Poetry, to me, is an art of expression. Writing out a stanza, coherent or not, alleviates thoughts and worries that would otherwise crowd my mind. I prefer those particular thoughts to be jotted onto a piece of paper as opposed to letting them turn over in my head. It concurrently allows me to be creative; tell stories whilst keeping exactly how much they are based on my personal circumstances to myself. I resonate and agree with T. S. Eliot, who claimed that 'poetry is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality'.
Danuta Kean wrote an article in 2017 for The Guardian in which she wrote of the domestic abuse Sylvia Plath underwent at the hands of Ted Hughes as well as the adultery he committed; according to letters dated between 1960-63, Hughes physically abused Plath two days prior to her miscarrying their second child in 1961. The infidelity Plath accuses Hughes of would have taken place in July 1962; Hughes had an affair with their friend Assia Wevill. Plath illustrates her pain through her poetry, her anguish both potent and vivid.
Plath's poem ‘Morning Song’ in particular supports Eliot's idea that poetry provides escapism to its writer. The poem, which follows a simple six stanza structure, details the changing emotions one undergoes after motherhood. The speaker discusses how the 'nakedness' of her child 'shadows our safety,' such sibilance carrying sinister undertones as it prompts questions surrounding Plath’s treatment of her child. The noun 'nakedness' depicts a state of undress, connoting vulnerability. Plath’s state of mind is discussed by Parvin Ghasemi in Reflections of Self and Other in Sylvia Plath's 'Mirror' Imagery; Plath's 'preoccupation with the notion of a divided self or the projection of two selves', implying that Plath went through periods where she didn’t feel in control of herself. Ghasemi's argument suggests that Plath’s insecurities and unbalance were defining traits of her persona. When applied to the poetry, it can be argued that Plath went through periods where she felt a sense of responsibility to the 'arrival', a noun that implies one’s entrance and connotes new coming, and other periods where she felt distant from her child, as the speaker metaphorically refers to the baby as a 'new statue'. The noun 'statue' implies a carving and connotes a lack of communication and bond, supporting the argument that personality of a poet is important to poems, for as Ghasemi would describe it, Plath’s divided personality distracts her from forming a relationship with her child.
There is further evidence to support the notion that Plath illustrates her struggles in her work. ‘Morning Song’ lacks a rhyme scheme, most likely a reflection of the lack of certainties whilst raising a child alongside the lack of certainties in Plath's relationship with Hughes. Juxtaposing the earlier metaphor used to depict the child, a 'new statue', Plath begins to use animal imagery as she discusses the 'moth-breath' of the child that 'flickers among the flat pink roses'. Plath’s tone becomes more sinister as the poem progresses; she now views her child as an inconvenience and bother as opposed to an object. This interpretation is supported by the verb 'flicker' which implies something varying speedily, suggesting a lingering as opposed to consistency. Ghasemi’s previous claims about Plath having a split personality are supported here also, for Plath acknowledges her lack of communication with her child as well as her lack of response.
Nonetheless, Ghasemi’s claims do not correlate to Plath’s more literal discussions of her children. In Plath's Letters Home, edited by Aurelia Plath, Plath told her mother in 1962 that she would 'reserve her treasures for Frieda', her 'treasures' symbolising her assets. Plath’s reference to 'pink roses' within ‘Morning Song’ see a lighter take on motherhood to support this. 'Pink' on its own is symbolic of femininity and fertility whilst 'roses' are often symbolic of new beginnings, an occurrence when one has a child. These factors reject Ghasmei’s exposition that Plath was not in control of herself, for she is capable of writing lovingly about her child both literally in letters and figuratively within her poetry. Eliot's take that poetry provides escapism for poets is still valid, for Plath ensures that the affection she displays towards her daughter in her letters is present within her poetry.
Ted Hughes was known for his links to the natural world; in Ted Hughes and Trauma: Burning the Foxes, Daniel O’Connor labelled his 'imaginative work in sympathy with what he perceives as nature'. O'Connor's interpretation implies that, to Hughes, imagination and nature are one. ‘The Thought-Fox’, which entails that creation is outside of our timeframe and control, is a six-stanza poem. The quatrains and the irregular rhyme scheme mimic a fox making its way; Hughes writes of a 'midnight moment', the alliterative soft consonance of ‘m’ emphasising the intensity surrounding the fox's movement. The internal technique is paired with Hughes' claustrophobic tone, which is interpreted with the continuation of the consonance with 'something else' being described in the following line. Hughes also discusses the 'clock’s loneliness', personifying the timepiece but also implying, as well as with the use of enjambment that runs through the stanzas, that creation takes place outside of our time and nature. O’Connor’s comments are supported therefore, for Hughes clearly believes in a link between imagination and nature in order to view creation as an extreme event outside of our control.
According to the biography Ted Hughes by Terry Gifford, Hughes' 'upbringing in the industrial areas of West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire contributed to his fascination with wildlife'. Hughes continues to write with a pace that increases uncertainty throughout the poem. The fox is said to move as 'delicately as the dark snow' the alliteration and soft consonance of the statement mimicking the loneliness one feels when trying to comprehend the passage of time and its links to nature. The adverb within the line implies the fox moved gently as he 'set neat prints into the snow' the sibilance of the expression heightening the animal imagery and thereby supporting the argument that personality regarding poets is important within their work, for Hughes’ love and fascination with animals is reflected here. O’Connor’s previous implication that Hughes believed nature and imagination worked alongside each other finds support as the poem continues also; the use of sensory language within the final stanza emphasises a turn to reality as he writes of the 'sudden sharp hot stink', the sibilance as well as the adjective 'sharp', which itself implies a piercing physical impact highlighting the effect of the entrance of the fox. Hughes speaks of the fox entering his mind, which is metaphorically referred to as a 'dark hole of the head', prompting him to reflect his own creativity. Hughes evidently paired his internal imagination and the external nature around him as one, supporting not only O'Connor's criticism.
Similarly to Plath, Stevie Smith turned to poetry as an outlet for their mental health struggles. In ‘Not Waving but Downing’, published in 1957, Smith writes of a drowning man whose movements are mistaken for waving. The title alone elicits despair for 'waving' implies a welcoming gesture having been horrifically interpreted. The poem’s publication comes after Smith was abandoned by her father and faced the loss of her mother. Such loss 'compelled her to attempt suicide in 1953', according to Romana Huk's biography, and whilst there is no literal indication of a suicide attempt in the poem, it can be interpreted this way. The poem, which consists of three quatrains of differing lengths which mimic the coming in of a tide, has an impersonal speaker who discusses 'the dead man' prior to providing an explanation for his death. Smith metaphorically refers to the man as the 'poor chap', discusses how he 'loved larking', the alliterative verbs implying he enjoyed behaving in a playful manner. This evokes a sense of pathos, which heightens in the next line when Smith repeats that the man is 'now dead' for the man is unable to lark anymore. The sombre and definitive tone that runs throughout he poem dissipates and then returns between the lines, similarly to Smith’s likely thought process.
Jane Dowson discusses how Smith was 'wholly engaged with life' but seemed to 'prefer death', implying that despite her activities, depression still clouded her outlook on life. Dowson’s interpretation is supported in the final stanza, in which Smith attempts to deny what took place with the repetition of the negative determiner 'no', implying she is struggling to fathom what took place. Dawson’s criticism continues to be supported as the man is metaphorically referred to as 'the dead one', synonymous with the earlier depiction of him being 'now dead', allowing the pathos to continue. The speaker claims they were far too 'out all (their) life', as opposed to when they just saw the man, implying that their negligence was more to do with an inner turmoil as opposed to a lapse in judgement. This would support Dowson’s take that Smith’s depression never left her, for she writes of one’s mistake that costs another their own life. This interpretation is even more so supported by Smith’s own suicide attempt prior to the poem’s release. Smith, it seems, turned to poetry as an outlet. Her struggles clearly inspired and are reflected in her work as well as her past experiences.
Finishing off - there is evidence that supports Eliot's claim that poetry provides escapism and solace for poets. In the case of Plath, she writes of her struggles and her gains during motherhood and the psychological impact a child had on her. Her take differs from Hughes, whose lifetime obsession with the workings of nature and the impact this had on his imagination allowed for his work, whilst Smith, similarly to Plath, used her work out of expression for her inner struggles. The personality of said poets is reflected in their works.
I'm absolutely thrilled that we've reached the end of August. Things are about to get very autumnal around here...
Thank you for reading - have an amazing week! Lots of love, Karisma xxx