“Confessionalism in the Poetry” by A. Sextone, S. Plath

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Table of Contents

Development of confessional poetry
Ann Sexton fight with modern society through her work “Her Kind”
Sylvia Plath’s notorious poem “Daddy” is a way to assert herself
Robert Lowell’s poem “The Dolphin”
Billy Collins’s innovations into confessional poetry
Conclusion
Bibliography

Development of confessional poetry

Confessionalism is a style of poetry that developed in the XX century. Poets who wrote in the works about personal, intimate, sometimes unflattering information were labeled as confessional poets. The difference between confessional poetry and traditional lyrical poetry is honesty beyond personal embarrassment.

Ann Sexton fight with modern society through her work “Her Kind”

Poems by Ann Sexton serve as a model of confessional poetry. Her works predominantly contain standard themes of despair, suicide, isolation, etc. It is also should be mentioned, that Ann Sexton was insane. She was very familiar with those terrible things when the society that lives with stereotypes in its mind, stares and puts dark labels at you. In her poem “Her Kind”, she shows how it can be difficult for strong women to live among people, and especially men who are obsessed with their dominance over women. The narrator in this poem is an outcast woman who rebelled against society and who is pictured as a witch: “I have gone out a possessed witch.” (Sexton) However, the poem deals only with one speaker, there are actually two voices: the voice of the woman and the voice of the society. The voice of the letter is represented by the woman’s interpretation of public opinion. For instance, the speaker’s phrase “I have gone out a possessed witch” is a sarcastic rendering of public opinion “She has gone out a possessed witch.” In the second and third stanzas, the idea of society casting a strong woman is strongly developed: “A woman like that is misunderstood.” (Sexton) In addition, Sexton uses strong imaginary to show what pain society induces on the woman, who thinks differently. In the lines “your flames still bite my thigh/ and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.” (Sexton) Ann Sexton describes tortures that were practiced on witches centuries ago. Throughout the poem, we can see the duel between the woman and the society that refuses to accept her views. This fight shows that the stereotype of a witch is, in fact, a positive, strong image for the modern woman. The author is trying to say, that this fight will end up with a modern woman triumph, because all the negative stereotypes which society label on her, in its turn weakens the society itself.

Sylvia Plath’s notorious poem “Daddy” is a way to assert herself

Sylvia Plath is another representative of confessional poetry. Her works very often were associated with Ann Sexton. Plath used a number of stylistic devices in the works, such as metaphors, imagery, tone and rhyme. In her notorious poem “Daddy” the author illustrates her feelings of resentment and anger towards her father and husband. This poem reflects her disastrous life with her father and later with her husband. Plath uses here strong metaphors that are conveyed through the words “shoes” and “feet”. At the beginning of the poem, she compared her life to a foot that lives in a shoe (the shoe is her father). At first sight, it may seem that such life is good because commonly a shoe keeps feet warm; however, in this poem, the shoe is nothing but a trap. It is tight and it limits feet in many ways. Further, Plath uses the word “boot”, when she called her father a Nazi. Her husband the author compares to a vampire “The vampire who said he was you/ And drank my blood for a year”. (Plath) The poetess managed to create a very strong image that helps readers to see her harsh life. The tone of the poem is an expression of outrage: “Daddy, daddy, you bastard.” (Plath) Towards the end of the poem, Plath does not sound anymore like a scared child, now she becomes a strong woman. In the end, she states “I’m finally through”. (Plath) The last line shows that the author has finally become free.

Robert Lowell’s poem “The Dolphin”

Robert Lowell is considered the father of the confessional poets. In his works, Lowell expressed his own unhappiness, described political and social situations. “The Dolphin” is an expression of Lowell’s personal life. In this poem, he depicted the breakup with his wife Elizabeth Hardwick and his relationship with Caroline Blackwood. This poem is about changes and love. Lowell depicts Caroline as a dolphin, the creature that cures our souls and risks its life to save ours. She was always by his side when he was in trouble, she was his dolphin: ”When I was troubled in mind, you made for my body.” (Lowell 11)

Billy Collins’s innovations into confessional poetry

Billy Collins is a modern writer, who uses such stylistic devices in his poetry as irony and humor. Collins also uses a style of free verses. His works are mainly open with a domestic context, which creates intimacy and helps to establish temporary companionship with readers.

Conclusion

Common and distinct features in the poetry. To sum it up, confessional poetry can be characterized as an outlet for writers’ demons. Writing about personal intimate information, problems, love, hatred or inner emotional experience and re-reading it, helps to change one’s attitude towards the situation. The above-mentioned writers, who represent confessional poetry, have a number of common features and distinctions. Common traces manifest themselves in free verse style, narration from the first person (“I”), realistic themes; use of stylistic devices such as metaphors and imagery. Though Billy Collins is also a representative of confessional poetry, he stands out from the number of poets, who worked in this style, for the use of humor and mostly-anti-sentimental verses. His works are not so moody and dull, as works of Ann Sexton or Sylvia Plath. Confessionalism in poetry may be regarded as an instrument that cures one’s soles. It is vividly seen in the analyzed poems by Plath or Ann Sexton, who experienced mistreatment in their lives.

Bibliography

Plath, Sylvia. “Daddy”.

Robert Lowell. The Dolphin. Farrar Straus & Giroux. 1974.

Sexton, Ann. “Her Kind”. 2009.

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