Poetry

Wordsworth shows a positive fond memory of winter that is personal to him. He gives a feeling of excitement by using ‘and’. Also he shows how noisy it is by using ‘bellowing’ and ‘not a voice was idle’. Even though it was cold Wordsworth would rather be outside with his friends then inside: ‘I heeded not the summons. Wordsworth also wants excitement and freedom: ‘Proud and exulting’. He likes to play games with his friends, like a native foxhunt: ‘Games confederate of the chase’

He uses similes and metaphors to show he is exhilarated and has loads of energy: ‘Untired horse’ and ‘the resounding horn’. Wordsworth has used onomatopoeia and alliteration to show the effect of speed: ‘We hissed along’ and ‘The pack loud bellowing’ speed is also shown by using the word ‘flew’, the simile ‘Tinkled like iron’ shows the brittle side of winter.

Wordsworth uses the word ‘melancholy’ to show that the beautiful scene, he once knew, is fading with old age a shows a slight sadness to the poem.

Winter Percy Bysshe Shelley

Shelley uses alliteration to show that winter is harsh ‘the wind was his whip’ this also shows that it is a negative and destructive time. He writes: ‘One choppy finger’ to make you wonder what winter will do next. Shelley portrays winter as an evil character using personification such as: ‘whip’ ‘lip’ to make it more effective. Shelley also makes winter sound brittle: ‘His breath was a chain’. Shelley shows how cold and powerful winter can be by writing:

‘He came, fiercely in his chariot-throne by the tenfold of the arctic zone’ Shelley also shows that even the more evil things like weeds have to hide from winter: ‘Weeds which are forms of the living death fled from the frost’ Using alliteration: ‘flight from frost’ gives winter an eerie feel which makes things vanish like ghosts without a trace.

When icicles hang by the wall William Shakespeare

Shakespeare uses everyday characters to show the realism of his poem to create a typical winter scene: ‘Dick the Shepherd’. He shows that even though the weather is awful life goes on: ‘ways be foul, then nightly sings the staring owl’.

Using rhyme gives the feel of movement but is broken when the owl makes its sound: ‘Blow’ ‘Snow’ ‘Saw’ Raw’. Everyone gets effected by the cold: ‘Coughing drowns the parsons saw’ ‘Marian’s nose is red and raw’. Using words like ‘nipp’d’ and ‘ways be foul’ shows that is a cold mucky time.

Shakespeare tells it how winter was there and then. There is no sympathy for winter.

Emmonsail’s Heath in Winter John Clare

Clare gives no critical comment during his poem, he just observes what’s around him: ‘Crimpled leaves’ ‘an oddling crow’ ‘the old heron’. His poem is also very detailed which adds to the effectiveness of the poem. Clare puts a lack of stress on the words: ‘While the old heron’. He uses personification to bring the lake to life and make it a bigger part of his observation: ‘Lonely Lake’.

Clare uses alliteration to create the sense of movement: ‘Starts slow’ but at the same time give a sense of calmness: ‘Melancholy wing’ ‘An oddling crow in idle motion’. The scene is in harmony even the gypsy fits in: ‘the gypsy makes his bed’. Clare give affection to the ‘bouncing woodcock’ Clare uses the word ‘Rove’ to show how much he has observed from wandering about.

Clare’s poem is based on observation and is portrayed like a fairytale scene where everything is in harmony and fits in with the world around it.

Conclusion

In the Poem ‘Skating on Ice’ the poem is based on a very personal scene, which is special to Wordsworth. He makes the poem exciting, exhilarating and gives a sense of movement. This poem is effective for these reasons and makes you really believe that you are their taking part in the chase.

In Clare’s poem ‘Winter’ it reflects winter as being horrible and destructive. This is my favourite, as I believe this is how a typical cold winter day acts. Winter has been given the human characteristics to great effect showing everything winter is known to do.

Shakespeare creates a sense of realism in his poem ‘When icicles hang by the wall’ by give the poem everyday characters. He gives no sympathy, which makes it sound more real and effective. This poem is probably the most real out of all four and it portrays winter as a typical thing that happens.

Clare’s poem ‘Emmonsail’s Heath in winter’ is based on observation. He makes everything sound beautiful and in harmony with everything else. He makes everything very calm leisurely. This poem portrays winter as a beautiful time almost like a well-painted painting.

William Wordsworth’s poem Upon is a sonnet, it creates a pleasurable passage that is easily read and understood while still accessing a great deal of emotion and image form. It gives different readers, many different interpretations of what the poem is about, the images and emotions felt, yet still maintaining the secret of what Wordsworth himself would have had in mind about the meaning of the poem.

Upon Westminster Bridge creates for the reader that sense of awe that was felt by William Wordsworth whilst gazing upon the view of London and this awe can also be felt by the readers themselves. This sense of awe can be seen from the very beginning of the passage, “Earth has not anything to show more fair:” just the language used is like a spell cast upon the reader giving off a sense of calmness and tranquillity. This feeling in the language is reflected in the atmosphere of the time in which the poem is set, early morning, just as the sun is starting to show above the horizon. Where the citizens of London are still in bed, the busy city still asleep and motionless.

The impression of religious symbology can also be felt in this poem. “Dull would he be the soul who could pass by…” the word “soul” in this line gives the reader the impression of a reverential tone. Soul is a word that is used mostly in a religious context and having it in the poem lets off the feeling of the peace, and heavenliness. “Dear God! the very houses seem asleep…” this can be taken as an emphasis on the reverential tone of the poem. “Dear God!” this reference to God fits in and confirms the “soul” and heightens the religious atmosphere.

The first stanza in this poem is like an opening to the rest, an appetiser. “A sight so touching in its majesty:” The use of sight, so, its, majesty, is to put emphases on the soft sound of the “s”. This softness is linked to “touching”. This magnificent view is only softly touching him, the poet, with all this to take in he hasn’t yet absorbed the full beauty. This can be seen as one of the most important and meaningful lines in this passage, it uses stillness and serenity, creating the mood, and linking the setting to the poet’s feelings at the time.

William Wordsworth uses similes in this poem to connect a lifeless thing like the city of London, to humanity, and the natural world to create a unity of all three. “This City now doth like a garment wear The beauty of the morning”, humans wear clothing, gowns to make us look more beautiful. What this line is saying is that the city wears the morning like a beautiful gown, and the morning is making the city look more splendid, giving it the connection to humans and making it come to life.

The use of words with short syllables can make the reader feel informed. It helps capture a huge amount of detail in very little words. “…Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie open unto the fields, and to the sky…” looking at this the reader would start slow and read faster and faster as the list progresses, this is the influence of short syllable words. This paints a mental image in the reader’s head as if watching a movie, an elaborate scene with beautiful scenery, and the camera pans across slowly at a constant rate capturing every flower, every tree, hill and a small bee flying across the screen. “…Open unto the fields, and to the sky.” “In his first splendour valley, rock or hill” and amongst all this artificial beauty of towers and ship the beauty of nature still manages to show through and enhance the whole image.

The last stanza raps up the whole of the poem; it recreates the mood of awe and also puts in a little shock. “Dear God! the very houses seem asleep”; this time the “Dear God!” is used in a different way. It serves the purpose of heightening the religious feeling, but also heightens the awe and pushes it into shock. It is used almost in a blasphemous way; using God’s name in vain.

William Wordsworth’s appreciation of beauty is revealed not only in the images and similes he chose to use, but also in the gracefully modulated sentences. The rhyming of the last word in the first and last stanza reinforces the reverence Wordsworth felt all his life to the God he understood to be in all nature. Wordsworth’s personality and poetry were deeply influenced by his love of nature, romanticising what he saw in the natural world.

Explore the ways in which Hopkins conveys the beauty of the nature in Pied Beauty? Hopkins creates a prayer like poem in praise of the beauty and design of nature that God has created. He chooses unusual descriptions to encapsulated the variety of beautiful sights and sounds that can be found in the world and celebrates the astonishing complexity of God’s creation in this pared down sonnet. He creates a reverent and worshipful tone that epitomizes his feelings of awe and wonder when confronted with the natural world. Firstly ‘Pied Beauty’ is a prayer like poem.

We can see this at the beginning and end Of the poem when it says ‘Glory be to God for dappled things’ and ‘Praise him’. This reminds us a lot of a prayer as we start a prayer with God and end with God this is a simple message from the poet that is he is writing about nature he is writing about god. Also it is a short poem, which makes a simple point. Secondly this poems design has a range of nature, which starts of big a gets smaller for example it starts of with the sky to cow to trout to chestnuts then finally with ‘finches wings’.

So he really shows us the range of nature from the massive sky to tiny little, delicate finches wings. Thirdly ‘Pied Beauty has some unusual descriptions for example to describe the sky he says ‘For skies of -couple color as a branded cow’ now here we can see that what he means is brindle but the author has change it to either fit the poem or because he thinks it sounds better. He means brindle as in striped with different colors this is unusual but a very good way to describe the sky. Fourthly Gerald Manly Hopkins uses a variety of beauty in his poem.

He uses sights and sounds to his advantage we can see this when he says ‘swift, slow’ and ‘sweet, sour he make these very opposite comparisons with nature. Fifthly the poem has astonishing complexity this has happened because he has made up his own words up for example ‘branded cow’ and ‘couple-color’ this makes him very individual. This also makes sounds very effective and makes us think more about the poem and what it is about. He makes words that are very similar to that actual one but he either changes them or edits hem for example ‘branded’ which is actually ‘brindle’.

Sixthly the pared down sonnet is very irregular as a normal sonnet has 14 lines here the sonnet has only eleven. However the poem has regular meter beats of ‘A, B, C, A, B, C, D, B, C, D, C’ so it is regular apart from the last five lines which make their own meter. Seventh the worshipful tone this is a very and they have to make that impression by the time you have finished the poem. They achieve this by the last line it is very short and says ‘Praise him’ this is a very simple one which makes it more affective.

It also it very memorable as it is very short and to the point. It reminds us of a prayer as in a prayer you end with amen and here it is ‘Praise him’ they are both really short and to the point. Awe and wonder, in conclusion, In this way, we can see how Hopkins creates a powerful poem that skillfully describes and praises the beauty of nature. He achieves this through carefully chosen images that economically portray natural images whilst structuring a reverent piece of almost religious quality.

He can see everyday life during his journey, “traffic”, “workmen at dawn”. He also describes his runner into hull by the use Of the widening Of the river Hummer, which runs through Hull. It shows that he started his journey where the river was thin and at its source and has followed the winding path to its mouth. At the end of the first stanza, Larkin uses a mixture of impressions to describe the nature around him, “gold clouds” and “shining gull marked mud”.

Larkin is using this mixture of positive words to describe a negative scene to portray a kind of beauty, Larkin tells the reader how it is, he is an observer. In the second stanza, Larkin describes the town, which shows that Larkin is near the ND of his journey. Larkin begins his portrayal of the town by using a list of descriptive words such as “scattered streets”, “barge filled waters, “spires and cranes”. These different descriptive words show the activity of the port and portray a sense of confusion (scattered and crowded).

Hull is a very busy port town and used in exporting lots of goods and has been like that for many years, which is why Larkin is able to use the historic nature of the town in his poem, ” slave museum”, “residents of raw estates” (the word raw here suggests new, which shows how the port has probably been regenerated after the destruction caused in the war and the increase in demand for houses). Larkin is also telling the reader the time period in which he is writing in, “grim head-scarred wives”, generally worn by working class women; however the word grim puts a more depressing look on things.

The time period is also portrayed in the description of the buses, “flat faced trolleys”, the new style of bus, with a flat face instead of curved. Also the list of different items t the end of stanza 2 show the boom in Britain after the Second World War with new technologies and the explosion of materialism. In stanza 3, the first line Larkin says “urban yet simple”, this can either be interpreted in a negative way or a positive way. It could show how Larkin looks down on them and feels as though he is better than them which is negative, however, it could be portrayed as though Larkin is admiring their lifestyle in a nicer, positive way.

Larkin describes the port as “fishy-smelling pastoral Of ships” the word pastoral is a strange word to use however it is a link to the country side (pastoral farming) and is also a possible reference to how the port has hanged over the years and got bigger and more used and so that is why it is “fishy-smelling’. Thee city does not define Larkin, he is not part of a “cut- priced crowd” or want “mortgaged half-built houses”, in fact, most of what the city is representing is the opposite of what Larkin actually wants, which is why the last stanza is all about an isolate place.

In the last stanza of the poem, we start to understand how Larrikin preferable state isolation/loneliness “loneliness clarifies” which shows that Larkin is saying that you only really know who you are when you are alone. In the fourth stanza is where we find the first full stop of the poem which can be indicated as the train Larkin has been on has come to a halt. The caesuras in the first two lines of stanza four also help to emphasis the quietness and loneliness of the area where Larkin lived the rest of his life.

We get other indications of loneliness and isolation in the poem “Mr. Balance’, where a man used to live in a flat by himself with only the bare essentials in it. “Here silence stands” the alliteration of the “s” sound and the caesura help to emphasis the stillness and how the poem now comes more static compared to the movement of the previous three stanzas. The rhythm is changed by these caesuras which create a longer sentence which also makes the poem feel slower and more static.

Beyond the main madness of the town, Larkin is able to find more description of beauty which would normally be missed because he has no distractions in this isolate place “Hidden weeds flower, neglected. By the end of the last stanza, Larkin has moved from his new home to the beach where he stands, looking out over the water “ends the land”, “facing the sun” which indicates owe Larkin is now at peace, away from normal everyday madness, he is one with the elements and has no fear in facing the sun like he does with other commitments.

This is also emphasizes with the soft alliteration sounds used to describe the area he is in “shapes and shingle”, “air ascends”. Larkin uses very clever use of language in the last stanza as he almost tries to paint a big picture on his canvas for his readers to see which is clearly indicated in the line “bluish neutral distance”, he tries to describe colors to clearly show the natural beauty. And the final line of the poem, really sums up Larrikin love of isolation and loneliness with the phase “initiative, out of reach” which are very unsociable words, however that perfectly describes Larrikin personality.

The last stanza is different to the previous stanzas because Larkin talks about cosmically and elemental objects rather than the materialistic objects by describing the sea, sun, flowers instead of plate glassed doors and flat faced trellises. There is a rhyming scheme used throughout this poem which is very subtle and consist of very few perfect rhymes and more half rhymes.

In two of D. H Lawrence’s works Bat and Man and Bat, both poems portray the author’s encounters with bats and his feeling of disgust towards them. In this essay I will compare the two poems in terms of tone, rhythm, diction and style. Both Bat and Man and bat started with a peaceful tone; the author describes the setting in Florence, Italy and gives a calming tone to the readers. However, as the author proceeds with the poem, and starts to introduce a bat, the tone starts to change.

In bat, the tone changes gradually, the author wonders why a swallow would fly so late- at this point he describes the swallow’s movement and the tone changes; the readers sense a mysterious feel. When the author does confirm that the bird is in fact a bat, the tone of the poem changes, we sense the disgust the author feels towards the bats, using words such as “old rag”, giving “uneasy creeping in one’s scalp”. This particular tone set by the author greatly defines the hate he has for bats and also due to change in rhythm and diction, helps the readers experience the events within the poem.

However, the tone in Man and Bat did not change as gradually, in fact it changes drastically. Soon after the start of the poem, the author introduces the bat and almost immediately words such as “disgusting” and “Out! Go Out! ”  sets the tone of disgust. Throughout the ‘rant’ the tone remains the same, but the author did change the tone twice; when the main character in the poem (supposedly the author) realizes that the bat cannot leave his room because he cannot face the light, a sense of pity clouds the readers, the author feels pit for the bat and changes the mood slightly for a while.

The tone of disgust returns though soon after yet it changes again; whilst the author wants to kill the bat and throw it away, he said that he didn’t create the bat therefore he cannot kill it, the tone shifts back to pity for the second time, giving the readers more hints that the author does pity the bat and does not wish to kill it. Man and Bat ends quite gracefully, the last few sentences had a peaceful tone, the author was quite happy that the bat had left and now enjoys the evening leaving the readers at ease.

However, in Bat the ending still had the tone of disgust, ending the poem with an exclamation mark really emphasizes on the disgust. Both Bat and Man and Bat also start with similar rhythm; the pace was quite slow with the help of ellipses which helped prolonged the sentences. These prolonged sentences tend to calm the readers, so they could feel how ‘lazy’ the author feels through the poem. In Bat, the author changes the rhythm gradually too; after noticing the birds, the author still narrates with a lazy rhythm but also attentive, and that is how the readers start to feel suspicious of these swallows.

As soon as the bats are introduced, exclamation marks are also introduced to readers; these exclamation marks give a heightened sensation to the readers and make them feel rushed (finding themselves reading through the poem with greater speed). This fast rhythm also gives more tension to the readers, giving a ‘thriller’ feel and gives more entertainment value to the poem, as the author describes in great detail the bat’s flights. However, the author still uses ellipses as he describes the bats, but these ellipses have a different effect; instead of prolonging the sentence it adds more mystery and a hint of uncertainty.

In Man and Bat, the rhythm doesn’t change as gradually and the rhythm is even faster than that of Bat; as soon as the bat is introduced, the author changes the rhythm immediately, using repetition of the words ‘round and round and round’ to rush and tense the readers more into reading the poem faster. The scene where the author tries to escape the bat is a typical action scene, happening very quickly. The author uses more exclamation marks to tense and fasten the rhythm more and this fast rhythm really helps the readers to understand the situation of the poem and also enhances the tone of disgust the author uses in the poem.

Nevertheless, Man and Bat ended in a calming pace, the author reflects on the bat and threw away his grudges towards it- it leaves the readers content with the happy ending. However, Bat did not end as peaceful; the ending came abruptly, the author still hints a disgusted tone and the rhythm did not slow down- it even ended with an exclamation mark. This kind of ending leaves the readers hanging unlike Man and Bat. There were two main dictions in Bat and Man and Bat; diction for movement and diction for disgust.

Both poems describe the bat’s movements in the air, going ‘round and round and round’ and in both works the author emphasizes on his revolt towards the ‘disgusting old rags’. In Bat, the author chose words such as ‘swallows with spools of dark thread sewing the shadows together’ when describing the birds movement; the readers feel the mystery of these swallows- yet not disgusted- and somehow the swallow’s flight seemed elegant. However, when realizing that these swallows were in fact bats, the author uses words such as ‘wildly vindictive’ and ‘hanging disgustingly upside down’  even though these are the same birds he saw.

The author’s change of words help adding depth towards the tone of disgust he hints, and his choice of words impact how the readers feel towards the bat, mainly revolt. The author’s choice of words also affects the rhythm; the readers think that the bat’s movements are wild, uneasy and frightening instead of the elegance of the swallows. Nevertheless, the author’s choice of words in Man and Bat even emphasizes more on the bat’s crazy movements and his dislike towards them. Within the first page the author already plunges into words such as ‘a twitchy, nervous, intolerable flight’, ‘a neurasthenic lunge’ and ‘impure frenzy’.

These words really affect the poem’s pace and adding more depth towards the already obvious hatred; readers feel overwhelmed whilst reading Man and Bat because it contains carefully chosen words which gives great impact. Another obvious technique the author uses is repetition of the word ‘round’ which is used to describe the movement of the bat within the character’s room. In fact, the author uses that word 22 times in Man and Bat. In conclusion, D. H Lawrence used tone, rhythm and diction to his full advantage when writing Bat and Man and Bat to portray his repulse towards bat and its wild and frightening movements.

I thought of it as a positive because he was almost escaping time. B: Okay so he’s Just like thinking about everything in this moment so time doesn’t exist anymore A: Yes B: So when he says “Let fall upon the its back the soot falls from chimneys. ” he almost personifying their sleep. Okay because I kind of saw it as him reflecting on his entire life and how there will be time to do all these things that I want to do but in the end is it worth it? And when he says “let us go then you and l. Maybe he’s talking about the afterlife and saying what is the meaning of all of this until you get there. They also talk about Michelangelo, maybe because he’s dead but almost amortized. A: He said “Do I dare” often and “how should I should I presume” I don’t know maybe that’s Just the uncertainty if It all and like the things like he said let us go and take these risks but he questioned it. Just moments we overlook or miss out on because we don’t know how to think.

Then he talked about like In line 40 and on “my hair growing thin” “my arms are thin” “do I disturb the universe? ” do I question time do I go out even though nature Is taking Its course B: And he says indeed there will be time to wonder do I dare like there will be time to think about the things that you would have done and maybe he regrets not doing some of them. Like he says “l have measured my life with coffee spoons” and he know the voices and has kind of been In the background.

You know coffee spoons Is kind of tedious A: Yea kind of living autonomously, Just like day by day doing the same thing and then think maybe this moment Is something different or special or he has this revelation that maybe I should take a risk and I guess In that moment he thinks this Is how I’m living my life and kind of reflects B: He repeats the question “would It have been worthwhile to do al these things and says no I am not prince hamlet nor was I meant to b” and he says “I’m more Like a fool and fool and someone who advises the prince” and I don’t know what do you think that means A: He also mentions Like a lot of characters really exalted people and he’s saying…

B: Kind of that he won’t be remembered A: Exactly Like talking of Michelangelo, and Lazarus and a prophet, Prince Hamlet B: Yea and he’s not prince hamlet A: He’s not anything special I guess or he wants to be B: And so how does this reflect on love then he’s saying would I have been worthwhile o squeeze this universe Into ball A: It think maybe In this moment he this thinks to himself what If I had lived my life Like this all the time and what If I had taken risks I could have know this feeling more. If we’re looking at It Like love or even If It Is the end of his life and In the afterlife he’s thinking I could have done so much more Like I’m not this person but I could have been and Instead I was the assistant that’s Just the uncertainty if it all and like the things like he said let us go and take we don’t know how to think. Then he talked about like in line 40 and on “my hair o out even though nature is taking its course B: And he says indeed there will be measured my life with coffee spoons” and he know the voices and has kind of been in the background.

You know coffee spoons is kind of tedious A: Yea kind of living moment is something different or special or he has this revelation that maybe I should take a risk and I guess in that moment he thinks this is how I’m living my life and kind of reflects B: He repeats the question “would it have been worthwhile to do says “I’m more like a fool and fool and someone who advises the prince” and I don’t now what do you think that means A: He also mentions like a lot of characters really A: Exactly like talking of Michelangelo, and Lazarus and a prophet, Prince Hamlet B: to squeeze this universe into ball A: It think maybe in this moment he this thinks to himself what if I had lived my life like this all the time and what if I had taken risks I could have know this feeling more. If we’re looking at it like love or even if it is the end of his life and in the afterlife he’s thinking I could have done so much more like I’m not this person but I could have been and instead I was the assistant

A number of creative individuals have taken their own lives, including John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, and many other writers. The large number of such cases suggests that there may be a functional relationship between creativity and psychological health. This relationship seems to vary across domains, with the rate of suicide especially high in certain groups of artists. This may suggest that there may be something unique to those domains that either draws suicide-prone persons into the domain or has an impact on the individual such that suicide is considered and often attempted.

When the poem writing by Anne Sexton entitled Her Kind you can closely compare how Anne’s mental health affected her poetry and how her poetry affected her mental health. The American Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Anne Sexton took her own life in 1974 via carbon monoxide poisoning before reaching the age of fifty. Her life and work are especially interesting because her poetry was clearly tied to her own psychiatric treatment. She began writing with only moderate formal education (a high school diploma), but after being published she was given honorary degrees from several universities, including Tufts, Radcliffe, and Harvard.

Sexton’s poems, many dealing with suicide, read together with richly researched recent biography, enhanced by biographer’s access to tapes of Sexton’s sessions with her psychiatrist and by foreword by that psychiatrist, permit unusual opportunity to understand the interrelationship of her illness, her treatment, and the meaning of suicide in her life. Whatever was on her mind seemed to come out in her poetry whether it was about sex, madness or death. “Readers tend to be generous in their praise, celebrating the poetry primarily because it so fully and openly reveals Sexton’s personal pain” (Anne).

Basically, the speaker of “Her Kind” is outcast because she is powerful. Traditionally, society expects women to lead sheltered lives. Women are to be obedient, quiet, and timid. They are viewed as gentle and kind, not “dreaming evil” (Line 3, Sexton). The modern, liberated woman completely shatters this tradition by courageously speaking her mind and living an independent life. She is empowered as she seeks education and a stable career instead of a domestic life. Since the modern woman does not fit the traditional label, “A woman like that is not a woman quite” (Line 6, Sexton).

Society would view this line of the poem as a negative slam on the modern woman and paraphrase it by saying, “She’s not quite right in the head; therefore, she does not belong here in civilization. ” Anne Sexton was a poet and a woman, but most importantly, she was an outcast. Subjected to nervous breakdowns and admitted to a neuropsychiatry hospital, Sexton must have been all too familiar with the staring eyes and the judging minds of the public. Just being a woman in today’s world often can be enough to degrade a person in the public’s eye, let alone being labeled as a crazy woman.

But Anne Sexton did not let society remain unchallenged in its views. She voiced a different opinion of women through poetry. In Anne Sexton’s “Her Kind” she embraces society’s negative stereotype of modern, liberated women and transforms it into a positive image. Two voices, the voice of society and the voice of Anne, duel about the issue of the stereotype of modern women. Like Anne Sexton, the speaker in this poem is an outcast woman. Sexton was born in Massachusetts on November 9, 1928, to Mary Gray Staples and Ralph Churchill Harvey, who were known to drink regularly and sometimes heavily.

They were somewhat prominent and quite socially active. Scholars suggest that they may have valued their social engagements over their family responsibilities. There is some evidence that Sexton’s mother was jealous about her very early writing (Long). Sexton did not have obvious creative aspirations, but instead seemed to think more about a family of her own. At one point her mother accused her of plagiarism and had that particular writing examined. It was deemed to be original, but many scholars suggest this incident affected Sexton’s relationship with her mother.

Sexton’s aunt on her father’s side attempted suicide in early childhood, lived several decades in an apparently stable marriage, and eventually committed suicide just before she turned seventy. The family believes that if her aunt’s suicide had any sort of influence on Sexton, it was probably informational (e. g. , the aunt modeling suicide) rather than genetic. Biographers place great emphasis on Sexton’s psychiatric treatment, which was significant as evidenced by the content of her poetry. And, it is possible, given her nonconformism that Sexton suffered from a borderline personality disorder.

There are reports of her schizophrenic language, for instance, as well as her tendency to enter some sort of trance at the end of her psychiatric treatment sessions. She apparently did not want to end the sessions, perhaps because of emotional and social needs. “Sexton’s writing seems so personal she is often labeled a ‘confessional’ poet” Anne did not agree with this title and preferred to be called a “storyteller” (Middlebrook). For instance, in her poem titled “Her Kind” she writes, “A woman like that is not a woman, quite. I have been her kind” (Sexton).

Many people would automatically assume that Anne was speaking about herself in her poem, especially according to those who believe her poetry is confessional. But in reality, “she considered the speaking ‘I’ in her poetry as a literary rather than a real identity” (Middlebrook). Not everything she wrote was necessarily about her but rather perhaps a form of therapy. Diane Middlebrook believes Sexton conveys the terms on which she wishes to be understood: not victim, but a witness (Middlebrook). Through reading Anne Sexton’s poem “Her Kind” we get a better understanding of Anne herself.

She was a strong character who used her writing as therapy. Doctors never knew that her writing would have such an impact on the world. She writes specifically in her poem “Her Kind” about what she went through in society as a woman. Through Anne’s writing it improved her mental health. It was an outlet for her feelings. Her writing was true and honest and something many women would never talk about much less publicly write about. Her mental health inspired her creative writing which in turn helped her mental health to some degree. Her honest writing became her outlet and a way of therapy.

Works Cited “Anne (Harvey) Sexton. ” American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies. Ed. A. Walton Litz. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1981. Literature Resource Center. Gale. University of South Carolina Libraries. 6 Apr. 2009 . George, Diana Hume. “Oedipus Anne: The Poetry of Anne Sexton. ” Oedipus Anne: The Poetry of Anne Sexton. University of Illinois Press, 1987. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Daniel G. Marowski and Roger Matuz. Vol. 53. Detroit: Gale Research, 1982. Literature Resource Center. Gale. University of South Carolina Libraries. 7 Apr. 2009