Workshop lessons and messages

Lesson 2 - Confessional Poetry, going public and more


Confessional Poetry

Chy wrote that she had no idea that emotional poetry was a poetry type of it's own. Emotional poetry was the name Gabriella used for it, but googling on "emotional poetry" brings up the name "confessional" or "confessionalism poetry", so you may call it a type indeed. I found an interesting description and have copied a part of it below:

"Confessional poetry is the poetry of the personal or "I." This style of writing emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s and is associated with poets such as Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and W.D. Snodgrass. Lowell's book Life Studies was a highly personal account of his life and familial ties, and had a significant impact on American poetry. Plath and Sexton were both students of Lowell and noted that his work influenced their own writing.

The confessional poetry of the mid-twentieth century dealt with subject matter that previously had not been openly discussed in American poetry. Private experiences with and feelings about death, trauma, depression and relationships were addressed in this type of poetry, often in an autobiographical manner. Sexton in particular was interested in the psychological aspect of poetry, having started writing at the suggestion of her therapist."

Copied from Poets.org: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5650


A poem by Anne Sexton:

"The Black Art

A woman who writes feels too much,
those trances and portents!
As if cycles and children and islands
weren't enough; as if mourners and gossips
and vegetables were never enough.
She thinks she can warn the stars.
A writer is essentially a spy.
Dear love, I am that girl.

A man who writes knows too much,
such spells and fetiches!
As if erections and congresses and products
weren't enough; as if machines and galleons
and wars were never enough.
With used furniture he makes a tree.
A writer is essentially a crook.
Dear love, you are that man.

Never loving ourselves,
hating even our shoes and our hats,
we love each other, precious, precious.
Our hands are light blue and gentle.
Our eyes are full of terrible confessions.
But when we marry,
the children leave in disgust.
There is too much food and no one left over
to eat up all the weird abundance."

Anne Sexton

Copied from PoemHunter.com (every one can become a member there and publish his own poems. There is not even a selection-mechanism, though other members can vote and comment. So why not give it a try?)


Our own emotional poems

The examples I've given so far were by well-known poets. They poured out their emotions in a poem, just like we may want to do. But Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath had exceptional talents as poets. So when they tried to formulate their emotions, it came out in such a way, that many readers were grasped by it and admired their work.
My feeling is that these two poems have a depth and use of vocabulary, that we may never accomplish and that's of course also not what we're looking for.
We want to express our emotions in our own way, at our own level and for our own "escape" or catharsis. So we can use whatever simple words we want to use and express our pain or happiness directly as we feel it. Make your poem a tool to sort out yourself, it's no need that it should be poetic. You can always later try to make it poetic.
Personally I found writing poems very effective, more than for instance a blog-entry or a monologue. I think it is because I had to distill the essence out of my flood of thoughts and I tried to leave out every unnecessary word. Sculpting my thoughts till only the heart of it was standing tall and strong...making me see more clear than ever before what bothered me....
But I must say, that these poems came when my emotions were at their strongest and I find it hard to write such poetry when not in the grip of my feelings.
John made a very good remark about it: " most of the darker stuff comes fast and relatively easily when it strikes me, it controls where and when, not the other way around, and I want it to be the other way around, I want to write emotional poetry that is powerful about good stuff too, not just the bad stuff."

Strong emotions come when they want and they "need" to be expressed there and then. But is it possible to write emotional, also when emotions are not flowing over? Yes, I think it is and to do so the poetic tools come in handy.


Tools of poetry - out of workshop, but nevertheless

Meter.

Meter is one of the easiest tools to use, to increase the poetic feeling of your poetry.
For meter we count the syllables in each line. Syllables as you hear them: means that "poet" counts as two syllables, "leave" counts as one and "sensation" is three syllables.
Create a rhythm in the meter of your lines and you will see that your poem gains rhythm and flow.
You can give each line the same syllable count or you can alternate shorter and longer lines or use any other rhythm that you like. Dividing your poem in stanza's can also help to create a rhythm, especially if you give these stanza's a similar syllable-pattern.


Assignment

Take your piece of free writing and try to find a theme in it. Which feeling kept you occupied? If you find it hard, try to see if their are related keywords (going for the obvious examples: sad, depression, lonely; love, roses, heart).

Try to give this feeling flesh and bones: make a poem out of it. You can make it as small or big as you want. Or if you want more guidance: write a poem in two or three stanza's. Making these stanza's three to six lines each (the stanza's don't need to have an equal length; let your feelings dictate the shape of the poem).
Try to say everything that you feel is on or in your heart, but try to say that as direct as you can. Don't waste words. This way the poem will come out more powerful.
At this moment rhyme and meter play no role, unless it comes naturally. Rhyme especially can hinder the free flow of your words, as it may lead you to construct a line and use certain words, which otherwise you would never have used and which may not even really express that what you want to say.


Discussion

Why make a very personal poem public?

IMHO there are a few reasons to make such private poems public. As well as there are reasons against doing so. But for me the pro's outweigh the cons. Following are some of the arguments:

Pro:
-making it public, makes me take writing more seriously: it matters how it comes out. I need to try and get a bit of quality in my writing
-making it public, makes it more effective, more shocking for myself. The healing/sorting out-power of the poem increases
-others may have similar experiences and feelings and it may help them to read such poetry (as quite a few reviews I received do show)
-the writer-in-us likes to get readers and why not?

Against:
-it's my very private stuff, I don't want others to know these things about me
-why should I bother and bore readers with the filth of my life?
-writing about I, Me, and Myself isn't an art. It lacks intrinsic quality and is not suitable for sharing. Writers should aim for higher goals.

If many arguments are already mentioned, what is left to discuss about, you may ask. But it could be useful to define your own stand on this. Try to search yourself and let us share in your findings...



We can't wait to see your poems and thoughts in the forum! Your contributions so far, of all four of you, were wonderful. Thanks so much for your efforts!