i s h i n g

o n l y f o r t h e c o m f o r t o f "some g e n t l e animal sound" from t h e c h i l d , y e a r n s

f o r a p h y s i c a l c o n n e c t i o n t h a t wouId a f f o r d her t h e r e l i e f o f g i v i n g , i n a

m i n d l e s s communion: " I f m i l k f l o w e d from my b r e a s t a g a i n . . . " A

c o n f e s s i o n o f momentary weakness p e r h a p s ; b u t t h i s poem does n o t h e s i t a t e t o

say t h a t a woman c a n n o t a l w a y s be e x p e c t e d t o be t h e p i l l a r o f s t r e n g t h

demanded of a mother, e s p e c i a l l y i n a t h r e a t e n i n g w o r l d t h a t l e a v e s her

no means t o p r o t e c t e i t h e r h e r s e l f o r t h o s e whom she l o v e s .

Some women, i n f a c t , r e f u s e t h e r o l e a f t e r f i n d i n g t h a t t h e g e n e r o s i t y

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and s t r e n g t h o f t h e i r love is taken f o r granted by men w i t h o u t a p a r a l l e l

love being g iven in r e t u r n ; t h i s is the f e e l i n g m o t i v a t i n g Eleanor W y l i e ' s

sonnet # X I I . I t is w r i t t e n in an "autumn" of " sa l l ow droppings on the

mou ld , " a beginning t o the poem which is the on ly c lue t o the speaker 's

present a t t i t u d e toward the love r e l a t i o n s h i p . In a former t ime of .

contentment , says the poet addressing the l o v e r ,

Sometimes you have permi t ted me t o f o l d

Your g r i e f in swaddling bands, and smi le t o name Yourse l f my i n f a n t , w i t h an i n f a n t ' s c la im To utmost adora t ion as of o l d .

Both the C h r i s t - c h i Id and the average i n f a n t are suggested here. But an

i n f a n t is dependent in a way t h a t the lover is no t . The s e s t e t t e l l s o f a

dream in which the speaker bore a son resembIing C h r i s t . She then swi tches

t o an e a r l i e r , H e b r a i c - C h r i s t i a n archetype in which she is Eve r a t h e r than

Mary:

Torn from your b o d y , ' f u r b i s h e d from your r i b , I am the daughter of your s k e l e t o n , Born of your b i t t e r and excessive p a i n .

Autumn has brought thoughts of t r a v a i l and dea th : the woman's f a t e as we l l

as the man's. But who i s t he re t o comfor t her? In images which merge

t o d e p i c t woman as daughter of pain as wel l as mother of p a i n , the poet

seems t o be saying t h a t t o be leaned upon as mother, a lways, i s asking

too much of her , and i s bes ides, t oo one-s ided a view of her humanity.

Demanding c o n s i d e r a t i o n and respect f o r her own share of human s u f f e r i n g ,

she concludes q u i e t l y : " I s h a l l not dream you are my c h i l d a g a i n . " The

poem a l so quest ions the i m p l i c a t i o n s of r e l i g i o n and myth which put her

in secondary p o s i t i o n t o God and man.

The two f i n a l poems in the Sect ion are w r i t t e n from v iewpo in ts

1 9 2

d i f f e r e n t from each o t h e r and from t h e r e s t o f t h e group. Anne S e x t o n

w r i t e s i n t h e persona o f an "Unknown G i r l i n t h e M a t e r n i t y Ward," t h e

poem f o c u s s i n g on t h e " C h i l d " t o whom i t i s a d d r e s s e d w i t h t h e f i r s t word.

"Your l i p s a r e a n i m a l s " ; she o b s e r v e s f o n d l y , "you a r e f e d / w i t h l o v e .

A t f i r s t hunger i s not wrong." In t h e i r mutual i n n o c e n c e , t h e mother and

c h i l d form a n a t u r a l u n i t :

You sense t h e way we b e l o n g . But t h i s i s an i n s t i t u t i o n bed. Y o u - w i l l n ot know me v e r y l o n g .

The d o c t o r s a r e enamel. They want t o know t h e f a c t s .

We can see t h a t s o c i e t y , w i t h i t s " i n s t i t u t i o n s , " i s g o i n g t o p a r t t h i s p a i r .

But t h e d o c t o r s a r e i n t r u d e r s , i n t h e mother's e y e s , i r r e l e v a n t i n t h e i r

need t o " c h a r t t h e r i d d l e " o f p a t e r n i t y . Thus she remains uncommunicative;

i n d e e d , she does " n o t know." The c h i l d ' s i s " t h e o n l y f a c e " she r e c o g n i z e s :

"you," she s a y s , " d r i n k my answers i n . / S i x t i m e s a day I p r i z e / y o u r need."

But when t h e d o c t o r s r e t u r n t o badger her w i t h t h e i r q u e s t i o n s , she

r e c o n s i d e r s , f e a r i n g t h a t her s i l e n c e w i l l harm t h e c h i l d : "My v o i c e

a l a r m s / my t h r o a t . 'Name of f a t h e r — n o n e , ' " she s a t i s f i e s them. " I h o l d /

you and name you b a s t a r d i n my arms." She has assumed t h e g u i l t l a i d upon

her. And now, h a v i n g n o t h i n g more t o "say o r l o s e , " she s t e e l s h e r s e l f

t o a c c e p t t h e view t h a t i n t h e long run t h e c h i l d i s o n l y a " f r a g i l e

v i s i t o r , " who t o g e t h e r w i t h her must a t t h i s i n i t i a l s t a g e " u n l e a r n "

t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p . Y i e l d i n g t o t h e n e c e s s i t y o f g i v i n g up t h e c h i l d f o r

a d o p t i o n as her o n l y w i s e way, she h e a r t b r e a k i n g I y d i s e n g a g e s h e r s e l f :

I choose y o u r o n l y way, my s m a l l i n h e r i t o r and hand you o f f , t r e m b l i n g t h e s e l v e s we l o s e . Go c h i l d , who i s my s i n and n o t h i n g more.

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With t h i s she denies her own i n s t i n c t u a l f e e l i n g of na tu ra l oneness w i t h

the c h i l d t o accept the C h r i s t i a n view of femin ine g u i l t f o r motherhood

o u t s i d e mar r iage , and t o subside in passive r e s i g n a t i o n . She has a l lowed

s o c i e t y t o depr ive her of her own f l e s h and blood and t o name her , in i t s

own terms, Magdalen r a t h e r than Mary. The poem o f f e r s an i n t e r e s t i n g

comment on W y l i e ' s where the persona, not being a t the mercy of s o c i e t y

as is the young mother here, re fuses any des igna t ion v i c t i m i z i n g her and

based on sacrosanct models of p a t r i a r c h a l r e l i g i o n . Sexton 's poem a l so

o f f e r s an example of fo rma l i zed s t r u c t u r e so s k i l f u l l y subord inated t o i t s

theme t h a t i t s presence is bare ly n o t i c e a b l e , except t h a t i t is f e l t (which

might a l so be said of most o f the sonnets in t h i s S e c t i o n ) . Sexton 's

e l e v e n - l i n e stanzas each ma in ta in an a-b rhyming p a t t e r n throughout a l l

o f t h e i r l i n e s , w i t h o u t i t s ever seeming obvious o r r e p e t i t i v e . The e f f e c t ,

on the c o n t r a r y , is t o weld each stanza i n t o a u n i t y t h a t expresses how

the mother f e e l s about h e r s e l f and her c h i l d .

"Evo lv ing an I n s t i n c t " is a poem on the same sub jec t but from an

unthreatened p o s i t i o n o f m a t e r n i t y which leaves the mother f r e e t o develop

her love. Sandra MacPherson discusses the v a r i e t y , and probes the range

of f e e l i n g s and p e r c e p t i o n s , a new mother d iscovers in her r e l a t i o n s h i p t o

her c h i l d , the poem focuss ing on t h i s t o t a l immersion o f the consciousness

in i t s new exper ience. The main p o i n t she makes is t h a t motherhood i s

a learned r e l a t i o n s h i p , not the product o f b l i n d i n s t i n c t . Each new

response t o the c h i l d i s consc ious ly evolved as i t is c a l l e d f o r t h .

"Evo lv ing an I n s t i n c t " is t h e r e f o r e a p o e t ' s view of the learn ing process

t h a t a mother, taugh t by her c h i l d , goes through in f o l l o w i n g an i n c l i n a t i o n

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t o be p r o t e c t i v e and l o v i n g . Th is is very d i f f e r e n t , of course , f rom the

t r a d i t i o n a l view t h a t ma in ta ins motherhood t o be automat ic femin ine

i n s t i n c t , and condemns the woman who, f o r whatever reason, f a i l s t o e x h i b i t

the p r o t e c t i v e love f o r her c h i l d r e n t h a t is deemed " n a t u r a l . " We saw

the unhappy e f f e c t s o f such a view in Gwen Harwood's poem.: " I am learn ing

p r o t e c t i o n , " begins MacPherson in a se r i es of s h o r t d e c l a r a t i v e sentences

in t h i s f i r s t stanza which ends w i t h the l i n e , " I learn t o l o v e . " Between

learn ing p r o t e c t i o n and learn ing love, she s t a t e s :

I purposely look s i l l y .

I bark and wh i ne. I waddle in new motherhood. My wings drag t h e i r sheen in d i r t . I hobble t h a t my young may f l y .

I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t h a t she compares h e r s e l f t o a dog, a duck, and

poss ib l y an insec t newly out of i t s c h r y s a l i s , s ince we have encountered

such images in women's poems e a r l i e r in t h i s chap te r : in Sexton 's i n f a n t

" f i s t e d l i k e a s n a i l , " whose " l i p s are a n i m a l s ; " in R i c h ' s mother longing

t o hear "some g e n t l e animal sound" from her c h i l d and have the m i l k -flow

from her breast again in s imple mammal response; in Deutsch 's advice t o her

son, t h a t uses the images of the dove and the I i o n ; in Stevenson's "Pe ter

and Wol f " image of t he mo the r ' s p r o t e c t i v e love f o r her c h i l d r e n ; in

Brooks' d e s c r i p t i v e naming of the young ones ' "whimper-whine." Such re ferences

t o animal i t y , • wh ich in MacPherson-'s poem are i n s i s t e d upon, prov ide a

c o r r e c t i v e balance t o the o f t e n one-sided image of motherhood i d e a l i z e d

and abs t rac ted in the r e l i g i o n and l i t e r a t u r e of men. The c h i l d , in

" E v o l v i n g an I n s t i n c t , " is female , a f u r t h e r i n d i c a t i o n o f the p o e t ' s

d e l i g h t in c r e a t i n g her own w o r l d . In t h i s connec t i on , i t may be noted

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t h a t the sex o f the c h i l d in the poem by Sexton is d e l i b e r a t e l y l e f t

unspec i f i ed even though the mother is i d e n t i f i e d in a C h r i s t i a n c o n t e x t

as a f a I l en madonna, which assumes a male c h i l d . In MacPherson's poem

the persona can c a p i t a l i z e on her new female se I f -awareness . "What is i t

t o be a n o t h e r ' s keeper , " she asks, s u b t l y a p p r o p r i a t i n g the b i b l i c a l

con tex t of b r o t h e r s . She pursues her q u e s t i o n i n g :

Am I an animal t r a i n e r ? Is i t fun? Is i t b e a u t i f u l ? Am I a warden? Do I have the keys?

These are a l l profound q u e s t i o n s ; the task a t hand, cannot be taken f o r

granted s ince i t i s the most se r ious t h i n g in the w o r l d , as the mother here

approaches i t . Al ready she f e e l s the t h r e a t of d is tance opening up between

her and the new small i d e n t i t y so much p a r t of h e r s e l f . Her housekeeping

d u t i e s c a l l he r , reminding her t h a t she is in a sense mother t o thi.ngs

as wel l as people; mother indeed t o the e a r t h . Ear th is t o a l l t h i n g s as

she is t o her c h i l d : an environment t h a t nour ishes :

Feed the dog, water the v i o l e t . I am mamma I . M i l k f a t t e n s the e a r t h . I love many and they know i t no t . Keep the body t i c k i n g . I am an atmosphere she can breathe i n .

As se t down, these fragmented thoughts m i r r o r the mental processes o f a

modern mother Who must take note of and organ ize a m u l t i t u d e of d i f f e r e n t

d u t i e s and concerns in her d a i l y round. The new mother is a l ready t a k i n g

s tock of the domestic wor ld she is g iven t o r u l e , learn ing t o t h i n k in

i t s te rms. From now o n , she w i l l not have the peace t o pursue any personal

g o a l s , a r e a l i z a t i o n t h a t is impl ied through the psycho log ica l technique

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here employed. She is a l so beginning t o sense t h a t the comprehensive love

she is learn ing may go unappreciated and un re tu rned , s ince the "many"

she loves "know i t n o t . " The l i nes f o l l o w i n g those l a s t quoted e n t e r on

a new apprehension of what the f r e s h l y domesticated i d e n t i t y she has

acqui red may mean in ac tua l te rms:

I am a newspaper t o mess. Th is is learn ing p r o t e c t i o n , Learning t o love.

Thus the premise s ta ted c h e e r f u l l y a t the beginning of the poem is

repeated a t the end w i t h a d e f i n i t e note of alarm in the word " T h i s . "

I t s immediate r e f e r e n t con ju res up on ly the most negat ive and unpleasant

images, a newspaper being sub jec t not on ly t o many i n d i g n i t i e s but t o

being d iscarded when i t s immediate i n t e r e s t and u t i l i t y are over . So

" T h i s " is what a l l the exc i tement of evo l v ing a new " i n s t i n c t " as mother

is going t o s e t t l e down i n t o , the poet seems t o be say ing . I t is the f i r s t

i n t i m a t i o n o f a d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t t h a t is on ly t oo we l l a m p l i f i e d in the

poems we have j u s t d iscussed, and so, in a way, b r ings us f u l l c i r c l e t o

where we began w i t h the i n s t i t u t i o n of mar r iage .

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Chapter Six

D e f i n i n g Oneself as an A r t i s t

A r t i s t i c endeavor has always been w i t h i n h i s t o r i c t imes f o r women a

ques t ion of working w i t h i n l i m i t s d i c t a t e d by male a u t h o r i t y . So in coming

t o poet ry in which women look a t themselves as a r t i s t s , i t is we l l t o

remember t h a t they have been no f r e e r in being able t o w r i t e as poets and

ga in r e c o g n i t i o n as such than they have been f r e e as women. Th is w i l l

l e t us see the d i f f i c u l t i e s , the l i m i t a t i o n s of scope, t he c o n f u s i o n , t he

anger, the r e s o l u t i o n of c o n f l i c t s and f i n a l l y , the achievement, in c o n t e x t .

The r e p u t a t i o n of the modern poet is con t ingen t upon p u b l i c a t i o n .

What women could hope t o p u b l i s h has t h e r e f o r e necessa r i l y in f luenced the

k inds of poet ry they wrote when not w r i t i n g f o r themselves ( l i k e Emily

Dick inson) or t h e i r f r i e n d s ( l i k e Kathar ine P h i l i p s ) . Poetry e x i s t s not

on ly by i t s a e s t h e t i c r i g h t : t o f i n d an audience i t must e i t h e r c rea te

i t s own by sheer conf idence in i t s a u t h o r i t y , o r please the dominant

t a s t e s and biases of i t s t i m e . I f the poet is a woman, she not on ly has

reason t o lack such con f idence , but her work faces the a d d i t i o n a l handicap

of sex d i s c r i m i n a t i o n . These pressures on a woman's freedom of c r e a t i v i t y

are f a r from o u t l i v e d , as evidenced by Kenneth Rexroth who, in i n t roduc ing

a recent s e l e c t i o n of poems by f o u r young women poets , had t h i s t o say:

As any teacher of ' C r e a t i v e Poe t r y ' w i l l t e l I you, the m a j o r i t y of s tudents who w r i t e poet ry are women and u s u a l l y they w r i t e b e t t e r than the men. A f t e r about the .age of t w e n t y - f i v e they begin t o d isappear . What happens t o them? The answer i s apparent upon even the most cursory survey of l i t e r a r y magazines and small presses. They f i n d i t very hard indeed t o ge t p u b l i s h e d . Many an tho log ies of genuine ly young poe ts , many s e r i e s of poet ry book le ts con ta in no females whatsoever.

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T t is good t o have a poet of Rexro th ' s s t a t u r e acknowledging t h i s s i t u a t i o n

and doing something about i t . But w i t h the next sentence he equ ivoca tes .

"Perhaps i t would be poss ib le t o c o r r e c t t h i s imbalance," he v e n t u r e s . But

having by h i s own example proved the p o s s i b i l i t y , why t h i s lack of c o n v i c t i o n ?

Should we i n f e r from i t t h a t Rexroth has no f a i t h in o t h e r men's encouragement

of women, knowing women are regarded as i n f e r i o r s and ye t resented and

feared as compet i tors? Whatever, h i s comments r e i n f o r c e what women a l ready

know, i . e . , t h a t poet ry is not judged simply on i t s own m e r i t s . P re jud ice

aga ins t women extends t o t h e i r c r e a t i v e o u t p u t . Female poets are t r e a t e d as

women f i r s t and poets second. For t h a t reason a lone , we w i l l have t o keep

on using the q u a l i f i c a t i o n "women" poets f o r some t i m e , not in deference t o

a s u b - c l a s s , but in a s s e r t i o n of women's presence u n t i l such t ime as the

woman's vo ice i s f u l l y accepted in i t s own r i g h t , a l l v e s t i g e s o f p r e j u d i c e

in p u b l i s h i n g having been overcome.

The woman's v i e w p o i n t , as I have t r i e d t o de f i ne i t , i s n e i t h e r b e t t e r

nor worse than the man's: i t is s imply her own, a r e s u l t o f h i s t o r i c a l con

d i t i o n i n g ^ Women wrote about what concerned them most, t h i s being the l i f e

immediately touch ing t h e i r conf ined ex is tence as a c lass of people sub

s e r v i e n t t o a dominant c l a s s . C h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y , women's poet ry does

not deal w i t h sub jec ts which i n t e r e s t e d men such as hero ism, war, the broad

panoply of p u b l i c even t , the realms of i n t e l l e c t u a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n , e . g . ,

phi losophy and sc ience : in s h o r t , the wor ld from which women were f o r the

most p a r t exc luded. The poetry of women, from the t ime of Sappho, is

t y p i f i e d by an emphasis on personal l i f e . The male poet does not cen t re on

h imsel f as sub jec t u n t i l a t leas t the seventeenth c e n t u r y , the major s h i f t

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from an outward v i s i o n t o t h e e m o t i o n a l l i f e of t h e i n d i v i d u a l n ot t a k i n g

p l a c e u n t i l t h e advent of t h e Romantic movement. T h i s development, w h i l e

f a v o r i n g t h e k i n d s o f e x p r e s s i o n w i t h which women were most a t home, has

not r e s u l t e d i n men's coming t o s h a r e women's v i s i o n o f t h e n a t u r e o f

r e a l i t y and a r t . Men's a r t has come t o be dominated by an e g o - c e n t e r e d

c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f t h e w o r l d , t h e modern poet b e i n g more conc e r n e d w i t h h i s

own r e a c t i o n s t o - : t h e w o r l d t h a n w i t h t h e r e a c t i o n s o f o t h e r s , as he was

i n e a r l i e r p o e t r y . Women's t a l k i n g about themes I v e s , on t h e o t h e r hand,

has come t o be a n e c e s s a r y r e v i s i o n o f t h e f a l s e images men have made of

them. F o r man's v i s i o n o f woman - " i s n o t o b j e c t i v e , " as Eva F i g e s has w r i t t e n ,

but an uneasy c o m b i n a t i o n o f what he w i s h e s her t o be and what he f e a r s her t o be, and i t i s t o t h i s m i r r o r image t h a t woman has had t o comply. Man has a l s o been r e q u i r e d t o l i v e up t o an image, but s i n c e i t was made f o r him by h i s f a t h e r i t was more I i keIy t o f i t i n w i t h h i s own de^ i r e s : b r a v e r y c o u l d mean t h e courage t o make s t r a i g h t f o r what you want.

W e l l , t h i s c o urage " t o make s t r a i g h t f o r what you want" i s s l o w l y b e i n g

a c q u i r e d by women as t h e y g a i n t h e n e c e s s a r y c o n f i d e n c e t o change t h e i r

l i v e s . In d i s c u s s i n g t h e m s e l v e s as female and as a r t i s t i n t h e i r p o e t r y ,

women a r e r e a l l y r e c r e a t i n g t h e m s e l v e s i n a new s o c i a l image. The o l d

t r a d i t i o n o f w r i t i n g from a base o f immediate e x p e r i e n c e now s e r v e s women as

a means of r e d e f i n i n g t h e m s e l v e s , i n which p r o c e s s t h e y a r e p r o j e c t i n g

e x c i t i n g l y e x a c t images which c o r r e c t t h o s e o f t h e " d i s t o r t i n g m i r r o r "

of t h e p a s t . T h i s emendation has n o t h i n g i n common w i t h R omantic-decadent

s u b j e c t i v i t y and pe s s i m i s m : i t i s r e a l i s t i c and h o p e f u l , a n e c e s s a r y

c o u n t e r b a l a n c e t o l e s s l i f e - g i v i n g t r e n d s i n p o e t r y where a k i n d o f moral

e x h a u s t i o n has l e d t o s t a t e m e n t s which a r e v a l u e d by men more f o r t h e i r

i n g e n u i t y of c o n s t r u c t i o n than f o r t h e i r a p t n e s s o f o b s e r v a t i o n . " ^

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Though women poets no longer have t o model themselves on male expec ta t i ons

and s tandards , being involved as a group in e v o l v i n g standards of t h e i r

own, the concept of a l i b e r a t e d consciousness and of t h e i r own p o t e n t i a l

s t r e n g t h as a group f o r c e is s t i l l very new in f i n d i n g a v o i c e . Most women

w r i t i n g in the t w e n t i e t h century are s t i l l r e a c t i n g t o the e f f e c t s of

c e n t u r i e s of oppress ion ; many such poets have i n t e r n a l i z e d the p r e j u d i c e

aga ins t women, shar ing i t • t h e m s e I v e s , o f t e n unconsc ious ly . Some of the poems"

in the next S e c t i o n : What Does i t Mean t o be a Woman? exempl i f y t h i s

b e t t e r than the ones here. Rather c u r i o u s l y , as i t seems t o me, none of

the poems in the present Sect ion express any r e g r e t t h a t women have been

denied the exper ience of a man's wor ld on which t o draw f o r i n s p i r a t i o n .

P o s s i b l y , t h i s means t h a t most women have been s a t i s f i e d w i t h what sources

they had, not envying men t h e i r broader o r more v i o l e n t l y a c t i v e l i v e s .

S t i l l , however u n l i m i t e d the range of the imag ina t ion , very few female

poets have been able t o escape the adverse e f f e c t s of t h e i r soc ia l con

d i t i o n i n g . Those who were most themselves had t o withdraw from p u b l i c l i f e

in o rder t o be so, l i k e Emily D i c k i n s o n , o r could be themselves because

born i n t o a r i s t o c r a c y which bestows i t s own spec ia l conf idence and freedom,

l i k e Ed i th S i t w e l l . Most poets would not d e l i b e r a t e l y choose the former

o p t i o n , and have no choice in the l a t t e r , To ga in the p u b l i c audience

w i t h o u t which poet ry e x i s t s in l imbo, the m a j o r i t y have had t o s t r u g g l e .

That many women are t h e i r own mean d e t r a c t o r s in poet ry is p a i n f u l

but not s u r p r i s i n g , cons ider ing t h e i r s i t u a t i o n . How many male poets do we

f i n d who make a separa t ion between being a man and a poe t , w i t h a need t o

derogate t h e i r maleness in o rder t o a f f i r m themselves as a r t i s t s ? The

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quest ion seems l u d i c r o u s . But f o r women the c o n f l i c t is r e a l . I t has

caused some poets e i t h e r t o cas t o f f t h e i r sex as a shameful burden, o r

s imply not t o recognize i t . One could always ge t r i d of the nuisance of

being a woman by w r i t i n g from a p o s i t i o n of sexual n e u t r a l i t y which f e l t

l i k e freedom. Divorced in t h e i r i d e n t i t y as a r t i s t s from t h e i r b i o l o g i c a l

and soc ia l i d e n t i t y as women, such poets have responded t o the wor ld in some

a b s t r a c t sense t h a t assumes a common humanity w i t h men though the compliment

is not r e t u r n e d . For women t o w r i t e e x c l u s i v e l y as men i s the indulgence of

a cu r ious i f p leasant c o n c e i t , as i f such poets were not female c r e a t u r e s

whose l i v e s had been formed and informed by the f a c t of having been born

w i t h a sexual body, and by having experienced the wor ld from the disadvantaged

p o s i t i o n o f a woman in p a t r i a r c h a l s o c i e t y . I t is customary* to view such

poets as a r t i s t s who have transcended sexual c o n s i d e r a t i o n s , as i f t h a t

were n e c e s s a r i l y a v i r t u e . Though t a k i n g the pressures of c i rcumstance i n t o

account , some women w r i t e r s today would judge female poets who re fuse t o

acknowledge sexual p o l i t i c s as e i t h e r a p o l i t i c a l o r u n f e e l i n g towards t h e i r

sex. The on ly m a l e - i d e n t i f y i n g poet I have included here is Marianne Moore,

s ince her poem revea ls how the worship of male standards of p e r f e c t i o n can

and does coerce women i n t o a f a l s e p o s i t i o n of denying t h e i r own (a p o i n t

I w i l l en large upon in my d iscuss ion of the poem, where I hope t o make i t

c l e a r ) . Moore was f a r from a p o l i t i c a l , in her support of r i g h t - w i n g pa r t y

p o l i t i c s . In p o e t i c fo rm, however, she was r a d i c a l l y innova t i ve ( a l b e i t

w i t h a h i g h l y c o n t r o l l e d e legance) . The models f o r both the p o l i t i c a l

a l l e g i a n c e and the poet ry seem t o me t o be e l i t i s t male as epi tomized by

Dryden and Pope, Moore's po l ished w o r d c r a f t being noth ing i f not the

poet ry of c o n t r o l l e d i n t e l l e c t u a l w i t and reason. Women w i t h g r e a t

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i n t e l l e c t u a l a c u i t y have o f t e n f e l t a t odds w i t h t h e i r sex, having sometimes

t o repud ia te q u a l i t i e s in themselves t h a t threatened them w i t h being

l a b e l l e d f e m i n i n e , i . e . , unworthy of t h e i r b e t t e r o r mascul ine s e l v e s ,

s ince an aggress ive i n t e l l e c t has supposedly been the man's sphere and

emotion p lus i n t u i t i o n the woman's. A r t i s t i c i d e n t i t y a l lows women t o

disavow themselves as such wh i le j u s t i f y i n g themselves as poe ts .

More o v e r t examples of femin ine s e I f - d e n i g r a t i o n are f u r n i s h e d by

Anne Wi lk inson and E l i n o r Wyl ie in t h i s S e c t i o n , where the theme of

c o n f l i c t between being a woman and an a r t i s t i s d e a l t w i t h from a v a r i e t y

of s t a n d p o i n t s . Lynne Lawner, f o r example, speaks of f u t i l e l y abasing

h e r s e l f as a woman in o rder t o avoid domestic segregat ion and gain admit tance

t o the inner sanctum of the p o e t i c a l l y e l e c t : the male gods who g ran t the

honors. P h y l l i s Webb d e p i c t s the p o e t ' s l one l i ness and a l i e n a t i o n in a

wor ld t h a t is unmistakeabIy male, though she n e i t h e r reac ts p o s i t i v e l y t o

being a woman nor shows any need t o deny the f a c t she i s one. Margaret

Atwood, Anna Wickham and Mona Van Duyn each f i n d , in t h e i r own way, t h a t

t h e i r sexual need as women gets in the way of t h e i r p o e t i c . The a t t i t u d e s

o f women in the past who have shaped themselves i n t o molds acceptable t o

men are p i l l o r i e d by Caro l i ne K izer and, t o a lesser e x t e n t , by Amy Lowell

and D i l y s La ing , who are more compassionate in t h e i r c r i t i c i s m . A happy

few in t h i s Sect ion exper ience no c o n f l i c t in being women who are a r t i s t s ,

and consequent ly draw s t r e n g t h from t h e i r wholeness of i d e n t i t y . Denise

Levertov is ou ts tand ing in t h i s respec t , being p e r f e c t l y a t home w i t h

h e r s e l f , wh i l e Mur ie l Spark and E l i zabe th Sewell a l so i d e n t i f y themselves

p o s i t i v e l y as both women and poets . These exempl i fy the k ind of women

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who, in my o p i n i o n , have t r u l y transcended the soc ia l l i m i t a t i o n s of

sex which deny them freedom t o be themselves as people and a r t i s t s along

w i t h men.

Before proceeding w i t h i n d i v i d u a l poems, I want t o draw a t t e n t i o n t o

t h r e e s u b - d i v i s i o n s I have d i s t i n g u i s h e d in t h i s S e c t i o n , the poems

f a l l i n g more o r less nea t l y i n t o c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s I have c a l l e d a) D e f i n i n g

the Poet , b) C o n f l i c t s Between Being a Woman and a Poet , and c) I n s p i r a t i o n

and C r a f t : the Poe t i c Process. In t h i s l a s t g roup, t o which I have not

ye t r e f e r r e d in my d i s c u s s i o n , the poet focuses on the process by which the

poem takes i t s shape and d i r e c t i o n from the i n i t i a l i n s p i r a t i o n . Problems

of i d e n t i t y are most ly put a s i d e , in t h i s c a t e g o r y , where the p o e t ' s

preoccupat ion is w i t h c r a f t and technique and the more myster ious mat te r o f

the animat ing p r i n c i p l e or Muse.

There is momentary l i b e r a t i o n f o r any poet in the pure p u r s u i t of

e x c e l l e n c e , o r in d i s c o v e r i e s made wh i Ie mentaI Iy t r a c k i n g down the source

o f energy f o r the poem once the i n i t i a l urge t o w r i t e i t has se t the conscious

process in mot ion . Poems about making poems o f f e r a r e s p i t e from the soc ia l

pass ions, a l l o w i n g f o r a c o n c e n t r a t i o n of j o y in the formal s t r u g g l e f o r

s e l f - d i s c i p l i n e and p e r f e c t i o n . In such poems sexual i d e n t i t y is u s u a l l y

i r r e l e v a n t and p r o p e r l y so, except f o r probings of the source o r sources

of i n s p i r a t i o n which invoke the Muse, who, being femin ine in our t r a d i t i o n ,

imposes again the quest ion of sexual i d e n t i t y . Where p r o c e s s , a s d i s t i n c t

from i n s p i r a t i o n , is the so le f o c u s , t he poems can be read as the a r t i s t ' s

sel f -communion. Words, in the l a s t a n a l y s i s , must be the p o e t ' s c e n t r a l

p reoccupa t ion . How words are used t o shape a e s t h e t i c s t r u c t u r e s having

meaning and y i e l d i n g i n s i g h t s is the process wherein the poet f i n a l l y de f ines

h e r s e l f .

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In s u b d i v i s i o n a) De f in ing the Poet, we see the poet in the process

o f d i s c o v e r i n g , a s s e r t i n g and e v a l u a t i n g the nature o f her r o l e . These

poems are concerned f i r s t of a l l w i t h i d e n t i t y . Thanks l a r g e l y t o t h e i r own

e f f o r t s , the o p p o r t u n i t y f o r women t o f u n c t i o n as poets is today no

longer the u p h i l l s t r u g g l e i t was in the pas t . But the poets w i l l - n o t l e t

us f o r g e t , in what has been won, how r e c e n t l y women were under pressure

t o j u s t i f y themselves, w h i l e c r e a t i n g the i d e n t i t i e s being denied them.

Anna Wickham is a poet who pass iona te ly responded t o the p ressure ,

f i g h t i n g back in poems which de f i ne the crusader f o r j u s t i c e perhaps as

much as they de f i ne the poe t . " R e s o l u t i o n " is such a poem, a statement

o f poe t i c purpose t h a t seems wrung from n e c e s s i t y . In the f i r s t t h r e e

l i n e s , t he poet d e f i e s t r a d i t i o n t o l i m i t her freedom t o say what she

pe rce i ves , and i s , as a woman:

I w i l l not draw on ly a house o r a t r e e ,

I w i l l draw very Me; Every th ing I t h i n k , eve ry th ing I see!

But her aggress ive stance in defense of her t r u t h is undermined by the

anx ie t y of knowing the c e n t u r i e s ' o l d res i s tance she is up a g a i n s t , and

she be t rays a f e e l i n g of impotence in the r e s e n t f u l , u n c e r t a i n prophecy

w i t h which the poem ends: "The t h i n g t h a t i s , may make the b l i n d gods

pause." The b l i n d gods are s o u l - l e s s p r o j e c t i o n s of e s t a b l i s h e d male

power she hopes t o d i s t u r b by the s t r e n g t h of her endurance and de te rm ina t ion

t o be a complete p e r s o n a l i t y instead of a t runca ted one. Wickham, in

t he f i r s t q u a r t e r o f the c e n t u r y , s t i l l needs t o f i g h t f o r the bas ic

r i g h t t o e x i s t in her own image; s t i l l i s obsessed w i t h the woman p o e t ' s

need t o c l e a r a space f o r h e r s e l f .

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D i l y s La ing , in "The Maker," has a l ready done t h a t ; t a k i n g her space

f o r g r a n t e d , she speaks as a vo ice of a u t h o r i t y among male v o i c e s , t a k i n g

t o task spokesmen f o r a wor ld view she f i n d s d e s t r u c t i v e . " I t is the

fash ion t o speak in the f a l l i n g cadence/ o f d i s i l l u s i o n . The wor ld

ends w i t h a whimper, / not w i t h a bang, " she beg ins , w i t h an obvious

re ference t o T . S . E l i o t . Showing scorn f o r the r a t i o n a l e o f o b j e c t i v i t y

which p u r p o r t s merely t o record o r f o r e t e l l events w i t h o u t accep t ing

r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r i n f l u e n c i n g them, she says a n g r i l y : " I hate t h a t

fa l sehood . I hate the t i m e ' s d e f i l e m e n t / of a r t by p o l i t i c s . " She ends

by s t a t i n g her own o p t i m i s t i c p o s i t i o n as unequivocably as she has s t a t e d

her o p p o s i t i o n t o t he c u l t of despa i r :

I t is the g i f t of the poet t o c o n t r a d i c t chaos, t o hear the YES! of the womb and loud along the ear o f man t o say i t , making another space, and a new t i m e .

The "YES! of the womb"—a love ly phrase, suggest ing t h a t the poet as

c r e a t o r has as much r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o l i f e as t o a r t . Laing sees the one

a f f i r m i n g the o t h e r . The a r t i s t , she b e l i e v e s , should not be granted

spec ia l l i cense f o r the s e l f - i n d u l g e n c e of d e s p a i r , a r t being by one

d e f i n i t i o n a c e l e b r a t i o n of l i f e . To d i s c l a i m r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r the mora I

e f f e c t s o f s e l f - i n d u l g e n t behavior in w r i t i n g is p o l i t i c a l l y i r r e s p o n s i b l e :

as i n j u r i o u s t o the cause of a r t as t o the o v e r a l l c u l t u r e in which people

are in f luenced by a r t . Laing imp l ies t h a t women, poss ib l y more than men,

have no stake in an a l o o f , e l i t i s t p o s i t i o n which g r a n t s the a r t i s t

immunity f rom s o c i a l o b l i g a t i o n s , p e r m i t t i n g him t o l i f t a r t above o t h e r

human concerns.

A c la im f o r poets which leaves the sexual issue momentar i ly as ide i s

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made by M u r i e l Spark i n " A g a i n s t t h e T r a n s c e n d e n t a I i s t s . " D e c e p t i v e l y

modest i n t o n e , i t i s a poem which w i t t i l y s n i p e s a t a l l p e r s o n s , i n c l u d i n g

p o e t s , who make l a r g e c l a i m s f o r t h e i r v i s i o n s . " P o e t s a r e a meagre

s p e c i e s , " s a y s S park, "There i s more of e v e r y t h i n g t h a n p o e t r y . " If

t h i s seems t o d e p r e c a t e t h e importance o f p o e t s t o s o c i e t y , what does i t

say about t h e impor t a n c e o f women i n p o e t r y ? Is Spark i n d u l g i n g i n

i r o n i e s ? Women have been so m i n i m a l l y p r e s e n t t h e r e as t o be t r e a t e d i n

l i t e r a r y h i s t o r y as i n s i g n i f i c a n t . Whatever her meaning, she makes no bones

about her own f u n c t i o n as a p o e t , however, s p e a k i n g o u t l i k e L a i n g a g a i n s t

what i s f a s h i o n a b l e i n p o e t r y , i n o r d e r t o a s s e r t t h e r i g h t t o be h e r s e l f .

In s t r e s s i n g t h a t her c h o i c e i s t o w r i t e about what i s c o n c r e t e and l o c a l l y

p a r t i c u l a r , i n her e n v i r o n m e n t , she a u t o m a t i c a l l y s u p p o r t s t h e s i m i l a r

t r a d i t i o n a l emphasis o f o t h e r women p o e t s . But t h i s i s a n c i l l a r y t o what

t h e poem s a y s . Spark does not presume t o speak f o r anyone but h e r s e l f i n

a r g u i n g f o r t h e i n d i v i d u a l v i s i o n . Though i n t h e scheme of t h i n g s p o e t r y

o c c u p i e s a modest p l a c e , l i k e p h i l o s o p h y , p o e t r y i s not w i t h o u t i t s own

e x c e s s e s , she p o i n t s o u t : i t has conc e r n e d i t s e l f w i t h such i n d u l g e n c e s as

" D e l p h i c i n s a n i t y , / Drunkenness and d i s c r e p a n c y . " R e j e c t i n g such grand

p r e o c c u p a t i o n s f o r h e r s e l f , she r e s e r v e s

The r i g h t n ot t o t r y t o F u l f i l t h e w i l d e r n e s s o r f l y t o Empyreal v a c u i t y w i t h an eye t o P u b l i c a t i o n , f o r what am I t o Byz a n t i u m o r . B y z a n t i u m To me? I l i v e i n K e n s i n g t o n And walk a b o u t , and work i n K e n s i n g t o n

K e n s i n g t o n a p p a r e n t l y o f f e r s no scope f o r g o d l y , Romantic o r s y m b o l i c

Y e a t s i a n p r e t e n s i o n s . In t h e absence o f a c i v i c law l a i d down f o r p o e t r y ,

207

Spark sets f o r t h t h r e e t e x t s : t he f i r s t of which i s a p p r o p r i a t e l y , "The

w o r d , " the second, "Love your n e i g h b o r . " The l a t t e r she q u a l i f i e s as

m e a n i n g s " I e t him love / His ne ighbor , and he h i s , " imply ing t h a t t h i s w i l l

leave the poet in peace t o develop " h i s " c r a f t . But the r h e t o r i c she has

borrowed f o r her p l a t f o r m has swept the poet o f f her Kensingtonian f e e t .

Abandoning the c la im f o r modesty, she takes t o the p u l p i t , s tepping up

her a l l u s i o n s w i t h a parody on "Who is S i l v i a " as she cont inues in

high gear w i t h her harangue:

Who is Everyman, what is he That he should stand in l i e u of A poem? What is T r u t h t r u e of? And what good 's a God's-eye-v iew of Anyone t o anyone But God?

Debunking is prov ing g rea t f u n . So is making the formal shape of the

poem, as the p r e p o s i t i o n s " t o " and " o f , " l e f t up in the a i r a t the end

of l i nes show. The poet has a p o i n t t o make, however, beyond s t a t i n g goals

and ques t i on ing purposes. Her j u s t i f i c a t i o n is t h a t , " I n the A b s t r a c t i o n /

Many angels make sweet moan/ But never w r i t e a stanza down." Th is accla ims

the s u p e r i o r i t y o f poets over mys t ics and preachers . Spark concludes her

p e r o r a t i o n by res ign ing "The seven-league l i n e " t o g loba l hoppers in hopes

t h a t , should Byzantium appear in Kensington, "The c i t y w i l l f i t t he s i z e "

of t he span of her eyes and hand, phys ica l l i m i t a t i o n s

t h a t understand Th is law of which the t h i r d Text i s the t h i n g def ined The f l e s h made word.

According t o the t h i r d t e x t , the poet i s no less than God's e q u a l .

"The t h i n g d e f i n e d " is what takes i t s god ly substance from the ma te r i a l

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f a c t of being human: a view shared by most of the poets in t h i s Antho logy ,

and nowhere exp lored in g r e a t e r depth than by Denise Lever tov , who is

represented by e i g h t poems in t h i s S e c t i o n . Hal f of these f a l l w i t h i n the

present s u b d i v i s i o n . "Song of I s h t a r " i d e n t i f i e s the poet w i t h t he

p r i m i t i v e goddess who takes her i d e n t i t y from both the moon and the

e a r t h . "She i s a sow/ and I a p ig and a p o e t , " s ings Levertov in an

ecstacy of cosmic i d e n t i f i c a t i o n which assumes a m a t r i a r c h a l o r d e r :

When she opens her wh i te l i p s t o devour me I b i t e back and laughter rocks the moon

In the b lack of des i re we rock and g r u n t , g run t and

sh i ne

In the love-p lay between the goddess and the p o e t - a s - p i g , Lever tov , i t

seems t o me, is m e t a p h o r i c a l l y assuming one of the forms of the "White

Goddess" h e r s e l f . Her b o l d , f e a r l e s s j o y in t h i s communion suggests t o

me t h a t , being in the goddess' own image, the poet is exper ienc ing h e r s e l f

as a woman and t h e r e f o r e w r i t i n g w i t h a female anima. Her imaginat ive

r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h the goddess is an i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h c r e a t i v e female

power. The female poet is both e a r t h l y and u n e a r t h l y , a shape of d i v i n i t y

in her apprehension o f the p r i n c i p l e govern ing the Whole. The mystery

she ce leb ra tes is her knowing t h a t the phys ica l and s p i r i t u a l purposes

cor respond: t he vo id g ives b i r t h , ear th-body and heavenr-sou I being

" m a r r i e d " oppos i tes and ex is tence a m a n i f e s t a t i o n of des i re between them.

The sow and the female poet are no t sexual oppos i tes but separate a f f i n i t i e s —

the phys ica l and the s p i r i t u a I r — o f one i d e n t i t y .

The metaphysic of t h i s "Song" i s explored from a d i f f e r e n t angle in

"The Earth Worm," a d e f i n i t i o n o f poet which again uses the idea of darkness

2 0 9

bodying f o r t h c r e a t i o n . But t h e c r e a t i v e p r i n c i p a l here i s male: p h a l l i c , y e t

humble i n t h e p a t r i a r c h a l t r a d i t i o n o f man's d u s t - l i k e i n s i g n i f i c a n c e b e f o r e

God:

The worm a r t i s t o u t of s o i l , by passage of h i m s e l f

c o n s t r u c t i n g .

By w o r k i n g h i m s e l f upward and o u t w a r d , t h i s c r e a t u r e c r e a t e s h i s " C a s t l e s of

metaphor" and "dungeon t u r r e t s , " p i n n a c l e s of heaven and h e l l . In t h r o w i n g

o f f " a r t i f a c t s " as he t i l l s h i m s e l f , t h e a r t i s t " i s homage t o / e a r t h , " who i s

presumably h i s mother, t h e s u b s t a n c e from which he t a k e s l i f e . In r e s h a p i n g

i t , however, he i s not t h e equal o f d i v i n i t y : n o t , a t l e a s t , i n t h e way t h a t

t h e s i n g e r i n "Song f o r I s h t a r " i s t h e equal o f t h e goddess. What I hear i n

t h e two poems i s a d i f f e r e n c e between L e v e r t o v s p e a k i n g of her p e r s o n a l e x p e r

i e n c e , which d e f i n e s t h e poet as a woman, and L e v e r t o v s p e a k i n g o f t h e poet i n

t h e a b s t r a c t , where t h e poet i s d e f i n e d as "he." The f i r s t - p e r s o n a c c o u n t has

a l i v e l i n e s s and immediacy l a c k i n g i n t h e t h i r d person where she g e n e r a l i z e s

about t h e f u n c t i o n o f t h e a r t i s t and t h e p r o c e s s of making a poem. In t h i s

d i s t a n c i n g , L e v e r t o v pays her r e s p e c t s t o what a r t i s t s of e i t h e r sex have i n

common; she s h a r e s i n t h i s phenomenon, but i t i s not as u n i q u e l y her own as

i s t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f b e i n g h e r s e l f : a person who, i n a d d i t i o n t o p e r c e i v i n g as

m i g h t a male p o e t , p e r c e i v e s as a woman. Sometimes her a r t i s t r y t r i u m p h s o v e r

t h e d i s t a n c i n g o f t h e t h i r d person v i e w p o i n t , as i n "The J a c o b ' s Ladder" f u r

t h e r on i n t h i s S e c t i o n : a poem which p r e s e n t s an e x p e r i e n c e by t r a n s m i t t i n g

i t d i r e c t l y . T h at i s not t h e c a s e i n "The E a r t h Worm" w h i c h , as a g e n e r a l

s t a t e m e n t about a r t i s t i c p r o c e s s , n e i t h e r t r a n s c e n d s i t s means o r has anywhere

near t h e e b u l l i e n c e of t h e moon-sow-poet r o c k i n g i n t h e c r a d l e of t h e u n i v e r s e .

2 1 0

L e v e r t o v r e t u r n s t o a more p e r s o n a l i d e n t i f i c a t i o n i n "The I l l u s t r a t i o n , "

whose t i t l e r e f e r s t o a p i c t u r e a t t e m p t i n g t o r e p r e s e n t " F o l l y / s i n k i n g i n t o

a b l a c k bog," w h i c h t h e p o e t remembers from her c h i l d h o o d . F o r t h e c h i l d ,

t h e f i g u r e , w i t h a wiI I - o - t h e - w i s p s h i n i n g b e f o r e i t s c l o s e d eyes and i n t e n d e d

as a p a r a b l e of "'The L i g h t of T r u t h , ' " meant "a m y s t e r y o f d a r k n e s s , o f

b e a u t y , o f s e r i o u s / dreaming pause and i n t e n s i t y . " T h a t image was a p r e

s a g i n g , f o r t h e a d u l t p o e t , of t h e Muse who comes and goes " a c r o s s t h e

l a k e of v i s i o n . " Coming a t a t i m e when t h e Muse has been long gone, t h e

r e c o l l e c t i o n of t h i s p e r s i s t e n t image t e a c h e s t h e p o e t t o a f f i r m

T r u t h ' s l i g h t a t s t r a n g e t u r n s of t h e mind's r o a d , wrong t u r n s t h a t l e a d o v e r t h e b o r d e r i n t o wonder, m i s t a k e n d i r e c t i o n s , f o r g o t t e n s i g n s

The Muse moves i n m y s t e r i o u s ways, r e v e a l i n g f o r L e v e r t o v i n " I l l u s t r a t i o n , "

her " p l a c e / of o r i g i n , a w e i I / under a l a k e " where her wonders a r e p e r f o r m e d .

"The W e l l " i s a n o t h e r v a r i a t i o n on t h i s theme. The Muse i s t h e f a m i l i a r

p i c t o r i a l f i g u r e of t h e woman w i t h a p i t c h e r a t t h e s p r i n g . L e v e r t o v f i n d s

her f a c e r e s e m b l e s

t h e f a c e o f t h e young a c t r e s s who p l a y e d M i s s A n n i e S u l l i v a n , she who

s p e l l e d t h e word 'water' i n t o t h e palm o f Helen K e l l e r , o p e n i n g

t h e d o o r s of t h e w o r l d .

The poet d e p i c t s h e r s e l f s t a n d i n g on a b r i d g e where a s t r e a m e n t e r s a

l a k e , " t r a n s f o r m e d " t h r o u g h s e e i n g

\ : t h i s calm a c t , t h i s g a t h e r i n g up o f l i f e , o f s p r i n g w a t e r

and t h e Muse, g l i d i n g t h e n i n her barge w i t h o u t s a i l s , w i t h o u t

o a r s o r motor, a c r o s s t h e dark l a k e .

211

Knowing "no i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of t h e s e m y s t e r i e s , " n e v e r t h e l e s s her h e a r t

l e a p s i n wonder.

C o l d , f r e s h , deep, I f e e l t h e word 'water' s p e l l e d i n my l e f t palm.

In a l l t h e s e f e m i n i n e images t h e r e i s an immediacy f o r Levertov;- a s o u r c e

o f r e c o g n i t i o n . Though i t has o f t e n been remarked o f female a r t i s t s t h a t

t h e y a r e i n a d i f f i c u l t p o s i t i o n w i t h r e g a r d t o a Muse, who i s p e r c e i v e d

as a woman and t h e r e f o r e not a v a i l a b l e t o them as i n s p i r a t i o n , L e v e r t o v

s u g g e s t s o t h e r w i s e . P r e c i s e l y because t h e Muse's h a b i t a t i s her own

f e m i n i n e s o u r c e - — t h e d a r k p a r t o f her own i d e n t i t y , t h e poet can acknowledge

he r as her own. L e v e r t o v draws c o m f o r t from knowing t h a t t h e Muse i s n o t

gone but m e r e l y o u t o f s i g h t , c o n t a i n e d w i t h i n . The c o n c e p t i s a g a i n one

t h a t i s o r i e n t e d i n t h e immediate p h y s i c a l w o r l d , r a t h e r t h a n t h e a b s t r a c t

w o r l d o f t h e Idea.

Though P h y l l i s Webb i s f a r from drawing l i f e from a c e r t a i n t y o f t h e

i n d w e l l i n g o f t h e Muse, she t o o i n " P o e t " i d e n t i f i e s as a woman e n c l o s e d ,

i n t h i s c a s e a nun who i s " p r o m i s e d . " In her d e v o t i o n t o t h e t r u t h , she

has "walked on words o f n a i l s / t o knock on s i l e n c e s . " She has v e i l e d

her mouth, p u n c t u r e d h e r f i n g e r t i p s " t o f i l l one t h i m b l e / w i t h b l o o d f o r

c o n s e c r a t i o n , " and proved her s a c r i f i c e and compassion a t t h e s t a t i o n s o f

t h e c r o s s , where she t r i e d w i t h v e r b s " t o compass t h e b i t t e r male/ i n t h i s

changed c h a n c e l l e r y . " P a c i n g i n her c e l l o f f l e s h she has f i n a l l y

" c u r i o u s l y " heard " t h e t a l l e s t of mouths

c a l l down be h i n d my v e i l t o l i m i t o r e n l a r g e n me as I o r i t p r e v a i I s .

The m y s t e r i o u s power of u t t e r a n c e i s e n c l o s e d hot in> but a l o n g w i t h , t h i s

212

p o e t . I t i s an awful angel c o m p e l l i n g her endurance i n a c l o i s t e r where

she c a n n o t f i n d r e s t o r s h e l t e r . The t r o u b l e i s , t h e v o i c e r e f l e c t s t h e

w o r l d .

"Lament" i s a more d e s p e r a t e s t a t e m e n t o f t h e p o e t ' s s e a r c h f o r

s a l v a t i o n ; Here Webb p l u n g e s i m m e d i a t e l y i n t o t h e c r u x o f her s p i r i t u a l

d i s t r e s s :

Knowing t h a t e v e r y t h i n g i s wrong, how can we go on g i v i n g b i r t h e i t h e r t o poems o r t h e t r o u b l e s o m e l i e , t o c h i l d r e n , most of a l l , who sense t h e s t r e s s i n o u r d i s t r a c t e d wonder

The s p e a k e r ' s v i s i o n i s b l a c k i n d e e d , her l a c k o f any p o s i t i v e s o c i a l

i d e n t i f i c a t i o n , o f any j o y i n l i f e , b l i n d i n g her t o hope. She can see

o n l y p a i n i n f u t u r i t y : g i v i n g b i r t h t o poems o r c h i l d r e n c o n t i n u e s e v e r y t h i n g

t h a t i s "wrong," r e p e a t s t h e c y c l e o f " t h e t r o u b l e s o m e l i e " of compromising

w i t h t h e c o n d i t i o n s o f l i f e . "Where," she a s k s , i n a p a s s i o n a t e c r y , i s

" t h a t v i r t u o u s l a n d / where one can d i e w i t h o u t a second b i r t h ? " T h i s i s

a wished f o r a n n i h i l a t i o n so co m p l e t e as t o deny p o e t r y i t s s p i r i t u a l o r

c r e a t i v e f u n c t i o n . We make Edens o u t o f need, m e r e l y t o c o m f o r t t h e

i m a g i n a t i o n , she laments; poems can o n l y e q u i v o c a t e r e g a r d i n g t h a t n e c e s s i t y :

T h at p l a c e o f p e r f e c t a n i m a l s and men i s s i m p l y t h e c i r c l e we would charm o u r c h i l d r e n i n and why we frame o u r l o n e l y poems i n t h e shape o f a f r u g a l s a d n e s s .

T h i s i s a k i n d o f " d y i n g f a l l , " however e x q u i s i t e , t h a t would draw D i l y s

L a i n g ' s rebuke. Y e t t h e v i e w p o i n t i n Webb's poems i s a woman's and

s t a t e d i n a woman's t e r m s . Webb's i s t h e f e m i n i n e c o n d i t i o n so v u l n e r a b l e

t o t h e whips and s c o r n s o f man's inhumanity t h a t i t f i n d s i t s most f i t t i n g

a n a l o g u e i n t h e s t a t i o n s o f a male god's p a s s i o n . Imaging h e r s e l f as a

c h a s t e s e e k e r a f t e r t r u t h , i n her r e c o i l from t h e p a i n of p h y s i c a l e x i s t e n c e ,

213

Webb does not man i fes t t h a t b i o l o g i c a l l y - c e n t e r e d i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h the

e a r t h which is the s p i r i t u a l mainstay o f so many o the r female poe ts .

She has t o c rea te out of her own e x i s t e n t i a l d e s p a i r , even less grounded

than L e v e r t o v ' s "worm a r t i s t " whose r a d i a n t "Cas t les of metaphor" are t h r u s t

up from h is e a r t h - d a r k , ma te r ia l c o n d i t i o n . Webb a l so uses " c a s t l e " in

t h i s way, making i t an "image f o r the mind" in "The Glass C a s t l e , " a poem

not included here. In i t she says she "has l i ved the re as you must / and

scratched and gathered diamond d u s t . " In t h a t "po ise of c r y s t a l space"

she balances, c la im ing " t h e f i v e gods of r e a l i t y / t o b less and keep me

4

sane." To be able t o do t h i s is in i t s e l f an ac t of f a i t h .

Whatever they are s u f f e r i n g , many poets are ab le t o f i n d a j u s t i f i

c a t i o n in w r i t i n g poet ry t h a t compensates f o r t h e i r t r i a l s , as f o r example,

Anne Sexton in "Said the Poet t o the A n a l y s t . " "My business is words , "

she announces, p u t t i n g h e r s e l f on a par w i t h the doc to r whose "bus iness is

watching my words . " Comparing words t o l a b e l s , c o i n s , " o r b e t t e r , l i k e

swarming bees," she f e e l s "b roken" when he i n t e r p r e t s her words t o ge t a t

" t h e source o f t h i n g s ; / as i f words were counted l i k e dead bees in the

a t t i c . " She works best l i k e the "magic j a c k p o t " she once drew from a

n icke l machine. Should the doc tor deny the v a l i d i t y of her comparison,

f i n d i n g in i t a meaning o the r than t h a t of an embarrassment of r i c h e s ,

then I grow weak,remembering how my hands f e l t funny and r i d i c u l o u s and crowded w i t h a l l the b e l i e v i n g money.

The hidden sources of c r e a t i v i t y are the p o e t ' s w e a l t h , not her s i ckness .

They are t o ! b e defended from a l l ons laughts i f the poet in the person is

t o s u r v i v e .

214

In "Death o f a P o e t , " Mona Van Duyn r e l a t e s a s t r u g g l e i n which she

l o s t o u t t o a power g r e a t e r t h a n her own:

There was something obscene about w r e s t l i n g t h a t b a b y - f a c e d boy, Women don't u s u a l l y w r e s t l e , e x c e p t f o r a.comic o r g r o t e s q u e

e f f e c t ,

but t h i s was f i g h t i n g f o r my I i f e — I r e c o g n i z e d him i n s t a n t l y .

Though she does n o t name him, t h e b e t t e r t o convey t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f an

a c t u a l p h y s i c a l s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t her own i n c l i n a t i o n s , t h e b a b y - f a c e d boy

i s C u p i d . The poet i s up a g a i n s t t h e d e c e p t i v e innocence o f p o w e r f u l

e r o t i c a t t r a c t i o n , so o f t e n s o f t and a p p e a l i n g i n i t s awakening o f t e n d e r

e m o t i o n s . The second s t a n z a of t h i s n a r r a t i v e i s a b i o g r a p h i c a l summary

of t h e p o e t ' s hopes and a d v e n t u r e s a f t e r l e a v i n g home, an i n t e r p o l a t i o n t h a t

makes t h e p o i n t t h a t h e r e t o f o r e , i n a i m i n g t o "make a name" f o r h e r s e l f as

a p o e t , she " c o u l d a l w a y s cope" w i t h t h e p e o p l e t o whom she was a t t r a c t e d .

Through hard work, wiI I i n g n e s s t o l e a r n and p a t i e n c e , she was w e l l on t h e

way t o a c h i e v i n g her g o a l . The t h i r d s t a n z a a b r u p t l y r e t u r n s us t o t h e

theme begun i n t h e f i r s t . P r o c e e d i n g w i t h g r i m l y r e a l i s t i c d e t a i l s o f t h e

f i g h t , t h e poet m a i n t a i n s a m a t t e r - o f - f a c t t o n e t o u n d e r l i n e t h e non-

r o m a n t i c n a t u r e o f t h i s s t r u g g l e w i t h b r u t e p a s s i o n : I was s u r p r i s e d a t my own endurance. A t one p o i n t I f e l t t h e g r i s t l e o f h i s nose g i v e i n under my palm and h i s e y e l i d s l e a k under my gouging n a i l s

She would have k i l l e d him t h e n , she s a y s , but he g o t l o o s e and to u c h e d h e r ,

so t h a t she was m o m e n t a r i l y overcome. Though t h e f i g h t l a s t e d a l l n i g h t ,

" A l l t h a t I'd c a l l f i g h t / t o o k p l a c e i n t h e f i r s t h a l f hour." The r e s t

was m e r e l y hanging on.

Now t h a t i t ' s o v e r I am b l e s s e d , i f you can c a l l i t t h a t — t h a t i s , I am of t h e w o r l d t o t a l l y and h e l p l e s s l y . What I f o u g h t f o r i s gone, though I go on w r i t i n g poems as u s u a l .

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The t r i u m p h o f t h e p r o c r e a t i v e f o r c e o v e r t h e poet i s a c t u a l l y due t o t h e

l e t t e r ' s c a p i t u l a t i o n . She ends by s a y i n g " I b e l i e v e i n h i s power, beyond

t h e power o f words,/ beyond h i m s e l f e v e n , f l e x e d i n my own b e l i e f . " Even

t h e form i t s e l f , i n i t s long d i s c u r s i v e l i n e o b s e s s e d w i t h n a r r a t i o n , b e a r s

o u t t h e p o e t ' s c o n c l u s i o n . T h i s i s , a t t h e same t i m e , an i n s t a n c e o f how

p o e t r y can " l i e " when i t i s b e i n g t r u e t o form. Van Duyn i s o b v i o u s l y

v e r y much s t i l l a l i v e as a p o e t , c o n t r a r y t o her d e n i a l .

Indeed a r t has a l i f e of i t s own i n t h e hands of a s k i l l e d t e c h n i c i a n ,

and may overcome t h e a r t i s t w i t h as a u t h o r i t a t i v e a power as t h a t w i e l d e d

by Van Duyn's C u p i d . "Speeches f o r Dr. F r a n k e n s t e i n " by M a r g a r e t Atwood

i s a poem of h o r r o r and f a s c i n a t i o n r a i s i n g v i t a l q u e s t i o n s about t h e

r e l a t i o n s h i p o f t h e maker t o t h e t h i n g made. The poem a n a t o m i z e s t h e

s u b j e c t w i t h a G o t h i c i n t e n s i t y t h a t b r i l l i a n t l y p r e s e n t s t h e poet as e v i l

a r t i f i c e r v i c t i m i z e d by her own p r e s u m p t i o n . The " p e r f o r m e r " i n t h i s t e n -

p a r t s t u d y i s i n t h e g r i p o f a power beyond her c o n t r o l . The scene i s

s e t s p a r e l y and d r a m a t i c a l l y :

I, t h e p e r f o r m e r i n t h e t e n s e a r e n a , g l i t t e r e d under t h e f l u o r e s c e n t moon. Was bent masked by t h e t a b l e . Saw what f o c u s e d my i n t e n t : t h e e m p t i n e s s

The a i r f i l l e d w i t h an e t h e r o f c h e e r s .

My w r i s t extended a s c a l p e l .

The " t e n s e a r e n a " s e t s t h e scene as a c o n t e s t f o r s u r v i v a l . In t h e

d a r k n e s s , t h e moon i s t h e p r e s i d i n g d e i t y . The f o c u s o f i n t e n t , t h e

" e m p t i n e s s , " s u g g e s t s t h e p r i m o r d i a l n a t u r e o f t h i s c o n t e s t : i n t h e B e g i n

n i n g was t h e V o i d . The " e t h e r of c h e e r s " evokes a g h o s t l y a n g e l i c c h o r u s .

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The w r i s t , as though autonomous i n t h i s s i c k l y a i r , e x t e n d s i t s m a l e f i c e n t

i n s t r u m e n t , w h i l e o v e r t h e f i r m a m e n t , as though t e l e v i s e d by modern

t e c h n o l o g y , broods t h e m y s t i q u e o f t h e o p e r a t i n g - r o o m . F e a r and f a s c i n a t i o n

a r e c o m p e l l e d by t h e t r a d i t i o n a l t a b o o a g a i n s t m e d d l i n g w i t h t h e p r o f o u n d

m y s t e r y o f l i f e : we a r e w i t n e s s i n g a madwoman armed w i t h s c i e n c e , who i s

about t o c h a l l e n g e t h e C r e a t o r . The poem mounts i n d r a m a t i c i n t e n s i t y

w i t h each p a r t o r " s p e e c h , " words b e i n g t h i s F r a n k e n s t e i n ' s i n s t r u m e n t s

w i t h which she b r i n g s i n t o b e i n g her m e c h a n i c a l monster: he who w i l l

i n h a b i t t h e poem, t a k i n g i t o v e r from t h e poet. He i s seen from t h e b e g i n n i n g

as an opponent who r e f u s e s t o t a k e shape and has t o be f o u g h t and subdued

b e f o r e h i s maker can a c h i e v e m a s t e r y o v e r him. Or, t h r o u g h him: "0 s e c r e t /

form of t h e h e a r t , now I have you," g l o a t s t h e a n a t o m i s t when " t h e t h i n g

f a l l s , " t h e poet s a t a n i c a l l y e n g i n e e r i n g t h e f a l l . In t h e f o u r t h speech

she d e b a t e s what ornamental f e a t u r e s t o bestow on t h e c r e a t u r e , and what

s i g n i f i c a n c e and d i m e n s i o n she ought t o g i v e him. In t h e f i f t h she i s

a p p a l l e d by her s u c c e s s : " I was insane w i t h s k i l l : / I made you p e r f e c t . "

She r e a l i z e s she i s " i n t h e p r e s e n c e / of t h e d e s t r o y e d god:" her c r e a t i o n i s

"a r u b b l e " of f l e s h l y p a r t s . "Knowing t h a t t h e work i s mine/ how can I l o v e

you?" she a s k s a c c u s i n g l y , i n f e a r now of a c c e p t i n g r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t h e

e n o r m i t y she has produced. The n e x t speech sees i t t a k e on l i f e : i t i s a

raw i n f a n t , "human and d i s t o r t e d " and s t a r v e d . "I have n o t h i n g t o f e e d

you," says h i s b e g e t t e r , p u l l i n g "a cape o f r a i n " around her as she r u n s ,

a s k i n g h e r s e l f now, i n a n g u i s h : "What was my ravenous m o t i v e ? / Why d i d I

make you?" The a r t i f i c e has t a k e n on a t h r e a t e n i n g r e a I i t y . In t h e

"Speeches" t h a t f o l l o w , she a c c u s e s i t o f s t e a l i n g from her e v e r y t h i n g i t

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needed inc lud ing her j o y and her a b i l i t y t o s u f f e r ; in t u r n i t accuses her

of murder. " C a n ' t you see/ I am incapable?" she c r i e s , f o r indeed she has

put a l l her power i n t o the c r e a t i o n . "Blood of my b r a i n , / i t is you who

have k i l l e d these peop le , " she charges, hoping t o d e f l e c t r e s p o n s i b i l i t y .

Genius is t a k i n g i t s revenge. Who is g u i l t y in c r e a t i o n , humankind or i t s

Creator? Where is the r e a l i t y in a r t , where the i l l u s i o n ? What i s the end

r e s u l t o f technology? Having assumed God's p r e r o g a t i v e s in a t tempt ing her

" impious wonders" the ambi t ious magus is devoured by her own sense of

f a i l u r e in l e t t i n g loose her e v i l s upon the w o r l d . She watches impotent ly

now as automat ic s k i l l , the br;i I I i ance of t echn ique , takes over ; the " s p a r k

l i n g monster" gambols, dances:

His happiness is now the chase i t s e l f : he t r a c e s i t in I i g h t , h i s paths con ta in i t .

She i s reduced t o being the "gaunt h u n t e r / necessary f o r h i s p a t t e r n s . "

In t h i s r o l e - r e v e r s a l , the speaker 's f e e l i n g s of persecu t ion con f i rm the

paranoia t h a t at tended her opening performance. Her c r e a t i o n has become

real enough t o have h i s own speech. " D o c t o r , " he says, r i s i n g up w i t h

e l e c t r i c energy t o encompass the w o r l d , and dwar f ing her as she cowers:

you dangle on the leash of your own long ing ; your need grows t e e t h .

You s i iced me loose

and said i t was C r e a t i o n . I could f e e l the k n i f e Now you wouId I i k e t o heaI the chasm in your s i d e , but I recede. I prowl

I w i l l not come when you c a l l .

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The god-poet has g iven b i r t h t o a man-monster who has usurped c o n t r o l . A r t

has a l i f e of i t s own, as much a t h r e a t t o i t s conceiver as is the c h i l d who

grows up t o take the wor ld i n t o h i s own d e s t r u c t i v e hands. A r t , imp l ies

t h i s poet , can be a t r u t h f u l i f p i t i l e s s r e v e l a t i o n of one 's own darkes t

hidden i n c l i n a t i o n s , showing how, in the soc ie t y a t l a r g e , the l u s t f o r power

and c o n t r o l over people has c rea ted a technology t h a t has g o t ou t o f c o n t r o l .

Locat ing her own c r e a t i v e power as a demonical ly ambi t ious g o d - i n - t h e -

b r a i n , Atwood i s understandably appa l led a t i t s p o t e n t i a l f o r e v i l . In

Webb, the b r a i n i s a re fuge as we l l as a p r i s o n , a p l a c e , though t e r r i b l e ,

o f p rophe t i c i l l u m i n a t i o n . Un l i ke Levertov and Sexton, these poets view

t h e i r c r e a t i v e g i f t w i t h apprehension, as being c lose t o madness. Levertov

i s on the f r i e n d l i e s t of terms w i t h her Muse who i s no t h r e a t a t a l l .

As in Sexton, the Muse i n h a b i t s a womb-1 ike realm wh ich , p r e c i s e l y because

i t is n a t u r a l , of the f l e s h — t h e good e a r t h b r i n g i n g f o r t h — i s where the

s p i r i t makes her home. Centered in a f l e s h l y r e a l i t y , i n s p i r a t i o n f o r these

poets is a source of comfor t and s t r e n g t h . I t is tempt ing t o deduce from

these con t ras ted poems t h a t when the poet i s not in touch w i t h a c e n t r e

she exper iences as the femin ine p r i n c i p l e , the form of which in u t te rance

i s the Muse, she i s - e x i s t e n t i aI l y in l imbo, in danger of f a l l i n g i n t o a

man's c rea ted h e l l . Hades, Gehenna and He l l are male concept ions of g u i l t ,

punishment and t e r r o r ; i f t he re is a female-created h e l l i t does not

e x i s t w i t h comparable a u t h o r i t y . As we can see in the poems, the poets

who i d e n t i f y w i t h the ho r ro rs of a h e l l i s h ex is tence use a male r e f e r e n t ;

the poets who i d e n t i f y themselves as p a r t of the e v e r l a s t i n g l i f e s t ream,

use a female r e f e r e n t . The Word made f l e s h is a f t e r a l l a metaphor f o r the

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male seed made f l e s h through the agency of the woman's body. Denied her own

d i v i n i t y , robbed of h e r s e l f through being robbed of her a u t h o r i t y as a

Creator in a godly image, woman is denied her b i r t h r i g h t , unless she is

able t o asse r t h e r s e l f in a way t h a t , a t leas t p a r t i a l l y , rec la ims i t .

There is noth ing b i o l o g i c a l l y d e t e r m i n i s t i c about t h i s ; people make t h e i r

own soc ia l and c u l t u r a l h i s t o r y out of t he m a t e r i a l s a v a i l a b l e from nature

and prev ious h i s t o r y . The poets make t h e i r statements r a t h e r more s u b j e c t i v e

but out o f s i m i l a r m a t e r i a l s , in the con tex t of a present r e a l i t y s t r o n g l y

cond i t ioned by the pas t .

I t i s a t r u i s m t h a t one 's source of s t r e n g t h is o f t e n where one is

weakest and most v u l n e r a b l e . In the second group of poems, one of the two

main c o n f l i c t s between being a woman and a poet is t h a t love or the need

f o r love i n t e r f e r e s w i t h the quest f o r p e r f e c t i o n . The o the r c o n f l i c t is

caused by soc ia l i n t e r f e r e n c e : woman has been l a b e l l e d as unfeminine i f

she pursued an a r t i s t i c g o a l , and a f a i l u r e as a woman i f she d id so in

pre ference t o marr iage and r a i s i n g c h i l d r e n . But women poets have t h e i r

own inner c o n f l i c t s w i t h t h i s cho i ce . In "The Shadow V o i c e , " Atwood l e t s

her g e n i e , her dark a l t e r ego, do the t a l k i n g . Given such p re fe rence , i t

is not s u r p r i s i n g t h a t the vo ice of the c r a f t scorns love and the i n c l i n a t i o n

towards c h i l d r e n as i n im ica l t o the p o e t ' s best i n t e r e s t s . I n t e r e s t i n g l y ,

t he moon i s again invoked, as in the Frankenste in poem:

My shadow said t o me: what is the mat ter

I s n ' t the moon warm enough f o r you Why do you need the b lanket of another body

. Whose k iss i s moss.

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I f the body's k i ss stands f o r dea th , then the moon's d i s t a n t p u r i t y stands

f o r r i g o r o u s , d i s c i p l i n e d c h a s t i t y . The shadow v o i c e , employing medieval

a l l e g o r y , r e f e r s t o the decay and c o r r u p t i o n i m p l i c i t in a happy p i c n i c

scene: " F l i e s c r a w l / over the sweet i n s t a n t . " Does the poet f e e l drawn

towards c h i l d r e n ? They are seen bending down the t r e e s in t h e i r war games,

p r a c t i s i n g f o r adu l thood . There is no hope of love o r comfor t t h e r e .

" I g i ve wate r , I g i ve c lean c r u s t s , " the vo ice argues r e l e n t l e s s l y ,

A r e n ' t t he re enough words f l o w i n g in your ve ins t o keep you going

No ques t ion mark: t h i s conc lus ion has the f i n a l i t y of a d e c i s i o n . The

w r i t e r ' s l i f e blood depends on the word - f l ow .

Where being a woman ge ts in the way o f being an a r t i s t , in Atwood, in

Wickham the p u l l i s more even, her speaker in "A Woman in Bed" being

s t re tched between the choice o f " sac red" d e l i g h t s of the f l e s h , and the

" l u s t of words , " She begins w i t h the w r i t e r ' s nightmare of f r u s t r a t i o n when

the r i g h t words won ' t come:

Sometimes when I go t o r e s t I l i e and s t r u g g l e f o r exp ress ion , And f a i l i n g , f a l l t o s i c k depress ion , And beat my b r e a s t .

Bu t , "an added sadness" t h a t almost d r i v e s her mad is t h a t her " b r e a s t i s

r o u n d . "

How can I , being woman ded icate n i g h t s Which should be sacred t o d e l i g h t s , To t h i s l u s t o f words, which i s so broad ly human?

Daytime helps her so lve the problem, W e l l - c l o t h e d she can f o r g e t her

s k i r t , h ide her breast under "a workman's s h i r t / And hunt the p e r f e c t

ph rase , " the woman in her put o f f t i l l another n i g h t o f c o n f l i c t ,

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The s p e a k e r s i n " L ens," by Anne W i l k i n s o n and " S e I f - P o r t r a i t , " by

E l i n o r - W y l i e both r e g a r d t h e womanly a s p e c t of t h e i r i d e n t i t y n e g a t i v e l y

i n j u x t a p o s i n g i t w i t h t h e p o e t i c . Both p o e t s use t h e metaphor of t h e

l e n s t o argue t h a t t h e h a r d n e s s and c l a r i t y of p o e t i c p e r c e p t i o n i s

s u p e r i o r t o t h e i r f r a i l t y as women. In " Lens," t h e r e i s a s i d e by s i d e

c o m p a rison which soon y i e l d s t o an e x t e n s i o n of t h e metaphor i t s e l f ; t h e

woman i s so t o speak f o r g o t t e n i n t h e e x c i t e m e n t of making t h e poem. In

W y l i e ' s s o n n e t , o r d e r o f precedence i s g i v e n t o t h e p o e t ' s mind as l e n s , i n

t h e o c t a v e , and " t h e l i t t l e r e s t " t h a t c o n s t i t u t e s t h e poet i s g i v e n s h o r t

s h r i f t i n t h e s e s t e t . W i l k i n s o n sees her d u t y as b e i n g

To keep and c h e r i s h my good l e n s F o r l o v e and war And wasps about t h e I i I i e s And m u tiny w i t h i n

She w i l l use p o e t i c p e r c e p t i o n t o f o c u s and c o n t r o l e m o t i o n . So f a r so

good. The second s t a n z a b e g i n s :

My woman's eye i s weak And v e i l e d w i t h m i l k

My w o r k i n g eye i s muscled

In t h e n e x t s t a n z a we have a r e s t a t e m e n t :

My woman's i r i s c i r c l e s A b I i nd pup i I, The p o e t ' s eye i s c r y s t a l P o l i s h e d t o a c c e p t t h e n e g a t i v e .

I t i s not s i m p l y t h a t W i l k i n s o n s e e s i n t h e o p p o s i t i o n t h a t f l e s h i s weak:

s p e c i f i c a l l y , i t i s weakness i n woman t h a t she s e e s . The r e m a i n d e r of t h e

poem i s l i t e r a l l y d evoted t o d e v e l o p i n g t h e images of t h e "good l e n s " ; In my darkroom t h e y e a r s L i e i n s o l u t i o n . Develop f i l m by f i l m .

One of t h e m e r i t s of t h e s e f i l m s i s t h a t , b e i n g s u p e r i o r t o t h e momentary

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record ings of the " v e i l e d " eye w i t h i t s " b l i n d " p u p i l , they can be held up

t o the l i g h t t o reveal the pas t . The s k i l l e d poet can even command dea th ,

"a dancer/ D i s c i p l i n e d t o the foo lscap s tage" t o "expose/ His moving l ikeness

on the page." A r t is indeed long.

Wyl ie in "Se I f - P o r t r a i t is less concerned than Wi.lkinson w i t h p o s s i

b i l i t i e s of the " n e g a t i v e . " W y l i e ' s " t e n s of c r y s t a l " calms "Queer s t a r s

t o c l a r i t y , and d i s e n t a n g l e s / F o x - f i r e s t o form austere r e f r a c t e d a n g l e s . "

The po l i shed substance of her c r a f t is "Graved w i t h the Graces in i n t a g l i o /

To se t s a r c a s t i c s i g i l on the woman." So the poet mocks h e r s e l f . The two

f i n a l l i nes complete t h i s femin ine s e I f - d e p r e c a t i o n : "Th is s o u l , t h i s

v a n i t y , blown h i t h e r and t h i t h e r / By t r i v i a l b r e a t h , over the whole w o r l d ' s

l e n g t h . "

The ambiva lent p o s i t i o n women poets f i n d themselves in i s wel l summed

up in the f i r s t l i nes o f Amy L o w e l l ' s poem "The S i s t e r s . " "Taking us by

and l a r g e , we ' re a queer l o t / We women who w r i t e p o e t r y , " she muses,

remarking t h a t i t i s queerer s t i l l t he re have been so few:

I wonder what i t is t h a t makes us do i t S ing les us out t o s c r i b b l e down, man-wise, The fragments of o u r s e l v e s . Why are we Already m o t h e r - c r e a t u r e s , double b e a r i n g , With mat r i ces in body and in bra in?

Her m e d i t a t i o n s i n g l e s ou t Sappho t o p ra i se and "Mrs. Browning" t o c r i t i c i z e

f o r a l l o w i n g . h e r s e l f t o be "squeezed in s t i f f conven t ion" and f o r d e f e r r i n g

t o her husband in mat te rs of a r t . Queen V i c t o r i a comes in f o r harsher

comment but t he p o e t - c r i t i c goes "dreaming o n , / In love w i t h these my

s p i r i t u a l r e l a t i o n s . " A f t e r imagining h e r s e l f paying a v i s i t t o Emily

Dick inson f o r whom she shows g r e a t respec t , she concludes her r e v e r i e s

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w i t h a word f o r women poets of the f u t u r e , hoping t h a t they may t u r n t o

her as she has t o the " o l d e r s i s t e r s : "

I understand you a l l , f o r in myself — Is t h a t presumption? Yet indeed i t ' s t r u e - -We are one fami l y . And s t i I I my answer W i l l not be any one of y o u r s , I see.

Despi te t h e i r i n d i v i d u a l d i f f e r e n c e s , the poet takes p r i d e in the ach ieve

ments of a s i s te rhood which has had t o show " t h e s t r e n g t h of f o r t y thousand

A t l a s e s " in t h e i r "everyday concerns . "

D i l y s Laing a l so f i n d s an occasion t o l i n g e r over r e g r e t t a b l e aspects

of the t r a d i t i o n a l s i t u a t i o n which gave women so l i t t l e scope f o r r e b e l l i o n .

In "Sonnet t o a S i s t e r in E r r o r , " she a f f e c t i o n a t e l y ch ides Anne Finch

f o r having been "ho he I I i o n / i n t e n t on s e t t i n g the broad wor ld t o r o c k i n g . "

But she commiserates

Staunch Anne! I know your t r o u b l e . The same t e t h e r gal Is us . To be a woman and w r i t e r is double m i s c h i e f , f o r the wor ld w i l l s i i g h t her who s l i g h t s the " s e r v i l e house," and who would r a t h e r make odes than beds. Lost lady! Gent le f i g h t e r ! Separate in t i m e , we mut iny toge the r

The s is te rhood comes in f o r c r i t i c i s m of a f a r less lov ing k ind in

Caro l i ne K i z e r ' s sca th ing poem, ( p a r t Three o f ) "Pro Femina." She intends

her s a t i r i c a l scourge as a k ind of exemplum; in f a c i n g up t o past

weaknesses such as s h i f t s and submissions unworthy of the a r t i s t , she

judges the s inners w h i l e , a t the same t i m e , demonstrat ing t h a t s e l f - c r i t i c i s m

is a way in which women poets of the present are learn ing t o avoid the

p i t f a l l s t h a t entrapped t h e i r less wary o l d e r s i s t e r s . Aggressive and b l u n t ,

she wastes no t ime g e t t i n g down t o bus iness:

I w i I I speak about women of l e t t e r s , f o r I'm in the r a c k e t . Our b igges t successes t o date? Old maids t o a woman And our saddest conspicuous f a i l u r e s ? The marr ied s p i n s t e r s On loan t o the husbands they t r e a t e d l i k e sur rogate f a t h e r s .

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Showing no mercy, she i temizes a l l the unworthy s tereotyped femin ine r o l e s

women have assumed in e i t h e r t r y i n g t o cope w i t h t h e i r d i f f i c u l t i e s in

being accepted as w r i t e r s , o r in d e f e r r i n g t o men. Cons ider ing t h e lengths

some women have gone t o in o rder t o " s t a y in good" w i t h the men, she is

f u r i o u s . "How they must have swaggered,/ When women themselves indorsed

t h e i r own i n f e r i o r i t y ! " she fumes. Such women she c a l l s " v e s t a l s , vassa ls

and vessels r o l l e d i n t o s e v e r a l , " and is contemptuous t h a t they t r i e d " t o

please a p o s t e r i t y t h a t despises them. "

But w e ' l l always have t r a i t o r s who swear t h a t a woman surrenders

Her Supreme F u n c t i o n , by equat ing A r t w i t h aggression And f a i l u r e w i t h F e m i n i n i t y . S t i l l , I t ' s j u s t as u n f a i r To equate A r t w i t h F e m i n i n i t y , l i k e a p r e t t i l y packaged commodity When we are the custod ians of the w o r l d ' s bes t -kep t s e c r e t : Merely the p r i v a t e l i v e s of one -ha l f of humanity.

K izer takes comfor t in t he s i s t e r h o o d ' s having produced "some s leek saboteuses"

whose undermining o f male dominance the men of the day were too s l o w - w i t t e d

t o p e r c e i v e . She reserves spec ia l venom f o r those who aped men " I n the

expec ta t ion of g l o r y : she w r i t e s l i k e a man!" She concludes w i t h a

p o s i t i v e p l a t f o r m : " I f " women poets face up t o t h e i r f a u l t s and se t about

changing t h e i r image, they w i l l , she promises, deserve t h e i r c a l l i n g .

Facing up means, among o t h e r t h i n g s , submerging s e l f - p i t y '.'.in d i s c i p l i n e d

i n d u s t r y , " s tand ing up t o "be h a t e d , " "Keeping our heads and our p r i d e w h i l e

remaining unmar r ied , " o r , i f wedded, k i l l i n g " g u i l t in i t s t r a c k s when we

s tack up the d i s h e s / And d e f e c t t o the t y p e w r i t e r . " F i n a l l y , mothers must

be l i eve in the luck of t h e i r c h i l d r e n ,

Whom we f o r b i d t o devour u s , whom we s h a l l not devour, And the luck of our husbands and l o v e r s , who keep

f r e e women.

I t is a p o l i t i c a l speech, a r i n g i n g piece o f f e m i n i s t i c w i t r e f r e s h i n g f o r

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i t s cand id , i f harsh , appra isa l of the c o n f l i c t s dogging the determined

female w r i t e r . I t s bas ic d a c t y l i c rhythm g ives i t a humorous ye t d r i v i n g

f o r c e t h a t serves the argument w e l l .

Th is b r ings us t o the t h i r d grouping in the Sect ion in which the

poe t i c process i t s e l f occupies the p o e t ' s a t t e n t i o n . I have included

poems here which a c t u a l l y f a l l between two c a t e g o r i e s , t h a t of the poet

d e f i n i n g h e r s e l f , as in the f i r s t group d iscussed, and t h a t of the poet

concerned w i t h i n s p i r a t i o n and how i t works. One of these poems is Lynne

Lawner's "Where are the Wings," which appears t o be a lamentat ion or prayer

addressed t o the Muse in desperat ion of the p o e t ' s not having a t t a i n e d the

goal she se t f o r h e r s e l f . As such, the poem is r e l a t e d t o Mona Van Duyn's

"Death of a p o e t , " where poe t i c i n s p i r a t i o n is conquered in b a t t l e by the

e r o t i c . Lawner's poem is more concerned w i t h how the most determined c o u r t

o f poe t i c i n s p i r a t i o n can end in f a i l u r e , even w i t h sex a t i t s s e r v i c e .

Perhaps i t is because she seeks t r a n s p o r t in the amorphous f i g u r e of a

Pegasus or in the v i s i t a t i o n of a Romantic winged poesie t h a t w i l l l i f t

her out of h e r s e l f t h a t she is doomed t o d isappo in tment . Her p a i n s t a k i n g l y

formal shaping of the poem shows the i n t e n s i t y of her p u r s u i t o f t h a t which

she says eludes her . Poetry is not a Muse in t h i s poem but a male god f o r

whom the poet abases h e r s e l f in o rder t o be granted space in the empyr ia l

rea lm. She asks such quest ions as :

Where are the wings f o r whom I made mysel f b r i t t l e

and p o r t a b l e

and

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Where a r e t h e s l i d i n g f e a t h e r s f o r whom I s h i f t e d w e a t h e r s :

t h e storms o f c o n t i n e n c e t h e d e a d l y s t i l l - a i r of y i e l d i n g

t h e mentaI g e I d i ng, t h e f l e s h l y t r a n c e - -

e n d u r i n g any s h i t t o shun t h e d o m e s t i c sun?

In s a c r i f i c i n g her i n t e g r i t y t o a v o i d t h e d o m e s t i c r o l e and t o win a c c e p t a n c e

as an a r t i s t , t h e s p e a k e r d e l u d e s h e r s e l f t h a t s e x u a l h u m i l i a t i o n i s t h e

pat h t o s p i r i t u a l g l o r y . S e e i n g h e r s e l f as p r e y , she becomes i t :

How low, how a l i e n , how i n c o n s t a n t must I grow t o be p l a y e d on,

t o be preyed on by y o u r m u s i c a l d e s c e n t ?

what h o r r o r s s t u d y what odd beds l i e i n

t o make a body f o r a god t o d i e i n ?

There i t i s : t h e p o e t , i n s u p p o s e d l y o p e n i n g h e r s e l f up t o i m m o r t a l i t y , i s

i n s t e a d r e a c h i n g f o r d e a t h . The gods do not d i e ; i f a n y t h i n g t h e y a r e

i n f i n i t e l y p r o t e a n , t a k i n g names and shapes a c c o r d i n g t o t h e t i m e s t h e y

l i v e i n . Ours i s an age of as c e n d a n t f e m i n i n e s t i r r i n g s i n which women

po e t s a r e making f i g u r e s o f t h e i r own n a s c e n t a u t h o r i t y , as i n t h e i r own

way d i d t h o s e n e o l i t h i c p e o p l e s who f a s h i o n e d f e m a l e f i g u r e s i n t o k e n o f

women's g e n e r a t i v e power. Lawner's p e t i t i o n , on t h e o t h e r hand, i s a w e l l -

wrought urn t h a t b r i m s w i t h a s e l f - d e f e a t i n g d e s p a i r which.can breed n o t h i n g .

P o e t r y as p r o c e s s i s t h e t r a n s m i t t i n g o f e x p e r i e n c e t h r o u g h language,

and E l i z a b e t h S e w e l l , i n "The An a l o g u e , " c a t c h e s t h e p o e t ' s most c e n t r a l

p r e o c c u p a t i o n w i t h t h e word as v e h i c l e .

I ask my words Fo r I i v e I i e r ways, (I am t o bIame That l e t them s t i f f e n . )

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Th is almost seems a d i r e c t answer t o Lawner. In "The Analogue," the

successfu l way of the poet is shown t o c o n s i s t not in asking t o be received

i n t o the c l a s s i c a l preserve of prer-ex i s t i ng godly paradigms, as Lawner sees i t ,

but in subduing "The k i n d l i n g body t o i t s s i l e n t mime" o f t h i n g s in n a t u r e .

The hear t must " t h i n k no shame/ To l i e among the parched s tones , f e e l i n g

the g lassy pulses o f the h e a t . " In asking t h a t words "Gent ly undo/ The

sinews of our rhythms" Sewell means t o "Set f r e e

Bod i l y ana logy; B lessedly const rue

In each s y l l a b i c ges ture something 's p r a i s e .

Then can the poet "Grow w i t h a t r e e , / And speak the un iverse in a paraphrase. "

I n s p i r a t i o n through i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h what i s : t h i s is the ab id ing

mystery , the never-ending source of energy t h a t Denise Lever tov , a l s o ,

demonstrates. In "To the Muse" she pursues the i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n t o i d e n t i t y

we considered a few pages back. Having claimed the Muse as her own, she

now addresses her as a revered e q u a l . She c r e d i t s "a wise man" w i t h saying

t h a t the Muse is " n o t one who comes and goes/ but having chosen/ you remain

in your human house." The Muse a t home walks in the garden, s i t s a t the h e a r t h ,

g ives j o y a t even the most meager t a b l e ,

and w i f e o r husband who does not lock the door of the marr iage aga ins t you, f i n d s you not as unwelcome t h i r d in the room, but as the l i g h t of the moon on f l e s h and h a i r .

When the house seems empty of i n s p i r a t i o n i t is on ly t h a t the Muse is

h id ing h e r s e l f " i n sec re t rooms:"

The hos t , the housekeeper, i t i s who f a i l s you. He had f o r g o t t e n t o make room f o r you a t the hear th

228

— o r a t the t a b l e , o r f a i l e d t o leave doors un locked. But wh i l e he

c r i e s ou t t h a t she is f a i t h l e s s and has f a i l e d him, she is a l l the t ime

" i n d w e l l i n g / a go ld r i n g l o s t in the house." How then t o f i n d t h i s

sh in ing c i r c l e ?

No more rage but a calm f a c e , t r i m the f i r e , lay the t a b l e , f i n d some f l owers f o r i t : i s t h a t the way?

Not even the wise man who "spoke words" o f comfor t can say. As housekeeper,

she must tend the house, c rea te a s t r u c t u r a l harmony t h a t w i l l f r e e space

f o r the Muse t o appear i n . Perhaps, says the poet t e n t a t i v e l y , f e e l i n g her

way, i t i s more a mat te r o f becoming aware of openings, a passage: " — p e r h a p s /

looking down, the s i g h t / of the r i n g back on i t s f i n g e r ? " Un i t y l i e s w i t h i n ,

as t h i s symbol of marr iage i m p l i e s .

The wise man in h i s s p i r i t u a l a t ta inment can g i ve the t r u e seeker

i n s i g h t s , but i t is in being a t home w i t h h e r s e l f t h a t the poet f i n d s

i n s p i r a t i o n f o r a personal p o e t i c s . Sewell in "The Analogue" expands a

" B o d i l y analogy" t o say where poet ry has i t s r o o t s ; Levertov f i n d s her

analogy in the "human house," w i t h i t s B i b l i c a l connota t ions of many mansions.

But i t is her house, not her f a t h e r ' s . In " I l l u s t r i o u s A n c e s t o r s , " Levertov

pays homage t o a J u d a i c - C h r i s t i a n p a t r i a r c h a l past f o r teach ing her , through

p a t i e n t , p r a c t i c a l example and hard work, how t o p r a c t i s e d e v o t i o n . She

would l i k e t o e s t a b l i s h a connect ion between these s p i r i t u a l f o r e f a t h e r s and

h e r s e l f by f o l l o w i n g t h e i r example; she would make

poems d i r e c t as what the b i r d s sa id hard as the f l o o r , sound as a bench, myster ious as the s i l e n c e when the t a i l o r would pause w i t h h i s needle in the a i r .

Accept ing her h e r i t a g e as a g i f t , she a p p l i e s i t s lessons.

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"The Jacob 's Ladder" is a poem t h a t is the process i t desc r ibes : the

w r i t i n g o f a poem. I t beg ins : "The s ta i rway i s n o t / a t h i n g o f gleaming

s t r a n d s " ; nor is i t an "evanescence f o r ange ls ' f e e t " which"need n o t / touch

the s t o n e . " " I t is of s t o n e , " says Lever tov , i n s i s t i n g on the m a t e r i a l l y

hard nature of the el imb towards p e r f e c t i o n . She descr ibes how i t takes on

c o l o r on ly because of the " d o u b t i n g / n i g h t g ray " of the sky behind i t .

The s ta i rway has sharp ang les , and i s s o l i d l y b u i l t :

One sees t h a t the angels must sp r ing down from one step t o the n e x t , g i v i n g a l i t t l e I i f f of the wings;

and a man c I imb ing must scrape h i s knees, and b r ing the g r i p of h i s hands i n t o p l a y .

Labor ing so , "Wings brush past h i m . / The poem ascends." Th is i s t he mystery ,

the moment b e a u t i f u l l y conveyed, when d i v i n i t y touches the poet . One

f e e l s the m i r a c l e of human ascendancy in such a poem. The l a s t of L e v e r t o v ' s

poems t o be discussed here is "A t the Edge"; i t is a lso about poe t i c

process.

How much I should l i k e t o begin a poem w i t h And--presupposing

the hardest sa i d -

begins the poe t , c l a r i f y i n g : " t h e moss c leared o f f the s t o n e , / the l e t t e r s

p l a i n . " A l low ing h e r s e l f t o ge t momentar i ly c a r r i e d away, b y ' t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s ,

she p u l l s back, s i n c e , " n o t d e s i r i n g apocrypha/ but t r u e r e v e l a t i o n , " i t

i s no use f o r her t o pretend t h e r e is something concrete and v i s i b l e t o be

d iscovered . Her ideal poem

may not be carved t h e r e , may I i e - - t h e qu ick o f mystery — in animal eyes gazing from the t h i c k e t

2 3 0

I t may be an unknown presence, " f i e r c e , t e r r i f i e d , " but whom "no And may

approach sudden ly . " So we see t h a t over and over , in Lever tov , t h e r e is

the no t ion of mystery , and of a s t a t e of readiness and w a i t i n g upon i t t h a t

is the p o e t ' s necessary c o n d i t i o n f o r i n s p i r a t i o n .

P h y l l i s Webb s t a t e s something very s i m i l a r in " P o e t r y , " the f i r s t of

two poems j o i n t l y t i t l e d "Two V e r s i o n s " :

F i d e l i t y as in love

is in poet ry

an unexpected s a t i s f a c t i o n .

The poe t , she suggests , is not su rp r i sed by anyth ing she sees: in a l l

appearances the re i s an ambigu i ty which i t i s the p o e t ' s g i f t t o fa thom;

f o r , I i k e a monk in m e d i t a t i o n ,

poe t ry i s cloaked in sheer

p r o f u n d i t i e s of otherness

I t s sec re t i s , "no th ing den ied / u n t i l e n t i r e l y known." Th is a l lows p o e t r y ,

even " i n the chaste embrace/ of f a i t h f u l l o v e r s , " t o " f r e e l y ravage the

pulse of e v i l . " The p o e t ' s p r i v i l e g e , however, i s dubious; as a mad prophet

her o r h i s f a t e is set and cannot be happ i l y t ranscended. The second poem,

" I n S i t u , " presents the poet " i n h i s t r e e of h e l l " ; t h i s is a " v i s i o n t r e e , "

d e t e r m i n i s t i c s ince i t " impar t s immaculate n e c e s s i t y / t o murder, ignorance

and l u s t . " The poem has a o n e - l i n e r e f r a i n repeated f o u r t i m e s : "The

wor ld i s round. I t moves in c i r c l e s . " Webb sees no way o u t . As in the

f i r s t " V e r s i o n " of the theme, " P o e t r y , the p o e t ' s c u r s e , " is again compared

t o the semblance of "a simple monk in m e d i t a t i o n , " d e s c r i p t i v e phrases about

" i t s o therness" and "ambiguous nakedness" being res ta ted in the new c o n t e x t .

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Thus t h e p o i n t s made c o n c e r n i n g r e p e t i t i o n and a m b i g u i t y a r e conveyed

t h r o u g h the. form as w e l l . The poet i s viewed as a c a p t i v e "madman,"

w i l d w i t h h i s v i s i o n o f a w o r l d from which t h e r e i s no e x i t . The poem ends

w i t h i t s r e f r a i n o f c i r c u l a r movement. Webb's c i r c l e i s no g o l d r i n g ; she

i s a l o n e i n a u n i v e r s e t h a t has no d o m e s t i c h e a r t h . C o n s i d e r i n g Webb and

L e v e r t o v t o g e t h e r , i t would appear t h a t a sense of m y s t e r y o r o t h e r n e s s i s

a l l , b e s i d e t h e i r g e n i u s , t h e y have i n common, L e v e r t o v w r i t i n g from a

sense o f t h i n g s a f f i r m i n g s a n i t y , Webb w r i t i n g from her v i s i o n of i n s a n i t y .

P o e t r y i s u s u a l l y , f o r t h e p o e t , a dangerous e n t e r p r i s e , l e a d i n g as i t w i l l

t o c o n f r o n t a t i o n w i t h t r u t h s t h e poet f i n d s s c a r c e l y b e a r a b l e . Atwood,

f o r example, makes us a p p r e c i a t e what i t f e e l s l i k e t o be d r i v e n " i n s a n e

w i t h s k i l l , " and Lawner makes us f e e l t h e d e s p e r a t i o n of a p o e t who l o o k s i n

th e wrong p l a c e s f o r i n s p i r a t i o n . S u r f e i t o r l a c k : e i t h e r way t h e poet

f a c e s danger. When i t i s a gloomy v i s i o n i t s e l f t h a t t h r e a t e n s t h e p o e t ,

o n l y t h e power o f t h e form imposed upon t h e raw m a t e r i a l , c o n t r o l l i n g and

c o n t a i n i n g i t , can save t h e poet f o r a n o t h e r day of h e r o i c a r t i s t r y . " I n

S i t u " t a k e s t h e r e a d e r i n t o t h e h e l l Webb c l a i m s i s t h e p o e t ' s n e c e s s a r y

c o n d i t i o n ; whether one s h a r e s t h i s view o r n o t , her mastery of s t a t e m e n t

i s so commanding t h a t one r e c e i v e s a s o r t of second s i g h t d e s p i t e o n e s e l f .

The e x p e r i e n c i n g of p a i n becomes i t s o p p o s i t e , r e n d e r e d i n t e n s e l y p l e a s u r a b l e .

I t i s t h e p o e t ' s t r i u m p h — W e b b ' s ' o r a n o t h e r ' s — t o e n s n a r e us w i t h t h e i r

" S h e e r / p r o f u n d i t i e s of o t h e r n e s s . "

M i r i a m Waddington's "Semblances" t e n d s t o b r i n g us down from such

h e i g h t s t h r o u g h i t s s t y l e o f reasoned argument. But I i k e - t h e poems we have

been l o o k i n g a t , t h i s one t o o , i s c o n c e r n e d w i t h what i s and i s n o t , a

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d i f f e r e n c e from the o the rs being i t s calm approach. The poet t r u s t s t h a t

a m b i g u i t i e s may, through i n t e l I i g e n t o r d e r i n g be merged and r e s o l v e d . She

begins by naming what is real f o r her : " I have a wal l and a bare t r e e , /

With my window I have t h r e e " ; but the " you" t h a t she next names as possessed

by her eyes is " n o t t h e r e " : t h i s f o u r t h is the c o n s t r u c t i o n of the " inward

e y e . " She uses the metaphor of the t r e e , as in Webb and S e w e l l , t o

" p o s t u l a t e / Something deeper and more g r e a t / Than what can here be sensed

or seen . " The " i n n e r co re" of t h i n g s can be deduced, says Waddington,

and i f we knew how, "we could e x t r a c t / From p o s s i b i l i t i e s the f a c t , "

though these p r o p o s i t i o n s , she admi ts , f a i l t o answer. What i t comes t o .

i s t h a t noth ing is as i t seems; in a l l o f i t t he re is "A poem s t i l l not

f e l t o r w r i t t e n . " Waddington ends w i t h the hope t h a t harmonizing the

elements of her v i s i o n w i l l a l low her t o "possess/The und i sc losed , both

more, and l e s s . " The form her poem takes is a g e s t a t i o n , through nine

q u a t r a i n s , of t h i s c o n c l u s i o n .

Our next t o l a s t poem is by Marianne Moore, whose opening statement

proceeds from the t i t l e : "The Mind, I n t r a c t a b l e Th ing"

even w i t h i t s own ax t o g r i n d , sometimes helps o t h e r s . Why c a n ' t i t help me?

I t i s an unexpected confess ion from a poet ce lebra ted f o r her i n t e I Iec tua I

mastery of the c r a f t . What, t h e n , is Moore's v i s i o n of p e r f e c t i o n , in

which the mind f a i l s her? "0 i m a g n i f i c o , / w izard in w o r d s — p o e t , " she

apos t roph izes , as she shows the mind r e f r a c t i n g gorgeously v e r b a l i z e d

images on her eye ' s " h a l f c losed t r i p t y c h . " But these images defy her

e f f o r t s t o render t h e i r essence. The mind 's capac i t y is somehow beyond her :

You understand t e r r o r , know how t o deal w i t h pent-up emot ion, a b a l l a d , w i t c h c r a f t .

I d o n ' t . 0 Zeus and 0 d e s t i n y !

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The poet , in her e x p o s t u l a t i o n seems t o be ha I f -mocking h e r s e l f f o r even

t h i s much d i s p l a y of emot ion, h a l f - a d m i t t i n g t h a t she f e e l s an inadequacy

in the areas i n d i c a t e d . She a t t a c k s the mind f o r f a i l i n g t o c o n t r o l her

words when i t seems, r a t h e r , she should be acknowledging t h a t i t is f e a r o f

f a c i n g up t o her f e e l i n g s t h a t is g e t t i n g in the way of a more e m o t i o n a l l y -

informed express ion . Is i t t h a t she places too much importance on the mind 's

a b i l i t y t o c o n t r o l what i t understands? She does not a l low f o r o t h e r equa l l y

important f a c t o r s in i n s p i r a t i o n , her u n c r i t i c a l worship of the mind

a t t r i b u t i n g t o i t q u a l i t i e s which belong more p rope r l y t o a combined f u n c t i o n

of hear t and mind, o r what one might c a l l s e n s i b i l i t y . For example, she

p ra ises the c r e a t i v e mind f o r courage: " U n a f r a i d o f wha t ' s done , / undeterred

by d e f e a t , " t h i s " w i z a r d " has "made w o r d c r a f t i r r e s i s t i b l e . " She despa i rs

of being able t o match i t s best express ion : "as near a t h i n g as we have t o a

k i n g . " And so t h i s queen of w o r d c r a f t f i n d s f a u l t w i t h her k i n g l y inst rument

r a t h e r than w i t h a s e l f - c o n f e s s e d i n a b i l i t y t o a l l ow t e r r o r and pent-up

emotion t h e i r own head. The poem t h e r e f o r e ends w i t h t h i s amazing d e c l a r a

t i o n : " c r a f t w i t h which I d o n ' t know how t o d e a l . " One r e c a l l s Margaret

Atwood's somewhat analogous conc lus ion in "Speeches f o r Dr. F r a n k e n s t e i n , "

where the w i z a r d l y " d o c t o r , " through too successfu l a mastery of c r a f t ,

l o s t c o n t r o l o f the t h i n g made. An i n t e l l e c t u a l w i l l imposed on the p o e t i c

process seems t o make f o r poets who are d i s s a t i s f i e d w i t h the d i r e c t i o n of

t h e i r c r e a t i v i t y .

F i n a l l y we have the l i g h t - h e a r t e d comic r e l i e f o f "Arse P o e t i c a , " by

E r i ca Jong, which presents a k ind of d o - i t - y o u r s e l f course in c r e a t i v e

w r i t i n g on the l i nes of combined cookbook and sex manual. I t is a l so a

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s a t i r i c a l s ide-swipe a t the wouId-be^-poet who t h i n k s poems can be cooked

up according t o a r e c i p e . Though cooking as a metaphor f o r making images

i s not new, the problem of how t o l i v e and w r i t e as a poet is ever new,

Jong recognizes. Doubt less t a k i n g o f f on Ov id , she seizes the o p p o r t u n i t y

t o se t h e r s e l f up as a successfu l a u t h o r i t y , s e t t i n g f o r t h the problem in

p a r t I , and f o l l o w i n g i t w i t h i n s t r u c t i o n s in p a r t s I I and I I I , the l a s t

of which i s the f u n n i e s t . By being outrageous in language, s t y l e and

imagery, Jong ins inua tes t h a t making a poem is se r ious s t u f f , not a t

a l l l i k e t h i s g immickry, and t h a t one ought not t o c o n s u l t sources o t h e r than

onese l f f o r i n s p i r a t i o n . "Arse P o e t i c a " in i t s prose form does not even

pretend t o be a poem, though t h a t s o r t of d i s t i n c t i o n seems un impor tan t .

Laughter , e s p e c i a l l y bawdy laugh te r , is a l l too ra re in women's p o e t r y .

I t s ex is tence proves t h a t the range of i n s p i r a t i o n is l i v e l y and i n f i n i t e

wherever the human imaginat ion i s a t work, and t h a t whatever mystery

touches the poet w i t h i t s wings, the source of poet ry is deeply human.

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Chapter Seven

What Does i t Mean t o be a Woman?

In a large sense, the ques t ion t h a t heads t h i s Chapter has a l ready been

answered. Previous Chapters have focused on how women have def ined themselves

in r e a c t i n g t o s p e c i f i c f a c e t s of t h e i r l i v e s . What remains t o be examined

are the poems which t r e a t the f a c t o f femaleness as a general exper ience

i n c l u s i v e of many f a c e t s . Though in t h i s Sect ion as in preceding ones t h e r e

i s a m u l t i p l i c i t y of v i e w p o i n t s , t h ree a t t i t u d e s can be seen t o dominate:

one which is c r i t i c a l of women's compliance in t h e i r own i n f e r i o r s t a t u s , one

which is angry and o f t e n assumes a defens ive s u p e r i o r i t y in regard t o

t h e i r v i c t i m i z a t i o n , and one which conf i rms i n f e r i o r i t y as woman's d e s t i n y .

Poems in which women are unhappy w i t h t h e i r sex outweigh in number those in

which the poets r e j o i c e t h a t they are women.

Consider ing the increas ing d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n of t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y women

w i t h t h e i r h i s t o r y of subserv ience, and t a k i n g i n t o account a l so the general

s p i r i t u a l a f f l i c t i o n of the western c u l t u r e , the negat ive f e e l i n g in these

poems is not s u r p r i s i n g . Nor, in so many of them, is the lack of j o y in

p o s i t i v e femin ine i d e n t i f i c a t i o n . What i t means t o be a woman cannot be

separated from the c u l t u r e , and ours is one which shows l i t t l e real respect

f o r the humanity of women. Even the t ime-honored r o l e of mother has been

t a r n i s h e d . While we cannot r e g r e t t h a t women no longer have t o d e f i n e

themselves in t r a d i t i o n a l spheres, i t is c l e a r t h a t we do not g i ve adequate

r e c o g n i t i o n t o the work they s t i l l c a r r y on in the home. And wh i le they

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s t i l l do not have much tenure o r a f o r c e f u l vo ice o u t s i d e i t , i t is e q u a l l y

c l e a r t h a t the value systems which have de f ined the proper r o l e s f o r woman

as those of w i f e and mother (o r denied her f e m i n i n i t y as s p i n s t e r ) are

los ing t h e i r v a l i d i t y . Now t h a t western c o u n t r i e s have g iven them a choice

in whether or not t o bear c h i l d r e n , many women are no longer accept ing

motherhood as t h e i r b i o l o g i c a l f a t e , t h e i r na tu ra I f u I f i I I m e n t , o r even,

t h e i r d e s i r e . P a r t l y t h i s is because, in North America, hard ly anyone

aware o f what is going on has f a i t h , any more, in the prospect of a marr iage

or any o the r form of sexual union l a s t i n g a l i f e t i m e . Th is b r ings t o the

f o r e a rea l dilemma.

For the f i r s t t ime in h i s t o r y women of c h i l d - b e a r i n g age are f a c i n g

an o p t i o n t h a t was f o r m e r l y s e t t l e d f o r them by s o c i e t y . They are having

t o dec ide , i n d i v i d u a l l y and a lone , whether o r not t o have c h i l d r e n , marr iage

being a secondary c o n s i d e r a t i o n , i f a t a l l one. I t is a new and somewhat

t e r r i f y i n g r e s p o n s i b i l i t y , the source of much p e r p l e x i t y and doubt . For

however much they may f e e l a des i re f o r m a t e r n i t y , many women know t h a t

sooner or l a t e r , in a I I probabi I i t y , t h e i r c h i l d r e n face being brought up

by on ly one p a r e n t , the mother; o r by parents who arrange t o look a f t e r

them j o i n t l y , each having gone a separate way. Concern f o r the c h i l d r e n i s

mixed w i t h concern f o r themselves. Given t h a t s o c i e t y d i s c r i m i n a t e s

aga ins t women economical ly and o t h e r w i s e , t h e i r choice i s not easy, nor

can i t be ignored. In a sense, the f u t u r e r e s t s upon i t .

Th is s t r e s s is f a i r l y recen t . Other c o n f l i c t s have been b u i l d i n g a l l

a l o n g , t o f i n a l l y e rup t in the p o s i t i v e cha l lenge of the women's movement,

which seeks t o reso lve c o n f l i c t through b r i n g i n g women's real p o s i t i o n i n t o

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l i n e w i t h the i r tehanged s t a t u s in s o c i e t y . But the movement is less than a

decade o l d . Female poets were r e f l e c t i n g women's des i re t o assess themselves

and put t h e i r womanhood i n . p e r s p e c t i v e long before the movement took shape.

I t has taken t ime t o shake o f f ingra ined a t t i t u d e s , and the poems can on ly

show the unevenness of the process. The confus ion the poets as a group

show in t h i s Sect ion as t o where t h e i r s t r e n g t h s as women l i e , and the

scorn they heap upon t h e i r sex in t h e i r concern f o r an image o f themselves

they can accept , form a moving graph of the t i m e s . The i r poems are a s o r t

of se ismic r e g i s t e r of the shocks women have susta ined through s h i f t s in

the soc ia l s t r u c t u r i n g of sex r o l e s . There have been no g u i d e - l i n e s f o r

a c r i t i c a l s e I f - a p p r a i s a I . Nor have women had a h i s t o r y o f t h e i r own t o

b o l s t e r them in a sense of t h e i r w o r t h . I t is encouraging, t h e r e f o r e , t o

note a change in the poet ry from a t t i t u d e s of de fea t and r e s i g n a t i o n e a r l i e r

in the century t o c u r r e n t a t t i t u d e s of r e b e l l i o n , shared i n i t i a t i v e and

s e l f - c o n f i d e n c e , t h a t h i n t a t a new o r d e r . I f , u n t i I r e c e n t l y , i t was

s t i l l considered a curse t o be born a woman, t h i s is no longer so. The

ty ranny of male dominat ion is being v i g o r o u s l y con tes ted . When women s t i l l

f l o g women in t h e i r p o e t r y , i t is because they are demanding an end t o

s l a v i s h a t t i t u d e s which r e i n f o r c e i n f e r i o r i t y . The newest poems coming

out of these s t r u g g l e s and t h i s consciousness i n d i c a t e the shape of t h i n g s

t o come. I t i s i n s t r u c t i v e t o compare these' poems w i t h poems of the way

women have l i ved up t o now.

Most of the poets in t h i s Sect ion are s e l f - c r i t i c a l , c r i t i c i z e t h e i r

sex as a whole o r in p a r t , see women as v i c t i m s , weep h e l p l e s s l y , res ign

themselves, express s e l f - h a t r e d , show susp ic ion and resentment of men,

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rebel aga ins t women's soc ia l and sexual r o l e s , take refuge in f e e l i n g

s u p e r i o r , o r render au tob iog raph ica l accounts in which they document t h e i r

e f f o r t s t o overcome the negat ive images s o c i e t y has framed them i n .

"Woman," by Pat Lowther, is a poem in t h i s c a t e g o r y , . a I though the

au tob iog raph ica l vo ice could be Everywoman's. Nothing is included t h a t

might d i f f e r e n t i a t e the speaker 's exper ience from the exper ience of any

o t h e r woman up u n t i l the t ime t h a t c o n t r a c e p t i v e devices became a v a i l a b l e

t o her . I t is necessary t o add t h i s because the poem t r e a t s b io logy as

d e s t i n y , which i t no longer i s , i f ever i t was. I take i t t h a t the poet

speaks f o r "Woman" in the a b s t r a c t , or woman in h i s t o r y . Reviewing her l i f e ,

the poet s t a r t s out w i t h a mental concept :

I t h i n k I wanted t o be wings, the essence of. wings o r a un ive rsa l symbiote

She descr ibes h e r s e l f as a c h i l d who cl imbed t r e e s and sang t h e r e , w h i l e

"Feathers grew l i k e leaves . " Her mind expanded w i t h l i g h t u n t i l i t s p l i t

" l i k e a r o b i n ' s e g g . " Bu t , " s t i l l s i ng ing 1/ took possession o f the s k y . "

I t was then she became aware of the "c losed system" o f her m a t e r i a l e x i s t e n c e :

"Symbiosis had f a i l e d . " Lonely , encapsulated in " c o l d space, " she f e l t

h e r s e l f "a v i r u s in the u n i v e r s e . " The language h i n t s t h a t the poet i s

speaking in the con tex t of o r i g i n a l s i n , as the beginning of p a r t Two

conf i rms:

Know ledge, coarsened my f l e s h I grew heavy

Stumbling down endless f l i g h t s of s t a i r s

Here then is a p a r a l l e l o f the F a l l . I n h e r i t i n g e a r t h and sea between the

"po les of my knees/ an omen" she "Shrank/ i n t o my body and beyond." In

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the "warm t h i c k cave of g e n e s i s , " she

became a s lave

t o the whimpering womb

t h a t hoi low mouth t h a t never says Enough u n t i I t oo l a te

Lowther l e t s the C h r i s t i a n myth lapse here , where the woman's rea l agony

beg ins . Par t Three presages a desperate r e b e l l i o n . "Shrunken" now "between

w a l l s , " she t h i n k s of " e l e c t r i c s torms/ in a b i r d ' s b r a i n , " and "o f a t r e e /

as a slow paradigm/ f o r an e x p l o s i o n . " Because the s i n g i n g s p i r i t o f the

c h i l d i s s t i l l w i t h i n her and w i l l not be den ied ,

Some day t h e r e w i l l be f e a t h e r s and blood

on the ins ide of the window.

I t i s a prophecy a l ready f u l f i l l e d in the coun t less l i v e s of women.

For those who no longer fee l p r i sone rs of t h e i r sex, the "window"

can be opened, o f f e r i n g , l i k e the metaphor ica l lens and s h u t t e r in "Snapshots

of a D a u g h t e r - i n - l a w , " a more hopeful v iew. Adrienne R i c h ' s poem documents

stages in a contemporary woman's l i f e and t i m e s . The poem incorpora tes

quo ta t i ons and a l l u s i o n s in each of i t s ten p a r t s g i v i n g i t the q u a l i t y o f

a m e d i t a t i o n on the r e l a t i o n o f l i t e r a t u r e t o l i f e . Par t One d e p i c t s a

woman of the o l d e r genera t ion who, though in the prime of her l i f e , is

l i v i n g in the p a s t , p a t h e t i c a l l y a r r e s t e d by n o s t a l g i a f o r what she sees as

her peak p e r i o d , her success as a young " b e l l e . " Her

mind now, moulder ing l i k e wedding-cake, heavy w i t h useless exper ience , r i c h w i t h s u s p i c i o n , rumor, f a n t a s y ,

crumbles under " t h e k n i f e - e d g e / o f mere f a c t . " Meanwhile her " n e r v y ,

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g l o w e r i n g " daughter "grows another way." Par t Two takes us i n t o the mind

of t h i s daughter who ba lks a t the advice "They" have g iven her t o look out

f o r h e r s e l f wh i l e ignor ing the p l i g h t of o t h e r s . She is deeply d i s t u r b e d .

In Three, the poet dec la res : "A t h i n k i n g woman sleeps w i t h mons te rs . "

Na tu re , she says,

ge ts s t u f f e d w i t h i t a l l : the mildewed o range- f lowers the female p i l l s , the t e r r i b l e breasts

o f Boadicea beneath f l a t f o x e s ' heads and o r c h i d s .

She records a f i g h t between two women whose f r u s t r a t i o n and spleen are

turned aga ins t each o t h e r :

The argument ad ferninam, a l l the o l d knives t h a t have rus ted in my back, I d r i v e in y o u r s , ma semb.l a b I e , ma soeur!

The Baude la i r i an adap ta t ion shows them v i c t i m s of t h e i r s o c i a l i z a t i o n . Par t

Four speaks of women's g i f t s as "no pure f r u i t i o n , but a t h o r n . " By way of

i I I u s t r a t i o n , the poet a l l u d e s t o Emily Dick inson w r i t i n g , "My L i f e had

s t o o d — a Loaded G u n — . " In the two "snapshots" t h a t f o l l o w , we see f i r s t a

woman grooming h e r s e l f t o resemble a po l i shed a r t e f a c t , and next developing

graces t o ornament a man's l i f e wh i l e denying h e r s e l f the reach of her mind.

Par t Seven begins w i t h a q u o t a t i o n from Mary W o l I s t o n e c r a f t ' s Thoughts on the

Education of Daughters concerning the need f o r a c e r t a i n s e c u r i t y in l i f e ;

f o r which work, says R i c h , "she was l abe l l ed harpy, shrew and whore . "

Commenting next on D i d e r o t ' s remark t h a t women " a l l d i e a t f i f t e e n , Rich

r e f l e c t s :

D e l i c i o u s l y , a l l t h a t we might have been,

a l l t h a t we w e r e — f i r e , t e a r s , w i t , t a s t e , martyred a m b i t i o n — s t i r s l i k e the memory of refused a d u l t e r y the dra ined and f l a g g i n g bosom.of our middle yea rs .

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Par t Nine t u r n s b i t t e r as the poet wonders: "Times prec ious ch ron ic i n v a l i d , — /

would we, d a r l i n g s , res ign i t i f we cou ld?" Most women seem t o have accepted

the r o l e of m e d i o c r i t y , con ten t w i t h mere t a l e n t and "Bemused by male

g a l l a n t r y . " There have been few a p p l i c a n t s f o r the honor of being punished,

as women b r u t a l l y were, f o r c a s t i n g " t o o bold a shadow," o r f o r smashing

" t h e mould s t r a i g h t o f f . " "Wei I , " - b e g i n s the l a s t p a r t , "She's long about

her coming, who must be/ more merc i less t o h e r s e l f than h i s t o r y . " The poem

c loses on a v i s i o n of t h a t woman of promise.

Something o f the same ground is covered by Er ica Jong in " A l c e s t i s on

the Poetry C i r c u i t , " in which the mode is sharp and s a t i r i c . The case is

s u c c i n c t l y put in the f i r s t s tanza:

The best s lave does not need t o be beaten.

She beats h e r s e l f .

Jong 's p o i n t of depar ture in t h i s poem is the i n d i g n a t i o n she f e e l s rega r

ding the t ragedy of women poets who took t h e i r own l i v e s , in consequence of

which s o c i e t y was spared the task of f u r t h e r punish ing them f o r c a s t i n g , as

Rich says, " t o o bold a shadow." The poem makes p o i n t s of the many ways in

which women absorb and adapt t o the master-sex e t h i c . They are qu icke r in

every way t o excel him by t h e i r s e l f - a b u s e , they a n t i c i p a t e him, de fe r t o

him, f o l l o w h i s i n j u n c t i o n s b l i n d l y , and con ten t themselves w i t h small

t a l e n t s r a t h e r than r i s k i n g posing a t h r e a t t o him i n t e l l e c t u a l l y o r c r e a

t i v e l y . Though Jong 's l i nes f a l l w i t h heavy sarcasm, her purpose is c o r r e c

t i v e . L ike o the r poets in t h i s S e c t i o n , she condemns the passive ways in

which women have succumbed t o the i n f e r i o r r o l e s assigned them.

Joyce Carol Oates takes up the theme in "L ines f o r Those t o Whom

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Tragedy i s Den ied . " As the t i t l e suggests , the view in t h i s poem is narrowed

t o a p a r t i c u l a r c lass of women, none of whom f a l l i n t o Jong 's category of

g i f t e d s u i c i d e s . Oates reac ts t o the meaningless l i v e s of a group of

weal thy bored m i d d l e - c l a s s women who are no less v i c t i m s of c lass and sex

than t h e i r economical ly disadvantaged s i s t e r s . With noth ing t o do, the

women of t h i s m i l i e u are whol ly a u x i l i a r y t o t h e i r husbands' l i v e s , and

in a lesser degree, t o t h e i r c h i l d r e n ' s . What d i s t u r b s the poet most is

the i n a b i l i t y of these women t o communicate a sense of t h e i r humanity,

which they seem t o have submerged:

These women have no language and so they c h a t t e r In the rhythm of s te reo type t h a t is won A f t e r c e r t a i n years and c e r t a i n money.

The t r i v i a l i t y of t h e i r speech, chunks o f which she reco rds , is an a f f r o n t

t o a w r i t e r f o r whom language is l i f e - b l o o d , and the substance of l i v e s

t raded f o r s e c u r i t y and so m a n i f e s t l y d e p r i v e d , a h o r r o r . She sees them

as "metronomes o r pendulums/ As t h e i r laments swing from one t o the

o t h e r " ; of the f i v e l a d i e s , two , she t e l l s us , "a re d ivorced and/ Sad t o say

d ivo rce awai ts the o thers l i k e d e a t h . " They s i t a t a t a b l e in the po l i shed

Oak Room of the e x c l u s i v e c l u b , w h i l e under the drone of t h e i r t a l k ,

" t h e i r younger se lves dream and drown." I t i s dubious i f they remember

what once was real t o them: love, the boy husbands, the young wives they

were, the babies so loved and f e a r e d . "When they were rea l were they r e a l ? "

wonders the poet w i t h a c e r t a i n sardonic edge, comparing them t o t h e i r

e n e r g e t i c , successfu l husbands. "Ah , manly men.'", she mocks, " — a n d

s t r i p p e d c lean of the garments/ Of tawdry q u e s t i o n s : What am I ? " I t is a t

leas t sadly c e r t a i n t h a t the sense of uselessness these women have about

243

themselves and which they convey, is r e a l , muses the poe t , f i x i n g the f i v e -

o ' c l o c k scene w i t h the poignant t imelessness of a Rembrandt:

The t a b l e , the f l o o r , the pane I Ied waI Is are real And rea l the dens i t y of bodies and The images, l i k e ange ls , of lad ies s e t t l e d and b i z a r r e As c e r t a i n b i r d s bred f o r c o l o r and song and beyond T h e i r y o u t h ' s charm.

Harsh as t h i s judgment o f a c lass of women i s , as p o e t r y , i t s long melancholy

l i nes convey an unmistakeabIe empathy w i t h i t s s u b j e c t .

There is no s i m i l a r l y ev iden t f e e l i n g of compassion in Louise Bogan's

poem of the t w e n t i e s , e n t i t l e d "Women." Measured and concise in f o rm, i t

is a statement of undisguised contempt f o r her sex. In f a u l t l e s s q u a t r a i n s ,

the poet l i s t s women's f a u l t s : "Women have no w i lderness in them, " she

begins: no a m b i t i o n , no sense of beauty o r responsiveness t o n a t u r e , no

adventure in t h e i r s p i r i t , no f l e x i b i l i t y , no s e l f - c r i t i c a l p e r c e p t i o n . By

the f o u r t h stanza we are i n t o an i m p l i c i t comparison w i t h t h e i r s u p e r i o r s .

They cannot t h i n k of so many crops t o a f i e l d Or of c lean wood c l e f t by an axe. The i r love i s an eager meaning Iessness Too t e n s e , o r t o o lax .

Bogan ends w i t h a lacon ic d ismissa l of even the q u a l i t i e s of compassion and

love which have been t r a d i t i o n a l l y assoc ia ted w i t h women: "As l i k e as n o t ,

when they take l i f e over t h e i r d o o r - s i l l s / They should l e t i t go b y . "

They seem t o have no judgment whatsoever, poor c r e a t u r e s . The poem pretends

a severe o b j e c t i v i t y , but i t has the s u p e r i o r i t y o f tone of a poet who

regards her s t r e n g t h as mascu l ine, and must deny in ' h e r s e l f and o the rs any

q u a l i t y t h a t suggests femin ine i n f e r i o r i t y , which she endorses. In t a k i n g

the male norm.as her s tandard , Bogan's c r i t i c i s m of women belongs t o the

se l . f roppress ing type Rich and Jong view w i t h such dismay.

244

Denise Leve r tov ' s " H y p o c r i t e Women," on the o t h e r hand, is as s t r i n g e n t

an a c t of s e l f - c r i t i c i s m as i t is a c r i t i c i s m of o the rs of her sex whom

she sees shar ing her g u i l t . The i r cr imes a r e , f i r s t of a l l , t h a t women seldom

speak "o f our own doubts , whi le d u b i o u s l y / we mother man in h i s d o u b t ! "

Levertov c i t e s a s p e c i f i c occasion t o i l l u s t r a t e the p o i n t : a seminar in

which "a wh i te sweating b u l l of a poet t o l d us / our cunts are u g l y . " The

shock of t h i s c r u d i t y is bare ly susta ined when she f o l l o w s i t up w i t h

" — w h y d i d n ' t we/ admit we have thought so too?" adding w i t h p a r e n t h e t i c a l

humor, " ( A n d / what shame? They are not f o r the e y e ! ) . " In t a k i n g up

the cha l lenge t o her sex, she is c a r e f u l t o balance negat ive w i t h n e g a t i v e ;

she refuses the man's game, as he has se t i t up, o f s u p e r i o r i t y versus

i n f e r i o r i t y . She re fuses t o be h u m i l i a t e d . In f a c t she goes one b e t t e r

than h i s bald i n s u l t , o f f e r i n g a d e s c r i p t i o n t h a t is f a r more p o e t i c : "They

are dark and w r i n k l e d and h a i r y , / caves of the Moon." Women l i k e h e r s e l f ,

says the p o e t — n o t defending but i nc lud ing them in her s e l f - c r i t i c i s m — h a v e

been cowardly not t o own up t o c o l d , a n t i - l i f e f e e l i n g s which they share

w i t h men. Fear fu l o f c o n f i r m i n g the k ind o f contempt e x e m p l i f i e d by the

" b u l l of a p o e t , " women " p l a y and p l e a d , " "Whor ish ly " conceal ing t h e i r t r u e

f e e l i n g s . Levertov f e e l s along a deeper level in express ing pain f o r the

way women have m u t i l a t e d what was hopeful in themselves: t h e i r dreams;

w i t h what f r i v o l i t y we have pared them l i k e t o e n a i l s , c l i p p e d them l i k e ends o f spI i t hai r.

I t is the v a n i t y of dancing t o the man's expec ta t ion of her t h a t Levertov

r e g r e t s most in her sex, and which she " s p l i t s no h a i r s " over . She would

have women c la im t h e i r f u l l humanity w i t h honesty and courage, f r e e of the

f e a r of d i sapprova I .

245

While s e l f - c r i t i c i s m is s p i r i t e d and t h e r a p e u t i c , in the case of poets

l i k e Lever tov , in o thers i t i s apt t o be se l f -damning and nega t i ve . In

"A Woman in Her Secret L i f e , " Oates pursues her pess im is t i c , s tud ies of her

sex, t h i s t ime speaking in the f i r s t person. "There is noth ing of a i r p l a n e s

in me," she beg ins , r e c a l l i n g Bogan's l i n e : "Women have no w i lderness in them,"

her image a l so b r i n g i n g t o mind Lowther 's " I t h i n k I wanted t o be/ w i n g s . "

But here , "Noth ing gets remembered/ in me except what t u r n s t o bone. " The

speaker f e e l s h e r s e l f p a r t of na tu ra l f o r c e s - - t h e i r unconscious ins t rument ;

she grows away from her f a m i l y on ly " t o p o l l u t e mysel f in t he bone/ o f

s t r a n g e r s , of men," who e f f a c e her f e a t u r e s . She i s w i t h o u t a p a s t , w i t h o u t

even an i d e n t i t y : "a s a i n t ' s s t a r e burned b l i n d by w ind / a l i f e yawned

away in f l e s h . " Th is is perhaps the b leakes t v i s i o n of a l l concerning

human i t y .

Though outrageous i f taken a t i t s word, May Swenson's poem "Woman"

o f f e r s a w i t t y and amusing c o n t r a s t t o such gloom as O a t e s ' . "Woman"

i s a g r a p h i c a l l y shaped poem whose design on the page i s a p a i r of v e r t i c a l

z igzags which could be sa id t o resemble the lower h a l f of a human f i g u r e

w i t h legs bent a t t he knee. The g i s t o f t h i s poem is s t a t e d in t he upper

p a r t of i t , which one might view as the h i p s . Beginhing w i t h the premise:

Women should be

pedestaIs mov i ng

pedestaIs moving

t o the motions

of men

on the l e f t , the r i g h t s ide expands the idea t h a t women should be " l i t t l e

h o r s e s , " rock ing horses t o be exac t ; the l i n e of poet ry drawn across the

246

bend of the c r o t c h summing i t up: " t h e g laddes t t h i n g s in the toy room. "

Women, the poem goes on t o say, should be r idden u n t i l " t h e r e s t o r e d / egos

dismount and the legs s t r i d e away," these legs , of course , belonging t o

men. The las t -quo ted l i n e is drawn across the knees. The lowest p a r t of the

poem ends w i t h a r e p e t i t i o n of the o r i g i n a l premise. I t is hard t o t e l l

whether or not t h i s poem is meant as a j o k e , though I s t r o n g l y suspect i t

i s . The oversweet tone of the language c e r t a i n l y suggests the poet is

laughing up her s leeve . On the o t h e r hand, the poem'may be intended s imply

as what i t appears t o be: a Concrete r e n d e r i n g , not of what woman i s , but

of what she ought t o be, in t r a d i t i o n a l o p i n i o n . Even so, i t is a mocking

s a t i r e upon what men r e q u i r e of women. Swenson does not engage h e r s e l f a t

a personal level of sexual i d e n t i t y . For i ns tance , "Sun" is a poem in

which she sa lu tes the t i t l e o b j e c t as mascul ine and independent, supe r io r t o

the dependent moon-earth r e l a t i o n s h i p she i d e n t i f i e s as the femin ine p r i n c i p l e .

And in "A B i r d ' s L i f e " (no t presented h e r e ) , Swenson makes the sun femin ine

in the gu ise o f a hen, Mother L i g h t t o the b i r d s whose l i f e is m e t a p h o r i c a l l y

hatched anew each dawn. The s u b t l e , se r ious whimsy of t h i s poet prevents

the k ind o f d i r e c t i d e n t i f i c a t i o n i n v i t e d by the bu lk of the poets in t h i s

Antho logy .

"Woman t o Woman" by Lynne Lawner r e t u r n s us t o the sober ly negat ive

approach t o women's l o t . Comparing the r e l a t i o n s h i p between two women t o the

r e l a t i o n s h i p between a woman and a man, she f i n d s the l a t t e r one s u p e r i o r .

Her argument i s s imply t h a t men and women can breed, w h i l e "woman t o woman

is wave upon wave/ And breeds something pure , useless and dumb." Th is

may mean merely t h a t she f i n d s the heterosexual r e l a t i o n more t o her t a s t e ,

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but i t imp l ies t h a t as people, women have no c r e a t i v e e f f e c t upon each

o t h e r , though i t does a l l o w , s a d l y , t h a t women can c rea te a useless s o r t of

beauty between themselves. I t h e r e f o r e read t h i s poem as Lawner's considered

op in ion t h a t woman is on ly j u s t i f i e d through expressing her f u n c t i o n as a

reproducer of the race . I f Lawner is speaking of s e x u a l l y - o r i e n t e d , o r

Lesbian love between women, her terms " p u r e , useless and dumb" on ly apply

i f one sees the producing of c h i l d r e n as the on ly goal and j u s t i f i c a t i o n of

phys ica l love between p o e p l e — a narrowly r e l i g i o u s view t h a t belongs t o

past r a t h e r than present r e a l i t y . I f she is t a l k i n g of f r i e n d s h i p on the

one hand and sex on the o t h e r , she is comparing two unequal t h i n g s . A poet

whose under l y ing assumption i s t h a t "men's needs" come before women's is

con f i rm ing t h a t h e t e r o s e x u a I i t y bestows on men the r i g h t s of a master sex. The

mot ive of the poem is seen in i t s sorrowing personal den ia l of a female

be loved. In g e n e r a l i z i n g from the p a r t i c u l a r , though not in tend ing t o o f f e r

c r i t i c i s m , h e l p f u l o r o t h e r w i s e , of women, the poem never the less does them

a d i s s e r v i c e . "Woman t o Woman" s ings as a l y r i c . As a statement of women's

p l a c e , i t has none of the saving grace of w i t and humor which e n l i v e n

Swenson's " p u t - d o w n . "

We move now from poems employing va r ious c r i t i c a l a t t i t u d e s t o those

express ing commiserat ive ones, w i t h i n which women's s u f f e r i n g serves as the

m o t i f . To begin w i t h , woman's l o t i s symbol ized, f o r D i l y s La ing , in the

pain borne by C h r i s t ' s mother. "S tabat Mater" expresses a woman's compassion

f o r what women are made t o endure through man's inhumanity t o man. I t is

the mother men c r u c i f y : " I n l ove ' s long execut ion she/ is f i x e d upon the

human t r e e . " What i s done t o her son i s done t o her , as the p o e t ' s use o f

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coup le ts helps t o u n d e r l i n e . The poem ends: "and s ince the day t h a t he was

bo rn / she has f e l t the s tabbing t h o r n . " One is tempted t o view t h i s l a s t

image as p h a l l i c and i n f e r t h a t Laing is a l so charg ing man w i t h h i s sexual

dominat ion o f women, a suggest ion supported by the more obvious i n s i n u a t i o n

in "P ius Thought , " La ing ' s poem in Sect ion Three.

Though n o t , l i k e La ing , a f e m i n i s t , Ed i th S i t w e l l shares.her r e l i g i o u s

s e n s i b i l i t y : both are C h r i s t i a n i d e a l i s t s in the warmest human sense.

S i t w e l l ' s "Tears " is a poem which comes out o f the same per iod as her poem.in

Sect ion Two lamenting the dropping of the bomb on Hi rosh ima. The weeping in

"Tears" is of a magnitude t o cover the e a r t h , drenching i t in sorrow, as

i t s opening l i nes presage:

My t e a r s were O r i o n ' s splendor w i t h sex tup le suns and the mi I I ion

Flowers in the f i e l d s of heaven, where s o l a r suns are s e t t i n g —

S i t w e l l ' s long run-on l i nes f a l l l i k e sheets of r a i n , as she weeps f o r " t h e /

sp lendors w i t h i n Man's hear t w i t h the o darkness w a r r i n g " ; f o r " t h e b e a u t i f u l

queens of the w o r l d , l i k e a f l ower -bed s h i n i n g - — " ; f o r Venus i n t e I I e c t u a I i z e d ;

f o r " l o v e changed" t o s c i e n t i f i c p rogress ; and f i n a l l y , f o r "darkened Man,

t h a t complex m u l t i p l i c i t y " of na tu ra l e lements. Her f i n a l l i n e : "Hard

diamond, i n f i n i t e s u n , " u n i f i e s two processes, which might be c a l l e d

the phys ica l and the s p i r i t u a l : the dark one of the e a r t h , w i t h the e q u a l l y

myster ious one of the s k y — b o t h necessary t o l i f e . S i t w e l l g r i eves f o r an

endangered wor ld in which the balance of nature has been l o s t . Her t e a r s

form p a r t of the dark f a l l - o u t . The past t ense , however, i nd i ca tes t h a t ,

a t the t ime of w r i t i n g , the poet had recovered her C h r i s t i a n op t imism.

The weeping o f women is a l so the theme of "Lake-Song," by Jean

S t a r r Untermeyer, a poet of the same genera t ion as Laing and S i t w e l l . W r i t t e n

249

in the t w e n t i e s , t h i s poem represents women's misery as p a r a l l e l i n g a

rhythm in n a t u r e : the lapping of lakewater . The tone has a s o r t of t w i l i g h t

gIoom:

So ever do we c r y , A s o f t , unmutinous c r y i n g , When we know ourse lves each a pr incess

Locked f a s t w i t h i n her tower .

Given how her imaginat ion has been s t i r r e d , i t is s t i l l hard t o see why the

poet has chosen t o c h a r a c t e r i z e women s o l e l y through passive t e a r s and not

angry or r e b e l l i o u s ones. Her ending t o the poem f u r n i s h e s the c l u e : "The

f e r t i l e t e a r s of women/ That water the dreams of men." Woman's g r i e f then

i s u s e f u l , and even necessary, and thus must be accepted as i n e v i t a b l e . Mut

inous t e a r s , one supposes, would d i s t u r b the " n a t u r a l " o r d e r . I t is i n s t r u c t i v e

t o compare " f e r t i l e t e a r s " w i t h " f e r t i I i s a n t e dou leur " ( R i c h ' s r e f e r e n c e , in

"Snapshots of a Daughter - in - law" ) in o rder t o see the changes in women's

ou t l ook wrought in the f i f t y years t h a t have passed between these p o e t s '

pub I i c a t i o n of t h e i r respec t i ve poems. Women poets o f today are not apt t o

express so f a t a l i s t i c a masochism as Untermeyer, and indeed, as she demon

s t r a t e s in "Snapshots , " R i c h ' s response t o such s ickness of s p i r i t i s

m e d i c i n a l .

" T r a n s l a t i o n s , " by R i c h , g i ves us one more poem concerning sorrow. But

here t h e r e is a s p e c i f i c o r i e n t a t i o n . Rich i s sadly vexed t h a t women become

each o t h e r ' s enemies; they g i ve t h e i r l o y a l t i e s t o the men they love , who

bet ray them, r a t h e r than t o each o t h e r , which would be in t h e i r b e t t e r

i n t e r e s t in overcoming a common oppress ion . Reading contemporary poets

her age and younger t r a n s l a t e d from o t h e r languages, she d iscovers t h a t

any one of them has something in common w i t h the o t h e r s : c e r t a i n words

r e c u r ,

250

enough!to l e t me know she 's a woman of my t ime

obsessed

w i t h Love, our sub jec t

Rich v i s u a l i z e s t h i s woman, in a s o r t of f i l m i c sequence of images, going

about her d a i l y work, and c a l l i n g t o a man over the phone; i t r i n g s unanswered

in h i s bedroom, as he t e l l s the woman w i t h h im, "Never mind. She' I I ge t

t i r e d . " I t is t h i s s i s t e r

who becomes her enemy and w i l l in her own t ime I i g h t her own way t o sorrow

This is the " p o l i t i c a l , " o r d i v i d e - a n d - r u l e way of g r i e f Rich says is " s h a r e d ,

unnecessary," and t h e r e f o r e , not t o be t r e a t e d as i n e v i t a b l e . Where a

p o l i t i c s o f oppression becomes unbearable enough, poets ' I'ike Rich imply ,

a p o l i t i c s of r e v o l u t i o n is sure t o a r i s e .

One of the p o i n t s most hammered in t h i s t h e s i s has been t h a t women

de f i ne themselves through love. Rich says they have gone about i t in a

way t h a t wrongs t h e i r s i s t e r s . I t is main ly t o them she addresses her

l a t e s t poems. Diane Wakoski, however, is obsessed w i t h women being wronged

by men who do not love them enough, o r f o r the r i g h t reasons. She addresses

h e r s e l f t o men. Her two poems in t h i s Sect ion take up the cause of two

k inds of women she sees typed by men: the outward ly p l a i n , u n a t t r a c t i v e

k i n d , and the outward ly b e a u t i f u l one. I f men marry the p l a i n woman, they

deser t her f o r the b e a u t i f u l one: both are m a l t r e a t e d , e x p l o i t e d . Men,

she compla ins, are unworthy of the women who love them; t h i s leaves women

yearning to -be loved w i t h s e n s i t i v i t y and unders tand ing , f o r themselves.

In "Reaching Out w i t h the Hands of the Sun," Wakoski speaks in

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the vo ice o f a woman who i n s i s t s she i s unloved on account of her lack o f

phys ica l beauty:

I am pooh-poohed every t ime I say i t .

"a woman of your i n t e l I i g e n c e , " e t c . , e t c . ,

be I i ev i ng

such a s u p e r f i c i a l t h i n g .

But Wakoski b i t t e r l y p r o t e s t s she knows d i f f e r e n t . She has " r u l e d , "

walk ing everywhere d i s g u i s e d , o m n i s c i e n t l y observ ing the l i f e around her .

She knows t h a t "even the poets" (meaning men) whom she e x a l t s , "Upset t h e i r

l i v e s , leave t h e i r good w i v e s , " f o r a b e a u t i f u l woman "when one walks b y . "

The p l a i n ones

w i t h f a t t h i g h s o r smaI I breasts or t h i n d e l i c a t e h a i r

would t rade a l l the weal th of t h e i r "opu len t h e a r t s , " t h e i r minds arid t h e i r

bod ies , " f o r some beauty / they could r e c o g n i z e . " Though one can p r o t e s t

t h a t Wakoski does not speak f o r a g rea t many women, one cannot doubt the

f e e l i n g behind such an extreme s ta tement .

"A Poet Recognizing the Echo of the Voice" i s a s o r t o f companion

piece t o the above. In i t s t h r e e s u b t i t l e d p a r t s , Wakoski g i ves us the

o t h e r woman's s t o r y . Par t One, " I s o l a t i o n o f B e a u t i f u l Women," speaks in

the f i r s t person p l u r a l of the lone l iness of women whose beauty f i r e s men's

imaginat ions and dreams; women who are plundered f o r t h e i r r i ches but whom

men do not ask t o "share t h e i r l i v e s . " Such women ' . ' l ive-] the ( lone l iness /

t h a t men run a f t e r , " t h e i r femin ine substance hardening under the p ressure ,

l i k e " t h e prec ious rocks of the e a r t h . " Though the poet sees women ravaged

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by men's " f a i l u r e t o understand and love u s , " and by men's " u n w i l l i n g n e s s

t o face the w o r l d / as s taunchly as we d o , " she f i n d s some comfor t in women's

i n d e s t r u c t a b i I i t y :

We are the e a r t h . We wake up f i n d i n g ourse lves g I i n t i n g in the dark a f t e r thousands of years of p r e s s i n g .

The metaphor is expanded in Par t Two: "Movement t o E s t a b l i s h My I d e n t i t y . "

Woman is conceived as a mine f o r whose r i ches men are w i l l i n g t o cover

themselves w i t h d i r t and work hard . Wakoski puns on the synonymity of women

and possession:

Mine is a p lace . Mine is a d e s i g n a t i o n . A man says, " i t i s m ine , " but he hacks

In the t h i r d p a r t , "Beau ty , " the speaker wonders what would happen t o her

.if she stopped doing and being a l l the t h i n g s people admire, expec t , e n j o y ,

demand and dream of her . "Who would I be?" she ques t i ons :

Where is the real me

I want them a l l t o love?

We are a l l the t e x t u r e s we wear.

And so women seek the man who looks beyond the t e x t u r e s , the one who " w i l l not punish u s / f o r our beau ty , " but w i l l be i t s match:

the one we a I I a n t i c i p a t e pre tend ing these small pedes t r ians j aywa lk ing i n t o our l i v e s are he.

The poem concludes w i t h the image of women burning

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in our heads a t n i g h t the incense of our h i s t o r i e s , f i n d i n g you have used our s k u l l s

f o r a s h t r a y s .

Though Wakoski 's t y p i c a l persona never f i n d s her male e q u a l , her anger and

r e c r i m i n a t i o n s demand a c e r t a i n respec t . She is never submissive and res igned .

I f a n y t h i n g , she is a w a r r i o r , super io r in s t r e n g t h t o the male she both

beseeches and be ra tes .

Wakoski demonstrates an i n t e r e s t i n g tendency in women. In common w i t h

m i n o r i t i e s having a h i s t o r y of opp ress ion , women o f t e n view themselves as

mora l l y o r o therw ise s u p e r i o r t o those t o whom they are s u b j e c t , and in t h i s

they are in f a c t encouraged. Though such s u p e r i o r i t y may be t r u e in

i n d i v i d u a l cases, such a t t i t u d e s are l a r g e l y de fens i ve . They present no

t h r e a t t o the people w i t h power. I t is on ly the women who caI I upon o the r

women t o r e s i s t t h e i r being made i n f e r i o r , who draw men's group enmi ty . We

have seen t h i s f e m i n i s t impulse a t work throughout the Antho logy. In

q u i t e a d i f f e r e n t con tex t are the poems by Wakoski, May Sar ton , Mona Van Duyn,

and E l i n o r Wyl ie here , each of whom, in her own way, s e t t l e s f o r male

domina t ion . They represent women who draw t h e i r s t r e n g t h from having made

the best of a bad b a r g a i n . The i r poems p ra i se woman f o r her spec ia l gen ius ,

f o r her wisdom, and most of a l l , f o r her endurance.

In "Dutch I n t e r i o r , " May Sarton muses on a seventeenth-cen tury genre

p a i n t i n g w i t h sympathet ic i d e n t i f i c a t i o n . She responds t o " t h e charm" o f

" T h i s safe enclosed room where a woman sews," approving i t s t r a d i t i o n a l a i r :

The atmosphere is a l l domest ic , human, Chaos subdued by the sheer power of need. Th is is a room where I have l i ved as a woman.

The poet t h i n k s of the c o l d , w i l d danger of the e lements, e s p e c i a l l y of the

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sea wh ich , as the domain of men, l i e s o u t s i d e the realm of t h i s p a i n t i n g .

"How many from t h i s q u i e t room have drowned?" she c o n j e c t u r e s . The f i g u r e

bent t o her sewing keeps a l l g r i e f w i t h i n h e r s e l f , outward ly ca lm, "remaking

chaos i n t o an in t ima te o r d e r . " The t r o u b l e w i t h t h i s image i s t h a t i t

r e i n f o r c e s a s te reo type of the ideal woman who makes the best of her passive

l o t . Sarton admires the woman's home-making r o l e , her a b i l i t y t o absorb

the shocks and c o n f l i c t s of the o u t s i d e w o r l d : she prov ides a haven of peace

f o r o t h e r s . But t o f i x woman in the r o l e of q u i e t w o r l d - c e n t r e is t o doom

her t h e r e , denying her the r i g h t and o b l i g a t i o n t o conduct her own s t r u g g l e

f o r e x i s t e n c e , as Anna Wickham so e l o q u e n t l y p r o t e s t s in her poem " D i v o r c e , "

in Sect ion F i v e . I t is a l so t o deny her the o p p o r t u n i t y of d e f i n i n g h e r s e l f

as an i n d i v i d u a l in the many ways t h a t man has. S a r t o n ' s admi ra t ion and

compassion f o r the woman who wa i t s out her " s t o r m " p a t i e n t l y by making a

human place in the wor ld is as conserva t i ve as her genre s u b j e c t .

E l i n o r W y l i e , in "Le t No C h a r i t a b l e Hope," takes a pragmat ic , o r what

some might c a l l a " r e a l i s t i c , " approach. She refuses comparison w i t h the

eagle and the an te lope , o r w i t h what these images of freedom and w i l d

grace convey. She was born t o human l o n e l i n e s s , she i s bound t o human con

d i t i o n s , which are e s p e c i a l l y hard on the female. But she does not deny

the necess i ty f o r s t r u g g l e and independence:

I am, being Woman, hard beset ; I I i v e by squeezing from a stone The l i t t l e nourishment I g e t .

The passing of the years " I n masks outrageous and a u s t e r e , " cannot subdue her

s p i r i t ; they have not deserved her f e a r and they have not escaped her s m i l e .

She is s t r o n g , she endures.

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Mona Van Duyn's female p ro to type in "Leda Reconsidered" endures

because she is wise in the ways o f men and gods, who are a f t e r a l l the same

t h i n g . In t h i s poem Van Duyn g ives us a sequel t o " L e d a , " discussed in

Chapter F i v e . As a symbol, Leda i s , of course , the woman who has t o submit

t o a supe r io r f o r c e : she has no c h o i c e . In recons ider ing the myth, Van Duyn

comes t o the conc lus ion t h a t Leda, having had t ime t o s i ze up the s i t u a t i o n ,

and, be|ng wise in the ways o f n e c e s s i t y , chose t o submit . Th is seems, a t

f i r s t t o bestow a c e r t a i n d i g n i t y on Leda. But l e t us examine the poem.

"Leda Reconsidered" is a psycho log ica l p o r t r a i t of Leda's mind dur ing

the t ime the swan came ou t of the water "and came toward h e r . " She is f rom

the f i r s t a match f o r the god; awa i t i ng him c a l m l y , she has

the look of a woman w i t h a con tex t in which she can put

what comes next

She cons iders him o b j e c t i v e l y , assessing h e r s e l f as she must appear t o h im,

and then dec id ing on what she w i l l do. She i s t oo c i rcumspect

t o see, t o take of what was not he rs , of what

was not going t o be o f f e r e d .

Besides, she is " n o t t h a t hungry f o r e x p e r i e n c e . " Nor is she " s h o r t - s i g h t e d "

enough t o reach " p a s t t he b i r d , s h o r t of t he g o d , / f o r a v u l n e r a b l e m id

p o i n t , " and hold on t h e r e , though t h i s o p t i o n , t o o , goes through her mind

before being dismissed as a poss ib le "major i n j u s t i c e t o the w o r l d ' s /

p o s s i b i l i t i e s . " Here i s the crux of the m a t t e r , f o r , desp i te her no t ing h i s

cool ar rogance, "she saw him/ as the t r u e g o d . " She is moved t o see " t h e

pain of h i s t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s , " which wins her compassion:

She saw what he had t o work through as he t o o k , over and ove r , the r i s k of love ,

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and she is moved, t o o , by h i s dream, h i s wish t o be received by_ the wor ld

" i n the image/ o f what i s brave or g o l d e n . " She is pe rcep t i ve enough t o see

through h i s ambi t ions t o t h e i r v a n i t y , and can thus f e e l a c e r t a i n maternal

s u p e r i o r i t y . How very d i f f e r e n t t h i s i s from Yeats ' v i s i o n of the he lp less

g i r l w i t h her " t e r r i f i e d , vague f i n g e r s . " Th is Leda is sure o f h e r s e l f ,

a lmost as i f she were in c o n t r o l o f the s i t u a t i o n .

But Van Duyn has t o come t o terms w i t h the myth, however smoothly

she does i t . With no change in mood o r rhy thm, we suddenly have the anomaly

of a shrewdly i n s i g h t f u l Leda na i ve l y confess ing t o h e r s e l f t h a t she had

never t r i e d "To love w i t h the whole i m a g i n a t i o n . " She even wonders i f , f o r

her as f o r the god, t he re is "a form f o r t h a t ? " Worse, she den ig ra tes her

sex w i t h no apparent reason:

Deep, in her inmost, grubby female cen te r (how could he know t h a t , in h i s a i r i n e s s ? ) lay the j o y o f being used, and i t s heavy peace, perhaps, would keep her down.

So she accepts t he a c t of surrender f o r h e r s e l f , f i n d i n g her j o y in the god 's

p leasure . Un l i ke Yeats ' Leda, she does not r a i s e the ques t ion of whether

she " p u t on h i s knowledge w i t h h i s power." Th is woman has her own power,

her way of dea l ing w i t h r e a l i t y . She does i t so we l l t h a t he g r a t e f u l l y

comes on her "a lmost w i t h t ende rness . " The poem c loses w i t h the image of

her hand moving through h i s plumes " t o t o u c h / the u t t e r s t r a n g e r . " There i s ,

a f t e r a l l , no human communion. Leda and Zeus are o f d i f f e r e n t spec ies .

Thus Van Duyn conf i rms the male in h i s godly dominance, t a k i n g the k ind of

fo lk -wisdom view t h a t the woman anyway gets .what she wants out of i t . For

t h i s she i s prepared t o s tay "down," though the "perhaps" admits t h a t she

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may f i n d i t d i f f i c u l t . The f law in the argument i s , t h a t wh i l e i t is deeply

human t o take j o y in being used as an e q u a l , t h e r e is something s l a v i s h in

submi t t i ng t o the p leasure o f being used as an i n f e r i o r . Car r ied t o an

extreme, such p leasures form the bas is of pornography, e . g . , The Story of 0.

Van Duyn's i n t e r p r e t a t i o n leaves woman in her t r a d i t i o n a l r u t , which is

perhaps a l l one can do w i t h a myth h i g h l i g h t i n g woman's sexual d e s i r a b i l i t y ,

r a t h e r than man's i m p e r i a l i s t i c g reed, as a r o o t cause of war. For however

Leda may p e r s o n i f y Greece, her r o l e in the myth r e i n f o r c e s the Greek r a t i o n a l e

t h a t the mot ive f o r making war on Troy was the recapture of Helen. Van Duyn

shows how women can confuse the use made of them in the male d e s i r e f o r

conquest and dominat ion w i t h the s imple b i o l o g i c a l use of t h e i r sex, submis

s ion t o male a u t h o r i t y being accepted by such women as the necessary human

des i g n .

"Morning Laugh te r , " by Gwendolyn MacEwen, is a t r i b u t e t o womanhood

which i m p l i c i t l y r e j e c t s man as the norm aga ins t which woman's worth is t o

be measured. I t is a daugh te r ' s testament of love and g r a t i t u d e addressed

t o her mother. The poet c la ims the b i o l o g i c a l bond between the two as the

c o n t i n u i n g source o f her s t r e n g t h and j o y . The poem begins w i t h the unborn

c h i l d

t r a i l i n g long seed, unwombed t o the g i a n t vag ina , unarmed, no sprung Athene

and f o l l o w s the course of b i r t h and growth o f t he poet . As she r e j e c t s a

p a t r i a r c h a l o r i g i n in Zeus, so she r e j e c t s male d e i f i c a t i o n in her "common

coming, a genes i s / sans t rumpets and m y r r h . " Years have " t i e d the sweet

c o r d " between mother and daughter , t h e i r hopes ho is ted t o a "common

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denominator" o f "b lood and bone." Knowing now " i n my own r e b e l l i o u s b e l l y /

t he s t u f f t o people f u r t h e r days , " the poet r e j o i c e s in the a d u l t bond between

them. They move in harmony, shar ing l augh te r , the mother s m i l i n g a t the

pen the daughter

p i c k s , armed t o b r i n g l i g h t i n t o t e r r i b l e focus and the paper b u i l d s wor lds but makes no p r o d i g a I .

The idea of maleness i s d e l i c a t e l y negated in the poem, as the above

q u o t a t i o n s show. The poe t , in her tes tament , wishes t o

acknowledge now, armed and s t i l l i n s o l e n t t h a t what is housed in the f r a g i l e s k u l l — l i g h t o r learn ing or verbal innocence--grows from the woman somehow who housed the whole body, who f i r s t fed the v e s s e l s , the f l e s h and the sense.

We have met t h i s c lose sense of k insh ip b e f o r e , in Sect ion F i v e , no tab ly in

Lor i Whitehead's poem "Mother S i n g i n g . "

In "The T i g h t r o p e , " Anne Wi lk inson begins w i t h a b i r t h which "s t randed

me h e r e . " Her progress s ince then has been u n c e r t a i n and beset w i t h danger.

She is as alone as E l i n o r W y l i e ' s persona, w i t h o u t t h a t woman's f i e r c e l y

grounded resource fu lness . W i l k i n s o n ' s speaker t e e t e r s c r a z i l y on her e x i s

t e n t i a l t i g h t r o p e , and seems most ly t o be " W a i t i n g " :

But I am two t imes born

And when a new moon c u t s the n i g h t Or f u l l moons f r o t h w i t h my And w i t c h e s ' m i l k

I walk the t i g h t r o p e Free and easy as an angel

So a g a i n , t o be a woman is t o be g iven a second l i f e , a b i o l o g i c a l hold on

r e a l i t y t h a t enables her t o overcome a l l ha rdsh ips .

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As may have been remarked throughout these c h a p t e r s , the moon occupies

an es tab l i shed place in the poet ry of women. Th is Sect ion has i t s share

w i t h two more such poems, one by Anne Sexton, one by Denise Lever tov . In

"Moon Song, Woman Song," Sexton speaks as though she j_s_ t he moon; she i s

" a l i v e a t n i g h t , " and "dead ; i n the morn ing , " no romant ic goddess and "No

m i r a c l e . No d a z z l e . " The speaker, weary w i t h exper ience, and proud w i t h

the sense of her pr imacy, shows on ly contempt f o r the wor ld she d e p i c t s as

male. S t i l l , she has a c e r t a i n r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r the man " t a l l " in h i s

" b a t t l e d r e s s " ; she "must a r range" f o r h i s j o u r n e y . As regards h e r s e l f ,

I was always a v i r g i n , o l d and p i t t e d .

Before the wor ld was, I was.

The view of h e r s e l f i s harsh , but her view of mankind i s harsher . She

i n v i t e s i n q u i r i e s : she is not " a r t i f i c i a l , " she ma in ta ins w i t h some sco rn .

Her reproachfu l conc lus ion is in a very human v o i c e :

I have looked long upon you, l o v e - b e l l i e d and empty, f l i p p i n g my endless d i s p l a y f o r you, you my c o l d , co ld coveraI I man.

The vo ice has a marked a f f i n i t y w i t h Wakoski 's in t h i s S e c t i o n .

In the poem by Levertov concerning the moon's i n f l u e n c e , the poet

c o n t r a s t s two kinds of women. " I n Mind" p r o j e c t s f i r s t , "a woman/ of

innocence, unadorned," who is s imp le , k i n d , c lean and modest, but who has

"no i m a g i n a t i o n . " The o t h e r woman is one w i t h whom the poet c l e a r l y

i d e n t i f i e s : a

t u r b u l e n t moon-ridden g i r l

o r o ld woman, or b o t h , dressed in opals and rage, f e a t h e r s

and t o r n t a f f e t a , who knows s t range s o n g s —

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Th is woman, however, i s "no t k i n d . " Fo l lowing her n a t u r e , she is unconcerned

w i t h s o c i a l l y approved behav ior . Pu l led by the lunar mystery , she leans t o

i t s laws.

Gwendolyn Brooks ' "The B a t t l e , " is a poem in a very d i f f e r e n t mood

which a l so jux taposes two women. The speaker is a poor young b lack woman,

a r t l e s s and d i r e c t . "Moe B e l l e Jackson 's husband/ Whipped her good l a s t

n i g h t , " she says c o n f i d e n t i a l l y , r e l a t i n g how her "ma" heard about the f i g h t

from the land lady. The speaker t h i n k s i n d i g n a n t l y of how she would l i k e t o

have taken a k n i f e t o the man:

But i f I know Moe B e l l e , Most l i k e , she shed a t e a r , And t h i s morn in ' i t w a s p robab ly , "More g r i t s , dear?"

Here, in dramat ic capsu le , is the " k i n d " f o r g i v i n g woman who has helped the

wor ld go round by g i v i n g v io lence and a r rogan t abuse her love. Brooks

i r o n i c a l l y l e t s her have the l a s t word in t h i s s h o r t monologue.

We end w i t h Leve r tov ' s '.'Stepping Westward," a poem of s e l f - d e f i n i t i o n

t h a t speaks of womanhood w i t h a humanity t h a t embraces the wor ld in embracing

i t s e l f . Levertov approves the f u l l range of her sexual be ing :

I f woman is i n c o n s t a n t , good, I am f a i t h f u l t o

ebb and f l o w , I f a I I in season

Th is is a " t im e of r i p e n i n g , " not o f s i n o r woman's f r a i l t y . Bu t , says

Lever tov , i f her p a r t " i s t o be t r u e , / a nor th s t a r , " she can approve her

nature w i t h the same equan imi ty , being a t one w i t h the na tu ra l u n i v e r s e .

Levertov is one of those ra re contemporary beings who fee l no c o n f l i c t in

what or who they a r e ; exper ienc ing h e r s e l f as p a r t of the wholeness of

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l i f e , she can r e j o i c e t h a t

There is no savor more sweet, more s a l t

than t o be g lad t o be what, woman,

and who, myseI f , I am

Bearing burdens, she can t ransmute them i n t o exper ience t h a t nour ishes her

g rowth , and be g r a t e f u l , conce iv ing them as " g i f t s , goods. " They become a

basket

of bread t h a t hu r t s my shoulders but c loses me

in f r a g r a n c e . I can eat as I go.

With t h i s l ove ly sensory image—at once so o p t i m i s t i c and so p r a c t i c a l —

we leave the poe ts , the l i v i n g , l i k e Lever tov , each going her own c r e a t i v e

way. Perhaps she stands a l i t t l e apar t in t h i s , among t o d a y ' s poets . Her

commitment t o f i g h t i n g war and i n j u s t i c e , however, puts her in the f o r e f r o n t

of the p o l i t i c a l s t r u g g l e aga ins t oppression along w i t h those whose c e n t r a l

cause is the f r e e i n g of women's f u l l humanity from i t s past yoke.

What is new in t h i s c e n t u r y , j udg ing from the s e n s i t i v e gauge of t h e i r

p o e t r y , i s t h a t an increas ing number of women have learned t h a t , in i d e o l o g i c a l

i s o l a t i o n from each o t h e r , they have l i t t l e o r noth ing w i t h which t o counter

male dominat ion . These poets are s u c c e s s f u l l y c h a l l e n g i n g the s te reo type of

women who must look t o men t o v a l i d a t e them. Many of the poets now dead,

l i k e Bogan, La ing , S i t w e l l , Wyl ie and Wi lk inson in t h i s S e c t i o n , express

a t t i t u d e s t h a t are convent iona l f o r t h e i r t i m e s , Laing being the on ly one

of these f i v e t o speak on behal f of women's l i b e r a t i o n . L ike her s i s t e r

262

f e m i n i s t in England, Anna Wickham, she has passed almost i n t o p o e t i c

o b l i v i o n . Of the o the rs in t h i s S e c t i o n , a l l very much a l i v e and p u b l i s h i n g ,

Jong and Rich are obvious f e m i n i s t s , and on ly Lawner and Sarton seem t o

adhere u n c r i t i c a l l y t o the p a s t , approving t r a d i t i o n a l r o l e s f o r women.

Among the r e s t are Lowther, on the verge of rebeI I i o n ; Oates, a l i e n a t e d , and

appa l led by what she sees of women's s t a t e ; Wakoski, independent and angry ,

but a l l the same c rav ing men t o love her and con f i rm her sense of her

wo r th ; Swenson, v iewing the scene w i t h an i r o n i c eye but s tay ing a loo f

w i t h i n her p o e t i c i d e n t i t y ; MacEwen, imply ing the s u p e r i o r i t y o f a m a t r i a r c h a l

scheme over the t r a d i t i o n a l one; Brooks, ba lanc ing her compassion between

the s e l f - p u n i s h i n g v i c t i m and the proud, angry one; Sexton, sco rn fu l as the

omn isc ien t , pr imal v i r g i n mother who is weary w i t h her son 's f a i l u r e t o

l i v e up t o h i s humanity; and f i n a l l y , Lever tov , balanced and whole in her

approach t o l i f e , p resen t ing an image of woman and poet t h a t is no th ing

less than i n s p i r i n g .

The v a r i e t y of a t t i t u d e s does not lend i t s e l f t o a s imple g e n e r a l i z a t i o n .

We can d isce rn p a t t e r n s among them, t h a t is a l l . What i t means t o be a

woman denotes, in t h i s c e n t u r y , not a f i x e d o r p r e d i c t a b l e s t a t e , but a

s t a t e of change. We are p a r t i c i p a t i n g in a process t h a t has suddenly grown

more a g i t a t e d and more hopeful than many among us have ever dared t o b e l i e v e .

Poetry which places s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n as the goal f o r women is not on ly

r e v o l u t i o n a r y , but may wel l be making the on ly p o l i t i c a l p r e d i c t i o n of our

t imes t h a t the f u t u r e bears o u t . Amid the in tense s e l f - a n a l y s i s of women's

poet ry t oday , t he on ly c e r t a i n t h i n g is t h a t the poet ry w i l l t ranscend the need

f o r defense and c o u n t e r - a t t a c k , becoming f r e e t o embrace b ro the rs as we l l as

s i s t e r s , and, indeed, he lp ing t o l i b e r a t e a wor ld which has long s u f f e r e d the

oppression of women.

263

I I I .

NOTES

264

Hi s t o r i caI I n t r o d u c t ion

1 . J . H. Gard iner , The B i b l e as EnqI ish L i t e r a t u r e , p, 9 1 ,

2 . Laura H. W i l d , A L i t e r a r y Guide t o - t h e B i b l e , p. 39 .

3. A r t h u r Wei gal I , Sappho of Lesbos: Her L i f e and Times, pp. 107-09.

4 . D. A. Campbel l , Greek L y r i c Poe t r y , p. 408 f f .

5. CampbelI, p. 446.

6. Moses Hadas, A H i s t o r y of Greek L i t e r a t u r e , p. 5 1 .

7. Hadas: r e f . t o Anyte and Noss is , p. 218, C l i t a g o r a , p. 52.

8. L a t i n Poetry in Verse T r a n s l a t i o n , ed . L. R. L i n d , p. 234

9. Peter Dronke, Poet ic Ind iv idua I i t y - i n the Middle Ages: New Departures in Poe t ry , 1000-1150, p. 151.

10. Dronke, p. 31 .

1 1 . Dronke, Medieval L a t i n and the Rise of the European Love L y r i c , V o l . I . Problems and I n t e r p r e t a t i o n s , 2nd e d . , pp. 66 f f . Herea f te r c i t e d as MLRELL.

12. Sappho: L y r i c s in the Or i.g i nai Greek w i t h Trans I a t ions by W i l l i s Barn-s tone , from the I n t r o d u c t i o n , p. x v i i i .

13. Werner Jaeger, P a i d e i a : The Ideals of Greek C u l t u r e , V o l . I , p. 134.

14. I b i d . , p. 133.

15. Jacquet ta Hawkes, Dawn of thg_ Gods, p. 286.

16. Dronke, MLRELL, p. 8.

17. I b i d . , p. 8.

18. I b i d . , p. 29.

19. I b i d . , p. 221 f f .

20. Not in God's Image: Women in H i s t o r y from the Greeks t o the V i c t o r i a n s , ed. J u l i a 0 ' F a o l a i n and Lauro M a r t i n e s v References t o p e n a l t i e s f o r a d u l t e r y w i l l be found in the f o l l o w i n g pages: 36 , 5 1 , 8 1 , 102, 175, 228.

265

21 Lays of C o u r t l y Love in Verse T r a n s l a t i o n by P a t r i c i a T e r r y , p. x i

22. Amy K e l l y , Eleanor o f A q u i t a i n e and the Four Kings, p. 165, p. 184. K e l l y o f f e r s the surmise about Marie de France being King Henry l l ' s s i s t e r , Dunn the surmise t h a t she was of an a r i s t o c r a t i c French f a m i l y .

23. Lays of C o u r t l y Love, pp. x i - x i i .

24. I b i d . , p. 3

25. Nina Epton, Love and the French, p. 36.

26. I b i d . , p. 29.

27. Lays of C o u r t l y Love, p. x i .

28. Amy K e l l y , p. 87.

29. I b i d . , pp. 162-63.

30. I b i d . , pp. 163-64;

3 1 . Ov id : The A r t of Love, t r a n s . Ro l fe Humphries.

32. L a y s . , p. 62.

33. C.S. Lewis, The A l l e g o r y of Love, p. 22.

34. Amy K e l l y , p. 164. The inner quote i s f rom R.S. Loomis, The Romance of T r i s t r a m and Y s o l t by Thomas of B r i t a i n , rev . ed. (New York: Columbia U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1931), I n t r o d . , v i i i - i x .

35. I b i d . , p. 166.

36. Lays, p. x i x .

37. C.S. Lewis, p. 158.

38. Medieval Song: An Anthology of Hymnsand L y r i c s t r a n s , and ed. by James J .

WiIhelm, p. 214.

39. Loc. c i t .

40. C.S. Lewis, p. 247..

41 . I b i d . , pp. 249 f f .

266

42. see E l izabethan L y r i c s From the O r i g i n a l T e x t s , chosen, ed. and arranged by Norman A u I t .

43. Douglas Bush, Mythology and the Renaissance T r a d i t i o n in Engl ish Poe t r y , p. 32. ' ~~

44. The Female Poets of Great B r i t a i n , ed . F rede r i c Rowton, pp. 8-10.

45. Not in God 1 s Image, p. 186.

l/AOstf - 46. Ruth Kelso, Doc t r i ne f o r the Ladjy_ of_ the Renaissance, pp.

47. Er ich Neumann, The Great Mother: an Ana lys is of the Archetype, t r a n s . Ralph Manheim, p. 145.

48. Douglas Bush, Mythology . . . , p. 25.

49. I have in mind here such poems as S w i f t ' s "The Lady's Dressing Room," "Verses wrote on a Lady's Ivory Tab le-Book, " "A P o r t r a i t from the L i f e , " " C o r i n n a , " "An Answer t o a Scandalous Poem," "A B e a u t i f u l Young Nymph Going t o Bed." See Herber t Dav is , ed . S w i f t : Poe t i ca l Works.

50. These two poems are r e s p e c t i v e l y : "To the F a i r C l o r i n d a , who made Love t o me, imagin 'd more than Woman," and the ep i logue t o S i r P a t i e n t Fancy, both quoted in George Woodcock's The incomparable Aphra (London: T. V. Boardman & Co. L t d . , 1948). The former poem is quoted e n t i r e by Woodcock, pp. 114-115, the l a t t e r , p. 136.

5 1 . Woodcock, The Incomparab-|e Aphra, p. 7.

52. I b i d . , p. 9 .

53. I b i d . , p. 136.

54. I b i d . , p. 236.

55. Bush, p. 333.

56. Quoted in By A Woman W r i t t , ed . Joan Goul ianos, p. 7 1 . The l i nes are from F i n c h ' s poem "The I n t r o d u c t i o n . "

57. E. M. W. T i1 I y a r d , Some Myth ica l Elements in Eng l ish L i t e r a t u r e , pp. 89-90.

58. Louis I . B redvo id , The L i t e r a t u r e of the Res to ra t i on and the E ighteenth Century : 1660-1798, p. 99.

59. Woodcock, p. 236 f f .

60. The Works of Anne B r a d s t r e e t , ed . Jeannine Hens l e y , Foreword, Adrienne Rich (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1967), p. x i x .

6 1 . I b i d . , p. 15.

267

62. I b i d . , pp. 195-98.

63. George Sherburn and Donald F. Bond. , "Pope and His Group, " in A L i t e r a r y H i s t o r y of England, ed . A l b e r t C. Baugh, 2nd e d . , p. 930. *~

64. The poem is quoted in The D i s t a f f Muse: an Anthology of Poetry W r i t t e n by Women, comp. C l i f f o r d Bax and Meum Stewar t , p. 29 .

65. I b i d . , pp. 29 , 30.

66. I b i d . , pp. 37 , 3 8 .

67. Loc. c i t .

68 . V i r g i n i a L. Radley, E l i z a b e t h B a r r e t t Browning.

69. Women's L i b e r a t i o n and L i t e r a t u r e , ed . E la ine ShowaIter , p. 121.

70. V i c t o r i a n P o e t r y , ed . E. K. Brown, p. 352.

7 1 . B r i t i s h Poetry and Prose, r e v . e d . , V o l . I I , p. 757.

72 . E. K. Brown, from I n t r o d u c t i o n , p. x l i i .

73 . B r i t i s h Poetry and Prose, p. 757.

74. Conrad A i k e n , "Emi ly D i c k i n s o n , " in EmiIy D i c k i n s o n , ed. Richard B. S e w a l l , p. 15.

75. The Poems of Emily D ick inson , ed . Martha Dick inson Bianchi and A l f r e d Leete Hampson, p. x .

76. American Poetry and P o e t i c s , ed . Daniel G. Hoffman, p. x l i .

77 . Conrad A i k e n , l oc . c i t .

78. A l l e n T a t e , "Emi ly D i c k i n s o n , " in Sewa l l , p. 23.

79. Thomas H. Johnson, "The Poet and the Muse: Poetry as A r t , " in S e w a l l , pp. 70 f f . Rpt. from EmiIy D ick inson : An I n t e r p r e t i v e Biography by Thomas Herber t ..Johnson (CambridgV," Mass. : The Belknap Press of Harvard U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1955).

80. T a t e , in Sewa l l , p. 27.

8 1 . A i ken , in Sewa l l , p. 15.

82. Henry W. We l l s , "Romantic S e n s i b i l i t y , " in Sewa l l , p. 48. Rpt. from I n t r o d u c t i o n t o Emily D i c k i n s o n b y Henry W. Wel ls (Hendr icks House, 1947).

268

83. V i c t o r i a n Poe t ry , p. x I i i .

84. V i r g i n i a Woo I f , A Room of One's Own, p. 66.

85. The Female Poets of Great B r i t a i n , ed. F.R. Rowton.

86. The B r i t i s h Female Poets , ed. George W. Bethune.

87. A L i t e r a r y Hi s t o r y of Enq land, p. 1262.

88. The D i s t a f f Muse, p. 73.

89. Not in God's Image, p. 3 2 1 .

90. see Rowton, The Female Poets of Great B r i t a i n , p. 422.

91 . I b i d . , P. 419.

92. I b i d . , p. 2 9 1 .

93. Gert rude S t e i n , " I am Rose," in A L i t t l e Treasury of Modern Poe t r y , ed. Oscar W i l l i a m s , p. 774. (The source f o r t h i s quote is s imply g iven as G. S t e i n . )

94. " I t is a t r u i s m of the Lost G e n e r a t i o n , " says a r e v i e w e r , " t h a t she QStein] in f luenced Hemingway's s t y l e c r u c i a l l y . He took her schematic use o f sound p a t t e r n s and t r a n s m o g r i f i e d i t i n t o the spare , s t y l i z e d prose t h a t became the most pervas ive l i t e r a r y par lance of the c e n t u r y . " From a review (of Charmed Circ le--by James R. Mellow) by Martha Duf fy in Time, March 4 , 1974, p. 70.

95. See Concrete Poe t ry : A World View, e d . , w i t h an I n t r o d . by Mary E l l en S o l t , pp. 2 1 , 47, 86.

C r i t i c a I Commentary: Foreword

. ] . Atwood declared her independence from the Women's Movement in a t a l k g iven a t the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, March 2 1 , 1972 (on tape in The Women's O f f i c e , Student Union B l d g . , U . B . C ) . Wakoski a l so d i s c l a i m s connect ion w i t h the Movement, in a taped i n te rv iew I made A p r i l 6 , 1972.

2 . For example: see review a r t i c l e on Atwood by A. W. Purdy in Canad ian L i t e r a t u r e No. 47, W in te r , 1971, pp. 80-4 . Ambivalent towards a w r i t e r he f e e l s fo rced t o admire desp i te basic disagreements t h a t he doubts she would countenance from him in person ( "bes ides , she 's a woman, even though very i n t e l l i g e n t " ) , he revea ls h i s chagr in a t being bested by a female poet . He ends by paying her "a h igh compliment. Atwood may even deserve i t . "

269

3. For example: Adrienne R ich , in her c r i t i c a l w r i t i n g . Se "When we Dead Awaken: W r i t i n g as R e - V i s i o n " ; a l s o , her review of Robin Morgan's Monster: Poems in Ms_, August, 1973, pp. 41 -2 . See a l s o E r i c a Jong 's review of R i c h ' s D iv ing i n t o the-Wreck, in Ms, J u l y , 1973, pp. 30-4 .

4 . '..' In c i t i n g Wellek and Warren (Theory of. L i t e r a t u r e ) and Frye (Anatomy of C r i t i c i s m ) I mean t o p o i n t up a r e l a t e d , general tendency e s p e c i a l l y among The New C r i t i c s t o see the poem as a s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t o b j e c t , w i t h laws i n t r i n s i c t o i t s e l f and not t o be judged by e x t r a - a r t i s t i c c o n s i d e r a t i o n s .

5. See Concrete Poe t ry : A World View, pp. 12, 47 f f . , 85, 86.

6. D. C. S c o t t , "Poet ry of Progress" (1922), r p t . in D. C. S c o t t , The C i r c l e o f A f f e c t i o n , pp. 123 f f .

7 . Or Spat ia I isme, a term coined by P i e r r e G a m i e r , spokesman f o r t he concre te movement in France, who in 1963 c i r c u l a t e d a man i fes to , which several poets s igned , accommodating a l l types of exper imental p o e t r y ; " R e s e r v i n g , " says an e d i t o r , " t h e name ' c o n c r e t e ' f o r poet ry working w i t h l a n g u a g e — m a t e r i a l , c r e a t i n g s t r u c t u r e s w i t h i t , t r a n s m i t t i n g p r i m a r i l y a e s t h e t i c i n f o r m a t i o n . " See Concrete Poe t ry : A World View, pp. 32 f f . f o r f u r t h e r d i s c u s s i o n .

8. I b i d . , p. 13, p. 27, p. 48-

9. Char les Olson, " P r o j e c t i v e Verse , " The New American Poe t ry : 1945-1960, ed. Donald M. A I l e n , p. 388.

C r i t i c a I Commentary: Chapter One

1. J . E. C i r l o t , A D i c t i o n a r y of Symbols, pp. 328-30.

2 . S i r James G. F razer , The Golden Bough, p. 136.

3. F razer , p. 823.

4 . I b i d . , pp. 766, 767 f f . , a l so C i r l o t , op. c i t . , p. 202.

5. F raze r , op. c i t . , p. 405.

6. Neumann, op. c i t . , p. 234.

7. George Thomson, Studies in Anc ient Greek. S o c i e t y : The P r e h i s t o r i c Aegean, p. 4 6 1 . '

8. P h y l l i s Webb, Selected Poems, n. pag.

270

C r i t i c a1 Commentary: Chapter Two

1 . Denise Lever tov , Re I earn i ng the Al phabet .

2 . See C h r i s t i n e de P isan , Encyclopaedia B r i t a n n i c a , I n c . , V o l . 5 , 1967, p. 704.

3. Th is excerp t is from "Casa Guidi Windows," The Poe t i ca l Works of E I i zabeth B. Brown i ng, p. 406.

i 4. A H i s t o r y of The Modern Wor ld , t h i r d e d . , R. R. Palmer and Joel C o | t o n ,

p. 841 . The authors s t a t e here t h a t Second World War s t a t i s t i c s " repo r ted some f i f t e e n mi I I ion m i l i t a r y deaths and a t leas t t h a t many c i v i l i a n f a t a l i t i e s . . . . and no one cou ld begin t o es t imate the complete t o l l o f human l i v e s l o s t in the war, d i r e c t l y o r i n d i r e c t l y , from the bombings, the mass-exterminat ion and d e p o r t a t i o n p o l i c i e s of the Germans, the p o s t war famines and ep idemics . "

C r i t i c a I Commentary: Chapter Four

1 . See H i s t o r i c a l I n t r o d u c t i o n , t h i s t h e s i s , pp. 19, 20 .

2 . Dronke, MLRELL, p. 2 . See a lso my re ference t o h i s d iscuss ion o f the secu la r women's t r a d i t i o n , pp. 24 , 25 in the H i s t o r i c a l I n t r o d u c t i o n .

3 . Sappho, Barnstone e d .

4 . see n. 50, H i s t o r i c a l I n t r o d u c t i o n .

5. The poems of H.D. do not lend themselves t o t h i s t h e s i s , her poet ry being most ly committed t o a c e l e b r a t i o n of the c l a s s i c a l Greece so beloved by the Romantics.

C r i t i c a I Commentary: Chapter F ive

1 . Bronisla.w Ma l inowsk i , Mar r iage : Past and Present , p. 28.

2.. Thomson, op. c i t . , p. 151 .

3. Margaret Laurence, The D i v i n e r s . The re ferences are as f o l l o w s : " t i t t l e one , " p. 209, " c h i I d , " pp. 162, 183, "good g i r l , " pp. 175, 200.

4 . Modern B r i t i s h Poe t ry : a C r i t i c a l Antho logy , ed. Louis Untermeyer, p. 15. Untermeyer r e f e r s here t o C h a r l o t t e Mew and Anna Wickham as " two women never admi t ted i n t o the Georgian a n t h o l o g i e s . "

5. "Note on Rhyme," The Man With a Hammer, p. 14.

271

C r i t i c a I Commentary: Chapter Six

1 . Four Young Women: Poems, ed. and Introduced by Kenneth Rexro th , p. x .

2 . Eva F iges , P a t r i a r c h a I A t t i t i l d e s ; , p. 17

3. See d iscuss ion pp. 77-80 in my Foreword t o the C r i t i c a l Commentary on the Poems in the Antho logy.

4 . P h y l l i s Webb, op. c i t .

272

IV.

LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED

273

L i s t of Works Consulted

A. H i s t o r i c a l I n t r o d u c t i o n and C r i t i c a l Commentary on the Poems in the Anthology

A l l e n , Donald M., ed. The New American Poe t ry : 1945-1960. New York: Grove Press I n c . , 1960.

A u l t , Norman. E l izabethan L y r i c s From the O r i g i n a l T e x t s , chosen, ed. and arranged by Norman A u l t . New York: Capr icorn Books, 1960.

Barnstone, W i l l i s . Sappho: L y r i c s in the O r i g i n a l Greek w i t h T r a n s l a t i o n s . New York: Doubleday & Company I n c . , 1965.

Baugh, A l b e r t C , ed . A L i t e r a r y H i s t o r y of England. 2nd ed . New York : A p p l e t o n - C e n t u r y - C r o f t s , 1948.

Bax, C l i f f o r d and Meum Stewar t , comps. The D i s t a f f Muse: An Anthology of Poetry W r i t t e n by Women. London: Hoi I is <& C a r t e r , 1949.

Bethune, George W. ed. The B r i t i s h Female Poets. Antho logy. With B iographi ca l and C r i t i c a l Notes. F r e e p o r t , N.Y.: Books f o r L i b r a r y Press, 1848.

B i a n c h i , Martha Dick inson and A l f r e d Leete Hampson, eds. The Poems of Emily D i ck inson . I n t r o d . by A. L. Hampson. Boston: L i t t l e , Brown and Company, 1944.

B redvo ld , Louis I . The L i t e r a t u r e of the Res to ra t ion and the .Eighteenth Century : 1660-1798. Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press, I n c . , 1950.

Brown, E. K., ed. V i c t o r i a n Poe t ry . New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1942.

Browning, Rober t , ed . The Poe t i ca l Works of E l i zabe th B a r r e t t Browning. Compl. e d . , w i t h B iograph ica l I n t r o d . by Robert Browning. New York: A. L. Bu r t Company, 1888.

Bush, Douglas. Mythology and the-Renaissance T r a d i t i o n in Eng l ish Poe t ry . U n i v e r s i t y of Minnesota Press, 1932.

Campbel l , David A . , ed. Greek L y r i c Poe t ry : A Se lec t i on of Ear ly Greek L y r i c , E leg iac and Iambic Poe t ry . London: Macmil lan and Company L t d . New York: S t . M a r t i n ' s Press I n c . , 1967.

C i r l o t , J . E. A D i c t i o n a r y of Symbojs. New York: Ph i losoph ica l L i b r a r y I n c . , 1962.

Dav i s , H e r b e r t , ed. S w i f t : Poe t i ca l Works. London: Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1967.

274

Dronke, Pe te r . Medieval L a t i n and the Rise of the European L o v e - L y r i c . 2 v o l s . V o l . I : Problems and I n t e r p r e t a t i o n s . V o l . I I : Medieval L a t i n Love-Poetry [ t e x t s newly e d i t e d from the mss. and f o r the most p a r t p r e v i o u s l y u n p u b l i s h e d ] . 2nd ed. London: Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1968.

. Poet ic I n d i v i d u a l i t y in the Middle Ages: New Departures in Poetry 1000-1150. London: Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1970.

Epton, N ina. Love and the French. Casse l , 1959; r p t . Penguin Books L t d . , 1964.

F iges , Eva. P a t r i a r c h a l A t t i t u d e s . London: Faber and Faber L i m i t e d , 1970.

F razer , S i r James G. The Golden Bough. New York: The Macmil lan Company, 1922.

Gard iner , J . H. The B i b l e as Eng l ish L i t e r a t u r e . New York: Char les S c r i b n e r ' s Sons, 1906.

Geddes, Gary and P h y l l i s Bruce, eds. Twent ie th Century Poetry and P o e t i c s . Toron to : Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1969.

Gou l ianos, Joan, ed. A s s i s t , eds. Sandra Adickes e t a l . By a Woman W r i t t : L i t e r a t u r e from Six Centur ies by and about Women. I n d i a n a p o l i s : Bobbs-M e r r i I I , 1973.

Hadas, Moses. A H i s t o r y of Greek L i t e r a t u r e . New York: Columbia U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1953.

Hawkes, Jacque t ta . Dawn of the Gods. New York: Random House, 1968.

Hensley, Jeannine, ed. The Works of Anne- B r a d s t r e e t . Foreword by Adrienne R ich . Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1967.

Hoffman, D a n i e l , ed . American Poetry and P o e t i c s . New York: Doubleday & Company, I n c . , 1962.

Humphries, R o l f e , t r a n s . Ov id : The A r t of_ Love. London: John Ca lder , 1958.

Jaeger, Werner. Paedeia: The Ideals of Greek C u l t u r e . V o l . I . Trans. G i l b e r t H ighe t . New York: Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1965.

K e l l y , Amy. Eleanor of Aqu i ta ine and the Four Kings. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1971.

Ke lso, Ruth. Doc t r ine f o r the Lady o f the Renaissance. Urbana: U n i v e r s i t y of I I I i n o i s Press, 1956.

La C l a v i e r e , R. de Maulde. Thg_ Women of the Renaissance: A Study o f Feminism. Rev. e d . , t r a n s . George Herber t E l y . London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co . , L t d . New York: G. Putnam's Sons, 1905.

275

Laurence, Margaret . The D i v i n e r s . Toron to : MacClel land and S tewar t , 1973.

Lever tov , Denise. Re I earn ing the A lphabet . New York: New D i r e c t i o n s , 1970.

Lewis, C. S. The A I l e g o r y of Love: A Study in Medieval T r a d i t i o n . London: Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1936. Rpt. 1968.

L e i d e r , Paul Rober t , Robert Morss Lovet t and Robert K i l l b u r n Root, eds. B r i t i s h Poetry and Prose, V o l . I I : From Wordsworth t o Yeats . Rev. ed. Cambridge, Mass.: The R ive rs ide Press, 1938.

L i n d , L. R., ed . L a t i n Poetry in Verse T r a n s l a t i o n : From the Beginnings t o the Renaissance. Cambridge, Mass.: The R ive rs ide Press, 1957.

Ma l inowsk i , Bron is law. Mar r iage : Past and Present . A Debate between Robert B r i f f a u l t and Bronis law Ma l inowsk i . Ed. w i t h an I n t r o d . by M. F. Ashley Montagu. Boston: Po r te r Sargent P u b l i s h e r , 1956.

Neumann, E r i c h . The Great Mother: An Ana lys is of the Archetype, t r a n s . Ralph Manheim. 2nd ed. New Jersey : Pr ince ton U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1963.

O ' F a o l a i n , J u l i a and Lauro M a r t i n e s , eds. Not in God's Image: Women in H i s t o r y from the Greeks t o the V i c t o r i a n s . New York: Harper & Row P u b l i s h e r s , 1973.

Palmer, R. R. and Joel Co I t o n . A H i s t o r y of the Modern World. 3rd ed. New York: A l f r e d A. Knopf, 1950.

The Poe t i ca l Works of E l i zabe th B a r r e t t Browning. London: Smi th , E l d e r , & Co . , 1897.

Radley, V i r g i n i a L. E I i zabe th B a r r e t t Browning. New York: Twayne Pub l i shers I n c . , 1972.

Rexro th , Kenneth, ed . Four Young Women: Poems by Jess ica Tarahata Hagedorn, Al ice K a r l e , Barbara Szer I i p, Carol T i nker_. Ed. and I n t r o d . by Kenneth Rexro th . New York: McGraw-Hil l Book Company, 1973.

Roche, Pau l , t r a n s . The Love Songs of Sappho. With I n t r o d . and Notes. Toron to : The New American L i b r a r y , I n c . , 1966.

Rowton, F r e d e r i c , ed. The Female Poets of Great B r i t a i n . C h r o n o l o g i c a l l y arranged w i t h Copious Se lec t i ons ancT~CriticaI Remarks. London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1848.

Sewa l l , Richard B. , ed. Emily D ick inson : A C o l l e c t i o n of C r i t i c a l Essays. New Jersey : P r e n t i c e - H a l l , I n c . , 1963.

S c o t t , Duncan CampbelI. The C i r c I e of A f f e c t ion and Other P i eces i n Prose and Verse. Toron to : MacClel land and S tewar t , 1947.

276

Showal ter , E l a i n e , ed . Women's l i b e r a t i o n and L i t e r a t u r e . New York: Ha rcou r t , Brace, Jovanov ich , 1971.

S o i t , Mary E l l e n , ed. Concrete Poet ry : A World View. With I n t r o d . by M. E. S o i t . Indiana U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1968.

T e r r y , P a t r i c i a , t r a n s . Lays of C o u r t l y Love: in Verse T r a n s l a t i o n . With I n t r o d . by Char les W. Dunn. Garden C i t y , New York: Doubleday & Company, I n c . , Anchor Books, 1963.

T i l l y a r d , E. M. W. Some Myth ica l Elements in Eng l ish L i t e r a t u r e . London: Chat to & Windus, 1961.

Thomson, George. Studies in Anc ient Greek S o c i e t y : The P r e h i s t o r i c Aegean. London: Lawrence & Wishar t , 1949.

Untermeyer, Lou is , ed. Modern American Poe t r y , Modern B r i t i s h Poe t ry : A C r i t i c a l Antho logy, comb. ed. New York: Ha rcou r t , Brace and Company, 1942 [ 1 s t ed. separate v o l s . , 1919, 1920] .

Webb, P h y l l i s . Selected Poems. Vancouver, B.C. : Talonbooks, 1971.

W e i g a l l , A r t h u r . Sappho of Lesbos: Her L i f e and Times. New York: Garden C i t y Pub l i sh ing Company, I n c . , 1932.

Wel lek , Rene and Austen Warren. Theor ies of L i t e r a t u r e . 3rd ed. New York: Harcou r t , Brace & Wor ld , I n c . , 1956 Qc. 1942] .

Wickham, Anna. The Man w i t h a Hammer. London: Grant Richards L t d . , 1916.

W i l d , Laura H. A L i t e r a r y Guide t o the B i b l e : A Study of the Types of L i t e r a t u r e Present in the 01d and New Testaments. London: George A l l e n & Unwin, L t d . , 1922.

WII helm, James J . t r a n s , and ed. Medieval Song: An Anthology o f Hymns and L y r i c s . New York: E. P. Dutton & C o . , I n c I , 1971.

W i l l iams, Oscar, ed . A_ L i t t I e Treasury- of_ Modern Poe t ry , Eng I ish & American. Rev. ed. I n t r o d . by Oscar Wi l l i ams. ' " New York: Char les S c r i b n e r ' s Sons, 1946.

Woodcock, George. The Incomparable Aphra. London: T. V. Boardman & Co. , L t d . , 1948.

Woolf , V i r g i n i a . A Room of One's Own. Penguin Books, 1928.

277

B. Anthology

Atwood, Margaret . The Animals in That Count ry . Toron to : Oxford U n i v e r s i t y . Press, 1968. For " I t is Dangerous t o Read Newspapers," "Speeches f o r Dr. F r a n k e n s t e i n , " "The Shadow V o i c e . "

. Power P o l i t i c s . To ron to : Anans i , 1971. For u n t i t l e d poems, p. 46, p. 7.

- — — . Procedures f o r Underground. Boston: L i t t l e , Brown and Company, 1970. For " H a b i t a t i o n . "

Av ison , Margaret . The Dumbfounding. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, I n c . , 1966. For "The Word."

Bogan, Louise. The Blue E s t u a r i e s : Poems 1923—1968. New York: F a r r a r , Straus & G i roux , 1968. For "Women."

Braymer, Nan. "Five-Day Requiem f o r V ie tnam." In Where is Vietnam? American Poets Respond. An Anthology of Contemporary Poems, ed. Wal ter Lowenfels w i t h the ass is tance of Nan Braymer. Garden C i t y , New York: Doubleday & Company, I n c . , Anchor Books, 1967.

Brooks, Gwendolyn. The World of Gwendolyn Brooks. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. For "The Mother , " "The Ch i ld ren of the Poor , " "The B a t t l e . "

Deutsch, Babet te . The Co l l ec ted Poems of Babette Deutsch. New York : Double-day & Company, I n c . , 1969. For "Dogma," "To my Son. "

— — . "Mar r iage" [not in The Co l l ec ted Poems]. In Sarah Teasdale, The Answering Voice: Love L y r i c s by Women_. New ed. w i t h 50 a d d i t i o n a l poems. New York: The Macmil lan Company, 1928.

Finnegan, Joan. I t Was Warm and Sunny When We Set Out_. To ron to : The Ryerson Press, 197b. For "A Woman in Love is a l l the T r e e s . "

Harwood, Gwen. Poems. V o I . J_.' Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1963. For " I n the Pa rk . "

Jong, E r i c a . F r u i t s & Vegetables. New York: H o l t , R inehar t and Winston, 1968. For "Arse P o e t i c a . "

— . Ha I f - L i v e s . New York: H o l t , R inehar t and Winston, 1973. For " A l c e s t i s on the Poetry C i r c u i t . "

K i z e r , Caro lyn . Knock Upon S i l e n c e . New York: Doubleday & Company I n c . , 1965. For " P a r t Three from Pro Femina."

— — - . The Ungra te fu l Garden. Bloomington: Indiana U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1961. For " E p i t h a I a m i o n . "

278

Lawner, Lynne. Wedding N igh t of a Nun. Boston: L i t t l e , Brown and Company, 1960. For "May Song," " I n Your Ar rogance, " "Tongue of Cr isp Oleander , " "Possess ion , " "Where are the Wings," "Woman t o Woman."

Kogawa, Joy. "The Chicken K i l l i n g . " In 40 Women Poets o f Canada, ed . Dorothy L ivesay. Mon t rea l : I ng fuv in P u b l i c a t i o n s , 1971.

La ing , D i l y s . The Col lected Poems of DjJ.ys La ing . I n t r o d . M. L. Rosentha l . The-Press of Case Western Reserve U n i v e r s i t y , U.S.A. , 1967. For "A f te rnoon Tea , " "P ius Thought , " "The Maker, " "Sonnet t o a S i s t e r in E r r o r , " "S taba t Ma te r . "

Lever tov , Denise. The Jacob 's Ladder. New York: New D i r e c t i o n s , 1958. For "The I l l u s t r a t i o n , " "The"Wei I , " "The Jacob's Ladder . "

. 0 Taste and See. New York: New D i r e c t i o n s , 1964. For "Song f o r I s h t a r , " "To the Muse," " H y p o c r i t e Women,"'-'.'In M i n d . "

. Overland t o the I s lands . H igh lands, North C a r o l i n a : Jonathan W i l l i a m s , 1958. For " I l l u s t r i o u s A n c e s t o r s . "

. The Sorrow Dance. New York: New D i r e c t i o n s Pub l i sh ing C o r p . , 1966. For "Two V a r i a t i o n s , " "The Mutes, " "The Earthworm," "Stepping Westward."

. With Eyes a t the Back of Our Heads. New York: New D i r e c t i o n s , 1959. For "The W i f e , " "The Edge."

L ivesay, Dorothy. The Unquiet Bed. Toron to : The Ryerson Press, 1967. For "The Taming."

. Selected Poems 1926-1956. I n t r o d . Desmond Pacey. To ron to : The Ryerson Press, 1957. For "The Skin of T ime. "

Lowe I I , Amy. The CompIete Poet i caI Works of Amy Lowe 1 I . I n t r o d . Lou i s Untermeyer. Boston: Houghton M i f f l i n Company, 1955. For "Madonna of the Evening Flowers" and "The S i s t e r s . "

Lowther, Pat . Th is D i f f i c u l t F lowr ing Vancouver, B.C. : Very Stone House, 1968. For "May Chant , " "Baby'You TeI I Me," "Woman."

MacEwen, Gwendolyn. Armies of the Moon. Toron to : The Macmil lan Company of Canada, 1972. For " L i I i t h . "

• . A Break fas t f o r Barbar ians . Toron to : Ryerson Press, 1966. For "Womb: Some Thoughts and O b s e r v a t i o n s . "

* " " ' — • The R is ing F i r e . To ron to : Contact Press, 1963. For "Morning Laughter . "

McPherson, Sandra. E leg ies -for ttie_ Hot Season. Bloomington: Indiana U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1970. For "Pregnancy" and "Evo lv ing an I n s t i n c t . "

279

Mi I l ay , Edna S t . V incen t . Co l l ec ted L y r i c s . New York: Harper and Row, 1939. For "Menses," "Apostrophe t o Man," "Aubade," "Evening on Lesbos," "What Savage Blossom."

. Co l l ec ted Sonnets. With Foreword by the au tho r . New York: Harper and Row, 1941. For "Sonnet x i i . "

Moore, Marianne. Co l l ec ted Poems. New York: Macmil lan & Co. L t d . , 1951. For "The Mind, I n t r a c t a b l e T h i n g . "

Musgrave, Susan. Songs of the Sea-Witch. Vancouver: SonoNis Press, 1970. For "Once More."

Oates, Joyce C a r o l . Anonymous Sins and Other Poems. Louis iana Sta te U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1969. For "A G i r l a t the Centre of Her L i f e , " " P a i n , " " V a n i t y , " "A Marr ied Woman's Song," "L ines f o r Those t o Whom Tragedy is Den ied , " "A Woman in Her Secret L i f e . " •

Page, P. K. Cry A r a r a t ! Poems New and Se lec ted . To ron to , Mon t rea l : McClel land and Stewart L i m i t e d , 1967. For " " P o r t r a i t of M a r i n a . "

P l a t h , S y l v i a . A r i e l . London: Faber and Faber, 1965. For "The A p p l i c a n t . "

Raine, Kath leen. "Mourning in S p r i n g , 1943." In .The D i s t a f f Muse: An Anthology of Poetry W r i t t e n by Women. Comp. C l i f f o r d Bax and Meum Stewar t . London: Hoi I is & C a r t e r , 1949. CThe poem is not included in The Co l l ec ted Poems of Kathleen Raine (London: Hamish HamiI ton L t d . , 1956).]

R i c h , Adr ienne. D iv ing i n t o t he Wreck: Poems 1971-72. New York: W. W. Norton & Co . , I n c . , 1973. For " T r y i n g t o Ta lk w i t h a Man," excerp ts 5, 6 , 7, from "The Phenomenology of Anger , " " T r a n s l a t i o n s . "

. Leaf l e t s : Poems 1965-68. New York: W. W. Norton & Co . , I n c . , 1969. For excerp ts from "Ghazals: Homage t o G h a l i b , " and "N igh t Watch."

. Necess i t i es of L i f e : Poems 1962-65. New York: W. W. Norton & Co . , I n c . , 1966. For "Two Songs."

. Selected Poems. London: Chat to & Windus, The Hogarth Press, 1967. For " N i g h t - P i e c e s : f o r a C h i l d . "

— — . Snapshots o f a Daughter - jn-Law: Poems 1954-1962. New York: W. W. Norton & Co . , I n c . , 1963. For t i t l e poem.

Sar ton , May. A Grain o f Mustard Seed. New York: W. W. Norton & Co . , I n c . , 1971. For "An A r t e s i a n Wei I " and "Dutch I n t e r i o r . "

— — . A P r i v a t e Mythology. New York: W. W. Norton & Co . , I n c . , 1966. For "The Godhead as Lynx. "

280

Sexton, Anne. A l l My P r e t t y Ones. Boston: Houghton M i f f l i n Co . , The R ive rs ide Press, Cambridge, 1962. For "The A b o r t i o n . "

. Love Poems. Boston: Houghton M i f f l i n Co . , The R ive rs ide Press, Cambridge, 1967. For " B a l l a d o f the Lonely M a s t u r b a t o r , " " I n Ce leb ra t i o n of my U t e r u s , " "The B r e a s t , " "Dec. 1 1 , " "Song f o r a l a d y , " "Moon-Song, Woman Song."

. To Bedlam and Par t Way Back. Boston: Houghton M i f f l i n Co . , The R ive rs ide Press, Cambridge, 1960. For "Unknown G i r l in the M a t e r n i t y Ward" and "Said the Poet t o the A n a l y s t . "

Sewe l l , E l i z a b e t h . Poems 1947-1961. North C a r o l i n a : The U n i v e r s i t y of North Caro l i na Press, 1962. For "The Analogue."

S ion , Emi ly . " A l l Anatomy." Unpublished poem by permission o f the au tho r .

S i t w e l l , E d i t h . The Co l lec ted Poems of Ed j th S i t w e l l . New York: The Vanguard Press I n c . , 1968. For "D i rge f o r the New Sunr ise" and " T e a r s . "

Smi th , S tev ie [pseud.] . The Frog Pr ince and Other' Poems. Drawings by the author [ Florence Margaret S m i t h ] . London, 1966. For "How Cruel is the Story of Eve. "

Spark, M u r i e l . Col lected Poems V o l . J_. London, Melbourne [ e t c . ] . Macmil lan & Co. L t d . , 1967. For "Aga ins t the T r a n s c e n d e n t a I i s t s . "

Stevenson, Sharon. Stone. Vancouver, B.C. : Talonbooks, 1972. For " F i r s t I n c i s i o n , " " L o v e r ' s Anatomy," "4 & 3/4 months," "F lower Song," " I n d u s t r i a l Ch i Idhood . "

Swenson, May. Hal f /Sun H a l f / A s l e e p : New Poems. New York: Char les S c r i b n e r ' s Sons, 1967. For " S u n . "

• . Iconographs. New York: Char les S c r i b n e r ' s Sons, 1970. For "Women."

Taggard, Genevieve. For Eager Lovers, 1922. For her poem "Wi th C h i l d " in Modern American Poe t ry . Modern B r i t i sh Poe t ry : ' A C r i t i c a I AnthoIogy.- Comb. Ed. ed. Louis Untermeyer. New York: Ha rcou r t , Brace and Company, 1919. ( I have been unable t o f i n d out the name and place of the p u b l i s h e r f o r For Eager Lovers, c r e d i t e d by Untermeyer as the source f o r "Wi th C h i l d . " )

Untermeyer, Jean S t a r r . "Lake Song." In Untermeyer Antho logy , as noted d i r e c t l y above.

Van Duyn, Mona. "Death o f a P o e t . " In Poetry Nor thwest . Autumn 1966, V o l . VI I , No. 3 , 5 -6 .

. To See, To Take. New York: Atheneum, 1970. For "Leda" and "Leda Recons idered."

281

Waddington, M i r iam. The Season's Lovers. To ron to : The Ryerson Press, 1958. For "Women Who Live Albne i r "and "Semblances."

Wakoski, Diane. Discrepancies and A p p a r i t i o n s . Garden C i t y , N.Y.; Double-day & Company, I n c . , 1966. For "Bel ly" Dancer" and "Wind S e c r e t s . "

The Magel lan ic Clouds. Los Angeles: .'-Black Sparrow Press, 1970,

Webb, P h y l l i s . Selected Poems 1954-1965. I n t r o d . John Hulcoop. Vancouver, B.C. : Talonbooks, 1971. For " P o e t , " "Lament," "Two V e r s i o n s . "

Whitehead, L o r i t a . "Mother S i n g i n g . " In Poetry Nor thwest . Autumn 1965, V o l . V I M , No. 3 , 19, 20.

Wickham, Anna. The Man w i t h a Hammer. London: Grant Richards L t d . , 1916. For "The Wi fe " and " R e s o l u t i o n . "

. Songs. By John Oland [pseud. ] . N. d . For " D i v o r c e . "

W i l k i n s o n , Anne. The Co l l ec ted Poems of Anne W i I k i n s o n . Ed. w i t h an I n t r o d . by A. J . M. Smi th . Toron to : The Macmil lan Company of Canada L i m i t e d , 1968. For "Lens" and "The T i g h t r o p e . "

W y l i e , E l i n o r . Co l l ec ted Poems. I n t r o d . W i l l i a m Rose Benet. New York: A l f r e d A Knopf, 1932. For "Sonnet x i i , " " S e I f - P o r t r a i t , " " L e t no C h a r i t a b l e Hope."

282

APPENDIX

V.

ANTHOLOGY

Shapes of Exper ience:

lected Poems of Twent ie th Century Women Poets

283

SECTION ONE

Exper iencing One's Body

Margaret Atwood from Power P o l i t i c s , p. 46 Joyce Carol Oates A G i r l a t the Centre o f her L i f e Adrienne Rich from Ghazals: Homage t o G h a l i b , 7/23/68 Emi ly Si on A l l Anatomy May Sarton An A r t e s i a n Well

Gwendolyn Brooks The Mother Anne Sexton The Abor t i on

Lynne Lawner May Song Edna S t . V incent Mi I lay Menses Mir iam Waddington . . Women Who L ive Alone

Pat Lowther May Chant Sandra McPherson Pregnancy Genevieve Taggard With Ch i l d

Anne Sexton . Bal lad o f the Lonely Masturbator In Ce leb ra t i on of my Uterus The Breast

Diane Wakoski B e l l y Dancer Gwendolyn MacEwen L i l i t h May Sarton The Godhead as Lynx Gwendolyn MacEwen Womb: Some Thoughts and Observat ions

284

Margaret Atwood

What is it, it docs not move like love, it does not want to know, it docs not want to stroke, unfold

it docs not even want to touch, it is more like an animal (not loving) a thing trapped, you move wounded, you arc hurt, you hurt, you want to get out, you want to tear yourself out, I am

the outside, I am snow and space, pathways, you gather ;

yourself, your muscles

clutch, you move into mc as though I 1

am (wrenching your way through, this is urgent, it is your life) the last chance for freedom

285 ' J,byce C a r o l Oates

A Qirl

at the Center of Her Life

There may be some way back she thinks, past familiar homes that will look painful now and the hammer of cries in her blood, past the unchanged sky that is any sky— "What time is it?" is her mind's question.

This field is any field beyond the town, and twenty miles from her parents' house. Twenty miles takes you anywhere.;

In the country you must curve and calculate to get where you're going, accounting for great

blocks of farms selfish with land, and cTeeks,

and uncrossable boneyards of rock and j u n k .

This is any field, then, being so far.

Its silence and its indifferent rustling of mice and birds of any field make her want to cry in adelirum: "Let me be off to soak in hot water, bright hot •water, or to brush my hair in a girl's fury drawing the hairs out onto the gold-backed brush—" At the place of her heart is

286

a hot closed fist. It is closed against the m a n who waits

for her at the car

How to release to the warm air such a useless riot of hate? Lacking love, her casual song fell swiftly to hate, a dark vengeance of no form, and unpracticed— A dragonfly skims near, like metal. Into her eyesight burns the face of this man, half a boy, who stands puzzled on one shore, she on another. Her brain pounds.... Who will not see what she has become? Who will not know? There is no confronting this blunder of pains and lusts opened like milkweed, scattered casually with wind, soft and flimsy, adhesive to human touch and delicate as a pillow's suffocation. A hypnosis of milkweedl A young girl, in terror not young, is no colt now but a sore-jointed cow whose pores stutter for help, help, and whose sweaty skin has gathered seeds upon it, and tiny dry bits of grass.

287 A d r i e n n e R i c h

7 / 1 7 / 6 8

Armitage of scrapiron for the radiations of a moon.

Flower cast in metal, Picasso-woman, sister.

T w o hesitant L u n a moths regard each other

with the spots on their wings: fascinated.

T o resign yourself—what an act of bctrayall

— t o throw a runaway spirit back to the dogs.

W h e n the ebb-tide pulls hard enough, we are all starfish.

T h e moon has her way with us, my companion in crime.

A t the Aquar ium that day, between the white whale's loneliness

and the groupers' mass promiscuities, only ourselves.

7 / 2 3 / 6 8 ' . .

W h e n your sperm enters me, it is altered;

when my thought absorbs yours, a world begins.

If the m i n d of the teacher is not i n love with the m i n d of the student,

he is simply practising rape, and deserves at best our pity.

T o live outside the lawl O r , barely within it ,

a twig on boi l ing waters, enclosed inside a bubble.

O u r words are jammed i n an electronic jungle;

sometimes, though, they rise and wheel croaking.above the treetops.

A n open window; thick summer night; electric fences tr i l l ing.

W h a t are you doing here at the edge of the death-camps^ Viva ld i?

288

ALL ANATOMY (SCULPTURE OF A SELF GLORIED CLITO-ORGASM)

the sun convulses the h i l l

s p l i t s the p l a i n ' s ten layers s p l i t s the horizon r e s i s t i n g s p l i t s the s u n f a l l r e c a l l e d

the reined sun

gallops g a l l o p s gallops gallops gallops

unbridles

t i l l a l l anatomy

diss o l v e s i n t o hooves of l i g h t

289 May S a r t o n

AN ARTESIAN W E L L

T h e w e l l - d r i l l e r s

C a m e i n w i n t e r .

T h e i r dinosaur,

R i g i d and s l i m y ,

T o w e r e d over the house;

F o r days i t l o o m e d there

S m o t h e r e d i n s n o w .

A t last t h e y roused it .

T h e steel phal lus 1 B e g a n its p o u n d i n g

T h r o u g h the t h i c k c l a y ,

T h r o u g h layers o f sand, j

S e a r c h i n g o u t . r o c k —

T o n s o f v i o l e n c e

A g a i n s t tons o f inert ia . ;

. C o u l d a n y g o o d

C o m e o f this battle?

S t o p p e d b y a b o u l d e r ,

T h e y e x p l o d e d their w a y d o w n ,

B r u t a l , w i t h d y n a m i t e —

S p r a y e d the house w i t h m u d .

W h a t had h a p p e n e d b e l o w ?

W h a t f r i g h t f u l splinters?

W h a t shudder?

W h a t shattering?

C o u l d a n y g o o d c o m e o f this

R a p e o f the earth?

It w e n t o n a l l d a y —

N o escape, no h a v e n —

T h r o u g h w h a t resistance,

T o w a r d w h a t anguish?

I w h o p a c e d the floors

H a d c o m m a n d e d i t .

A n d l o c k e d together

I n g r i t t y patience,

290

Wc pressed colli faces Against the cellar wall. Listening, listening For the hard rock. A n d at last

The stone resounded: Wc had reached the ledges.

In that troubled year I had not seen luck's face But at last I did. F.ighty-five feet down Under our hands, Under the clay. Under the sand, Under the boulders, Under the long drought In the hard ledges, We struck it— Five gallons a minute. Flowing water Sprang out in a fountain.

I wept like a woman Who, after long labor, Sees the living child. I felt like the earth.

291 Gwendolyn Brooks

t h e m o t h e r

ABORTIONS w i l l not l e t y o u forget .

Y o u r e m e m b e r t h e c h i l d r e n y o u got t h a t yon d i d n o t

get,

T h e d a m p e m a i l p u l p s w i t h a l i t t l e o r w i t h no h a i r ,

T h e Ringers a n d w o r k e r s t h a t n e v e r h a n d l e d t h e a i r .

Y o u w i l l never neglect o r heat

T h e m , o r s i lence o r b u y w i t h a sweet.

Y o u w i l l n e v e r w i n d u p t h e s u c k i n g - t h u m b

O r scutt le off ghosts t h a t come.

Y o u w i l l n e v e r leave t h e m , c o n t r o l l i n g y o a r l u s c i o u s

s i g h ,

R e t u r n f o r a s n a c k of t h e m , w i t h g o b b l i n g mother-eye.

1 have h e a r d i n the voices o f t h e w i n d the voices o f m y

d i m k i l l e d c h i l d r e n .

I hnve c o n t r a c t e d . I have cased

M y d i m dears at t h e breasts they c o u l d n e v e r suck.

I have s a i d , Sweets, i f I s i n n e d , i f I se ized

Y o u r l u c k

A n d y o u r l i v e s f r o m y o u r u n f i n i s h e d r e a c h ,

If I stole y o u r b i r t h s a n d y o u r names,

^ our s tra ight b a b y tears a n d y o u r games,

Y o u r s t i l l e d o r l o v e l y loves, y o u r t u m u l t s , y o u r m a r

riages, aches, a n d y o u r deaths,

If I poisoned the b e g i n n i n g s of y o u r breaths ,

B e l i r v c that even i n m y dcl iberutences I was n o t do-

l iberate .

T h o u g h w h y s h o u l d I w h i n e ,

W h i n e that the c r i m e was o t h e r t h a i i m i n e ? —

S i n c e a n y h o w y o u are d e a d .

O r r a t h e r , o r i n s t e a d ,

Y o u w e r e never m a d e .

B u t that too, I a m a f r a i d ,

Is f a u l t y : o h , w h a t s h a l l I say, h o w is the t r u t h to be s a i d ?

Y o u w e r e b o r n , y o u h a d b o d y , y o u d i e d .

I t is j u s t t h a t y o u never g igg led o r p l a n n e d o r c r i e d .

B e l i e v e m e , I l o v e d y o u a l l .

B e l i e v e m e , I k n e w y o u , t h o u g h f a i n t l y , a n d I l o v e d , I l o v e d y o n

A l l .

292 Anne Sexton

THE ABORTION

Somebody who should have been born

is gone.

Just as the earth puckered its mouth,

each bud puffing out from its knot,

I changed my shoes, and then drove south.

Up past the Blue Mountains, where

Pennsylvania humps on endlessly,

wearing, like a crayoned cat, its green hair,

its roads sunken in like a gray washboard;

where, in truth, the ground cracks evilly,

a dark socket from which the coal has poured,

Somebody who should have been born is gone.

the grass as bristly and stout as chives,

and mc wondering when the ground would break,

and me wondering how anything fragile survives;

up in Pennsylvania, I met a l i tt le man,

not Rumpclstiltskin, at all, at all . . .

he took the fullness that love began.

Returning north, even the sky grew thin

like a high window looking nowhere.

The road was as fiat .is a sheet of t in.

Somebody w/io should have been born

i i gone.

Yes, woman, such logic wil l lead

to loss without dej th. Or say what you meant,

you coward . . . thi* baby that I bleed.

2 9 3 Lynne Lawner

MAY SONG

wails from my womb And undoomed drowns Before thought of? Who crowns Tin's inch-king in a tomb Of red seas, where no Moses Decked with roses Thorns his sweet way To a quivering shore? Each month I must say, " A prophet I bore, Who no more steals breath," I move towards my death.

294 "Edna S t . V incent Mi I lay

Menses i

(He speaks, but to himself, being aware bow it is with her)

Think not I have not heard.

Wcll-fanged the double word

And well-directed flew.

I felt it. D o w n my side

Innocent as o i l I see the ugly venom slide:

Poison enough to stiffen us both, and al l our friends;

But I am not pierced, so there the mischief ends. i i

There is more to be said; I see it c o i l i n g ;

The impact w i l l be pain.

Yet c o i l ; yet strike again. j

You cannot riddle the stout mai l I wove

Long since, o f w i t and love. j j

As for my answer . . . stupid in the sun

He lies, his fangs drawn:

1 wil l not war wi th you.

Y o u know how w i l d you are. Y o u are w i l l i n g to be turned

T p other matters; you w o u l d be grateful, evem

Y p u watch me shyly; I (for I have learned

M o r e things than one in our few years together)

Chafe at the churlish w i n d , the unseasonable weather.

295

" U n s e a s o n a b l e ? " y o u cry, w i t h harsher s c o r n

T h a n the theme w a r r a n t s ; " E v e r y year i t is the same!

' U n s e a s o n a b l e ! ' they w h i n e , these s t u p i d p e a s a n t s ! — a n d never

since they were b o r n

H a v e they k n o w n a s p r i n g less w i n t r y ! L o r d , the shame,

T h e c r y i n g shame o f seeing a m a n n o wiser t h a n the beasts he

f e e d s —

H i s s k u l l as e m p t y as a s h e l l ! "

( ' • G o t o . Y o u are u n w e l l . " )

S u c h is m y t h o u g h t , b u t such are n o t m y w o r d s .

" W h a t is the n a m e , " I ask, " o f those b i g b i r d s

W i t h y e l l o w breast a n d l o w and heavy flight,

T h a t m a k e such m o u r n f u l w h i s t l i n g ? "

" M e a d o w l a r k s , "

You answer p r i m l y , n o t a l i t t l e cheered.

"Some people shoot t h e m . " S u d d e n l y y o u r eyes are wet

A n d y o u r c h i n trembles . O n m y breast y o u lean,

Arid sob m o s t p i t i f u l l y for a l l the lojvely things that are n o t a n d

: have been.

" H o w s i l l y I a m ! — a n d I know h o w s i l l y I a m ! "

You say; " Y o u are very pat ient . Y o u are very k i n d .

I shall be better s o o n . Just H e a v e n c o n s i g n a n d d a m n

T o tedious H e l l t h i s b o d y w i t h i ts m u d d y feet i n m y m i n d l"

296 Mi riam Wadd i ngton

Women Who Live Alone

Women who live alone beware the menstrual croneI bird track track of crab old age's crumbling scab;

with her shrivelled hands she tightens migraine bands and in caverns of grief she's All Baba's chief.

She t i l t s the turning moon to your rhythmic ruin, women who live alone beware the menstrual crone1

297 Pat Lowther

May Chant

May and I squat in labor crying the child Come down Surely I am only a partway-unwound spiral of bloody cord crying the child Come down from his male cross and the others and others before him

Dionysus.Come down Osiris Come down King of the kissing killing Mistletoe Come down

It is the men who come tall singing John Barleycorn is dead but it was my child my husband they killed and it is I under the scalpeled earth will cry the good of his blood and meat Come down to the roots of things and I who will in the darkness of germination stealthily gather his scattered members and bind them whole

298 Sandra McPherson

Pregnancy

It is the best thing.

I should always like to be pregnant,

T u m m y thickening like a yoghurt.

Unbelievable flower. '

A queen is always pregnant with her country.

Sheba of questions - j

O r briny siren '•

A t her difficult passage,

One is the mountain that moves 1

T o w a r d the earliest gods.

W h o started this?

A n axis, a quake, a perimeter,

1 have no decisions to master

That could change my frame

O r honor. .

Immaculate: O r if it was not, perfect

Pregnant, I'm highly explosive—

You can feel it, long before

Your seed will run back to hug y o u —

Squaring and cubing

Into reckless bones, bouncing odd ways

Like a football.

T h e heart sloshes through the microphone Like falls in a box canyon.

T h e queen's only a figurehead.

Nine months pulled by nine

Planets, the moon slooping

T h r o u g h its amnion sea,

Trapped, stone-mad . . . and three Beings' lives gel in my womb.

299

With C h i l d

Genevieve Taggard

Now I am slow and p lac id> fond o f sun, L i k e a s leek b e a s t j o r a worn one; No s l i m arid l a n g u i d g i r l — n o t g l a d With the windy t r i p I once had, But v e l v e t - f o o t e d , musing o f my own, T o r p i d , meLlow, s t u p i d as a s t o n e ;

You c l e f t me w i t h your b e a u t y ' s p u l s e , and now Your p u l s e has taken body. Care not how The o l d grace grows, how heavy I am grown, B i g w i t h t h i s l o n e l i n e s s , how you a l o n e Ponder our l o v e * Touch my f e e t and f e e l How e a r t h t i n g l e s , .teeming a t my heel ' . E a r t h l s u r g e , not mine—my l i t t l e d e a t h , not h e r s ; And the pure beauty yearns and s t i r s .

I t does not heed our e c s t a c i e s , i t t u r n s With s e c r e t s o f i t s own, i t s own concerns , Towards a windy w o r l d o f i t s own, towards s t a r k And s o l i t a r y p l a c e s * In the d a r k , D e f i a n t even now, i t tugs arid moans To be u n t a n g l e d from these m o t h e r ' s bones.

300 Anne Sexton THE BALLAD OF

THE LONELY MASTURBATOR

The end of the afhir is always death. |

She's rny workshop. Slippery eye,

out of the tribe of myself my breath

finds you gone. I horrify

those who stand by. I am fed.

At night, alone, I marry the bed.

Finger to finger, now she's mine.

She's not too far. She's my encounter.

I beat her like a bell. I recline

in the bower where you used to mount her.

You borrowed me on the flowered spread.


Take for instance this night, my love,

that every single couple puts together

with a joint overturning, beneath, above,

the abundant two on sponge and feather,

kneeling and pushing, head to head. ,

At: night alone, I marry the bed. I

I break out of my body this way,

an annoying miracle. Could I j put the dream market on display?

I am spread out. I crucify. |

M y little plum is what you said.

At night, alone.! I marry the bed.

Then my black-eyed rival came.

The lad) of water, rising on the beach,

8 piano at her fingertips, shame

cn her lips and a flute's speech.

And 1 was the knock-kneed broom instead.

A t night, alone, I marry the bed.

She took you the way a woman takes

a bargain dress off the rack

and I broke the way a stone breaks.

I give back your books and fishing tack.

Today's paper says that you arc wed.


The boys' and girls arc one tonight.

They unbutton blouses. They unzip flies.

They take off shoes. They turn off the light.

The glimmering creatures are full of lies.

They arc eating each other; THey are overfed.

At night, alone, I marry the bed., j

3 0 1 Anne Sexton

IN CELEBRATION OF MY UTERUS

Everyone i n me is a b i r d .

I am beating a l l m y wings.

T l i e y wanted to cut you out

b u t they w i l l not.

T h e y said you were immeasurably e m p t y

b u t you are not .

T h e y said you were sick unto d y i n g

bu t they were wrong.

Y o u are s inging l i k e a school g i r l .

Y o u are n o t t o r n .

Sweet weight;

i n celebration of the w o m a n 1 a m

and of the soul of the w o m a n I am

and of the central creature and its del ight

I s ing for y o u . I dare to l ive.

H e l l o , spirit . H e l l o , cup.

Fasten, cover. C o v e r that does c o n t a i n .

H e l l o to the soil of the fields.

W e l c o m e , roots.

E a c h cel l has a l i fe .

T h e r e is enough here to please a n a t i o n .

It is enough that the p o p u h c e o w n these goods.

A n y person, any c o m m o n w e a l t h w o u l d say of i t ,

" I t is good this year that we may p lant again

a n d t h i n k forward to a harvest.

A bl ight had been forecast and has been cast o u t , "

M a n y w o m e n arc s inging together of this:

o n e is i n a shoe factory cursing the m a c h i n e ,

o n e is at the a q u a r i u m t e n d i n g a seal,

302

one is dull at the wheel of her Ford, ! one is at the toll gate collecting, one is tying the cord of a calf in Arizona, . one is straddling a cello in Russia, one is shifting pots on the stove in Egypt; one is painting her bedroom walls moon color, one is dying but remembering'a breakfast, one is stretching on her mat in Thailand, one is wiping the ass of her child, one is staring out the window of a train in the middle of Wyoming and one is anywhere and some arc everywhere and all seem to be singing, although some can not sing a note.

Sweet weight, in celebration of the woman I am let me carry a ten-foot scarf, let me drum for the nineteen-year-olds, !

.let me carry bowls for the offering (if that is my part). Let me study the cardiovascular tissue, let me examine the angular distance of meteors, let me suck oh the stems of flowers (if that is my part). Let me make certain tribal figures (if that is my part). For this thing the body needs j let me sing , for the supper; ' 1 • for the kissing, 1

for the correct yes.

303 , Anne Sexton

THE BREAS7'

Tbii is the key to i t .

T h i s is the key to everything.

" Preciously.

I am worse than the gamekeeper's c h i l d r e n ,

p i c k i n g for dust and bread.

HeTC I a m d r u m m i n g tip perfume.

L e t m e go d o w n on your carpet,

y d u r straw mattress — whatcver's at h a n d

because the c h i l d i n me is dy ing , d y i n g .

i

It is n o t that I a m cattle to be eaten. |

It is not that I am some sort of street. !

B u t your hands found me l ike an architect.

Jugful of m i l k l It was yours years ago

w h e n I l ived i n the valley of m y bones

bones d u m b i n the swamp. L i t t l e playthings.

A xy lophone maybe w i t h skin

stretched over i t awkwardly.

O n l y later d i d i t become something real.

L a t e r I measured m y size against movie stars.

I d i d n ' t measure up. S o m e t h i n g between

m y shoulders was there. B u t never enough:

Sure, there was a meadow, •

but no young m e n singing the t r u t h . .

N o t h i n g to tell t ruth by.

304.

Ignorant of m e n I lay next to m y sisters

a n d rising o u t of the. ashes I cr ied

my sex will be transfixedl

N p w I a m your mother , your daughter,

your b r a n d new t h i n g — a snai l , a nest.

I am alive w h e n your fingers are.

I wear si lk — the cover to u n c o v e r — -

because silk is what I w a n t you to t h i n k of. But I d is l ike the c l o t h . I t is too stern.

So tel l me a n y t h i n g b u t track m e l i k e a c l i m b e r

for here is the eye, here is the jewel,

here is the exci tement the n i p p l e learns.'

I a m unbalanced — b u t I a m n o t m a d w i t h snow.

I a m m a d the way young girls are m a d ,

w i t h an offering, an offering . . .

I bum the way m o n e y b u m s .

305 D i a ne Wakosk

Belly Dancer

Can these movements which move themselves lie the substance of my attraction? Where does this thin green silk come from that covers my body? Surely any woman wearing such fabrics would move her hotly just to feel diem touching every part of her.

i

Yet most of fhe women frown, or look awayj or laugh stiffly. They are afniid'of these materials and ihesc movements in some way. The psychologists would say they are afraid ot themselves, somehow. Perhaps awakening too much desire — that their men could never satisfy? So they keep themselves laced and buttoned and made up in hopes that the framework will keep them, stiff enough not to feel the whole register. In hopes that they will not have to experience that unquenchable desire for rhythm and contact. :

If a snake glided across this Door most of them would faint or shrink away. Yet that movement could be their own. That smooth movement frightens them — awakening ancestors and relatives to the tips of the. arms and toes.

So my hare feet and my thin green silks 1 . my bells and finger cymbals offered them — frighten .their old-young bodies. While the men simper and leer — glad for the vicarious experience and exercise. They do not realize how 1 sc>rn 'hem; or how 1 dance for their Iriglnciicd. Unawakened, sweet women.

306 Gwendolyn MacEwen

Lilith

Have no doubt that oneday she will be reborn horrendous, with coiling horns, pubis a blaze of black stars and armpits a swampy nest for dinosaurs. But meanwhile she lurks in her most impenetrable disguise— asme — trying to make holes in my brain or come forth from my eyes. And I have felt \ \ her mindless mind within my mind urging me to call down heaven with a word, avenge some ancient wrong against her kind or be the crazed Salome who danced for blood. Ah God, her seasons kill j j tho sickly moon, and all my fine achievements fall beneath her feet like skulls. j j And I would claim I I cannot answer for my deeds; it i9 her time. But when I try , to prove she is assailing me there comes instead an awful cry which is her protest and her song of victory. See you in my dreams, i

Whore of Babylon, Theodora, utterly unquiet fiend, thou Scream.

i

307 May Sarton

T H E G O D H E A D AS LYNX Kyrie Elcison, O wild lynx! Mysterious sad eyes, and yet so bright, Wherein mind never grieves or thinks, But absolute attention is alight— Before that golden gaze, so deep and cold, My human rage dissolves, my pride is broken. I am a child here in a world grown old. Eons ago its final word was spoken.-Eves of the god, hard ns obsidian, Look into mine. Kyrie Elcison.

Terrible as it is, your gaze consoles, And awe turns tender before your guiltless head. (What wc have lost to enter into souls!) I feel a longing for the lynx's bed, ' To submerge self in that essential fur, And sleep close to this ancient world of grace, As if there could be healing next to her, The mother-lynx in her pre-humart place. Yet that pure beauty docs not know compassion— O cruel god, Kyrie Elcison!

It is the marvelous world, free of our love, Free of our hate, before our own creation, Animal world, so still and so alive. We never can go back to pure sensation, Be self-possessed as the great lynx, or calm. Yet she is lightning to cut down the lamb, A beauty that devours without a qualm, A cruel god who only says, "I am," Never, " Y o u must become," as you, our own God say forever. Kyrie Elcison!

How rarely You look out from human eyes, Yet it is we who bear creation on, Troubled, afflicted, and so rarely wise, Feeling nostalgia for an old world gone. . Imperfect as wc arc, and never whole, Still You live in us like a fertile seed, Always becoming, and asking of the soul • To stretch beyond sweet nature, answer need, And lay aside the beauty of the lynx To be this laboring self who groans and thinks.

i

3 0 8

Gwendolyn, MacEwen

W O M B S : S O M E T H O U G H T S A N D O B S E R V A T I O N S

1 • !

S h e h a d t h i s l i t t l e r e d b e a n w i t h 10 i v o r y a n i m a l s i n i t

c a r v e d i n I n d i a . ' Isn ' t it m a r v e l l o u s , G w e n , ' she s a i d ,

'10 i v o r y e l e p h a n t s i n s i d e t h i s U t i l e r e d b e a n ? '

a n d the b e a n w a s l i k e , y o u k n o w w h a t , y e s , l i k e a w o m b ,

t h a t ' s w h a t I s a i d , a w o m b w i t h 10 i v o r y e l e p h a n t s i n i t ,

a n d I t h o u g h t I w o u l d n ' t m i n d i O i v o r y e l e p h a n t s

in m i n e , i f i t c a m e d o w n to that , I w o u l d n ' t m i n d i t at a l l ,

I ' d e n j o y i t i n f a c t -

n o w I 've b e c o m e r a t h e r o v e r - s e l e c t i v e , ;

I s e e k the l o v e r w h o c a n a c c o m p l i s h t h i s e x a c t i n g act .

2

S a l o m e the I m m o r t a l h a s a l a b i n A r g e n t i n a

w h e r e she s e e k s to free w o m e n f rom the t y r a n n y of the M o o n ,

yet I f e a r that a l l th is M e n s t r u a l R e s e a r c h is a f r o n t ,

f o r m o n are seen to e n t e r S a l o m e ' s p r i v a t e r o o m . B e s i d e s ,

t h e y c o m e a n d go i n c y c l e s , l | k n e t e r n a l t i d e s .

309

SECTION TWO

Repudiat ion o f War and Vio lence

Denise Levertov Two V a r i a t i o n s D i l y s Laing Af ternoon Tea Kathleen Raine Mourning in S p r i n g , 1943 Ed i th S i t w e l l Di rge f o r the New Sunr ise Margaret Atwood I t is Dangerous t o Read Newspapers Adrienne Rich ., N igh t Watch

T ry ing t o Ta lk w i t h a Man 5 , 6 , 7 , from The Phenomenology of Anger

Joy Kogawa The Chicken K i l l i n g Edna S t . V incent Mi I lay Apostrophe t o Man Nan Braymer Five-day Requiem f o r Vietnam

310 | Denise Levertov

Two Variations

i Enquiry

You who go out on schedule to kill, do you know there are eyes that watch you, eyes whose lids you burned off, that see you eat your steak and buy your girlflesh and sell your PX goods and sleep? She is not old, she whose eyes know you. She will outlast you. She saw her five young children writhe and die; in that hour she began to watch you, she whose eyes are open forever.

ii The Seeing ! i

Hands over my eyes I see j blood and the little hones; or when u blanket covers the sockets I sec the weave; at night the glare softens but I have power now to see there is only gray on gray, the sleepers, the altar. 1 see the living and the dead; the dead are as if alive, the mouth of i my youngest son pulls my breast, hut there is no milk, he ' is a ghost; through his flesh I see the dying of those said to be alive, they eat rice and speak to me but I see dull death in them and while they speak I see myself on my mat, body and eyes, eyes that see a hand in the unclouded sky, a human hand, release , .

wet fire, the rairi that gave 1

my eyes their vigilance. !

D i I y s La i ng

A f t e r n o o n T e a

To MAI IC IUT ROSENSTOCK-IIUESSY

T h e d u s k y C h i n e s e l e a , tast ing of s h a d o w ,

hot f r o m the t h i n cups, comforts our d r y throats.

O u r thoughts arc a l l of war . W e speak o u r thoughts.

T h e w i n d o w opens on the s u n l i t m e a d o w .

T h e rusks ore sweet. O u r taste of t h e m is bitter.

O u r tongues are heavy w i t h a lost wor ld 's grief

as s t i l l w e pract ise , for a short w h i l e safe,

a lost w o r l d ' s r i te of tea a n d toast a n d butter .

A G e r m a n w o m a n a n d an E n g l i s h w o m a n

a n d a y o u n g Jewess i n a n e u t r a l l a n d -

freed of our flags, w e str ive to c o m p r e h e n d

the r u p t u r e of a w o r l d w e ldve h i c o m m o n .

T h e decorous r o o m w i t h sanity encloses

o u r bodies , b u t our o u t r a g e d thoughts are f led

to cit ies w h e r e our sisters, s c r e a m i n g m a d ,

h u n t for s m a l l corpses i n the w r e c k of houses.

312 Kathleen Raine

1 4 3 Mourning in Spring, 1 9 4 3 O y o u g i r l s , g i r l f r i e n d s , y o c w h o have a l s o l o v e d

T h e f e r t i l e gods O s i r i s , a n d A d o n i s

W h o s e warden Lis f l o w e r e d f o r c e n t u r i e s f r o m o u r b l o o d ,

T h o u g h l o v e was d i f ferent f o r each o f u s .

K n o w n o w , h e is d y i n g , o u r l o v e r , d y i n g a l l o v e r the w o r l d .

D y i n g a l l o v e r t h e w o r l d — h i s death w i l l s t a i n

T h e g r e e n fields c r i m s o n , e x t i n g u i s h the b r i g h t s o u t h ,

M a k e t h e n o r t h f r i g i d f o r e v e r , e m b i t t e r d i e o c e a n ,

M a k e t h e east t o t h e w e s t , h i s f u n e r a l b l a c k e n s the s u n ' s p a t h .

T h e s e w e r e o u r m e n , w h o s e d e s t i n y is t h e d e s e r t ,

A n d t h o s e w h o w e r e last seen s t r u g g l i n g i n t h e sea,

T h o u g h n o t f o r l o n g — t h e waves n o w have w a s h e d t h e m a w a y

A n d t h e i r cars a n d m o u t h s a n d hearts are m u t e d w i t h s a n d .

T h e s e w e r e o u r m e n — n o w nameless a m o n g d e a t h ' s m i l l i o n s ,

O u r s o n s , o u r d a r l i n g s that w e have c h e r i s h e d f r o m the w o r l d ' s c r e a t i o n ,

T h e s e w e r e the l o v e r s that w i p e d a l l tears f r o m o u r eyes,

A n d n o w o u r s t e r i l e w o m b s a n d b r o k e n h e a r t s

A r e t h e m e a s u r e o f w a r ' s d i s a s t e r , a n d l o v e ' s p r i c e .

313 E d i t h S i t w e l I

i D i r ^ c for the N e w Sunrise

(Fiftftn minuiti p:>si t'lohl o ' . \u> i , on tfit murr.ing uj AlanJay th< 6thi of .-iLyuil, l<!j$)

R o u n d to m y h e a r t as J x i o n to the w h e e l ,

N a i l e d t«> n i y h r i r t as t!ie"T!iicf u p o n the C r o s s ,

I h a n g b e t w e e n o u r C h r i s t a n d the g a p w h e r e the w o r l d w a s los t

A n d w a t c h the p h a n t o m S u n i n F a m i n e S t r e e t — -

T h e g h o s t o f the h e a r t o f m a n , . . r e d C a i n

A n d the m o r e m u r d e r o u s Strain

O f M a n , s t i l ! r e d d e r N e r o that c o n c e i v e d the d e a t h

O f his m o t h e r F a r t h , a n d t o r e

H e r w o m b , to k n o w the p l a c e w h e r e he w a s c o n c e i v e d .

R u t n o eyes g r i e v e d —

F o r n o n e w e r e l e f t f o r r e a r s :

T h e y .were b l i n d e d as the y e a r s

S i n c e C h r i s t w a s b o r n . M o t h e r o r M u r d e r e r , y o u h a v e g iven

' . o r t a k e n l i f e —

' N o w a i l is one !

T h e r e was a m o r n i n g when, the h o l y L i g h t

W a s y o u n g . . . . T h e b e a u t i f u l F i r s t C r e a t u r e c a m e

T o o u r w a t e r - s p r i n g s , a n d thought us w i t h o u t b l a m e .

O u r h e a r t s s e e m e d safe i n o u r b r e a s t s a n d s a n g to the L i g h t —

'] lie m a r r o w m the b o n e

W e d r e a m e d w a s sa fe . . , the b l o o d i n the v e i n s , the sap i n

the tree

W e r e s p r i n g s o f D e i t y .

R u t I s a w (lie l i t t l e A n t - m c n as they r a n

C a r r y i n g t h e w o r l d ' s wei-giu o f the w o r l d ' s f i l t h

A n d the f i l th in the h e a r t o f M a n —

C o m p r e s s e d t i l l t h o s e lusts a n d g r e e d s h a d a g r e a t e r h e a t -than

t h a t o f the S u n .

A n d the r a y f r o m t h a t heat c a m e sourvdless, s h o o k the s k y

A s i l i n s e a r c h l o r i o o d , a n d s i j u e c . / c u . t h c s t e m s

O f a i l that g r o w s o n the e a r t h t i l l t h e y w e r e d r y —

A n d d r a n k the m a r r o w o f the b o n e :

T h e eyes t h a t saw,-the h p s that k i s s e d , a r c g o n e —

O r b l a c k as t h u n d e r lie a n d g r i n at the m u r d e r e d S u n .

T h e l i v i n g b l i n d a n d s e e i n g D e a d t o g e t h e r i i c

A s i f i n l o v e . . . . T h e r e v.;as no m o r e h a t i n g t h e n ,

A n d n o m o r e l o v e : G o n e is the h e a r t ' o f M a n .

314 M a r g a r e t Atwood

Ic i s dangerous to read newspapers

V/hile I was building neat castles in the sandbox, the' hasty pits were f i l l i n g with bulldozed corpses

and as I 'walked Lo the school washed and combed, my feet stepping on the cracks in the cement detonated red bombs.

Now I am Igrownup and literate, and I sit in my chair

i

as quietly as a i r

fuse

and the jungles are flailing, the underbrush i s charged with soldiers, the names on che d i f f i c u l t maps go up in smoke.

I am the cause, I am a stockpile of chemical toys, my body i s a deadly gadget, I reach out in love, my hands are guns, my good intentions are completely lethal.

Even my passive eyes transmute everything I look at to the pocked black and white of a war photo, how can I stop myself

It i s dangerous to read newspapers.,

Each time I hit a key on my electric typewriter,. speaking! of peaceful trees

another -village-explodes.

315 Adrienne Rich

i

" N I G H T W A T C H j i

And now, outside, the walls of black flint, eyeless. t j How pale in sleep you lie. 1 I Love: my love is just a breath I i blown on the pane and dissolved. j Everything, even you, cries silently for help, the web j of the spider is ripped with rain, the geese fly on into the black cloud. What can I do for you? what can I do for you? Can the touch of a finger mend what d finger's touch has broken? Blue-eyed now, yellow-haired, I stand in my old nightmare beside the track, while you, and over and over and always you plod into the deathcars. Sometimes you smile at me and I— I smile back at you. How sweet the odor of the station-master's rosesl How pure, how poster-like the colors of this dream.

1967

316

Trying To Talk w i th a.-Narv Adrienne Rich

Out here i n t h i s desert We are" t e s t i n g bomb3,

that's why we came here.

Sometimes I f e c i an.underground r i v e r f o r c i n g i t s way be We en deformed c l i f f s an acute angle of understanding moving i t s e l f l i k e a locus of the sun i n t o t h i s condemned, scenery.

VThat we've had tt> give up to get here: whole LP c o l l e c t i o n s , f i l m s we starred i n p l a y i n g i n the neighborhoods,

bakery v/indovs f u l l of dry, c h o c o l a t e - f i l l e d Jewish cookies, the language of. l o v e - l e t t e r s , of

suicide notes, ; afternoons on the riverbank !

pretending to be c h i l d r e n

Coming out to t h i s desert we meant to change tho face of d r i v i n g among d u l l green succulents walking at noon i n the ghost to MI surrounded by a s i l e n c e

that bounds l i k e the s i l e n c e of t h * placo except t h a t . i t came with ua and Is f a m i l i a r and everything v/e were saying u n t i l now was an e f f o r t to bl o t i t out — Coming out here we are up against i t

Out here I f e e l more helpless v/ith you than 'without you You mention the danger and lir>t the equipment we t a l k of people c a r i n g for each other i n emergencies — l a c e r a t i o n , t h i r s t . — but you look at me l i k e an emergency

i

Your dry heat f e e l s l i k e power ! your eyes are stars of a d i f f e r e n t -magnitude • they r e f l e c t l i g h t s that s p e l l out: ; EXIT when you get up and pace the f l o o r

t a l k i n g of the danger ar i f i t v:ere not ourselves i as i f v.e were t e s t i n g anything else'.

http://that.it

317 Adrienne Rich

5. Madness. Suicide. Murder .

Is there no way out but these?

The enemy, always just out of sight

snowshceing the next forest, shrouded

in a snowy blur, abominable snowman

— a t once the most destructive

and the most elusive being

gunning down the babies at M y La i

vanishing in the face of confrontat ion.

The prince of air and darkness

computing body counts, masturbating

in the factory

of facts.

6. Fantasies of murder: not enough:

to ki l l is to cut off from pain

but the killer goes on hurting

Not enough. When T e'renni of meeting

the enemy, {his is my dream:

white acetylene

ripples from my body

effortlessly released

perfectly trained

on the true enemy

raking his body down to the thread

of existence

burning away his lie

leaving him in a new

. work! ; a changed

man

7. I suddenly see the world

as no longer viable:

you are out there burning the crops

w i th some new sublimate

This morning you left the bed

we stil l share

and went out to spread impotence

upon the wor ld •

I hate you.

I hate the mask you wear, your eyes

assuming a depth

thev do not possess, drawina me

into the grotto of your skull

the landscape of bone .

I hate your words

they make me think of fake

revolutionary bills

crisp imitation parchment

they sell at battlefields.

Last night, in this room, weeping

I asked vou: what are you feeling? do you feci'liny;'.hing?

N o w in the torsion of your body

as you defoliate the fields we l ived f rom

I have your answer.

318 Joy Kogawa

THE CHICKEN KILLING

Walking along the dusty country lane Along drying rice propped in lines like soldiers on parade And blue pantalonned people in the distance pantomiming Two men standing, three crouched in ritual stance Sweat cloths around foreheads, open undershirts, black cloth boots One with knife, one grinning toothless — Plump white chicken held feet first flutters while blood Drips from the slit in its neck Conveniently draining its veins as it struggles Then flung aside, dies, leaping through the air — I walk past down the trembling road Tasting the sound of dusty feet and Feeling on my neck the slight saltiness of a question — I am dangling feet first from the sky — Perhaps if I do not struggle —. •

319 Edna S t . V incent Mi

Apostrophe to Man

(on reflecting that the world is ready to go to war ag.-ii;t)

Detestable race, continue to expunge yourself, die out.

Breed faster, crowd, encroach, sing hymns, build bombing air

planes;

Make speeches, unveil statues, issue bonds, parade;

Convert again into explosives the bewildered ammonia and the

distracted cellulose;

Convert again into putrescent matter drawing flies

The hopeful bodies of the young; exhort,

Pray, pull long faces, be earnest, be all but overcome, be photo

graphed;

Confer, perfect your formulae, commercialize

Bacteria harmful to human tissue,

Put death on the market;

Breed, crowd, encroach, expand, expunge yourself, die out,

Homo called sapiens.

320 Nan Braymer

N A N B R A Y M E R

Five-Day Requiem for Vietnam

Monday: The Voice again,

same hollow tones, same pitch, tabulating death like basebal! scores: one hundred gassed in tunnel, eighty bagged— the ghastly figures of the new arithmetic, the body count by ghouls.

Tuesday: W h o made them crawl i c mud, who taught them murder, who sent them to die or even worse to live legless or blind or just remembering gutted corpses, spilled brains, bleeding sockets, armless children, breastless mothers? — A n d what would Jesus say?

Wednesday: What must we do before you hear us? W e march, teach, write, sing our anger, paint banners i n our blood, burn up cards that bid us to the slaughter, and in the ultimate scream ignite our flesh. What must wc do?

Thursday: A g a i n and once again the master pulls the strings, demands consensus, and the puppets dance, I tremble for my country that we must walk with downcast heads,

ashamed. A n d what wil l history teU of us who let such monstrous things go on?

Friday: 1 who am not at home with prayer find myself muttering L o r d , strike them dead! let the betrayed not go unavenged forever! Spain, Guatemala, Santo Domingo, V i e t n a m -how many other stations of the cross?

321

SECTION THREE

Anger Aga ins t Male Presumption and Oppression

Dorothy Livesay The Taming P.K. Page P o r t r a i t of Marina D i l y s Laing . Pius Thought S tev ie Smith How Cruel i s the Story of Eve Denise Levertov The Mutes Pat Lowther Baby you t e l I me Sharon Stevenson F i r s t I n c i s i o n

Lover ' s Anatomy ] 4 & 3/4 Months

Lynne Lawner. In your Arrogance Tongue of Cr i sp Oleander

Margaret Atwood from Power P o l i t i c s , p. 7 Joyce Carol Oates Pain

322 Dorothy Livssay

T H E TAMING

Be woman. Yon did say mc, be woman. I did not know the measure of the words

until a black man as I prepared him chicken made mc listen: —No, dammit. Not so much salt. Do what I say, woman: just that and nothing more.

Be woman. I did not know the measure of the words until that night when you denied me darkness, even the right to turn in my own light.

Do as 1 say, I heard you faintly over me fainting: be woman.-

323 P. K. Page

Portrait o f Marina

Far cv: the sea has never moved. It is Prussian forever, rough as teazled wool some antique skipper worked into a frame to bear his lost four-master.

Where it hangs now in a sunny parlour, none recalls how all his stitches, interspersed w i th oaths had made his one pale spinster daughter grow transparent w i th migraines — and how his call fretted her more than waves.

Her name Marina, for his youthfu l wish — boomed at the font of that small salty church where sailors lurched l ike drunkards, v/ould, he felt make her a water woman, rich w i th bells. T o her the name Mar ina simply meant he held his furious needle for her th in fingers to thread again wi th more blue wool to sew the ocean of his memory. N o w , where the piccure hangs, a dimity young inland housewife w i th inherited clocks under bells and ostrich eggs on shelves pours amber tea in small rice china cups and reconstructs . how great-great-grandpapa at ninety-three his fingers knotted w i th arthritis, his old eyes grown agatey w i th cataracts became as docile as a child arrain — that fearful salty man — and sat, wrapped round in faded paisley shawls gently embroidering.

W h i l e Aun t Mar ina in grey worsted, warped wi thout a smack of salt, came to his call the sole survivor of his last shipwreck.

*• * *

3 2 4

Slightly oil shore it glints. Each wave is capped with broken mirrors. Like Marina's head the glinting of these waves. She walked forever antlcred with migraines her pain forever putting forth new shoots • until her strange unlovely head became a kind of candelabra — delicate^— where :;11 her tears were perilously hung and caught the light as waves that catch the sun. The salt upon the panes, the grains of sand that crunched beneath her heel her father's voice, "Marina!"—all these broke her trembling edifice. The needle shook like ice between her fingers. In her head

too many mirrors dizzied her and broke.

# * #

But where the wave breaks, where it rises green turns into gelatine, becomes a glass simply for seeing stones through, runs across the coloured shells and pebbles of the shore and makes an aspic of them then sucks back in foam and undertow — this aspect of the sea Marina never knew. For her the sea was Father's Fearful Sea harsh with sea.serpents winds and drowning men. For her it held no spiral of a shell for her descent to dreams, it held no bells. And where it moved in shallows it was more imminently a danger, more alive than where it lay oft shore full fathom five.

325 Di ' lys Laing

P i u s Thought

"No one can say woman is inferior . . . never

theless wives must submit themselves to

their husbands as the Church does to

Christ."~Pope Pius X I I , UP, Oct. 2, 1957.

Woman—said the twelf th of his name piously

(and his fiat ringed the earth)

was by God created equal w i th man

in dignity and worth.

Nevertheless—said he—the Convert preaches

that woman must be humble arid mute

and lay her down under the burden of man

and be his brute. ,

326 S t e v i e Smith

Hozv Cruel is the Story of Eve

How cruel is the story of Eve What responsibility It has in history For cruelty.

Touch, where the feeling is most vulnerable, Unblameworth.y—ah reckless—desiring children, Touch there with a touch of pain? Abominable.

Ah what cruelty, In history What misery.

Put up to barter The tender feelings Buy her a husband to rule her Fool her to marry a master She must or rue it The Lord said it.

And man, poor man, Is he fit to rule, Pushed to it? How can he carry it, the governance, And not suffer for it Insuflisnnce? He must, make woman lower then So he can be higher then.

Oh what cruelty, In history what misery.

Soon woman grows cunning Masks her wisdom, How otherwise will he Prinr food and shelter, kill enemies? If he did not feci superior It would be worse for her And for the tender children Worse for them.

327

Oh what cruelty,

In history what misery

Of falsity.

It is only a legend

Y o u say? But what

Is the meaning of the legend

If not

T o give blame to women most

A n d most punishment?

Th is is the meaning of a legend that colours

A l l human thought ; i t is not found among animals.

H o w cruel is the story of Eve,

W h a t responsibil i ty i t has

In history

For misery.

Y e t there is this to be said s t i l l :

L i fe would be over. long ago

I f men and women had not loved each other

Natura l ly , natural ly,

Forget t ing their mythology

They would have died of it else

L o n g ago, long ago,

And all would be emptiness now

And silence.

Oh dread Nature, for your purpose,

T o have made them love so.

The Mutes

328 Those groans men use passing a woman on the street Or on the steps of the subway

to tell her she is a female and their flesh knows it,

are they a sort of tune, an ugly enough song, sung by a bird with a slit tongue

but meant for music?

Denise Lever tov

Or are they the muffled roaring of deafmutes trapped in a building that is slowly filling with smoke?

Perhaps both.

Such men most often look as if groan were all they could do, yet a woman, in spite of herself,

knows it's a tribute: if she were lacking all grace they'd pass her in d'ence:

so it's not only to say she's a warm hole. It's a word

in grief-language, nothing to do with primitive, not an ur-l.mguagc; language stricken, sickened, cast down

in decrepitude. She wants to throw tlu; tribute away, disgusted, and can't,

it goes on buzzing in her ear, it changes the pace of her walk, the. torn posters iu echoing corridors

spell it out, it quakes and gnashes as the train comes in. Her pulse sullenly

had picked up speed, but the cars slow down and jar to a stop while her understanding

keeps on translating: 'Life after life after life goes by

without poetry, without secmliness, without love.'

3 2 9 Pat Lowther

Baby You Tell Mc

Baby you tell me to grow teeth in my cranium and crunch down on the gristliest parts of my brain so as to make me more digestible

1 say there are diners enough with dear, sharp extensions of their fingernails manufactured for the purpose with clubs ready to strike at the pulse of a hidden fontanel (everybody's got a soft spot) and teeth filed to approximate perfection. 1 won't do your dirty work for you.

Anybody's going to eat me he's going to know he's had a meal.

330 Sharon Stevenson

FIRST INCISION

Y o u were ou t count ing speakers in women's breasts checking them, you said, for tun ing

&: constant music to suit

the mood

They were all so much more pleasant

than I that when you came home you tried to insert a speaker in m y left breast w i t h a head set for marx ism, l i terature, music

I screamed &: sirutiirlcd you were comfor t ing as the kni fe struck the first incision said it was all for fun &

good vibes

331 4 & 3/4 MONTHS Sharon Stevenson

You wonder why 1 don't, trust you

finally perceiving it after 4 & 37.4'•ro(Whs

you say it with, wonder

I'm tint trying to justify this hut just remember

just recali the open hands

1 wore

&: the harshness of your voice

as you wondered again &: again

why my love couldn't build cocoons

for your plans to nest in

LOVERS' ANATOMY

Y o u think rac your own curl ing eyelash that fol lows every crisp o f thought every turn o f body

1, in turn. ' see you as my toenail useful/necessary to be clipped i f painful

332 Lynne Lawner

IN YOUR ARROGANCE

""lx>u think diat when a woman yields

Y o u own at least what you, harrowing, hurt.

But you cannot use my healing heart,

Though pared to. a sickle, to cut down

W h a t goidness grew when you were gone:

T h i s is not your harvest, these are not your fields!

"TONGUE OF CRISP" OLEANDER"

TONGUE ot crisp oleander, bole of green plane —

M y mouth has never done anything but reach to

wards your pink tendrils,

M y thighs but open peacefully to your grenade-hard

seed.

Y o u move through me as rifle-fire,

N o recognizing rain,

Engendering destiny, desperation . . .

But we never touch.

333 Margaret Atwood

M y beautiful wooden leader wi th your heartful of medals made of wood, fixing it each time so you almost w in ,

you long to be bandaged before you have been cut. M y love for you is the love of one statue for another: tensed

and static. General, you enlist m y body in your heroic struggle to become real: though you promise bronze rescues

you hold me by the left ankle so that my head brushes the ground, my eyes are blinded, my hair fills wi th white ribbons.

There arc hordes of mc now, alike and paralyzed, wc follow you scattering floral tributes under your hooves.

Magnificent on your wooden horse you point w i th your fringed hand; the sun sets, and the people all ride off in the other direction.

m. PAIN 334 Joyce Carol Oates

Conversational pity urged me on and gave me funds. Your intimacy was false

like garments 'flutig down to music-

Learn to smoke before a mirror, you said:

Get rid of corny gestures. I think, 7 know,

/ want, you said Pain once felt is felt always.

Never mind the limbs wrapped about one another, stirred of themselves, muscles timed and prethought. Never mind half-lies.

But where are true sins? Not in pain but in song? The tinkle of knives is true, my friend, and we who pass through here die

and rise and live pinkly again, buttoning .

dresses that look familiar,

powdering cheeks, forehead, sweaty nose-

One abortion is pretty much like another. It is

the mind that holds them, events crashing through

time, through years. A mind like glue. No anesthetic

is totally vomited away. Symbols rise about me,

tonight. Words. Now no symbols but things, heavy

tables rooted to floors, very safe-

Doors never open by themselves, no police,

windows look to no future, and mirrors have

not much to say. Symbols? What are symbols,

what are your words? Tftink,,you said, can't you think? Think. Now I think but not of you and not of men, surgeons with perpetual knives,

I think of my song only which is a song of hate ill with sins of no fever, no belief, only prepared dirge of scooped-out babies prepared—

A woman, 1 think of no symbols, recall none, have no thoughts, feci pain. Symbols belong to men. There arc no symbols, there is only pain.

335

SECTION FOUR

Love, Romance and Sex

Adrienne Rich Two Songs Lynne Lawner . Possession Joan Finnegan . A Woman in Love i s a l l t h e Trees Anne Sexton Dec. 11th Dorothy Livesay The Skin of Time Anne Sexton Song f o r a Lady Margaret Avison The Word Babette Deutsch Dogma Edna S t . V incent Mi I lay Sonnet x i i

Aubade Evening on Lesbos What Savage Blossom

Amy Lowell Madonna of the Evening Flowers Joyce Carol Oates Van i ty Susan Musgrave Once More Sharon Stevenson Flower Song Carolyn K izer Epi tha lamion

336 * TWO SONGS Adr ienne Rich

1 .

Sex, as they harshly call it, I fell into tin's morning at ten o'clock, a drizzling hour of traffic and wet newspapers. I thought of him who yesterday clearly didn't turn me to a 'not field ready for plowing, and longing for that young man pierced nic to the roots bathing every vein, etc. All day he appears to me touchingly desirable, a prize one could wreck one's peace for. I'd call it love if love didn't take so many years but lust too is a jewel a sweet flower and what pure happiness to know all our high-toned questions breed in a lively animal.

2.

That "old last act"! And yet sometimes all seems post coitum tristc and I a mere bystander.' Somebody else is going off, getting shot to the moon. Or, a rnoon-rr.ee! Split seconds after my opposite number lands I make i t — wclic fainting together at a cratcr-cdgc heavy as mercury in our rnoonsuits till he speaks— in a different Limjuage yet one I've picked up through cultural exchanges . . . we murmur the first moor.words: Spr.sibo. Thanks. O.K.

1964

http://rnoon-rr.ee

337 Lynne Lawner

P O S S E S S I O N

EACH t i m e his w i l l abdicated,

T h e u n d i s p u t e d acreage

O f w h a t He o w n e d of m e

G r e w ,

A n d mere b l o n d hair rose shocks of corn

T o his electric gaze.

Sof t shifts i n sleep

S c as not to w a k e m e w i t h the rudeness

O f his restless d r e a m i n g of m e to ld m e

W h a t d i d I w a n t more t h a n his s a y i n g ,

" L e t m e do w h a t y o u w a n t " ?

O f t e n at d a w n I f o u n d h i m

Poised leanly above m e ,

Jealous of l i g h t a n d of sea air,

N o t d a r i n g to t o u c h .

. A n d al l that t i m e a b o d y

W a s s i g n i n g away lands, stocks, estates,

T o t u r n over to h i m ,

O v e r a n d over.

I 'd come a l o n g w a y for someone scared to trust.

338 Joan Finnegan

a woman in love is all the trees

A woman in love is all the trees o f an orchard d runk on the rin rose o f A p r i l : the summer dusk of cities, warm, murmur ing under the heavy close gardenias o f the sky

and she is all the valley turning green

her smile is the original Mona Lisa. She blushes when she remembers her lover's hand. Her f lesh, having been set fire to in the night, burns all day long down into the low bushes of her bones.

she is all pride and perfume and depth o f voice and moves naked in her clothes as though, she heard music perpetual ly

down the gay and sunny streets o f the tourist t o w n , her passage through Parry Sound, his name on her lips, makes all the holidaycrs seem like mourners in the meadows o f Ker ry

envying, sensing, remembering

they fo l low her w i t h their eyes

a w o m a n in love is all recept ion; w i thou t stretching she may put her arms around the earth,. She is an accordion o f dreams

and under her lowered lashes she plans her next enchantment, composes lullabies

when she sings at her dresser before a meet ing graves open and death listens in the cemeteries

half-hoping

339 Anne Sexton

December nth .

Then I think of you in bed, your tongue half chocolate, half ocean, of the houses that you swing into, of the steel wool hair on your head, of your persistent hands 2nd then how we gnaw at the barrier because we are two.

How you come and take my blood cup and link me together and take my brine. Wc are bare. We are stripped to the bone and we swim in tandem and go up and up the river, the identical river called Mine and we enter together. No one's alone.

3 4 0 .

Dorothy L ivesay

T H E SKIN OF T I M E

I The tawny corridor—your eyes— I tread unwarily; and yet Dashed v.-Uh surprise: We are suddenly met.

We face a sudden pause From wordy tangle (Clashed in a show of claws, Playing jungle).

I had not noticed how you stood Ungrown, ungainly, drooped: Your narrow fingers loped along. Gesticulated, groped . . .

Ideas shook you, but your tongue Lagged centuries behind: Still was I unaware, and flung Your images from mind.

Until that corridor of light, A corner turned—your eyes! I soar on, singing; tunnelled flight-Stunned with this joy, this prize.

II

Across a generation Caught The eye exchanges truth My skipping-rope comes out My heart Plays hopscotch with your youth.

What help is there, this side? How can I cry to age: Deepen my wrinkles, Smooth out love's fierce rage?

How can I cry, when I. Feel timeless, ageless, high As heaven's hemisphere? How can I cease to live Borne by your breath, my dear?

341

. I l l

0 case ;:-.c f rom this fever and this fol ly Stop wi th a word the swirl ing carousel: Shri l l tune and shrieking images Confuse me as I wh i r l .

A n d f rom this joy release me, from this high Excitement k i t ing n i c through air: The wor ld kaleidcscoping falls away As, fanned by you, I fly.

Break, break the guiding ropes, the taut Intensity of thought to thought— 1 cannot soar forever at your w i l l , No r flutter down whenever you are sti l i .

I V

T h e inner and the outer room Of my lord's wor ld I pace There is no antidote to bliss W i t h i n , unless a bliss outblown.

Ongoing, I outstretch the air So high my greening grows M y hands are stems, my blood the life Teeming along these boughs.

But inward, inward stem the storm Spread fire on these walls: T h e image of the waking wood Sustains the body's fal l .

342

V

Though I be desperate, I dare No tyrahny.of power; The democratic act Is second nature now.

My first wild will is curbed Not from commonsense: Because a sea of hands around Votes in my innocence.

I cannot choose the way Of loving you, alone; The conclave of my memories Keeps my allegiance home.

VI

"Accept with grace" was ever the aim-Consummation is otherwise: To have a habitation and a name And time to dust the dark behind the

The simpler man can pass, Move into mystery, unbound: . Let drop the pipe and glass Held in the too-fast hand.

You, aging, face your dark Living to yesterday; Relinquishing the spark. Intent on keeping gay.

But I, midway between See in the wrinkle's seam The stitch that shrouds me from A wider room:

Persistent certainty Thai leaping from world's rim, a boy Youth circumnavigating light "Would fire rnc to full joy.

Last spring he came; and I Stood helpless by: Masked in the skin of time, The stuttering tongue of rhyme.

343 Anne Sextcn

SONG FOR .\ L \ D Y

On the i.iav of bursts and 5n1.1l] hips

the window pocked with h id min,

rain coininfj, on like .1 minister,

we coupled, .vo sane and insane.

W c hv like spoons while the sinister

rain dropped like flies on our lips

and our gl.id c\es and our small hips.

"The room is so cold with rain,'" yon said

and you, fuuminc you, with uun flower

said noveiias to my ankles and elbows.

You are a national product and power.

Oh my swan, my drudge, mv dear wooly n

even a notarv would notarize our bed

as you knead m e and I rise like bread.

http://5n1.1l

344 Margaret Avison

The Word

"Forfaiting ail"—You mean •'. head over heels, for good, for ever, call o£ the depths of the A l l— the heart of one who creates all, at every moment, newly—for you do so—and to me, far fallen in the ashheaps cf my false-making, burnt-out self and in the hosed-down rubble or what my furors gutted, or sooted all around me—you implore me to so fall i n Love, and fall anew in ever-new depths of skywashed Love t i l l every capillary of your universe throbs with your rivering fire?

"Forsaking all"—Your voice never falters, and yet, unsealing day out of a darkness none ever knew i n ful l but you, you spoke that word, closing on it forever: "Why hast Thou forsaken . . . ?"

This measure of your being all-out, and meaning it, made you put it all on the line we, humanly, wanted to draw—at having you teacher only, or popular spokesman only, or doctor or simply a source of sanity for us, distracted, or only the one who could wholeheartedly rejoice with us, and know our tears, our nickering time, and stand with us.

But to make it head over heels yielding, all the way, you had to die for us. The line we drew, you crossed, and cross out, wholly forget, at the faintest stirring of what you know is love, is One whose name has been, and is and wi l l be, the JAM.

345 Babette Deutsch

D O G M A

Love is not true: mathematicians know Truth, that's alive in heaven, and in the mind-Out of our bodies; you will never find Love strict as number, and enduring so. It is not free: alone the grave's narrower Than the little space in which this passion moves, With a door that opens inward: he who loves Measures his paces like a prisoner.

They who give it large names are liars, or They are fools. More softly, you and I , Slow to assert what we can never prove, Wonder what algebraist, what dictator Can teach us much of truth or tyranny.. Look at me. Do not speak. But this is love.

3 4 6

Edna S t . V incent Mi I lay

xii

I, being born a woman and distressed

By all the needs and notions o f my kind,

A m .urged by your propinquity to find

Your person fair, and feel a certain zest

T o bear your body's weight upon my breast:

So subtly is the fume of life designed,

T o clarify the pulse and cloud the mind,

A n d leave me once again undone, possessed.

Think not for this, however, the poor treason .

O f my stout blood against my staggering brain,

I shall remember you with-love, or season

M y scorn with pity ,—let me make it plain:

I find this frenzy insufficient reason

For conversation when we meet again.

347 Edna S t . V incent Mi I lay

Aubade

C o o l and beautiful as the blossom o f the wi ld carrot

W i d i its crimson central eye,

Round and beautiful as the globe of the onion blossom

Were her pale breasts whereon I laid me down to die.

From the wound of my enemy that thrust me through in the

dark wood

I arose; with sweat on my lip and the wild woodgrasses i n my

spur

I arose and stood. '

But never did I arise from loving her.

348 Edna S t . V incent Mi I

.Evening on Lesbos

Twice having seen vour shingled heads adorable O J

Side by side, the onyx and the gold, I know that I have had what I could not hold.

Twice have I entered the room, not knowing she was here.

Two agate eyes, two- eyes o f malachite,

Twice have been turned upon me, hard and bright.

Whereby I know my loss.

. O h , not restorable

Sweet incense, mounting in the windless night!

349

Edna S t . V incent Mi I lay

What Savage Blossom

D o I not know what savage blossom only under the pitting hail

O f your inclement climate could have prospered? Here lie

v Green leaves to wade in, and o f the many roads not one road

leading outward from this place

But is blocked by boughs that w i l l hiss and simmer when the

burn—green autumn, lady, green autumn on this land.'

D o I not know what inward pressure only could inflate its petals to withstand

( N o , no, not hate, not hate) the onslaught o f a little time with you 7

N o , no, not love, not love. Call ic by

N o w that it's over, now that k is gone and cannot hear us. name,

It was an honest thing. N o t noble. Yet no sh ame.

350 Amy Lowe I I

MADONNA OF T H E EVENING FLOWERS A l l day long 1 have been working, Now 1 am tired. I call: "Where are you?" But there is only the oak tree rustling in the wind. The house is very quiet, The sun shines in on your books, On your scissors and thimble hist put down, Bui you are not there. Suddenly I am lonely: Where arc you? I a b o u t i t j i t h i n j ; .

T l u n I see y o u ,

Standing under n spire of pale blue larkspur, With a "basket of roses on your G r in .

You are cool, like silver, And you smile.

J think the Canterbury bells arc playing little tunes, You tell me that the peonies need spraying, That the columbines have overrun all bounds, That the pyrus japonica should be cut back and rounded. You tell me these thing'. But I look at you, heart of silver, White hcartflnme of polished silver, Burning beneath the blue steeples of the larkspur, And I long to kneel instantly at your feet, "While all about us peal the loud, sweet Te Dcums of the Canterbury bells.

351 Joyce Carol Oates

Vanity

H a r d as strangulat ion are the decrees

of the beloved and remote.

Across this distance songs cry,

composed for distance.

T h e beloved is a cage

you cannot enter.

Others enter cheaply.

Never can you stroke the faces of

the near in to the face of that

beloved. No medicine w i l l

d rug you No faked photographs

wi l l r,ved ysu in embrace.

Jf you lie at n ight w i th someone

i t is always someone else.

T h e distance between you fills

slowly w i th t ime and snow.

Years are field grass wh in ing .

Even in dreams the beloved is

n imb le of foot and vain

and immor ta l .

352 Susan Musgrave

O N C E M O R E

Wc sit at the river you, drunk already, and I

your days feed. Everything that I didn't want to know about you you told mc in the first five minutes we were alone. After that there was nothing more worth mentioning.

You arc almost too grim. You are only a madman in all the spaces I can't fill. Try singleness for awhile. Try forgetting about the purpose of everything — nothing ever happens; diversity boils down to" this.

Somehow my body will survive. Though not for long. I toss you random pieces from my thigh, fingernail parings, a section of hair. I could last. What might vanish is the offering I never made.

353 Sharon Stevenson

Fl.OUT.R SONG

f rom out here at the end of your

arms that far removed

f rom your centre &: having a centre o f my own

il lakes a while to see

the folding up of the white narcissus

you call love

at first I thought it a lilac

smelling so garish

for joy-

now petal after petal

turns b l o w n moves away in careless death

do not seek to know your love y o u th ink as wc u ateh

your whi te narcissus fo ld lo its centre'

f rom out here at arm's length I see how the petals

begin lo {ionic

on each other

354 Caro lyn K i ze r

E P I T H A L A M I O N

You left inc gasping on the shore, A fabulous'fish, all gill And gilded scales. Such sighs we swore! As our mirror selves Slipped hack to sea, unsundeiing, bumped gently there, The room a bay, and we, Afloat on lapping, gazes laving, Glistered in its spume.

And all cerulean With small, speeding clouds: the ceiling, Lights beyond eyelids. So you reeled in me, Reeling.

Our touch was puffed and cloudy now, As if the most impaled and passionate thought Was tentative in (lesh. This frail Smile seemed, in our bodies' wash, Like a rock-light at sea, glimmering With all the strength of singleness in space.

Still, you will not turn aside, Your face fallow, eyes touching. So 1 cling to your tendrils of hair, Our two tides turning Together: towards and away "With the moon, motionless and sailing.

O my only unleaving lover, Even in expiring, you teach again. Thus we mav rest, safe in this scaling As beached, we lie, Our hulks whitening, sun scaling.

355

While the snnll sea-foam dries. And the sea ierodes and the beach accedes, Our bodies piled like casual timber Sanded, on this pure, solar lift of hour, Wreathed in our breathing.

We will exceed ourselves again: Put out in storms, and pitch our wave on waves. My sotd, you will anticipate my shouting as you rise Above me to the lunar turn of us, As skies crack stars upon our symmetries, Extinguished as they touch this smoky night, And we exhale again our fume of bliss.

This.is my shallow rocking to Orion: Curling to touch the seaweed at your side. Wrap my mermaid hair about your wrists And seal my face upon your resinous eyes.

Foundered on fumy wastes, wc rest Ti l l dawn, a gilded layer, lies Across the pallid sky. The voiId's a tinted shell borne up where waves embrace. Its thin, convolving valve will close and clasp This love, so blessed: Our sea-life, swooning as it swims, to reach Tentacular and cleaving arms that touch A milky flank, a drowned, reviving face.

356

SECTION FIVE

Motherhood and Marr iage

Mona Van Duyn Leda Anna Wickham The Wife

Divorce Margaret Atwood H a b i t a t i o n Joyce Carol Oates A Marr ied Woman's Song Denise Levertov The Wife S y l v i a P l a t h The Appl i can t Babette Deutsch Marr iage

Gwen Harwood In t he Park

Gwendolyn Brooks The Ch i l d ren o f the Poor Adrienne Rich Night P ieces : For a C h i l d Lor i Whitehead Mother S ing ing Babette Deutsch To My Son Sharon Stevenson I n d u s t r i a l Chi ldhood E l i n o r WyIie Sonnet # x i i Diane Wakoski Wind Secrets

Anne Sexton Unknown G i r l in t he M a t e r n i t y Ward Sandra McPherson Evolv ing an I n s t i n c t

3 5 7

Mona Van Duyn

LEDA

"Did she put on bit knowledge v.th his pov<r

Before the indifferent beak could let bet drop?'

N o t even for a moment. H e knew, for one thing, what he was.

W h e n he saw the swan in her eyes he could let her drop.

In the first look of love men find their great disguise,

and collecting these rare pictures of himself was his life.

H e r body became the consequence of his juice,

while her mind closed on a bird and went to sleep.

Later, with the children in school, she opened her eyes

and saw her own openness, and felt relief.

In men's stories her life ended with his loss.

She stiffened under the storm of his wings to a glassy shape,

stricken and mysterious and immortal. But the fact is,

she was not, for such an ending, abstract enough.

She tried for a while to understand what it was

that had happened, and then decided to let it drop.

She married a smaller man with a beaky nose,

and melted away in the storm of everyday life.

358

Anna Wickham

The Wife

I have no rest, I am a guest at best, I can be driven from the house, Like bat or mouse, I f I please not the house's lord, For bed and board.

I spend ray days In d u l l sequestered ways, Without right to praise. My brain dies For want of exercise, I dare not speak, For I ara weak.

'Twere better for my man and me, If I were free, Not to be done by, but to be. But I am tied, Free movement i s denied. I ara a man's wife, For a l l nry l i f e i

359

Anna Wickham

Divorce

A voice from the dark i s calling me. In the close house I nurse a f i r e . Out in the dark cold winds rush free, To the rock heights of my desire. I smother i n the house i n the valley below Let me out to the night, l e t me go, l e t me

Spirits that ride the sweeping blast. Frozen i n r i g i d tenderness, Wait1, for I leave the f i r e at last My l i t t l e - l o v e ' s warm loneliness. I smother i n the house i n the valley below, Let me out to the night, l e t me go, l e t me go.

High on the h i l l s are beatinr, drums. Clear from a line of marching men To the rock's edge the hero comes He ca l l s me, ar.u he calls again. Out on the h i l l there i s fighting, victory or quick death, In the house i s o h e f i r e , which I fan with sick breath. I smother i n the house in the valley below, Let me out to the dark, l e t ne go, l e t me go.

360

Margaret Atwood

Habitation

Marriage i s not even a house or a tent

i t is before that, and colder:

the edge of the f o r e s t , the edge o f the desert

the unpairited s t a i r s a t the back where we squat-outside, eating popcorn

the edge o f the receding g l a c i e r

where p a i n f u l l y and with wonder a t having survived even t h i s f a r

we are l e a r n i n g to .Take f i r e

361

Joyce Carol Oates II. A MARRIED WOMAN'S SONG

Like quaint carved figures in a weather clock we take turns with the air.

Once awash with love's clamorous (lock Of whispers, and exhausted in

our private lair Now we make faces and excuses We exit privately and walk Slowly, endlessly around the block. Husband and wife, there's some terrible

mistake we must bear.

The other year my lungs were strong and fiercely cried for any prize.

My hull was featureless and long-Legged, supple, sleek and muscled

and my eyes were wise. Now I'm stuck with a bemused body. I thought I could shovel out The debris of this flat, and civilize This man. I thought a lot.

It's vats of garbage I've got

To get rid of, maybe dump surreptitiously in someone's unwatched lot.

I need help. Marriage auspiciously Drapes you in white, and then

rapes you with hung Bodies of broken birds. A dot. Marks the spot of incision. The law makes no provision For bodies of previous wives

this common husband has brought

Me in sleep, like flowers of cartoon husbands, sheepish and staid.

Begin in joy and soon Measured by tedious changes of weather

blockade of words made T o drive against what cannot change. My love, it's not your tirade Against life that wearies me It's not your failure that buries me,

young lungs sobbing, paid

In full f o r t a k i n g a n o t h e r w i l e ' s man. I n s t e a d i t ' s my o w n s u r p r i s e .

I never t h o u g h t I ' d d i s b a n d

M y y o u t h so y o u n g , r e c o v e r t i cs

with dead c a n c e r o u s k in, A n d i m a g i n e c h i l d h o o d a l a n d

A c r o s s a r i v e r . It 's j u s t sad.

G r e e n h o u s e b a b i e s are n e v e r y o u n g

But t o a d s t o o l w h i t e f r o m i n o c c u p a t i o n

I 'm o n e m o r e w o m a n y o u c a n a d d

T o t h e b o n e s i n y o u r b o d y ' s secret f o u n d a t i o n ,

O A m e r i c a n m a n , s e c o n d - g e n e r a t i o n

F r o m h o m e a n d l i v e l i e r m c m o r i e s l You g i v e

E x c u s e s f o r l i v i n g , y o u h a v e n o t i m e .

O n e n i g h t I v e r y w e l l m i g h t

H a v e k i l l e d f o r y o u , b u t n o w t h a t fight

Is o v e r . I w o n . I n y o u r p a n t o m i m e

O f a l i f e a r e fossils t h a t w e

M u s t r e s u r r e c t . O r n o t ? Is i t p o s s i b l e

you' l l m o v e o n , y o u ' l l n e v e r see

W h a t v i o l e n c e w e ' v e d o n e , y o u a n d me?

W h a t s o m n a m b u l i s t s ' r a i d

O u r d r o w s y l o v e a c h i e v e d , w i t h o u t a i d

O f b r a i n o r w i l l ? I c a n n o t f i n d t h e k e y

to the b a c k d o o r o f th is w r e c k .

I f I stay h o m e y o u ' l l g o o u t , y o u ' l l w a l k .

I ' l l a m u s e m y s e l f w i t h t h e d e b r i s

O f t w o l o v e s — n o , t h r e e —

I f o n l y w e c o u l d t a l k -

g i v i n g i n w o u l d b e a v i c t o r y .

S o m e o n e h a n d e d m e a m o p a n d s a i d

" C l e a n t h i n g s u p , fast ."

M y f a m i l y has s o m e m o n e y , is vast

A n d t i r e s o m e w i t h l o v e ; y o u r f a m i l y i s —

k e e p i n g c l e a r .

H a v e y o u a n y f a m i l y ? T h e y ' v e l e d

T o a l l o f this? A r a f t o f ch i f l i n g

F a t e , a s h r u g o f s h o u l d e r s , a b e d

T o o r u m p l e d for use? W c a r c m a r r i e d

A n d w i t h t h i s r i n g

W r a p p e d i n o u r e m b r a c e a n d b u r i e d

I n a w a t e r y g r a v e , w e w o u l d still be m a r r i e d ,

A l l y o u r w o m e n a n d y o u a n d m e .

363 Denise Levertov

• T H E WtFE

A frog under jrou, knees drawn up ready to leap out of time,

a dog beside you, snuffing at you, seeking scent of 3'ou, an idea unformulated,

I give up on trying to answer my question, Do I love you enough?

It's enough to be so much here. A n d certainly when I catch

your mind in the act of plucking truth from the dark surroundingnowhere

as a swallow skims a gnat from the deep sky,

I don't stop to ask myself Do I love him? but laugh for joy.

354 S y l v i a Pla

THE APPLICANT

First, are you our sort of a person? Do you wear A glass eye, false teeth or a crutch, A brace or a hook, Rubber breasts or a rubber crotch,

• Stitches to show something's missing? No, no? Then How can we give you a thing? Stop crying. Open your hand. Empty? Empty. Here is a hand

To fill it and willing To bring teacups and roll away headaches • And do whatever you tell it. Wi l l you marry it? It is guaranteed

To thumb shut your eyes at the end And dissolve of sorrow. We make new stock from the salt. I notice you are stark naked. How about this suit

Black and stiff, but not a bad fit. Will you marry it? It is waterproof, shatterproof, proof Against fire and bombs through the roof. Believe me, they'll bury you in it.

Now your head, excuse me, is empty. I have the ticket for that. Come here, sweetie, out of the closet. • Well, what do you think of that! Naked as paper to start

But in twenty-five years she'll be silver, In fifty, gold. A-living doll, everywhere you look. It can sew, it can cook, It can talk, talk, talk.

It works, there is nothin" wrong v/ith it. You have a hole, it's a poultice. You have an eye, it's an image. My boy, it's your last resort. Will, you marry it, many it, marry it.

365 Babet te Deutsch

M A R R I A G E

N O T any more, not ever while I live With you, shall I be single or be whole. A wife is one who cannot cease to give Flowers of her body, and graftings from her soul. I came to bud for you like a young tree; A n d though I should not give you any fruit, Here is one orchard where your hands make free. Something is always tugging at my root.

Though you abandon what you once found sweet, I shall be like a birch whose bark is torn B y fingers scratching difficult, incomplete Confessions of an outlived love and scorn.

A n d though I wither near you, patiently As any bough that any wind can break, You will go on having as much of me A s winter from a stricken limb can take.

You are my winter, as you are my spring. However we pretend, this will be true. You are the wind that makes the leafage sing A n d strips the branches that it quivers through.

366

Gwen Harwood

In t h e Park

©

She sits i n the park. Her clothes arc out o f date.

T w o children whine and bicker, tug her skirt.

A third draws aimless patterns i n the dirt.

Someone she loved once passes by — too late

to feign indifference to that'casual nod.

• " H o w nice," etcetera. " T i m e holds great surprises."

F r o m his neat head unquestionably rises

a small balloon . . . "but for the grace o f G o d . . . . "

They stand awhile i n flickering light, rehearsing

the children's names and birthdays. "It 's so sweet

to hear their chatter, watch them grow and thr ive ,"

she says to his departing smile. Then, nursing

the youngest child, sits staring at her feet.

T o the w i n d she says, "They have eaten me al ive."

367

Gwendolyn Brooks

I

the c h i l d r e n of the p o o r

1

P e o p l e w h o h a v e n o c h i l d r e n c a n h e h a r d :

A t t a i n a m a i l o f i c e a n d i n s o l e n c e :

N e e d n o t p a u s e i n t h e fire, a n d i n n o s e n s e

H e s i t a t e i n t h e h u r r i c a n e t o g u a r d .

A n d w h e n w i d e w o r l d i s b i t t e n a n d b e w a r r e d

T h e y p c r i « h p u i e l y , w a v i n g t h e i r s p i r i t s h e u c e

W i t h o u t a t r a c e o f g r a c e o r o f o f f e n s e

T o l a u g h o r f a i l , d i f f i d e n t , w o n d e r - s t a r r e d .

W h i l e t h r o u g h a t h r o t t l i n g d a r k w c o t h e r s h e a r

T h e l i t t l e l i f t i n g h e l p l e s s n e s s , t h e q u e e r

W h i m p e r - w h i n e ; w h o s e u n r i u i e u i o u s

L o s t s o f t n e s s s o f t l y m a k e s a t r a p f o r u s .

A n d m a k e s a c u r s e . A n d m a k e s a s u g a r o f

T h o m a l o c c l u s i o n s , t h e i n c o n d i t i o n s o f l o v e .

368 Adrienne R i c h

" N I G H T - P I E C E S : FOR A C H I L D

T H E C R I 3

Y o u sleeping 1 bend to cover.

Y o u r eyelids work. I sec

your dream, cloudy as a negative,

swimming underneath.

Y o u blurt a cry. Y o u r eyes

spring open, st i l l filmed i n dream.

W i d e r , they fix m c —

—death's head, sphinx, medusa?

Y o u scream.

Tears l ick my cheeks, m y knees

droop at your fear.

M o t h e r I no more am,

but w o m a n , and nightmare.

H E R W A K I N G

Tonight I jerk astart in a dark

hourless as Hiroshima,

almost hearing you breathe

i n a cot three doors away.

Y o u st i l l breathe, y e s —

a n d my dream with its gift of knives,

its murderous hider and seeker,

ebbs away, recoils

back i n t o the egg of dreams,

the vanishing point of m i n d .

A l l gone.

B u t you and I— swaddled in a dumb dark

old as sickheartcdncss,

modern as pure a n n i h i l a t i o n —

we drift in ignorance.

If I could hear you now

mutter some gentle animal .sound!

If mi lk flowed from my breast again. . . .

1964

369 L o r i W h i t e h e a d

M O T H E R SINGING

Oh, those stark nights, the endless highway turning like a deadly desert snake under the headlights, under my innocence! Only then was I sure of you, my mother, where I sat between you, you and him. Dad tapped the wheel wi th his ring and drove too fast, so much the fat, the quick rich business man. But when his voice ran bumbling basso profundo under his blanket of skin like a good natured marble, I almost loved him. But loved him more that he hummed, letting us sing:

Low and harsh from the cigarettes, your head swaying while your finger twirled in the dark the hair at my neck, while you leaned and grinned with the chorus, hugging my comrade's shoulder, proud (for once I was sure) of my harmony, of the free ease with which we met in the old songs; child mine, my mother, flapper, born only to sing, even then as a jack rabbit rushed his blinking worm-eaten life at our wheels, in the night, the miles, I felt you there, I felt I almost knew yon, and I knew that I was lost in nowhere, lost in you.

370 Babet te Deutsch

T O M Y S O N

N o w the blackout of frontiers Between home and Gehenna Kil ls the light i n the e\es That would speak to you, throtries T h e w o r d i n the throat, estranges Us from ourselves. Our soiled pledges

Lie among broken bottles tor the ragpicker's sorting W h e n the bombers axe still.

H o w shall we talk

T o you who must !ca rn the language Spelled on the fields in famine, in blood on the sidewalk? Child (shall I say?), W h e n the night roars, remember The songs we sang, lapped in the warmth and bright O f the nursery:

. Malbrougb s'en t'en guerre Ne sait quand reviendra. Farewell end goodbye to you, Spanish Indies, Farewell and goodbye to you, ladies of Spain. Memory stifles thought Where the lamp throws a stain on the floor. Youth is the time to dance. N o more: we have lost your music. The iron that rings the brain, The weight in the hollow Breast where the heart should beat, Remain.

I cannot hide you now,

O r shelter you ever,

O r give you a guide through hell.

Y o u are ignorant, you arc unarmed, and behind your

Scornful smiie you, too, are afraid. History threatens you at each street corner, T h e seas are sewed up, and the colors fade O n every map y o u studied early and well.

T h e driven exile discovers M i d w a y i n an obscure wood W i i a t docs not bloom for the fool: T h e flower whose r o o t is despair.

Y o u , in an obscure room in a masterless school, Must find the faith that cements

T h e promises public events and private blunders have broken.

371

Are you alone? This I would have you remember (Who fek your heartbeat before you had breath to cry with): You must wrestle alone In the stony night like the Jew Compelling the awful angel. If you fight in the dark With your self till you force a confronting, You will be blessed in the morning.

You will be blessed recalling The question you asked as a child: How can I change myself When I have nothing to change My self with? Then I smiled, Finding an answer: your will. Now I know it is love of the impossible Thir forms the dm-e ?nd the lion. it is love Of the impossible That brings the soul to its own.

Though I can hardly reach you and never prove What the event will teach you, I who am helpless to move You from the road you choose, Or alter the face vou will meet there, Leave you these words with my love.

»943

372

Sharon S t e v e n s o n

INDUSTRIAL CHILDHOOD

My mother played us Prokofiev's Peter and Wolf when I was 3 in Hamilton

she went off to work leaving him to guard us.

In the morning she made cans. In the evening she waited on tables

and carried a milk bottle, broken, for protection.

Left me to comfort you, older brother,

You understood why the wolf was destroyed.

My mother read us Fenimore Cooper when 1 was 5 in Sudbury

in the big bed.'

I didn't understand the colours of leaves

knowing only the black shot slate outside the window

the. lacy women who must have carried milk bottles, broken,

somewhere, and the magic Indians who could

do everything but survive.

373 E l i n o r Wyl

X I I

In ou r content , before the a u t u m n came

T o .shower sallow droppings o n the m o u l d ,

Sometimes you have permitted mc to fold

Y o u r grief in swaddling-bands, and smile to name

Yoursel f my infant, wi th a n infant's claim T o utmost adoration as of old,

Suckled wi th kindness, fondled from the cold,

A n d loved beyond philosophy or shame.

I dreamt I was the mother o f a son

W h o had deserved a manger for a crib;

T o r n from your body, furbished from your r ib ,

I am the daughter of your skeleton,

Born o f your bitter and excessive pain:

I shall not dream you are my child again.

374

Wind Secrets D i a n e Wakoski

I l i k e the w i n d

w i t h its puffed checks a n d closed eyes.

N i c e w i n d .

I l i k e its gentle sounds

a n d fierce bites.

W h e n I was l i t t le

I used to sit by the black, potbell ied stove a n d stare

at a spot on the cei l ing,

w h i l e die w i n d breathed and b l e w

outside.

" N i c e w i n d , "

I m u r m u r e d to myself.

I w o u l d ask mother w h e n she kneeled to tie m y shoes

what the w i n d said.

M o t h e r knew.

A n d the w i n d whist led and roared outside

w h i l e the coals opened their eyes i n anger

at me.

I w o u l d hear mother crying under the w i n d .

" N i c e w i n d , " I said,

B u t m y heart leapt l ike a dart ing fish.

I remember the w i n d better than any sound.

It was the first t h i n g I heard

w i t h blazing ears,

a sound d i a l didn't m u r m u r a n d coo,

a n d the sounds wrapped round my head

and- huffed open my eyes.

It was the first th ing I heard

besides m y father beating m y mother.

T h e sounds slashed at m y cars l ike scissors,

N i c e w i n d .

T h e w i n d blows

w h i l e the g lowing coals f i o m the stove look at m e

w i t h angry eyes.

N i c e w i n d .

N i c e w i n d .

O h , close your eyes.

T h e r e was n o t h i n g I could do.

375 Anne S e x t o n

U N K N O W N G I R L IN T H E M A T E R N I T Y W A R D

C h i l d , the current of your breath is six days l o n g .

Y o u lie, a smal l k n u c k l e o n m y w h i t e bed;

l ie , fisted l ike a snai l , so smal l and strong

at my breast. Y o u r lips are animals; y o u are fed

w i t h love. A t first hunger is not w r o n g .

T h e nurses n o d their caps; y o u arc shepherded

d o w n starch halls w i t h the other u n n c s t c d t h r o n g

i n whee l ing baskets. Y o u tip l i k e a cup; your h e a d

m o v i n g to my touch. Y o u sense the way wc be long.

B u t this is a n i n s t i t u t i o n bed.

Y o u w i l l not k n o w m e very l o n g .

T h e doctors are enamel . T h e y w a n t to k n o w

the facts. T h e y guess about the m a n w h o left m c ,

some p e n d u l u m soul, going the way m e n go

and leave yen fu l l of c h i l d . B u t our case history

stays b lank . A l l I d i d was let y o u grow.

N o w wc are here for all the ward to see.

T h e y thought I was strange, a l t h o u g h

I never spoke a w o r d . I burst empty

of y o u , l e t t i n g you learn h o w the air is so.

T h e doctors chart the r iddle they ask of m e

a n d I turn rny head away. I do not k n o w .

Y o u r s is the only face f recognize.

B o n e at m y bone, you d r i n k m y answers i n .

Six times a day I prize

your need, the animals of your l ips, your sk in

growing warm and p l u m p . I sec your eyes

l i f t i i i " their tents. T h e v are blue stones, they begin

to outgrow their moss. You b l i n k i n surprise

a n d I wonder what you can see, m y funny k i n ,

as you trouble mv silence. I am a shelter of lies.

S h o u l d 1 learn to sneak again, or hopeless i n

such sanity w i l l I touch some (ace 1 recognize?

376

Down the h a l l the baskets start back. M y a i m s

fit y o u l ike a sleeve, i l iey h o l d

catkins of your wi l lows, the wi ld bee farms

of your nerves, each muscle and fold

of y o u r first eavs. Y o u r old man's face disarms

the nurses. B u t the doctors return to sco ld

me. I speak, i t is von mv silence harms.

I s h o u l d have k n o w n ; I should have t o l d

t h e m s o m e t h i n g to write clown. M y \oice alarms

m y throat. ' ' N a m e of l a t h e r — n o n e . " I h o l d

you a n d i<ame vou bastard i n m y arms.

A n d n e w that's that. T h e r e is n o t h i n g more

that. I can say ox lose.

O t h e r s have traded l i fe before

a n d c o u l d not. speak. I t ighten to refuse

v o u r o w l i n g eves, m v fragile visitor.

I t o u c h your cheeks, l ike flowers. Y o u bruise

against i r e . W c unlearn. I a m a shore

l o c k i n g you off. Y o u break from me. I choose

y o u r o n l y way, m y smal l inher i tor

a n d h a n d you off, t r e m b l i n g the selves we lose.

G o c h i l d , w h o is m y s in a n d n o t h i n g m o r e .

file:///oice

377 Sandra McPherson

E v o l v i n g a n I n s t i n c t

I am learning protection. I purposely look silly. I bark and I whine. I waddle in new motherhood. M y wings drag their sheen in dirt. I hobble that my young may fly. I learn to love.

Her body is not yet like mine. She is carnation pink And little more mobile Than a flower plot in wind. I am the gardener. I've set up a fence. How she adorns the fence!

What is it to be another's keeper? A m I an animal trainer? Is it fun? Is it beautiful? A m I a warden? Do I have the keys?-

The predator is the ground between us. It snaps when I walk. It sulks about the crib. It deadens my voice halfway to her ear. She cries into the microphone of distance.

Feed the dog, water the violet. I am mammal. Milk fattens the earth. I love many and they know it not. Keep die body ticking. I am an atmosphere she can breathe in. I am a newspaper to m e s s .

This is learning protection, Learning to love.

378

SECTION SIX

De f in ing Oneself as A r t i s t

a) D e f i n i n g the Poet

Anna Wickham Reso lu t ion D i l y s Laing The Maker

Mur ie l Spark Aga ins t t he TranscendentaI i s t s Denise Levertov Song f o r l s h t a r

The Earth Worm The I I I u s t r a t i o n The Wei I

Phyl I i s Webb Poet Lament

Anne Sexton Said the Poet t o t he Ana lys t Mona Van Duyn Death of a Poet Margaret Atwood Speeches f o r Dr . F rankenste in

b) C o n f l i c t s Between Being a Woman and a Poet

Margaret Atwood The Shadow Voice Anna Wickham A Woman in Bed Anne Wi lk inson Lens E l i n o r Wyl ie S e I f - P o r t r a i t Amy Lowell The S i s t e r s

D i l y s Laing Sonnet t o a S i s t e r in E r ro r Carolyn K izer Par t Three from Pro Femina

c) I n s p i r a t i o n and C r a f t : The Poe t i c Process

Lynne Lawner Where are the Wings E l i zabe th Sewell The Analogue Denise Levertov To the Muse

I I l u s t r i o u s Ancestors The Jacob 's Ladder At t h e Edge

P h y l l i s Webb Two Vers ions Mir iam Waddington Semblances Marianne Moore The Mind, I n t r a c t a b l e Thing Er i ca Jong Arse Poet lea

379 Anna Wickham

Resolution

I w i l l not draw only a house or a tree, I w i l l draw very Me;

Everything I think, everything I seel

I w i l l have no shame, No hope of praise or fear of blameI These things are mean things, and the same.

I am the product of old laws, Old effect of old cause. The thing that i s , may make the blind gods pause,

380 Di lys Laing

The Maker

I t is the fashion to speak in the fal l ing cadence

of disillusion. The wor ld ends w i th a whimper,

not with a bang, and it is merely prudence

thus to foretell arid so Lo feel the temper

of now and tomorrow, the poet being only the doctor

to lake the pulse and diagnose the ailment,

always considering death the one known facto r .

I hate that falsehood. I hate the times defilement

of art by polities. I t is the gift of the poet

to contradict chaos, to hear tire YES! of the womb

and loud along the ear of man to say it,

making another space, and a new time.

?93S

381

M u r i e l Spark

Against the Transccnknidists There are more visionaries

Than poets and less

Poets than missionaries.

Poets are a meagre species.

There is more vanity, more charity,

There is more o f everything than poetry

W h i c h , for personal purposes,

I wish may preserve

Identi ty f r o m any other commodi ty

Also f r o m Delphic insanity,

Drunkenness anti Discrepancy

O f w inch there's already a great plenty.

A n d so I reserve

The r ight not to t ry to

Ful f i l the wilderness or f i v to

Empyreal vacuity w i th au eye to

Publication, for what am I to

Byzant ium or Byzant ium

T o me? I l ive in Kensington A n d wa lk about, and w o r k in. Kensington

A n d do not foresee departing f rom Kensington.

So i f there's no lav.' in Kensington

Adaptable to verse wi thout contravening The letter to prove

The law, I 'll make one.

The first text is

The w o r d . The next is

(Since morals prevent quarrels

382

A n d w r i t e r s m a k e p o o r fighters)

L o v e y o u r n i c g h b o u r , m e a n i n g

Y o u r n e i g h b o u r , Jet h i m l o v e

H i s n e i g h b o u r , a n d he his.

W h o is E v e r y m a n , w h a t is he

T h a t he s h o u l d stand i n l i e u c f

A p o c m ? W h a t is T r u t h true c f ?

A n d w h a t g o o d ' s a G o d ' s - c y e - v i e w o f

A n y o n e to a n y o n e

B u t G o d ? In the A b s t r a c t i o n

M a n y angels m a k e sweet m o a n

B u t n e v e r w r i t e a stanza d o w n .

P o e t s arc f e w a n d they arc better

E q u i p p e d t o l o v e a n d a n i m a t e the letter .

I therefore res ign

T h e seven-league l i n e

In f o o t w e a r o f s u p e r - c o s m i c d e s i g n

T o the g l o b a l h o p s

O f w i z a r d s a n d w o p s ;

H o p i n g that i f B y z a n t i u m

S h o u l d appear i n K e n s i n g t o n

T h e c i t y w i l l f it the size

O f the p e r i m e t e r c f m y eyes

A n d o f the span o f m y h a n d :

H a n d s a n d eyes that u n d e r s t a n d

T h i s l a w o f w h i c h the t h i r d •

T e x t is t h e t h i n g d e f i n e d ,

T h e flesh m a d e w o r d .

383

Denise Lever tov

Song for L I ) tor

The moon is a sow

and grunts in :nv throat

Her great shirnrc: shines through me so the rnud of my h o l l o w gleams and breaks in silver bubbles

She is a sow

and I a p ig and a poet

When she opens her white lips to devour n>?. I bite back and laughter rocks the moon

In the black of desire we rock and grunt, grunt and shine

T h e E a r t h W o r m

The worm artist out of soil, by passage of. himself constructing.

Castles of metaphor! Delicate

dungeon turrets! He throws off artifacts as he contracts and expands the muscle of his being, ringed in himself, t i l l ing. He is homage to earth, aerates the ground of his living.

384 Denise Lever tov

T h e Illustration

Months after the Muse had come and gone across the lake of vision, .arose out ot chikihood tiic long-familiar briefly forgotten presaging of her image—

T h e Light of Truth'—frontispiece to 'Parables from Nature,' l b ( ) - 1 — a picture intending another meaning than that which it gave (for I never read the story until now)

intending to represent Folly sinking into a black bog. but for me having meant a mystery, of darkness, of beautv, of serious dreaming pause and intensity

where not a will-o'-the-wisp but a star come to earth burned before the closed all-seeing eyes

of that figure later seen as the Muse.

By which I learn to affirm Truth's light at strange turns of the mind's road, wrong turns that lead over the border into wonder,

mistaken directions, forgotten signs all bringing the soul's travels to a place of origin, a well

under the lake where the Muse moves.

385 The Well

Denise Lever tov

The Muse-

in her d a r k habi t ,

t r i m - w a i s t c d ,

wades into d e e p water .

The s p r i n g w h e r e she

will l i l ! her p i t c h e r to the b r i r n wells o u t

b e l o w the lake's sm face, a m o n g

p a p y r u s , w h e r e a stream

enters the lake a n d is crossed

b y the b r i d g e o n which. I s tand.

She stoops

to g e n t l y d i p a n d d e e p enough. H e r face resembles

the face of the y o u n g actress w h o p l a y e d Miss A n n i e S u l l i v a n , she w h o

s p e l l e d the w o r d 'water ' into the p a l m

of H e l e n K e l l e r , o p e n i n g

t h e d o o r s of the w o r l d .

I n the h a n x j u e park ,

t r a n s f o r m e d as I neared the water

to V a l e n t i n e s , a pi.ice of o r i g i n ,

I s tand on a b r i d g e ol one span

and see this c a l m act, this g a t h e r i n g u p

of l i f e , of s p r i n g water

and the M u s e g l i d i n g then

in her barge w i t h o u t sails, w i t h o u t

oars or motor , across

the d a r k lake, a n d 1 know-

no i n t e r o r c t a ' i o n of these mvsteries

a l t h o u g h I k n o w she is the M u s e

a n d that the b u m b l e

t r i b u t a r y of R o d i n g is

cue w i t h A l p h e u s , the god w h o as a r i v e r

flowed t h r o u g h the salt sea to his love's w e l l

so that m y heart leaps

i n w o n d e r .

C o l d , fresh, deep, I feel the w o r d 'water ' s p e l l e d i n m y left p a l m .

386 Phyl I i s Webb

P O E T

I »r.\ promised I have Uikeii the v e i l i h;tvc made n;v obeisances I have walked on words of nails to knock on silences I have tokened the veil to my face month covered with symbol I have punctured my lingcrhase to f i l l one thimble with blood for consecration in a nunnery

I have faced each station of the cross and to each place have verbs tossed free, so pale to compass the bitter male in this changed chancelleic and I have paced four w a l l s

of this ce'd. I have paced for the word, and 1 have heard, curiously, I have heard the tallest of mouths call down behind my veil to limit or enlargcn me as 1 or it prevails.

387 P h y l I is Webb

LAMENT

K:i<>uiii. th.it r v i - u l l i i n ; ; i»- w r o i u t .

h o w c a n w c g o o n g i v i n g b i r t h

e i t h e r t o p o e m s o r t h e t r o u b l e s o m e l i e .

t o c h i l d r e n , m o s t o f a l l , w h o s e n s e

t h e s t r e s s i n o u r d i s t r a c t e d w o n d e r

t h e i n s t a n t o f i h o i i e n t r y w i t h t h e i r c r y ?

I ' o r e v e r y b u i l d i n g i n t h i s w o r l d

r e c e i v e s o u r b e n e d i c t i o n o l d i s e a s e .

K n o w i n g t h a t e v e r y t h i n g i s w r o n g

m e a n s o n l y t h a t w c a l l k n o w w h e r e w e ' r e ^ o i n g .

H u t I, h o w c a n 1. I c r a v i n g t h e r e s o l u t i o n o f m y e a r t h ,

l a k e u p inv l i t t l e y a r . g o f s w e e t p r e t e n c e

a n d s a u n t e r d a v - d r e a r y d o w n t h e a l l e y s , o r p u r s u e

t h e l i a l f - d i s a s l r o i i s nii;!; I '? W h e r e i s t h a t v i r t u e

I w o u l d c l a i m w i t h t e n s e i m p e r s o n a l u n w o r t h .

w h e r e d o e s it d w e l l , t h a t v i r t u o u s l a n d

w h e r e o n e c a n d i e w i t h o u t a s e c o n d b i r t h ?

It i s not h e r e , n e i t h e r in t h e p e t u l a n c e

o f ni) c r i e s , n o r i n t h e t r a c e r s o f m c a c t i \ e f e a r ,

not in m\ s u i c i d e o f l o v e , mv d e a r .

I h a t p l a c e o f p e r f e c t a n i m a l s a n d m e n

i s s i m p l e t h e c i r c l e w e w o u l d ( h a r m o u r c h i l d r e n i n

a n d w h v w e f r a m e <>ur l u n e l v p o e m s i n

t h e s h a p e o f a f r u g a l s a d n e " S S ,

http://th.it

388 Anne Sexton

SAID T i l l ' P O E T T O T H E A N A L Y S T

My business is words. W o r d s arc l i k e labels,

or coins , or better, l ike swarming t e c s .

I confess I a m only b i o k c n bv the sources of things;

as if words were c o u n t e d l ike dead bees i n the att ic ,

u n b u c k l e d f r o m their y e l l o w eyes a n d their dry wings .

I m u s t always foigct h o w one w o r d is able to p i c k

out another , to m a n n e r another, u n t i l I have g o l

s o m e t h i n g J m i g h t have said . . .

but d i d n o t .

Y o u r business is w a t c h i n g m y words. B u r I

a d m i t n o t h i n g . I w o r k w i i h m v best, for instance,

w h e n 1 can w r i t e m v piaise for a n i c k e l m a c h i n e ,

that one n i g h t i n N e v a d a : te l l ing h o w the magic jackpot

came c l a c k i n g t h i c e bells out, over the l u c k y screen.

B u t i f y o u s h o u l d srv this is s o m e t h i n g it is not ,

t h e n I grow weak, r e m e m b e r i n g h o w m y hands reft f u n n y

and r id iculous a n d crowded w i t h a l l the b e l i e v i n g money .

D E A T H O F A P O E T

Mona Van D u y n

T h e r e was something obscene about w r e s t l i n g 'that baby-faced boy.

W o m e n don't usual ly wrestle, except for a c o m i c or grotesque effect,

b u t this w a s a fight for m y l i f e — 1 recognized h i m instant ly .

I keep t h i n k i n g h o w it mast have looked, w i t h k irn half my height,

and so s l ippery w i t h sweat I couldn' t keep h o l d , even w i t h my nai l s ,

and I'd h o l d h i s head back by the car ls so he couldn' t reach my own

h a i r .

O n c e when, w c were locked together o n the floor, his fr.ee

was r i g h t u n d e r mine. I lacked into his tea-colored eyes

and saw clear t h r o u g h them to the b lank bottom of the teacup.

It start led mc so m u c h I let go raid r o l l e d away.

and t h e n he r o l l e d on top of me. I fe'e his l i t t le g e n i t a l i a p r e s s i n g ,

cool, a n d h a r d as marble . It was only for a moment.

W h a t w a s dreadful w a s catching gl impses of freckles a n d a cute nose,

and dimples at the base of each fat, fierce finger.

A H the w h i l e , as I said, it v/as a fight for my life.

My l i f e — i t w a s all I c o u l d have wanted, after I left h o m e .

I held my spotted w a n d before the copulat ing w o r l d ,

a n d i t threw for th images ring-strakecl , speckled, a n d g r i s l c d ,

so that I k n e w they w e r e m i n e as soon as I saw them.

I bel ieved i n the p o w e r of w o r d s , both b i r t h r i g h t a n d bless ing ,

a n d I w o r k e d h a r d , but w i t h luck, luck i u the s k i m m i n g of experience,

I ' d m a k e a n a m e for myself sooner or later,

and I c o u l d trust the m e n i n m y hie to sit t ight o n household matters .

In some w a y s they are real ly more domestic than w o m e n .

I c o u l d a l w a y s cope. I waited, at the r i m of the w e l l ,

and they f i l led my giass, a l l the people I w a s attracted to,

and m o s t of the pi tchers that came o u t were m e a n i n g f u l a n d

b r i m m i n g .

I was s u r p r i s e d at m y o w n endurance. A t one point I felt

the grist le of his nose give i n under m y p a l m and his eyel ids

leak under m y g o u g i n g nails. I w o u l d have k i l l e d h i m then,

I w o u l d real ly a n d t r u l y have k i l l e d h i m once a n d for a l l ,

if I c o u l d .have. B u t he got loese a l i t t le a n d somehow touched me.

A l t e r a m i n u t e , w h e n I got m y breath, I asked h i m his name.

I was far enough i n the contest and it was the t i l i n g to do.

I k n e w he w o u l d n ' t te l l me, it w o u l d be embarrass ing

s p o k e n out l o u d . B u t I had always k n o w n of h i m .

I've felt i n t i m a t i o n s of that strength before, at home,

in m y mother 's obsessed prcfercr.ee, her almost profess ional t r i c k s ,

in my father's pre-empted eyes, w h i c h couldn ' t m e c i m y eyes.

H a v e y o u ever real ly fought a l l n ight? A l l that I 'd cal l fight

t o o k place in the first half hour. T h e rest of the t ime

wc were o n l y c l u t c h i n g a n d w i g g l i n g a l i t t le , a n d even so

I don' t (juite k n o w how I managed to hang c n .

K o w that i l ' s ' o v e r I a m blessed, if y o u can cal l it t h a t —

that is, I a m of the w o r k : total ly and hc!p:e.=>iy.

W h a t 1 fought for is gone, though I go on w r i t i n g poems as u s u a l ,

i l am shr ive l led i n a secret place, though I don't l i m p .

H i s s t r e n g t h —1 can't describe i t — i t was not muscular ,

in fact he : c k soft under the .v.veat. l ike svft rubber .

B u t 1 believe ir. his power , beyond tiie power of w o r d s ,

b e y o n d hkviheif even, hexed in m y o w n heiief.

http://fr.ee

http://prcfercr.ee

Speeches for Dr Frankenstein 390 Margaret Atwood

I

I, the performer in the tense arena, glittered under the fluorescent moon. Was bent masked by the table. Saw what focused my intent: the emptiness

The air filled with an ether of cheers.

My wrist extended a scalpel.

II

The table is a flat void, barren as total freedom. Though behold

A sharp twist like taking a jar top off

and it is a living skeleton, mine, round, that lies on the plate before mc

red as a pomegranate, every cell a hot light.

I circle, confront my opponent. The thing

refuses to be shaped, it moves like yeast. I thrust,

the thing fights back.

It dissolves, growls, grows crude claws;

The air is dusty with blood.

It springs. I cut

with delicate precision.

The specimens ranged on the shelves, apjnlaud.

i

The tiling falls Thud. A cat anatomized.

O secret form of the heart, now I have you.

IV

Now I shall ornament you. What would you like?

Baroque scrolls on your ankles? A silver navel?

I am the universal weaver; I have eight fingers.

I complicate you; I surround you with intricate ropes.

What wch shall I wrap you in? Gradually I pin y ou down.

391

What equation shall I carve and seal in your skull?

What size will I make you? Where should I put your eyes?

v

I was insane with skill: I made you perfect.

I should have chosen instead to curl you small as a seed,

trusted beginnings. Now I wince before this plateful of results:

core and rind, the flesh between already turning rotten.

I stand in the presence of the destroyed god:

a rubble of tendons, knuckles and raw sinews.

Knowing that the work is mine how can I love you?

These archives of potential time exude fear like a smell.

vi

You arise, larval and shrouded in the ficsh I gave you;

1, who have no covering left but a white cloth skin

escape from you. You arc red, you ?.rc human and distorted.

You have been starved, you arc hungry. I have nothing to feed you.

I pull around me, running, a cape of rain.

What was my ravenous motive? Why did I make you?

vn

Reflection, you have stolen everything you needed:

my joy, my ability to suffer.

You have transmuted yourself to me: I am a vestige, I am numb.

Now you accuse me of murder.

Can't you see I am incapable?

Illood of my brain, it is you who have killed these people.

392

vui

Since I dared

to attempt impious wonders

I must pursue that animal I once denied was mine.

Over this vacant winter plain, the sky is a black shell; I move within it, a cold kernel of pain.

I scratch huge rescue messages on the solid

snow; in vain. My heart's husk is a stomach. I am its food.

IX

The sparkling monster gambols there ahead, his mane electric: This is his true place.

He dances in spirals on the jee, his clawed feet kindling shaggy fires.

His happiness is now the chase itself: he traces it in light, his paths contain it.

I am the gaunt hunter necessary for his patterns, lurking, gnawing leather.

X

The creature, his arctic hackles bristling, spreads over the dark ceiling, his paws on the horizons, rolling the world like a suowba

He glows and says:

Doctor, my shadow shivcrinrr, on the tabic, you dannlc on the leash of your own longing; your need grows teeth.

You sliced mc loose

and said it was

Creation. I could feel the knife. Now you would like to heal that chasm in your side, but I recede. I prowl.

I will not come when you call.

393 Margaret Atwood

The shadow voice

My shadow said to mc: What is the matter

Isn't the moon warm enough for you Why do you need the blanket of another body

Whose kiss is moss

Around the picnic tables the bright pink hands hold sandwiches crumbled by distance. Flies crawl over the sweet instant

You know what is in those baskets

The trees outside are bending with children shooting guns. Leave them alone. They are playing games of their own.

I give water, I give clean crusts

Aren't there enough words flowing in your veins to keep you going

394 Anna Wickham

A ^"O^AN IN l i K D

(^OMF.TIMES w h e n J g o t o r e s t

O ] l i e a n d s t r u g g l e for e x p r e s s i o n ,

And f a i l i n g , faM to s i c k d e p r e s s i o n ,

' A n d b e a t r a y b r e a s t .

B y b l o w s , I c a n n o t ' s c a p e

"The u t l c r i r r i t a t i o n

O f m r p o o r s o u l ' s f r u s t r a t i o n ,

F o r so 1 k n o w t r y shape .

A. ' .c l o f t e n h a v e I f o u n d

A n a d d e d s a d n e s s ,

B r i n g i n g n;e t o l a a d n c s s ,

E e c r . u s e m y b r e a s t is r o u n d .

H o w c a n I , b e i n g w o m a n ,

D e d i c a t e n i g h t s

V . ' h i c h s h o u l d b e s a c r e d t o d e l i g h t s ,

T o tin's l u s t o f w o r d s , w h i c h is so b r o a d l y h u i

F.ut t h r o u g h t h e w e l l - c l o t h e d d a y s

1 c a n f o r g e t ray s k i r t ,

I h i d e m y b r e a s t b e n e a t h a w o r k m a n ' s s h i r t ,

And. h u n t t h e p e r f e c t p h r a s e . .

Lens

i

The poet's daily chore Is my long duty; To keep and cherish mv good Jens For love and war And wasps about the lilies And mutiny within.

My woman's eye is weak And veiled with milk; My working eye is muscled With a curious tension, Stretched and open As the eyes of children; Trusting in its vision Even should it see The holy holy spirit gambol Count crhead wise, Lithe and warm r.s any animal.

My woman's iris circles A blind pupil; The poet's eye is crystal, Polished to accept the negative, The contradictions in a proof And the accidental Candour of the shadows; The shutter, oiled and smooth Clicks on the grace of heroes Or on some bestial act When lit with radiance The afterwords the actors speak Give depths to violence,

Or if the hull is great And the matador And the sword Itself the metaphor.

395 Anne Wi Ik inson

II

In my dark room the years Lie in solution, Develop film by film. Slow at first and dim Their shadows bite On the fine, white pulp of paper.

An early snap of fire Licking the arms ol air I hold against the light, compare The details with a prehistoric view Of land and sea And cradles of mud that recked The wet and sloth of infancy.

A stripe of tiger, curled And sleeping on the ribs of reason Prints as clear As Eve and Adam, pearled With sweat, staring at an apple core;

And death, in black and white Or politic in green and Easter film, Lands on steely points, a dancer Disciplined to the foolscap stage, The property of poets Who command his robes, expose His moving likeness on the page.

396 E I i n o r Wy I ie

Self-portrait A lens o f crystal whose transparence calms

Queer scars to clarity, and disentangles

Fox-fires to form austere refracted andes:

A texture polished on the horny palms

O f vast equivocal creatures, beast or human:

A flint, a substance fincr-graincd than snow,

Graved w i t h the Graces in i n t a d i o

T o set sarcastic sigil on the woman.

Tin's for the m i n d , and for the l itt le rest

A hol low scooped to blackness in the breast,

T h e simulacrum o f a cloud, a feather:

Instead o f stone, instead o f sculptured strength,

T h i s soul, this vanity, blown hither and thither

B y trivial breath, over the whole world's length.

AMY LO WELL

397 Amy Lowe.l

THE SISTERS T a k i n g us b y a n d l a r g e , w e ' r e a q u e e r lo t

.We w o m e n w h o w r i t e poetry . A n d w h e n y o u t h i n k

H o w f e w o f us l i i c r c ' v c b e e n , it 's q u e e r e r s t i l l .

I w o n d e r w h a t i t is that m a k e s us d o i t ,

S i n g l e s us o u t to s c r i b b l e d o w n , m a n - w i s e ,

T h e f r a g m e n t s o f ourse lves . W h y are w c

A k ' o i u y m o i h c r - c r c a u i r e s , d o u b l e - b e a r i n g ,

W i t h m a t r i c e s i n b o d y a n d i n . b r a i n ?

I r a t h e r t h i n k t h a t there is just the reason

W e are so sparse a k i n d o f h u m a n b e i n g ;

T h e s t r e n g t h o f for ty t h o u s a n d A t l a s e s .

Is n e e d e d for o u r evcry-dr.y c o n c e r n s .

T h e r e ' s S a p h o , n o w 1 w o n d e r w h a t w a s S a p h o .

I k n o w a s i n g l e s l e n d e r t h i n g about h e r :

T h a t , l o v i n g , she w a s l i k e a b u r n i n g b i r c h - t r e e

A l l - t a l l a n d g l i t t e r i n g fire, a n d that she w r o t e

L i k e the s a m e fire c a u g h t u p to H e a v e n a n d h e l d there ,

A f r o z e n b l a z e before i t b r o k e a n d f e l l ;

A h , m e ! I w i s h I c o u l d h a v e t a l k e d to S a p h o ,

S u r p r i s e d h e r ret icences by f l i n g i n g m i n e

.Into the w i n d . T h i s t o s s i n g off o f g a r m e n t s

W h i c h c l o u d the s o u l is n o n e too easy d o i n g

W i t h . u s t o d a y . B u t s t i l l I t h i n k w i t h S a p h o

O n e m i g h t a c c o m p l i s h i t , w e r e she i n the m o o d

T o b a r e h e r l o v e l i n e s s of. w o r d s a n d te l l

T h e reasons, as she poss ib ly c o n c e i v e d t h e m ,

O f w h y they arc so l o v e l y . Just to k n o w

H o w she c a m e at t h e m , just to w a t c h

T h e c r i s p sea s u n s h i n e p l a y i n g o n her h a i r ,

And l i s t e n , t h i n k i n g a i l the w h i l e ' twas she

W h o s p o k e a n d t h a t w c t w o w e r e sisters

Of a s t range , i s o l a t e d l i t t l e f a m i l y .

A n d she is S a p h o — S a p h o — n o t M i s s o r M r s . ,

A l e a p i n g fire w e c a l l so f o r c o n v e n i e n c e .

- B u t M r s . B r o w n i n g — w h o w o u l d ever t h i n k

• O f s u c h p r e s u m p t i o n as to c a l l her " B a . "

W h i c h d r a w s the perfect l i n e b e t w e e n sea-cliffs

. A n d a c l o s c - s h u t t c r c d r o o m i n W i m p o l c Street .

S a p h o c o u l d fly her i m p u l s e s l i k e b r i g h t

, B a l l o o n s l i p - t i l t i n g to a m o r n i n g a i r

And w r i t e a b o u t i t . M r s . B r o w n i n g ' s heart

W a s s q u e e z e d i n stiff c o n v e n t i o n s . So she l a y

S t r e t c h e d .out u p o n a sofa, reacting G r e e k

A n d s p e c u l a t i n g , as I m u s t suppose ,

I n jwst th is w a y o n S a p h o ; al l die. need,

T h e h u g e , i m p e r i o u s need of l o v i n g , c r u s h e d

W i t h i n the hot ly she b e l i e v e d so s i c k .

And it was s i c k , p o o r l a d y , because w o r d s

Arc- m e r e l y s i m u l a c r a a l t e r deeds

398 H a v e • w r o u g h t a p a t t e r n ; w h e n they take the place

O f act ions they breed a po isonous m i a s m a

W h i c h , t h o u g h it leave the b r a i n , cats u p the b o d y .

S o M r s . b r o w n i n g , a loof a n d del icate ,

L a y s t i l l u p o n her sofa, a l l her s t r e n g t h

G o i n g to u p h o l d her o v e r - t o p p i n g b r a i n .

It seems m i r a c u l o u s , but she escaped

T o f r e e d o m a n d a n o t h e r m o t h e r h o o d

T h a n that o f pocms^ S h e w a s a v e r y w o m a n

A n d needed b o t h .

I f I h a d g o n e to c a l l ,

W o u l d W i m p o l e Street have been tbe k i n d l i e r p l a c e ,

O r C a s a G u i d i , i n w h i c h to h a v e m e t her?

I a m a l i t t le d o u b t f u l o f that m e e t i n g ,

F o r Q u e e n V i c t o r i a was very y o u n g a n d s t r o n g

A n d a l l - p e r v a d i n g i n h e r apogee

At just that t i m e . I f w e h a d s t u c k to poetry ,

S t e r n l y r e f u s i n g to be d r a w n o i l by m e s m e r i s m

O r l l o m a n r e v o l u t i o n s , it m i g h t have d o n e .

F o r , after a l l , she is a n o t h e r sister,

B u t a l w a y s , I ra ther t h i n k , a n o l d e r sister

A n d not hersel f so c u r i o u s a t e c h n i c i a n

A s to a d m i t n e w f a n g l e d m o d e s o f w r i t i n g —

" E x c e p t , o f course, i n R o b e r t , a n d that is n e i t h e r

H e r e n o r there for R o b e r t is a g e n i u s . "

I d o n o t l i k e the t u r n this ' d r e a m is t a k i n g ,

S i n c e I a m v e r y f o n d c f M r s . B r o w n i n g

A n d very m u c h i n d e e d s h o u l d l i k e to hear h e r

G r a c i o u s l y a s k i n g m e to cal l her " B a . "

B u t t h e n tbe D e v i l o f V e r i s i m i l i t u d e

C r e e p s i n a n d forces m e to k n o w she w o u l d n ' t .

C o n v e n t i o n a g a i n , a n d h o w it chafes m y nerves ,

F o r w e arc s u c h a l i t t l e f a m i l y

O f s i n g i n g sisters, a n d as i f I d i d n ' t k n o w :

. W h a t those years felt l i k e t i e d d o w n to the sofa . ,

C o n f o u n d V i c t o r i a , a n d the s l i m y i n h i b i t i o n s

. S h e loosed o n a l l us A n g l o - S a x o n creatures! . S

S u p p o s e there h a d n ' t been a R o b e r t B r o w n i n g ,

N o " S o n n e t s f r o m the P o r t u g u e s e " w o u l d h a v e been w r i t t e n .

T h e y arc the f irst of a l l her poems to be,

O n e m i g h t say, f e r t i l i z e d . F o r , after a l l , '

A poet is flesh a n d b l o o d as w e i l as b r a i n ;

• A n d M r s . B r o w n i n g , as I s a i d before ,

W a s very , very w o m a n . - W e l l , there arc t w o

O f us, a n d vastly u n l i k e that's for c e r t a i n .

U n l i k e at least u n t i l w c tear the vei ls

A w a y w h i c h c o m m o n l y g i r d souls . 1 scarcely t h i n k .

M r s . B r o w n i n g w o u l d have a p p r o v e d the process

I n spite of w h a t h a d surely been rel ief ;

F o r s p e a k i n g souls, m u s t a lways w a n t to speak

E v e n w h e n bat-eyed, n a r r o w - m i n d e d Q u c c u f

Set p r u d i s h n e s s to k e e p the k e y s o f i m p u l s e .

. T h e n d o the f r o w n i n g G o d s i n v e n t n e w bancs

. A n d m a k e the need o i sofas. B u t S a p h o was d e a d

A n d I , a n d others , not yet peeped above

T h e edge o f p o s s i b i l i t y . So that 's a n e n d

T o s p e c u l a t i n g o v e r tea-t ime t a l k s

B e y o n d the m o v e m e n t o f pentameters

- . W i t h M r s . B r o w n i n g .

B u t I g o d r e a m i n g o n ,

In l o v e w i t h these m y s p i r i t u a l re la t ions .

I r a t h e r t h i n k I sec m y s e l f w a l k u p

. A f l ight o f w o o d e n steps a n d r i n g a be l l

A n d s e n d a c a r d i n t o M i s s D i c k i n s o n .

Y e t that 's a v e r y s i l l y w a y to d o .

I s h o u l d h a v e t a k e n the d r e a m twis t -ends a b o u t

A n d c l i m b e d over tbe fence a n d r o u n d her deep

E n g r o s s e d i n the d o i n g s o f a h u m m i n g - b i r d

A m o n g n a s t u r t i u m s . N o t h a v i n g expected s trangers ,

S h e m i g h t forget to t h i n k m e o n e , a n d h o l d i n g u p

A finger say q u i t e c a s u a l l y : " T a k e care.

D o n ' t f r i g h t e n h i m , he's o n l y just b e g u n . "

• " N o w t h i s , " I w e i l be l ieve I s h o u l d have t h o u g h t ,

" I s e v e n better t h a n S a p h o . W i t h E m i l y

Y o u ' r e rea l ly here, o r never a n y w h e r e a t - a l l

In range o f m i n d . " W h e r e f o r e , h a v i n g b e g u n

In the str ict center , w c c o u l d s l o w l y progress

T o v a r i o u s c i r c u m f e r e n c e s , as w e p leased.

* * * * «- . * t

G o o d - b y , m y sisters, a l l o f y o u are great,

A n d a l l o f y o u are m a r v c l o u s l y s t range ,

A n d n o n e o f y o u has a n y w o r d for m e .

T c a n n o t w r i t e l i k e y o u , ] c a n n o t t h i n k

In t e r m s o f P a g a n o r o f C h r i s t i a n n o w .

I o n l y h o p e that poss ib ly s o m e d a y

S o m e e t h e r w o m a n w i t h a n i t c h for w r i t i n g

M a y t u r n to m e as I have t u r n e d to y o u

A n d chat w i t h m e a b r i e f f e w m i n u t e s . H o w

W c l i e , w e poets! It is three g o o d h o u r s

I have been d r e a m i n g . H a s it seemed so l o n g

• T o y o u ? A n d yet I t h a n k y o u for the t i m e ,

A l t h o u g h y o u leave m e sad a n d s e l f - d i s t r u s t f u l ,

F o r o l d e r sisters arc v e r y s o b e r i n g t h i n g s .

P u t o n y o u r c l o a k s , m y dears, the m o t o r ' s w a i t i n g .

N o , y o u h a v e not seemed strange to m c , b u t near ,

F r i g h t f u l l y near , a n d rather t e r r i f y i n g .

I u n d e r s t a n d y o u a l l , for i n m y s e l f —

Is that p r e s u m p t i o n ? Y e t i n d e e d it 's t r u e —

W c arc one f a m i l y . A n d s t i l l m y a n s w e r

W i l l not be a n y one o f yours , I see.

W e l l , never m i n d that n o w . ( J o o d n i g h t : G o o d n i g h t

399 D i l y s La

Sonnet to a Sister in Error

'"Whilst the dull manage of a servile house Is held by some our utmost art and use."

— A n n e , Countess of Winchilsea (1661-1720)

Sweet Anne of Winchilsea, you were no hellion

intent on setting the broad wor ld to recking.

The long court dress concealed the long blue stocking,

the easy manner masked the hard rebellion.

W i t h l ight foot stirruped on the Muses' stallion ,

you ambled privately, .afraid of shocking

the Maids of Honor who excelled at mocking

the matcliless rose w i d i stitches small and mill ion. .

Staunch Anne! I. know your trouble. The same tether

galls us. To be a woman and a wi i ter

is double mischief, for the world w i l l slight her

who slights "the servile house,'"' and who would rather..

make odes than beds. Lost lady! Gentle fighter!

Separate in time, we mutiny together.

400 THREE Caro lyn K izer

I wi l l speak about women of letter.?, for I 'm in the racket.

Our biggest successes to date? Old maids to a. woman.

And our saddest conspicuous failures? U i c married

spinsters

O n loan to the husbands they treated like surrogate fathers. -

Th ink of that crew of seii-puicrs, noi-very-disiant,

W h o carried the torch for themselves and got first-degree

burns.

O r the sad sonneteers, toast-and-tcasdalcs wc loved at

thirteen;

Middle-aged virgins seducing the purilc anthologists

Through lust-of-thc-niind; barbiturate-drenched Camilles

W i t h continuous periods, murmuring softly on sofas

When poetry wasn't a craft but a sickly effluvium,

The air thick wi th incense, musk, and emotional blackmail.

I suppose they reacted from an earlier womanly modesty

. When too many girls were scabs to their stricken

sisterhood,

Impugning our sex to stay in good wi th the men,

Commencing their insecure bluster. How they must have

swaggered

When women themselves indorsed their own inferiority!

Vestals, vassals and vessels, rolled into several,

They look notes in roll ing syllables, in careful journals,

-Aiming to please a posterity that despises them.

But we'll always have traitors who swear that a woman

surrenders

Her Supreme Function, by equating Ar t w i th aggression

A n d failure wi th Femininity. Still, it's just- as unfair

T o equate A r t w i th Femininity, like a prettily-packaged

commodity

When we arc the custodians of the world's best-kept secret:

Merely the private lives of one-half of humanity.

But even wi th masculine dominance, wc marcs and mistresses

Produced some sleek sabotcuscs, making their cracks

Which the porridge-brained males of the day were too

thick to perceive,

Mistaking young hornets for perfectly harmless bumblebees.

Being thought innocuous rousts some-women to frenzy;

. They try to be ugly by aping the ways of the men

And succeed. Swearing, sucking cigars and scorching tire

bedspread,

401

FROM I'KO F EM IN A

Slopping straight shots, eyes blotted, vanity-blown In the expectation of glory: she writes like a man! This drives oilier women mad in a mist of chiffon (one poetess draped her gauze over red flannels, a practical

feminist).

But we're emerging from ail that, more or less, Except for some lady-like laggards and Quarterly priestesses Who flog men for fun, and kick women to maim competition. Now, if we struggle abnormally, we may almost seem normal; If we submerge our self-pity in disciplined industry; If we stand up and be hated, and swear not to sleep with

editors; If wc regard ourselves formally, respecting our true

limitations Without making an unseemly show of trying to unfreeze our

assets; Keeping our heads and our pride while remaining unmarried; And if wedded, kill guilt in its tracks when wc stack up the

dishes And defect to the typewriter. And if mothers, believe in'the

luck of our children, Whom we forbid to devour us, whom we shall not devour, And the luck of our husbands and lovers, who keep

free women.

402 Lynne Lawner

WHERE ARE THE WINGS?

^ \ ^ E R E are the wings Since dung my dowry for whom I made myself brittle I go in search of oxen, bulls,

and portable. instead of flowery one of a number of little glittering tilings fools,

hawked snd like the Breton serf, --in the marketplace, talked •"V/hen he asked her.

over by dirry boys I would rather sleep first exchanging toys, . with my master.

and scorned Where are the claws and hooks sororities of chests, adorned for whom" all calms are crooks

with golden chains, robbing the rush and bellies that begged for legal pains, of anguish

naming me barren — that seeds the placid womb carrion and from die daily tomb

of a milked-silkcd generation extracts steel epitaphs to blaze without veneration? in the urban haze?

Where are the sliding feathers And where is die beak that babbles for whom I shifted weathers: of the beautiful troubles .

the storms of continence between men's legs the dcadiy still-air of yielding, - and moonward soarings of mydiic stags,

the mental gelding, and drowns out lovers' doting, the fleshly trance — each word an abortion?

enduring any shit to shun - is savage chirping distortion, the domestic sun? is it better hating?

How low, how alien, how inconstant must 1 grow to be played on,

to be preyed on

by your musical descent? what horrors studv,

what odd beds lie in, to make a body

for a god to die in?

403 E l i z a b e t h Sewel I

T H E A N A L O G U E

I ask my words For livelier ways, ( I am to blame

Tha t let them st i f fen)—go Over the waterfall

A n d tumble on the smooth bones Of the rocks, beat, beat, The damp air carrying all

The smells of summer, hot and blue, Whi te spiders bracketing green fern,

And the short cries of birds.

Even so, Heart , th ink no shame

T o lie among the parched stones, Feeling the glassy pulses of the heat.

How I must call The kindl ing body to its silent mime

I do not know, B u t I shall l e a r n —

F ind every creature's t ime, Cricket-chirp minute,

Shake down my hair and let i t blow Among.the greening willows,

Or scratch my bard nail down a twig's horny shell And bleed wi th the sap in i t .

Gently undo The sinews of our rhythms. Set free

Bodi ly analogy; Blessedly construe

In each syllabic gesture something's praise. We have mysteriously to be A l l beings that wc see, -

. Mov ing to nights and days: Crow with a tree,

A n d speak the universe in paraphrase.

404 Denise Lever tov To the Muse

I have heard it said, and by a wise man, that ycu are not one who comes and goes

but having chosen you remain in jour human house, and walk

in its garden for air and the delights of weather and seasons.

Who builds a good fire in his health shall find you at it

with shining eyes and a ready tongue.

Who shares

even water and dry bread with you -will not eat without joy and wife or husband who does not lock the door of the marriage against you, finds you

not as unwelcome third in the room, but as the light of the moon on flesh and hair.

He told me, that wise man, that when it seemed the house was empty of you,

the fire crackling for no one, the bread hard to swallow in solitude, the gardens a tedious maze,

you were not gone away bfit hiding yourself in secret rooms. The house is no cottage, it seems, •

it has stairways, corridors, cellars, a tower perhaps, unknown lo the host.

The host', the housekeeper, it is who fails you. He had forgotten to make room for you at the hearth or set a place for you at the table or leave (lie doors unlocked for you.

405 Noticing you are not there (when did he last see you?) he erics out you are faithless,

have failed him, writes you stormy letters demanding you return it is intolerable ,

to maintain this great barracks without your presence, it is too big, it is too small, the walls menace him, the fire smokes

. and gives off no heat. But to what address can he mail the letters?

And all the while

you are indwelling, a Fold rimi lost in the house. A sold rim' lost in the house.

O O

You are in the house!

Then what to do to find the room where vou are? Deep cave of obsidian glowing with red, with green, with black light, high room in the lost tower where you sit spinning,-

. crack in the floor where the gold ring waits to be found?

No more rage but a calm face, trim the fire, lay the table, find some flowers for it: is that the way? Be ready with quick sight to catch a gleam between the floorboards,

there, where he had looked a thousand times and seen nothing?

Light of the house,

the wise man spoke words of comfort. You are near, perhaps you are sleeping and don't hear.

Not even a wise mail can say, do thus and thus, that presence will be restored.

Perhaps

a becoming aware a door is swinging, as if someone had passed through the room a moment ago—perhaps looking down, the sight cf the ring back on its finger?


I L L U S T R I O U S A N C E S T O R S

T h e R a v

of N o r t h e r n W h i t e R u s s i a d e c l i n e d ,

i n h i s y o u t h , t o l e a r n t h e

( l a n g u a g e o f b i r d s , b e c a u s e

t h e e x t r a n e o u s d i d n o t i n t e r e s t h i n t ; n e v e r t h e l e s s

w h e n h e g r e w o l d i t w a s f o u n d

he u n d e r s t o o d t h e m a n y w a y , h a v i n g

l i s t e n e d w e l l , a n d as i t i s s a i d , " p r a y e d

w i t h t h e b e n c h a n d t h e f l o o r . " H e u s e d

w h a t w a s a t b a n d — a s d i d

A n g e l J o n e s o f M o l d , w h o s e m e d i t a t i o n s

w e r e s e w n i n t o c o a t s a n d b r i t c h e s .

W e l l , I w o u l d l i k e t o m a k e ,

t h i n k i n g s o m e l i n e s t i l l t a u t b e t w e e n m e a n d t h e m ,

p o e m s d i r e c t as w h a t t h e b i r d s s a i d ,

h a r d as a f l o o r , s o u n d as a b e n c h ,

m y s t e r i o u s as t h e s i l e n c e w h e n t h e t a i l o r

w o u l d p a u s e w i t h h i s n e e d l e i n t h e a i r .


T h e Jacob's Ladder

The stairway is not a thing ol gleaming strands a radiant evanescence for angels' feet that only glance in their tread, and need not touch the stone.

It is of stone. A rosy stone that takes a glowinf lone of softness only because behind it the sky is a doubtful, a doubting night gray.

A stairway of sharp angles, solidly built. One sees that the angels must spring down from one step to the next, giving a little lift of the wings:

and a man climbing must scrape his knees, and bring the grip of his hands into play. The cut stone consoles his groping feet. Wings brush past him. The poem ascends.


© ft T THE EDGE

H o w much I should like to begin

a poem w i t h A n d — presupposing the hardest said — the moss cleared off the stone, the letters pla in.

H o w the round moon would shine into a l l the corners of such a poem and show the words! Moths and dazzled awakened birds would freeze in its light! T h e lines would be an outbreak of bells andlswinjjinfjron the rope!

Yet, not ilf-iirin <r apocrypha but true revelation,

what use to pretend the stone discovered, anything visible? That poem indeed

may not be carved there, may l ie — the quick of mystery — i n animal eyes gazing

from the thicket, a creature of imknown size,

fierce, terrified, having teeth or

no defense, but whom no A n d may approach suddenly.

409 Phy M i s Webb

TWO V E R S I O N S

1 . P o c l r y

F i d e l i t y

a s i n l o v e

i s i n p o e t r y

a n u n e x p e c t e d s a t i s f a c t i o n ;

o r , r e n d e r e d i n t o W e n c h ,

The Importance of Being Earnest b e c o m e s

L'imporlant, c'est d'etre fidele !

d i s c o v e r a b l e a f t e r p r o m i s c u i t i e s ,

f l i r t a t i o n s ,

f l i g h t s o f f a n c y ;

t h i s i s t o s a y t h a i

g e n i u s i s n o s c a r e c r o w ,

f o r i n s t a n c e : '

m u r d e r i n S o u t h K e n s i n g t o n

i s n o t s t r a n g e f r u i t o n a n y p o e t ' s t r e e ;

f o r i n s t a n c e :

t h e h o o d w i n k e d e y e o f i g n o r a n c e

l u r k s s i n i s t e r b e n e a t h t h e p r o f e s s o r i a l g o w n ;

or. e x t r e m e s o f p o s s i b i l i t y a r c n o t a l w a y s

l l i e g r e a t e s t p o s s i b l e e x t r e m i t i e s .

2. In S i t u

- T h e p o e t i n h i s t r e e o f h e l l

w i l l s e c l i f t s t e a d i l y a n d s e c it w e l l .

H i e w o r l d i s r o u n d . It m o v e s i n c i r c l e s

T h e p o e t i n h i s v i s i o n t r e e

i m p a r t s i m m a c u l a t e n e c e s s i t y

to m u r d e r , i g n o r u n c e a n d l u s t .

T h e w o r l d i s r o u n d . It m o v e s i n c i r c l e s

P o c l r y , t h e p o e t ' s c u r s e .

w i l l l o o k for h e l l e r o r f o r w o r s e

l i k e a s i m p l e m o n k i n m e d i t a t i o n

c l o a k e d in a p p a r e n t d e p : i v a t i o n :

- i n i t s a m b i g u o u s n a k e d n e s s

g l o w s t h e r a i m e n t o f i t s o t h e r n e s s .

T h e w o r l d i s r o u n d . It m o v e s i n c i r c l e s

W i t h l a u g h t e r or. h i s h a u n t e d f a c e ,

a m a d m a n c a p t i v e i n a l e a f ' s e m b r a c e ,

- t h e j i c e t w i l d l y s h a k e s h i s t r e e .

T h e w o r l d - i s r o u n d . It m o v e s i n c i r c l e s

f o r .

like a monk in meditation,

p o e t r y

i s c l o a k e d i n s h e e r

p r o f u n d i t i e s o f o t h e r n e s s ,

i l s a m b i g u o u s n a k e d n e s s i t s s e r e n e c a p a c i t y

f o r w i s d o m : n o t h i n g d e n i e d

u n t i l e n t i r e l y k n o w n .

A n d s o , i n t h e c h a s t e e m b r a c e

o f f a i t h f u l l o v e r s

p o e t r y m a y

f r e e l y r a v a g e t h e p u l s e o f e v i l

t h a t t h r o b s i a t h e d a r k i n c e s t u o u s p a r t

o f e v e r y e a r n e s t l o v e r ' s e a r t h l y h e a r t .

SEMBLANCES Mir iam Waddington

I H A V E a wall and a hare tree,

Wi th si'iy window I have three,

Adding yon it comes to four

'That my eyes have in this hour.

At tin's hour you are not there* M y eyes encounter only air*

.Vet my inward eye can build Your features, moid them, and be held

Not by your face but what you m e a n -

Just as the tree must postulate

Something deeper and more great

Than what can here be sensed or seen;

Just as stil l objects have no tongue

And yet imply their right or wrong,

We can deduce an inner core.

Which lives inside the fleshless door.

And knew we how, we could extract From possibilities the fact,

. Or read the accent of a face, And value even empty space.

But at best this is not much

For such as love or even such

As hope to love, but look aside

And love their sight objectified.

I t comes to this: the things we know

Change, they diminish or they grow,

You arc not what you seem at all

As tree is tree or wall is walk

In all this sense-deceiving color

There lies a kernel, richer, fuller,

Than any which I have yet bitten,

A poem still not felt or writ ten;

But if I join my wail , my tree,

My window, you, in harmony,

Then perhaps I. may possess

The undisclosed, both more, and less.

411 Marianne Moore

T H E M I N D , I N T R A C T A B L E T H I N G

even with its own ax to grind, sometimes helps others. Why can't it help me?

O imagnifico, wizard in words—poet, was it, as Alfredo Panzini defined you? Weren't you refracting just now on my eye's half-closed triptych

the image, enhanced, of a glen— "the foxgrape festoon as sere leaves fell" on the sand-pale dark byroad, one leaf adrift

from the thin-twigged persimmon; again,

. a bird—Arizona caught-up-with, uncatchable cuckoo after two hours' pursuit, zigzagging road-runner, stenciled in black stripes all over, the tail

windmilling up to defy me? You understand terror, know how to deal with pent-up emotion, a ballad, witchcraft.

I don't. 0 Zeus and 0 Destiny!

Unafraid of what's done, undeterred by apparent defeat, you, imagnifico, unafraid of disparagers, death, dejection, have out-wiled the Mermaid of Zennor,

made wordcraft irresistible: reef, wreck, lost lad, and "sea-foundered bell" — as near a thing as we have to a king—

craft with which 1 don't know how to deal.

412 E r i c a Jong

Arse P o e t i c a

for Leonard <£ Patricia

I I t e m : t h e p o e t h a s t o f e e d h i m s e l f & f u c k h i m s e l f .

I I

S a l t t h e m e t a p h o r s . S e t t h e m b r e a s t u p o v e r t h e v e g e t a b l e s

& b a s t e t h e m w i t h t h e j u i c e i n t h e c a s s e r o l e . L a y a p i e c e

o f a l u m i n u m f o i l o v e r t h e p o e m , c o v e r t h e c a s s e r o l e &

h e a t i t o n t o p o f t h e s t o v e u n t i l y o u h e a r t h e i m a g e s

s i z z l i n g . T h e n p l a c e t h e p o e m i n t h e m i d d l e o f a r a c k i n

t h e p r e h e a t e d o v e n .

R o a s t f o r a n h o u r & t w e n t y m i n u t e s , r e g u l a t i n g h e a t s o

t h a t p o e m i s a l w a y s m a k i n g q u i e t c o o k i n g n o i s e s . T h e

p o e m i s d o n e w h e n d r u m s t i c k s m o v e i n t h e i r s o c k e t s &

t h e l a s t d r o p s o f j u i c e d r a i n e d f r o m t h e v e n t r u n c l e a r .

R e m o v e t o a s e r v i n g d i s h & d i s c a r d t r u s s i n g .

I l l

O n c e t h e p e n i s h a s b e e n i n t r o d u c e d i n t o t h e p o e m , t h e

p o e t l e t s h e r s e l f d o w n u n t i l s h e i s s i t t i n g o n t h e m u s e

w i t h h e r l e g s o u t s i d e h i m . H e n e e d n o t m a k e a n y m o t i o n s

a t a l l . T h e p o e t s i t s u p r i g h t & r a i s e s & l o w e r s h e r b o d y

r h y t h m i c a l l y u n t i l t h e l a s t l i n e i s a t t a i n e d . S h e m a y p a u s e

i n h e r m o v e m e n t s & m a y a l s o m o v e h e r p e l v i s & a b d o m e n

f o r w a r d & b a c k o r s i d e w a y s , o r w i t h a c i r c u l a r c o r k s c r e w

m o t i o n . T h i s m e t h o d y i e l d s e x c e p t i o n a l l y a c u t e i m a g e s

Si i s , i n d e e d , o f t e n r e c o m m e n d * . ! a s y i e l d i n g t h e s u m m i t

o f a e s t h e t i c e n j o y m e n t . P e n e t r a t i o n i s a t i t s d e e p e s t . C o n

c e p t i o n , h o w e v e r , i s J e s s a p t t h a n w i t h o t h e r a t t i t u d e s .

T h i s p o s i t i o n is a l s o s u i t a b l e w h e n t h e m u s e i s t i r e d o r

l a c k i n g i n v i g o r s i n c e t h e p o t . t p l a y s t h e a c t i v e r o l e . P e n e

t r a t i o n i s d e e p e s t w h e n t h e p o e t ' s b o d y m a k e s a n a n g l e

o f 45 d e g r e e s w i t h t h e m u s e ' s . A h a l f - e r e c t m u s e w i l l

r e m a i n i n p o s i t i o n w h e n t h i s a l t i t u d e i s a d o p t e d s i n c e

h e c a n n o t s l i p o u t o f t h e p o e m . .

413

SECTION SEVEN

What Does i t Mean t o be a Woman?

Pat Lowther Woman

Adrienne Rich . Snapshots of a Daughter- in-Law Er i ca Jong A l c e s t i s on the Poetry C i r c u i t Joyce Carol Oates Lines f o r Those t o Whom Tragedy i s Denied Denise Levertov Hypocr i te Women Louise Bogan Women Joyce Carol Oates A Woman in her Secret L i f e May Swenson Women

Sun Lynne Lawner Woman t o Woman D i l y s Laing Stabat Mater Ed i th S i twe l I Tears Jean S t a r r Untermeyer Lake-Song Adrienne Rich T r a n s l a t i o n s Diane Wakoski Reaching Out w i t h the Hands of the Sun

A Poet Recognizing the Echo of the Voice May Sarton Dutch I n t e r i o r Mona Van Duyn Leda Reconsidered E l i n o r Wyl ie Let no C h a r i t a b l e Hope Gwendolyn MacEwen Morning Laughter Gwendolyn Brooks The B a t t l e Denise Levertov In Mind Anne Wi lk inson . T h e T igh t rope Anne Sexton Moon Song, Woman Song Denise Levertov Stepping Westward

414

WOMAN

I

I think I wanted to be wings, the essence of v/ings or a universal symbiote

-As a child I climbed trees and sang in the branches. Feathers grew like leaves,

levitation became possible An upwind under the leaves lifted me like a rising song

The lightline of horizon Tunneled into my eyes, expanded again inside,

splitting my mind like a robin's egg. Cracked but sti l l singing I took possession of the sky

Just past the first star I grew aware of my blood in its closed veins, a closed system.

Symbiosis had failed. I was lonely as god before the invention of colour

Space cold and pure-encapsulated me, a virus in the universe.

Pat Lowther

I I

Knowledge coarsened my flesh I grew heavy

.stumbling down endless flights of stairs

At landfall I clawed in fear of air I'd marked with curlicues of flight

Earth and salt sea rocked between the two poles of my knees

-an omen, for I shrank into my body and beyond into the warm thick cave of genesis.

-Remembering lonely sky I became a slave

to the whimpering womb, that hollow mouth that never says Enough

- until too late.

I l l

Shrunken between walls I think of electric storms in a bird's brain

1 think of a tree as a slow paradigm for an explosion

There is stil l a delicate network of cracks l i k e a tree's branches behind my eyes-resembling lightning also. Some day theTc will be feathers and blood on the inside of the window.

415

Adrienne Rich

* SNAPSHOTS OF A

DAUG1 ITER-IN-LAW

1. You, once a belle in Shreveport,

with henna colored hair-, skin like a peachbud, still have your dresses copied from that time, and play a Chopin prelude

called by Cortot: "Delicious recollections float like perfume through the memory."

Your mind now, mouldering 'like wedding-cake, heavy with useless experience, rich with suspicion, rumor, fantasy, crumbling to pieces under the knife-edge of mere fact. In the prime of your life.

Ner/y, glowering, your daughter

wipes the teaspoons, grows another way.

2.

Banging the coffee-pot into the sink

she hears the angels chiding, and looks out past the inked gardens to the sloppy sky. Only a week since They said:Have no patience.

'Hie next time it was: Be insatiable. Then: Save yourself; others you cannot save. Sometimes she's let the tapsticarn scald her arm, a match burn to her thumbnail,'

or held her band above the kettle's snout

right iir the woolly steam. They are probably angels, since nothing hurts her any more, except each morning's grit blowing into her eyes.

3.

A thinking woman sleeps with monsters. The beak that grips her, she becomes. And Nature, that sprung-lidded, stri! commodious steamer-trunk of terr.pora and mores gets stuffed with it all: the mildewed orange-Sowers, the female pills, the terrible breasts

of Boadicea beneath flat foxes' heads and orchids.

Two handsome women, gripped in argument, each proud, acute, subtle, I hear scream across the cut glass and majolica like Furies cornered from their prey: The argument ad feminam, all the old knives

that have rusted in my back, I drive in yours, ma semblable, ma soeurl

4.

Knowing themselves too well in one another: their gifts no pure fruition, but s thorn,

the prick filed sharp against a hint of scom . . . Reading while waiting for the iron to heat,

writing, My Life had stood—a Loaded Gun— in that Amherst pantry while the jellies boil and scum,

or, more often,

iron-eyed and beaked and purposed as a bird,

dusting everything on the whatnot every day of life:

5. Dulcc ridens, dulce loquens, she shaves her legs until thev gleam like petrified mammoth-tusk.

416

6. W h e n to her lute Cor inna sings

neither words nor mus ic arc her emu;

only the long hair dipping

over her check, only the song

of silk against her knees

and these

adjusted i n reflections of an eye.

Poised, trembling and unsatisfied, before

an unlocked door, that cage c f cages,

tell us, you bird, vou tragical m a c h i n e —

is this fertilisante douleur? Pinned down

by love, for you the only natural action,

- a r e y o u edged more keen

to prise the secrets of the vault? has Nature shown

her household books to you, daughter-in-law,

that h c i sons never saw?

7. " T o have in this uncertain world some stay

which cannot be undermined, is

of the utmost consequence."

T h u s wrote

a woman, partlv brave and partly good,

who fought with what she partlv understood.

Few men about her would or could do more,

hence she was labelled harpy, shrew and whore.

8. " Y o u all die at fifteen," said Diderot,

and turn part legend, part convention.

St i l l , eves inaccurately dream

behind closed windows blankcning with steam.

D c l i d o u s l y , al l that we might have been.

a l l that we were—fire, tears,

wit , taste, martyred a m b i t i o n —

stirs like the memory of refused adultery

the drained and flagging bosom of OUT middle yean.

9.

• N e t that it is done well, but

that it is done at all? Yes, think

of the odds! or shrug them off forever.

T h i s luxury of the precocious chi ld .

Time's precious chronic i h v a l i d , —

would we, darlings, resign it if we could?

O u r blight has been our sinecure:

mere talent was enough for u s —

glitter i n fragments and rough drafts.

Sigh no more, ladies.

T i m e is male

and in his cups drinks to the fair.

Bemused by gallantry, we hear

our mediocrities over-praised,

indolence read as abnegation,

slattern thought styled intuit ion,

every lapse forgiven, our crime -

only to cast too bold a shadow

or smash the mould straight off.

For that, solitary confinement,

tear gas, attrition shelling.

Few applicants for that honor.

10. W e D ,

. she's long about her coming, who must be

more merciless to herself than history.

H e r mind full to the wind, I see her plunge

breasted and glancing through the currents,

taking the light upon her

at least as beautiful as any boy

or helicopter,

poised, still coming,

her fine blades making the air wince

but her cargo

no promise then:

delivered

palpable

ours.

1958-1960

417

Alcestis on the P o e t r y Circuit E r i c a Jong

( I n Kemoriam M a r i n a Tsvetaeva , Anna Wickham, S y l v i a P l a t h , Shakespeare ' s s i s t e r , e t c , e t c . )

The b e s t s l a v e does n o t need to be b e a t e n . She b e a t s h e r s e l f .

Not w i t h a l e a t h e r w h i p , o r w i t h s t i c k s o r t w i g s , n o t w i t h a b l a c k j a c k o r a b i l l y c l u b , b u t w i t h the f i n e whip o f her own tongue & t h e s u b t l e b e a t i n g o f h e r Eiind a g a i n s t her mind

F o r who can hate her h a l f so w e l l a s she_hates h e r s e l f ? & who can match the f i n e s s e o f h e r s e l f - a b u s e ?

She must never go out o f the house u n l e s s v e i l e d i n p a i n t . She must wear t i g h t shoes so she always remembers her bondage, She must never f o r g e t

she i s r o o t e d i n the g r o u n d .

Though she i s q u i c k t o l e a r n & a d m i t t e d l y c l e v e r , h e r n a t u r a l doubt o f h e r s e l f s h o u l d make her so weak t h a t she dabbles b r i l l i a n t l y i n h a l f a dozen t a l e n t s & t h u s e m b e l l i s h e s b u t does not change o u r l i f e .

Y e a r s o f t r a i n i n g a r e r e q u i r e d f o r t h i s . Twenty y e a r s o f s u b t l e s e l f - i n d u l g e n c e , s e l f - d e n i a l ; u n t i l t h e s u b j e c t t h i n k s h e r s e l f a queen & y e t a b e g g a r — b o t h a t t h e same t i m e .

She s h o u l d m i s t r u s t h e r s e l f i n e v e r y t h i n g but l o v e . She s h o u l d choose p a s s i o n a t e l y & b a d l y . She s h o u l d f e e l l o s t as a dog w i t h o u t h e r m a s t e r . She s h o u l d r e f e r a l l m o r a l q u e s t i o n s t o h e r m i r r o r . She s h o u l d f a l l i n l o v e w i t h a cossack o r a poet

I f s h e ' s an a r t i s t & comes c l o s e t o g e n i u s , t h e v e r y f a c t o f her g i f t s h o u l d cause her such p a i n t h a t she w i l l t a k e her own l i f e r a t h e r than best u s .

& a f t e r she d i e s , we w i l l c r y & make her a s a i n t .

418

Lines for Those to Whom Tragedy Is Denied

Joyce Carol Oates

These women have no language and so they chatter In the rhythm of stereotype that is won After certain years and certain money. Or perhaps they once rose naked from the sea And the stereotype rose from them, like a snapshot Snapped by envious fingers, an act of love They never noticed. The ladies are metronomes or pendulums As their laments swing from one to the other Around the heavy oak table, rooted to the floor Like many another oak: here the roots are bolts. The floor is parquet, polished and indifferent To the tappings of expensive feet. No matter what these ladies say, no matter, It is crime to listen to the language of ladies Who have no language.

Fifteen years ago when we were first married we lived on an army base; we had no money; we saved to go to the camp movies, which cost a dime. We saved all week ... for the movies.

The army has cleared out, marched away, the soldiers are Grown out of their boys' uniforms and some are Rotted entirely out of them and some, like your husbands, Are important now and very expensive.

The car broke down in Kansas City, on our way to his mother in Texas. And I broke down, witli the baby and all, and he sat talking to me and kidding in the car, in the rain ... in Kansas City .... That was nineteen years ago.

Of sorrow their diamonds are stereotypes, again, And no tears can quite equal their brilliance. Bloated out of themselves like corpses in water Such suburban ladies stare upon their former bodies, Girls' bodies, and it is the innocence of plant and algae They seem to taste, and not human guise.

Then Michael was born, and then I got pregnant again and we were afraid to write home; between his family and mine what choice did we have? I liad the baby, that's Perry at Yale. He's going to Italy this summer....

419 There are five ladies here and two are divorced and ' Sad to say divorce awaits the others, like death. Their husbands never dream away time in Kansas City. Never do they dream of khaki and mud and never youth Without power, never the submersion in shapes Unshaped like the good silky leather gloves Tangled around the straps of leather purses. . Their husbands account for the success cf airlines And the thick red carpets of certain restaurants. Ah, manly men!—and stripped clean of the garments Of tawdry questions: What am I? The latest light-toned lipstick cannot quite disguise The bitter bitter set of your skulls'teeth, ladies. And you are educated, or were. Your milk-curdled glands stir At the fate of adolescent children, your children, Who will not obey. No fur to your bodies, ladies, But the pelts of animals killed for you. These pelts gleam and glisten In the five o'clock light of the Oak Room Of the club. We are very wealthy here and Very liberal about Negroes.

We never argued, never fought. Then that night he told me, before guests, that the house was sold; he said,"Your taste was never good." It seemed to begin then . . . .

In the depths of the table over which they lean Their younger selves dream and drown And the gold of their trinkets which is real And heartbreaking in beauty, and the pink Of their gentle beseiged ears, and the perfumed wires . They wear as hair, and the droning question of Their chatter grow heavy, heavy In the absence of men and the absence of sky and Cloudy wet mornings in other cities, minor cities. And the rapid jerky heartbeat of youth with no Gold to it but youth. Do the ribbed wonders of the brain still hold In terraces without nerves the outlines Of faces, of love? And what was love? And who were Those boy husbands, those wives; and who were those babi So loved and feared? When they were real were they real? Now it iscertain that the time of day is real. The table, the floor, the panelled walls are real And real the density of bodies and The images, like angels, of ladies settled and bizarre As certain birds bred for color and song and beyond Their youth's charm.

420 Den Ise

Hypocrite Women

Hypocrite women, how seldom we speak of our own doubts, while dubiously wc mother man in his doubt!

And if at Mill Valley perched in the trees the sweet rain drifting through western air a white sweating bull of a poet told us

our cunts are ugly—why didn't we admit wc have thought so too? (And what shame? They are not for the eyel)

No, they are dark and wrinkled and hairy, caves of the Moon . . . And when a dark humming fills us, a

coldness towards life, we are too much women to own to such unwomanliness.

Whorishly with the psychopomp we play and plead—and say nothing of this later. And our dreams,

with what frivolity we have pared them like toenails, clipped them like ends of split hair.

421 Louise Bogan

W O M E N

Women have no wilderness in diem, They arc provident instead, Content in the tight hot cell of their hearts To eat dusty bread.

They do not see cattle cropping red winter grass," They do not hear Snow water going down under culverts Shallow and clear.

.They wait, when they should turn to journeys, They stilTen, when they should bend. They use against themselves that benevolence To which no man is friend.

They cannot think of so many crops to a field Or of clean wood cleft by an axe. Their love is an eager mcaninglcssncss Too tense, or too lax.

They hear in every whisper that speaks to them A \hout and a cry.

A* like as not, when they take life over their door-sills I dry should Jet it go by.

file:///hout

422 Joyce Carol Oates

A Woman in Her Secret Life

There is nothing of airplanes in me Orchards draw up my hair in struck crazy strands I am drawn from rivulets easing slyly into banks

A sunny silence pierces my bones of porcelain and milk Life pauses for years between a thing and a verb.... Nothing gets remembered

in me except what turns to bone. My father sat at a kitchen table yearning with eyes shut from us: he had a secret age and a secret wage, a union man. My mother braided all our hair together.

If I forget my family it is to pollute myself in the bone of strangers, of men, to give up my face to their faces' imprint. There is nothing of men in me except the strange raw texture of their love

There is nothing of erasures in me or sharp corners, no rewinding, a saint's stare burned blind by wind a life yawned away in flesh.

423 May Swenson

WOMEN

Women ehould be - pedestals

moving pedestals

moving, to the

motions of men

Or they should be

l i t t l e horses those wooden

sweet oldfaohioned

painted r o c k i n g

horses

the gladdest things i n the toyrootn

The pegs

of t h e i r ears

so f a m i l i a r and dear

to the t r u s t i n g f i s t s

To be chafed

f e e l i n g l y and then

u n f e e l i n g l y To be

j o y f u l l y ridden

r o c k i n g l y ridden u n t i l

the r e s t o r e d

-egos dismount and the legs s t r i d e away

Immobile oweetlipped

sturdy and s m i l i n g women

w i l l i n g to be set

i n t o motion Women

should be should always

be waiting pedestals

to men

424 May Swenson

SUN

Wi th your masculine stride you tread insidious clouds and glide to the unobstructed parapet of noon-blue

ruthless rip through cumulous veils of sloth spurn their sly caresses and erect an immediate stairway to passion's splendid throne

From yourself you fling your own earth-seed and orbits organize in the wotnbless infinite for your disciplcd planets

radiant boys that imitate your stamping feet in the elliptic dance of fire

' You are not moon-dependent on desire in rotund rhythm leashed to a mineral despot* like that satellite in female furrow sown

that white rib plucked from Adam-earth but appended still eclipsed beneath his dark chest

.wr i th ing to his wi l l

one-sided shield turned to the urgent tide compelled to yield to the night-sky slime

-she that marble-smiling sinks in moss

A t dawn rubbed thin a mutilate she melts and faints in the cold cloud curd

while you arc up afork the first ringing word of potent joy the sharp-tined golden shout divine and glistering your beard with dev/y flame? sprinting to the pantheon and your god-like games

425 Lynne Lawner

WOMAN TO WOMAN

v y OMAN to woman can cleave and crave, But the resdess heart and the aching bone Beat for the meeting of sea and stone, For woman to woman is wave upon wave.

As a pier that with the soft foam merges, Harsh, then tender, men's needs move Till strangeness shapes familiar love: When turbulence ends, new life emerges.

N o more, no more, sweet image, come, Come trembling down to a still-water grave. For woman to woman is wave upon wave And breeds something pure, useless, and dumb.

Di lys Laing Stabat Mater

In love's long execution she is fixed upon the human tree

The tree is fashioned like a cross the cross is image of her loss

Loss and cross and tree are one in trie person of her son

In her hands the wounds are wide in her feet and in her side

and since the day-that he was born she has felt the stabbing thorn.

426 E d i t h S i t w e l I

Tears

M y tears were O r i o n ' s splendor with sextuple suns and the

million

Flowers in the fields of the heaven, where solar systems are

s e t t i n g —

T h e rocks of great diamonds in the midst of the clear wave

B y M a y dews and early light ripened, more diamonds beget

ting.

I wept for the glories of air, for the millions of dawns

A n d the splendors within M a n ' s heart with the darkness, war

ring,

I wept for the beautiful queens of the w o r l d , like a flower-bed

s h i n i n g —

N o w gathered, some at six, some at seven, but all in Eternity's

m o r n i n g . ' .

But now my tears have shrunk and like hours are f a l l i n g :

I weep for Venus whose body has changed to a metaphysical.city

W h o s e heart-beat is now the sound of the r e v o l u t i o n s — f o r love

changed

T o the hospital mercy, the scientists' hope for the future,

A n d for darkened M a n , that complex multiplicity

O f air and water.piant and animal,

H a r d diamond, infinite sun.

4 2 7 Jean S t a r r Untermeyer

XAKE-SONG

THE lapping of lake water

Is l ike the weeping of women,

The weeping of ancient women

Who grieved without rebellion.

The lake falls over the shore

Like tears on their curven bosoms.

Here is languid, luxurious wailing,

The wailing of kings' daughters.

S o do we ever cry,

A soft, unmutinous crying,

When we know ourselves each a princess

Locked fast within her tower.

The lapping of lake water

Is like the weeping of women,

The fertile tears of women

T h a t water the dreams of men.

428 Adr ienne Rich

Translations

You show me the poems of some woman my age, or younger

Mranslated from your language

Certain words occur: enemy, oven, sorrow enough to let me know she's a woman of my time

obsessed

with Love, our subject: , ' we've trained it like ivy to our walls baked it like bread in our ovens worn it like lead on our ankles watched it through binoculars as if it were a helicopter bringing food to our famine or the satellite of a hostile power

I begin to see that woman doing things: stirring rice ironing a skirt typing a manuscript till dawn

trying to make a call from a phoncbooth

The phone rings unanswered in a man's bedroom she hears him telling someone else Never mind. Site'II get tired. hears him telling her story to her sister

who becomes her enemy and will in her own time light her own way to sorrow \ •

ignorant of the fact this way of grief is shared, unnecessary and political •

1972

429 REACHING OUT WITH THE HANDS OF THE SUN

D i a n e Wakosk

! And thereupon I That beautiful mild woman /or whose sake

There's many a one ihall find out oi l heartache

On finding that her voice is sweet <t> low Replied: 'To be born woman is to know —

' , Although they do not talk of it at school — That we must labour to be beautiful.'

" A d a m ' s Curse," w. B. TEATS Atun-Re the sun disk whose rays end in hands shines above us in New York California Egypt sometimes even Alaska. Walking across the desert, he puts his scorching hands over our eyes and turns vision into sounds, waves as the ocean, drawing the pupils away from rattlesnakes 6c blurring the hawks that sail so unconcerned with heat above our heads; " when we ride across the snow and shaggy trees of Alaska the sun's many hands

rub thick bear skins & tallow against the apples of our faces; when we float down the river without barks of gold or flutes or beautiful boys in the heavy linen sails, the sun's hands reach into the Nile • . • and pull out a glimmering eel or a water lily, holding it against the banks, motioning for us to expect life anywhere, even though it's not at once seen»

430

t h « h a n d s c o m i n g f r c m t h e t * y » o f t h a r d i s k

hold orjngc5. dat*>, figs, nut* •all trioje sweetmeats

that Rive a w o m a n f a i thighs

and a puffy face.

W h a t am I to believe in this world?

T h e w h i r l i n g sun disk

that speeds years away

puts out such rays with .hands attached to each

that fling me one day against

the rough edges of mountains,

one day caress me, push me against the long mustaches I love

m y face varies from plain to dignified;

m y figure from straight to p l u m p ;

m y eyes from bright to small & sad; .

m y m o u t h , always a straight l i n e — as if crossing a " t"

and I see the world change a r o u n d m e ;

only one thing never changes.

M e n remember,

love, ' <

cherish,

beautiful w o m e n ,

as I've said,

like A p r i l snow

like silk that rustles i n a fragrant chest,

like a machine dripping w i t h oi l a n d r u n n i n g smoothly.

I a m pooh-poohed

every time 1 say it.

" a w o m a n of your intelligence/'

etc., etc.,

believing

such a superficial thing. " O n l y the

foolish

nmguided,

the men with n o balls,

431

o r t h e o n e s t h a t d o n ' t r e a l l y m a t t e r , "

l o v e a w o m a n f o r h e r b e a u t y

h e r p h y s i c a l sel f .

B u t I k n o w d i f f e r e n t .

I 've r u l e d ;

I ' v e w a l k e d w i t h t h e m a s k o f a f a l c o n ,

p e r h a p s H o r u s

o v e r m y h e a d ,

w a l k e d e v e r y w h e r e , s t i f f & d i s g u i s e d ,

w a l k e d i n s t o n e w a t c h i n g

t h e l i f e a r o u n d m e ,

t h e l o v i n g ,

a n d n o t l o v i n g ,

w i t h o u t s o u n d s to i n t e r r u p t o r c h a n g e h i s t o r y .

I 've w a t c h e d a n d k n o w

t h a t e v e n t h e p o e t s

w h o s e b l o o d is m o s t f i l l e d w i t h s u n ' s l i g h t

a n d w h o s e h a n d s are w e t

c o m i n g o u t o f t h e r a y s o f t h e m o o n ,

l o v e b e a u t i f u l w o m e n ,

w r i t h e , t u r n ,

u p s e t t h e i r l i v e s , l e a v e t h e i r g o o d w i v e s ,

w h e n o n e w a l k s b y .

A n d w e ,

w i t h fat t h i g h s ,

o r s m a l l breasts ,

o r t h i n d e l i c a t e h a i r ,

p a l e faces ,

s m a l l eyes ,

w i t h o n l y o u r e l e g a n t , s m a l l - w r i s t e d h a n d s

to d e f e n d u s . •

t r y i n g to c a t c h o n e o f t h e h a n d s

o n a r a y f r o m t h e s u n ,

l o v i n g o u r m e n f a i t h f u l l y

a n d w i t h h o p e ;

s u r e l y w e d e s e r v e s o m e t h i n g m o r e t h a n p l a t i t u d e s .

432

W c arc the ones who know beauty is only skin deep.

But wc also know we would trade every ruby stuffing and jamming our wealthy opulent hearts would trade every silver whistle that alerts our brain, keeps us sensitive and graceful to the world; would trade every miracle inside our plain & ugly blood factories, these bodies that never serve us well, for some beauty they could recognize; that would make the men stop turn their heads, twist their minds & lives around for us/ for those of us who love them and who never stop. Whose hands are always radiating out ready to touch the merj with fire direct from the solar disk who brood are dark often with hands that come from the unseen side of the moon.

- 433 Diane-Wakoski

A POET RECOGNIZING THE ECHO OP THE VOICE

1. Isolation of Beautiful Women

"How were you able to get len of the world's

most beautiful women to many you/" "J just asked them. You know, men all over

the world dieam about Lana Turner, desire

her want to be with her. But very very

few ever ask her to marry them."

paraphrase of an interview with Artie

W e are b u r n i n g

i n o u r h e a d s ,

at n i g h t ,

b o n f i r e s o f o u r o w n b o d i e s .

P e r s i a r e d u c e s o u r h e a d s

to s tar s a p p h i r e s a n d l a p i s l a z u l i .

S i l v e r t h r e a d s i t s e l f

i n t o t h e l i n e s of o u r t h r o a t s

a n d g l i t t e r s e v e r y t i m e w e s p e a k .

O l d a l c h e m i c a l r i d d l e s

are s o l v e d i n t h e d r e a m s of m e n

w h o m a r r y o t h e r w o m e n a n d t h i n k o f u s .

A n y o n e w h o sees us

w i l l h o l d o u r s m a l l h a n d s ,

l i k e m i r r o r s i n w h i c h t h e y see t h e m s e l v e s ,

. a n d t r y t o i n i t i a l o u r a r m s

w i t h d e s p e r a t i o n .

E v e r y o n e w a n t s to c o m e c l o s e t o

t h e c i n n a m o n o f o u r ears .

E v e r y m a n w a n t s to e x p l o r e o u r b o d i e s

a n d f i l l u p o u r m i n d s .

R i d i n g t h e i r m o t o r c y c l e s a l o n g c o l l a p s i n g g r e y h i g h w a y

t h e y s e q u e s t e r t h e i r a m b i v a l e n t h u n t i n g c l o t h e s

b e t w e e n o u r legs ,

r e m i n d i n g t h e m s e l v e s o f t h e i r v a l u e

b y q u o t i n g m i n i n g s t o c k p r i c e s , a n d o u r s .

Shaw

B u t m e n d o h o t m a r r y u s ,

d o n o t a s k us to s h a r e t h e i r l i v e s ,

d o n o t s u r v i v e t h e b o n f i r e s

h o t e n o u g h to m e l t s t e e l .

T o a l c h e m i z e r u b i e s . '

W e l i v e t h e l o n e l i n e s s

t h a t m e n r u n af ter ,

a n d w e ,

t h e p r e c i o u s r o c k s x>f t h e e a r t h

are m a d e h a r d e r ,

m o r e f i e r y

m o r e b e a u t i f u l ,

m o r e c o m p l e x ,

b y a l l t h e p r e s s i n g ,

t h e b u r y i n g ,

t h e p l u n d e r i n g ;

e v e n y o u r d e s e r t i o n s ,

y o u r b e t r a y a l s ,

y o u r f a i l u r e to u n d e r s t a n d a n d l o v e U3,

y o u r u n w i l l i n g n e s s to face t h e w o r l d

as s t a u n c h l y as w e d o ;

these t h i n g s

w h i c h r a v a g e u s ,

c a n n o t d e s t r o y o u r l i v e s ,

t h o u g h t h e y o f t e n t a k e o u r b o d i e s .

W e are t h e e a r t h .

W e w a k e u p

f i n d i n g o u r s e l v e s

g l i n t i n g i n t h e d a r k

af ter t h o u s a n d s o f y e a r s

of p r e s s i n g .

434 //. Movement to Establish My Identity

1 know what wages beauty gives. How hatd a life hex servant lives . . .

' T o A Young Beauty," w . a. T IAT»

A woman wakes up finds herself ' ' glinting in the dark, the earth holds her as a precious rock in a mine

her breath is a jumble ' of sediments, of mixed strata, of the valuable, beautiful, of bulk.

All men are miners; willing to work hard and cover themselves with pit dirt; to dig out; to weigh; to possess.

Mine is a place. Mine is a designation. A man says, "it is mine," but he hacks, chops apart the mine to discover, to plunder, what's in it/ Plunder, that is the word. Plunder.

A woman wakes up finds .herself s c a r r e d

but still glinting in the dark. '

Ul Beauty 435 only God, my dear,

Could love you for yourself alone And n o t y o u r yellow hair.

"For Anne Gregory," w. a. Y I A T

and if I cut off ray long hair,

if I stopped speaking,

if I stopped dreaming for other people about parts of the car,

stopped handing them tall creamy flowered silks

a n d loosing the magnificent hawks to fly i n their direction,

stopped exciting them w i t h the possibilities • •

of a thousand crystals under the fingernail

tp look at while writing a letter,

if I stopped crying for tbe salvation of the tea ceremony,

stopped rushing i n excitedly w i t h a spikey bird-of-paradise,

and never let t h em see h o w accurate m y pistol shooting is,

w h o would I be?

Where is the real me

I want them all to love?

W e are all the textures we wear.

W e frighten m e n w i t h our steel,

we fascinate them w i t h our silk;

we seduce t h em w i t h our c i n n a m o n ,

we rule t h em w i t h our sensuous voices,

we confuse them w i t h our submissions.

Is there anywhere

a m a n

w h o

will not p u n i s h us

for our beauty?

H e is the one

w e all search for, •

c h a n t i n g names for exotic oceans of the m o o n .

H e is the one

we all anticipate,

pretending these small pedestrians

. jaywalking into our lives

are he.

H e is the one

w e all anticipate,

beauty looks for its m a t c h ,

confuses the issue

w i t h a mystery that does not exist:

the rock

that cannot burn..

W e are b u r n i n g

i n our heads at night

the incense of our histories, f inding

y o u have used our skulls ' "

for ashtrays.

436 May S a r t o r i

o

DUTCH INTERIOR Victer Jo llvocb (1629-16S2)

I recognize the quiet and the charm; This safe enclosed room where a woman sews And life is tempered, orderly, and calm.

Tlirough the Dutch door, half open, sunlight srteams And throws a pale square down on the red tiles. The cosy black dog suns himself and dreams.

Even the bed is sheltered, it encloses, A cupboard to keep people safe from harm. Where copper glows with the warm flush of roses.

The atmosphere is all domestic, human, Chaos subdued by the sheer power of need. Tins is a room where I have lived as woman,

Lived too what the Dutch painter does not tell— • The wild sloes overhead, dissolving, breaking,

And how that broken light is never still,

And how the roar of waves is always near, What: bitter tumult, treacherous and cold. Attacks the solemn charm year after year!

It must be felt as peace won and maintained Against those terrbile antagonists— How many from this quiet room have drowned?

How many left to go, drunk on the wind. And take their ships into heartbreaking seas; How many whom no woman's peace could bind?

Bent to her sewing, she looks drenched in calm. Raw grief is disciplined to the fine thread. But in her heart this woman is the storm;

Ahve. deep in herself, hoWs wind and rain, Kematking ckaos into an. intimate order Where sometime5 light flows through a window-pane.

437 Mona' Van Duyn

LEDA RECONSIDERED

S h e h a d a l i t t l e t i m e t o t h i n k

as he s t e p p e d o u t o f w a t e r

that p a l e d f r o m the loss o f hi« w h i t e n e s s

and c a m e t o w a r d h e r .

A c e r t a i n w i t i n the w a y he

h a n d l e d his w e b b e d feet ,

t h e m o d e s t y o f the l i g h t t h a t l a y o n h i m ,

a p e r f e c t l y c l e a r , a n d u n f o r g i v e a b l e ,

i r o n y i n t h e c o c k o f his h e a d

t o l d h e r m o r e t h a n he k n e w .

S h e sat t h e r e i n the s u n s h i n e ,

n a k e d as a n e w - h a t c h e d b i r d ,

w a t c h i n g h i m c o m e ,

t r y i n g t o p u t h e r s e l f

i n t h e p l a c e o f the c o b , a n d see

w h a t h e s a w :

flesh c o m f o r t a b l e , u s e d ,

b u t s t i l l n e a t l y f o l l o w i n g t h e b o n e s ,

a p o s t u r e r e l a x e d ,

a l m o s t u n s e e m l y , e x p r e s s i n g

( f o r t h e i m a g i n a t i o n ,

u n l i k e the p o o r b o d y i t s t r i p s a n d s t i rs ,

is n e v e r assaul ted)

openness , c o m p l i c i t y e v e n ,

t h e l o o k o f a w o m a n

w i t h a c o n t e x t i n w h i c h she c a n p u t

w h a t c o m e s n e x t !

( n o c h a n c e o f m a i d e n ' s h y s t e r i a

i f h i s b e a k p i n c h e d h o l d o f h e r n e c k - s k i n ,

y e t the strangeness o f the t h i n g

c o u l d s t i l l s tart le h e r

i n t o n e w gestures , )

a n d s o m e t h i n g — a heaviness ,

as i f she c o u l d bear t h i n g s ,

or as i f , w h e n h e f e r t i l i z e d h e r ,

he w e r e s e e d i n g t h e b a n k she sat o n ,

t h e e a r t h i n its aspect o f

q u i e s c e n c e .

A n d n o w , h o w m u c h w o u l d she t r y

t o see, t o t a k e ,

o f w h a t w a s n o t h e r s , o f w h a t

w a s n o t g o i n g t o be o f f e r e d ? '

T h e r e w a s t h a t o l d s t o r v

o f m a t c h i n g h i m c h a n g e f o r c h a n g e ,

p u r s u i n g , a n d at t h e s o l s t i c e

d e v o u r i n g h i m .

A m a n ' s s t o r y .

N o , she w a s n o t that h u n g r y

f o r e x p e r i e n c e . S h e h a d h e r l o v e s .

T o r e - i m a g i n e h e r l i f e —

as i f t h e e f f o r t w e r e m u s c u l a r

she l i f t e d h e r s e l f a l i t t l e

a n d f e l t the p u l l at n e c k

a n d s h o u l d e r b l a d e , b a c k

t o t h e u s u a l .

A n d s u p p o s e she r e a c h e d w i t h p r a c t i c e d a r m s

past t h e b i r d , s h o r t o f t h e g o d ,

f o r a v u l n e r a b l e m i d - p o i n t ,

a n d h e l d o n ,

j u s t h o w s h o r t - s i g h t e d w o u l d t h a t

be? W o u l d t h e h e a v e n s i n a flurry r e c o r d

a m a j o r i n j u s t i c e t o the w o r l d ' s

p o s s i b i l i t i e s ?

H e t o o k his t i m e ,

p a u s i n g t o shake o u t a w i n g .

T h e a r r o g a n c e o f t h a t g e s t u r e !

A n d y e t she s a w h i m

as t h e t r u e g o d .

S h e s a w , w i t h m o r t a l eyes

t h a t s t u n g at the s i g h t ,

t h e p a i n o f his t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s ,

w h i c h , b e a u t i f u l o r c o m i c ,

438 c a m e t o the w o r l d

w i t h the r i s k o f the w h o l e self .

She s a w w h a t he h a d t o w o r k t h r o u g h

as he t o o k , o v e r a n d o v e r ,

the r i s k o f l o v e ,

the r i s k o f b e i n g h e l d ,

a n d s a w t o the bare h e a r t

o f his s o a r i n g , his j o u r n e y i n g ,

his w i s h f o r the w o r l d

w h o s e a r m s he c o u l d e n t e r i n the i m a g e

o f w h a t is b r a v e o r g o l d e n .

T o l o v e w i t h t h e w h o l e i m a g i n a t i o n -

she h a d n e v e r t r i e d .

W a s t h e r e a f o r m f o r that?

. D e e p , i n h e r i n m o s t , g r u b b y

f e m a l e c e n t e r

( h o w c o u l d he k n o w t h a t ,

i n his a i r i n e s s ? )

l a y t h e j o y o f b e i n g u s e d ,

a n d its h e a v y peace , p e r h a p s ,

w o u l d k e e p h e r d o w n .

T o g i v e : w o m e n a n d g o d s

are a l i k e i n e n j o y i n g t h a t c e r e m o n y ,

f i n d its s m o k e filling a n d s w e e t .

B u t t o g i v e u p w a s a n o f f e r i n g

o n l y she c o u l d s a v o r ,

s i m p l y b y c o v e r i n g

h e r e y e s .

H e w a s c lose <o s o m e u n c o m m i t t e d

p a r t o f h e r .

I Ier t h o u g h t s d i s s o l v e d a n d

f e l l o u t o f h e r b o d y l i k e d e w

o n t o the grass o f the b a n k ,

the s m a l l w i l d f l o w e r s ,

as" his s h a d o w ,

t h e first c h i l l o f his g h o s t l i n e s s ,

f e l l o n h e r s k i n .

S h e w a i t e d f o r h i m so q u i e t l y t h a t

he c a m e o n h e r q u i e t l y ,

a l m o s t w i t h t e n d e r n e s s ,

n o t t r e a d i n g h e r .

H e r h a n d m o v e d i n t o the dense p l u m e s

o n his breast t o t o u c h

t h e u t t e r s t r a n g e r .

439 E l i n o r WyIie

L E T N O C H A R I T A B L E H O P E

N o w let n o c h a r i t a b l e hope

C o n f u s e m y m i n d w i t h images

O f eagle a n d o f a n t e l o p e ;

I a m i n n a t u r e n o n e o f these.

I w a s , b e i n g h u m a n , b o r n a l o n e ;

I a m , b e i n g w o m a n , h a r d beset;

I l i v e by s q u e e z i n g f r o m a stone

T h e l i t t l e n o u r i s h m e n t I get.

- I n m a s k s outrageous a n d austere

T h e years g o by i n s i n g l e f i l e ;

B u t n o n e has m e r i t e d m y fear,

A n d n o n e has q u i t e escaped m y s m i l e .

Jviorrxing Laughter

440 Gwendolyn MacEwen

To my mother, Elsie MacExven

umbilical I lumbered trailing long seed, unwombed to the giant vagina, unarmed, no sprung Athene — c r y , cry in the sudden salt of the big room, world — I uncurled plastic limbs of senses, freed the crashing course of menses,

—hur led

I hurled the young tongue's spit for a common coming, a genesis sans trumpets and myrrh, rejected whatever seed in love's inside fought and formed me from an exodus of semen come for the dream of Gwen, the small one, whose first salt scream

heralded more and borrowed excellence.

years have tied the sweet cord; morning laughter, ships of daughter and of mother move together in clumsy grace: you look to a roof of brass clouds crash loud as the known world knows us; and each motion's intrinsic as I reach beyond roofs for a clutch of that first seed.

wary we speak from a fringe of meanings, circle and pat-a-cakc in cat-paw diplomacy, each hope hoisted to a veined rainbow, our common denominator, whose colours are all blood and bone,

wary wc speak from a fringe of meanings, each tongue censored with love and its cat-paw circling

,now foetal in the world's wide womb-,now known in my own rebellious belly the stuff to people further days

,now forced by some grim reason to hark down the bonds of the blood

,ean still remember from that womb walking, sideways out of that womb,

glorious from that womb, bent and insolent.

—morn ing laughter with your young daughter— smile at the pen she picks, armed to bring light into terrible focus

and the paper builds worlds but makes no prodigal . . .

who would erase the scribbled slate of gone years, their jumbled algebra, their rude designs

junked under a rainbow, all blood and bone that links the mother and the morning daughter— and acknowledge now, armed and still insolent that what is housed in the fragile skull — l i g h t or learning or verbal innocence— grows from the woman somehow who housed the whole body, who first fed the vessels, the flesh and the sense.

441

Gwendolyn Brooks

the battle

M O E BKLLK JACKSON'S husband

Whipped her good last night.

Her landlady tohl my ma they bad

A knock-down-drag-otit fight.

I l ike to th ink

Of how I'd of took a kni fe

And slashed all of the quiekenin'

'Out of his lowly l i fe.

But i f I know Moe Belle,

Most l i k e , she shed a tear,

And this morn in ' i t was probably,

"More grits, dear?"

Denise Lever tov In Mind

There's in my mind a woman -of innocence, unadorned but

fair-featured, and smelling of apples or grass. She wears

a Utopian smock or shift, her hair is l i j j l it brown and smooth, and she

is kind and very clean without ostentation—

but she has no imagination.

A n d there's a turbulent moon-ridden gir l

or old woman, or both,

dressed i n opals and rags, feathers

and torn taffeta,

who knows strange songs—

but she is not kind,

442 Anne Wi Ik inson

[The tightrope]

High as fear The tightrope, Thin as silk the string My feet are walking walking Since my mother cried And the doctor cut the cord And stranded me here.

Numberless as clowns Are my beginnings — Teeter, crazily totter, Windmills for arms; The long street breathless And I more breathless than windows, Waiting.

But I am two times born And when a new moon cuts the night Or full moons froth with my And witches' milk

I walk the tightrope Free and easy as an angel, Toes as certain of their line of silk As the sturdy ones Whose feet are curled on earth.

443 ' Anne S e x t o n

MOON SONG, WOMAN SONG

! am alive at night. 1 am dead in the morning, AO old vessel who used up her ofl, bleak and pale boned. No miracle. No dazzle. I'm out of repair but you arc tall in your battle dress and I must arrange for your journey. I|was alwuy* 4 virgin, old and pitted. Bdoic the *otkl was, I was.

i have b e e n oranging and fat, carrot colored, gaped at, allowing my cracked o's to drop on the sea near Venice and Mombasa. Over Maine I have rested. I have fallen like a jet into the Pacific. I have committed perjury over Japan. I have dangled my pendulum, my fat bag, my gold, gold, blinkedy light over you all.

So if you must inquire, do to. After &\l I i.tn not artificial. I looked long upon you, love-bellied and empty, flipping my endlexj display for you, you my cold, cold, coverall man.

444

Stepping Westward Den i se Lever tov

What is green in me darkens, muscadine.

If woman is inconstant, good, I am faithful to

ebb and flow, I fall in season and now

is a time of ripening. If her pai't

is to be true, a north star,

good, I hold steady in the black sky

and vanish by day, yet burn there

in blue or above quilts of cloud.

There is no savor more sweet, more salt

than to be glad to be what, woman,

and who, myself, I am, a shadow

that grows longer as the sun moves, drawn out

oh a thread of wonder. If I bear burdens

they begin to be remembered as gifts, goods, a basket

of bread that hurts my shoulders but closes me

in fragrance. I can cat as I go.

445

VI

INDEX TO POEMS IN THE ANTHOLOGY

C h r o n o l o g i c a l l y Arranged by

Name of Author

446

Atwood, Margaret U n t i t l e d poem from Power P o l i t i c s , p. 46 284 I t i s Dangerous t o Read Newspapers 314 U n t i t l e d poem from Power P o l i t i c s , p. 7 333 H a b i t a t i o n 360 Speeches f o r Dr . Frankenste in 390 The Shadow Voice 393

Av ison , Margaret The Word 344

Bogan, Louise -Women 421

Braymer, Nan Five-day Requiem f o r Vietnam 320

Brooks, Gwendolyn The Mother 291

The Ch i l d ren of the Poor 367 The B a t t l e 441

Deutsch, Babette Dogma 345 Marr iage 365 To My Son 370

Finnegan, Joan A Woman in Love is a l l the Trees 338

Harwood, Gwen In the Park 366

Jong, E r i ca Arse Poet ica 412 A l c e s t i s on the Poetry C i r c u i t 417

K i z e r , Carolyn 1 Ep i tha i am ion 354 Par t Three from Pro Femina 400

Kogawa, Joy The Chicken K i l l i n g 318

La ing , D i l y s Af ternoon Tea 311 Pius Thought 325 The Maker 380 Sonnet t o a S i s t e r in E r r o r 399 Stabat Mater 425

Lawner, Lynne May Song 293 In Your Arrogance 332 Tongue of Cr i sp Oleander 332 Possession 337 Where are the Wings 402 Woman t o Woman 425

447

Lever tov , Denise Two V a r i a t i o n s 310 The Mutes 328 The Wife 363 Song f o r I s h t a r 383 The Earth Worm 383 The I I l u s t r a t i o n 384 The Wei I 385 To the Muse 404 I l l u s t r i o u s Ancestors 406

The Jacob 's Ladder 407 At the Edge 408 Hypoc r i t e Women 420 In Mind 441 Stepping Westward 444

L ivesay, Dorothy The Taming 322 The Skin of Time 340

L o w e l l , Amy Madonna of the Evening Flowers 350 The S i s t e r s 397

Lowther, Pat May Chant 297 Baby You Tel I Me 329 Woman 414

MacEwen, Gwendolyn Li I i t h 306 Womb: Some Thoughts and Observat ions 308 Morning Laughter 440

McPherson, Sandra Pregnancy 298 Evolv ing an I n s t i n c t 377

Mi I l ay , Edna S t . V incent Menses 294 Apostrophe t o Man 319 Sonnet x l i 346 Aubade 347 Evening on Lesbos 348 What Savage Blossoms 349

Moore, Marianne The Mind, I n t r a c t a b l e Thing 411

Musgrave, Susan Once More 352

Oates, Joyce Carol A G i r l a t the Centre of Her L i f e 285 Pain 334 Van i ty 351 Marr ied Woman's Song 361 Lines f o r Those t o Whom Tragedy is Denied 418 A Woman in Her Secret L i f e 422

448

Rage, P. K.

P l a t h , S y l v i a

Raine, Kathleen

R ich , Adrienne

Sar ton , May

Sexton, Anne

SeweI I , E l i zabeth

Si on , Emily

S i t w e l I , Ed i th

Smi th , S tev ie

Spark, Mur ie l

Stevenson, Sharon

Swenson, May

Taggard, Genevieve

P o r t r a i t of Marina

The AppI i cant

Mourning in S p r i n g , 1943

From Ghazals: Homage t o G h a l i b , 7/23/68 N igh t Watch T ry ing t o Ta lk w i t h a Man 5, 6 , 7 from the Phenomenology of Anger Two Songs N i g h t - P i e c e s : For a C h i l d Snapshots of a Daughter- in-Law T r a n s l a t i o n s

The Godhead as Lynx An A r t e s i a n Wei I Dutch I n t e r i o r

The Abor t ion Ba l lad of the Lonely Masturbator In C e l e b r a t i o n of my Uterus The Breast Dec. 11 Song f o r a Lady Unknown G i r l in the M a t e r n i t y Ward Said the Poet t o the Ana lys t Moon-Song, Woman Song

The Analogue

AI I Anatomy

D i rge f o r the New Sunr ise Tears

How Cruel i s t he Story of Eve

Aga ins t t he T ranscenden ta I i s t s

F i r s t I n c i s i o n Lover ' s Anatomy 4 & 3/4 Months Flower Song I n d u s t r i a I Ch i Idhood

Women Sun

With Chi Id

323

364

312

287 315 316 317 336 368 415 428

307 289 436

292 300 301 303 339 343 375 388 443

403

288

313 426

326

381

330 331 331 353 372

423 424

299

449

Untermeyer, Jean S t a r r Lake Song 427

Van Duyn, Mona Leda Death of a Poet Leda Reconsidered

357 389 437

Waddington, Mir iam Women Who Live Alone Semb1ances

296 410

Wakoski, Diane Be 11y Dancer Wind Secrets Reaching Out w i t h the Hands A Poet Recognizing the Echo

of of

the the

Sun Voice

305 374 429 433

Webb, Phyl1 i s Poet Lament Two Vers ions

386 387 409

Whitehead, Lor i Mother Singing 369

Wickham, Anna The Wife Divorce Reso lu t ion A Woman in Bed

358 359 379 394

Wi1kinson, Anne Lens The T igh t rope

395 442

Wy l i e , E l i n o r Sonnet x i i S e l f - P o r t r a i t Let no C h a r i t a b l e Hope

373 396 439

the poet as woman: shapes of experience - open collections

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