Approaching the edge of Sentimentality

I found this weeks poems more effective than previous poems we have read for the very reason of sentimentality. I think too many writers lose sight of their emotion when writing and sometimes that very emotion is what makes writings, especially poetry, so very effective. When a reader sits down and begins to read a poem that is calling out for attention and compassion, they are drawn to that poet on a different level than any other type of poetry. A particular poem I was fond of in this weeks collection of poems was Plath’s, “Daddy.” I was partially drawn to this poem for personal reasons and personal feelings I have towards my father. I don’t think Plath was successful in avoiding sentimentality in this particular poem. Certain stanzas and lines of her poetry speak to the reader as if she was saying them directly to whoever is reading the poem at that very instance.

Daddy, I have had to kill you.
You died before I had time---

I think Plath was very unsuccessful at avoiding sentimentality and pours her heart out on a personal level when she writes:

Bit my pretty red heart in two.
I was ten when they buried you.
At twenty I tried to die
And get back, back, back to you.
I thought even the bones would do.

In order for a writer to successfully avoid sentimentality, they have to be effective at keeping the reader out and not letting the reader in his/her state of mind emotionally. Plath had a personal relationship with the reader and connected with the reader.

A poem in which the poet was able to successfully avoid sentimentality, in my opinion, is Anne Sexton’s, “The Truth the Dead Know.” In this poem Sexton was able to convey an emotion to the reader, yet not overdo it causing and she was able to avoid the use of sever emotion to make her connection with the reader. She writes to a dead figure, although it is a broad reference. I think she was able to keep her distance from the reader yet still get her point across. In my opinion this was especially apparent in the third stanza.

My darling, the wind falls in like stones
From the whitehearted water and when we touch
we enter touch entirely. No one’s alone.
Men kill for this, or for as much.

To some level she connects with the reader emotionally and by reading these words, I almost felt as if I was there experiencing the touch as she did. However, she does not have that personal sentiment that Plath had all throughout her poem. Plath invited the reader into her mind while Sexton explains her feelings and almost gives the reader the opportunity to connect with her and experience her poem on a different level. The reader can become part of the poem, while Plath draws the reader to her mind and her sentiment as if the reader enters Plath’s mind and can understand her thoughts directly.

There is a direct and indirect difference between the two poems in the way in which they connect with the reader. Plath is more direct while Sexton uses an indirect way of connecting.

Beats vs. NY School

The poem from the Beats period which particularly interested me the most was Gregory Corso's "Marriage." I think the poem was a bit long, but the lines ran together as if the writer was telling a story about a man contemplating the thought of marriage. It was very interesting and the I was able to completely understand it by reading through the poem once. The first three lines of the poem grabbed my attention and from the beginning I was intrigued. Being a married woman, I think I was easily drawn to the poem because of the first stanza.

Should I get married? Should I be good?
Astound the girl next door with my velvet suit and faustus hood?
Don't take her to movies but to cemeteries
tell all about werewolf bathtubs and forked clarinets
then desire her and kiss her and all the preliminaries
and she going just so far and I understanding why
not getting angry saying You must feel! It's beautiful to feel!
Instead take her in my arms lean against an old crooked tombstone
and woo her the entire night the constellations in the sky-

It was as if the writer was insisting that getting married means you are doing the right thing and being good. I particularly enjoyed the first line because it made me want to read the answer to the mentioned question. The lines of the first stanza and throughout the poem ran together smoothly mostly because they were not divided by commas as most lines are. To the reader it was a continuous line or story.

The poem that intrigued me the most from the New York School Poets selection was John Ashbery's "Paradoxes and Oxymorons." What drew me to this poem was the first stanza just like Corso's poem "Marriage." The first stanza of Ashbery's poem spoke of the poem and it was a very interesting way of drawing the reader.

This poem is concerned with language on a very plain level.
Look at it talking to you. You look out a window.
Or pretend to fidget. You have it but you don't have it.
You miss it, it misses you. You miss each other.

Ashbery lets the reader know what he or she is about to read within the first line of his poetry. I thought this was an interesting way of catching the readers attention by getting straight to the point. Corso's poem was similar to this by drawing the readers attention by asking a question. The question was not directed towards the reader but it was still able to catch the attention of the reader because he/she wants to find the overall answer to the proposed question. I think Ashbery and Corso were both very experienced by using a strong first stanza to grab the readers attention and follow through with the remainder of the poem. I enjoyed both poems particularly because they were easy to understand and used "plain" language to convey their thoughts. Plain language is best understood, in my opinion, because I can easily interpret the writing.

The Poetics of PlainSpeech

Free verse is defined as a term that describes various styles of poetry that are not written using strict meter or rhyme but is still recognizable as poetry. At times, poets deviate from the "normal" scheme of poetry by writing freely. I think most readers and most people in general have the idea that poetry consists of rhyming patterns and a style recognized as Modernism. Upon reading the poems of this week, I noticed there are many more poems than I previously thought that consist of free verse. I can relate to these poems much more than other poems for the mere fact that they are easier to understand and the style of writing is to the point.
For instance in Philip Larkin's poem, "This Be The Verse," Larkin uses a rhyme scheme and alliteration to emphasize his use of poetic elements. He tells a short story and writes in stanzas with the last stanza consisting of metrical variation. Any reader will be able to read his work and understand it is a poem because of the poetic elements he incorporates into his writing. His poem was to the point and much easier to interpret than previous poems I have read that consist of the Modernism style of poetry.
I think when poets write of what they feel without using a hidden meaning, it makes their poetry all the more effective and comprehensible. I think most readers would agree that it is more effective to get to the point than to have a message that most people cannot understand. On the other hand, part of what makes poetry so effective is the fact that each individual reader can make his or her own meaning of the poem. A poem can mean anything you want it to mean when it is not straight to the point. I enjoy free verse more than any other style of poetry because I find more meaning from the poetry when it is straight forward and to the point.