I'm interested in the role of creative writing (particularly poetry) in the face of tragedy. I - like many - have been thinking very much about this in the wake of recent international crimes and the discussion about mourning that surrounds them. I think that poetry can magically comfort while also "calling out", can soothe human trauma and confusion by shedding light on the scaffolding that supports atrocity.
There is usually an outpouring of poetry in the wake of shared horror, and an uptick in national interest in the genre. Why might this be? Why might we desire poetry, in particular, in the face of indescribable loss? The poet Rachel Eliza Griffiths says that poetry "..speaks to the ways we are silent with each other." Rene Char said that “Poems are those pieces of incorruptible existence that we hurl at the repugnant maw of death, hurl sufficiently high that, ricocheting back, they fall into the world where names for the whole are found.”
I think all of this has to do with Mark Doty's idea of beauty as accuracy, and his notion that the morality of poetry is rooted in simple description - i.e., the more harrowing the subject, the more dignity it is afforded by straightforward language. I'm not sure I agree with this and have thus offered here a handful of poems that address public tragedies and mass anguish in different ways. I want to get your thoughts on how they succeed (or don't) and also on the role, or even responsibility, of poetry on the national stage when great loss is suffered:
Here's one by Rickey Laurentiis: https://newrepublic.com/article/120944/continuance-rickey-laurentiis-ferguson-memoriam
Another by Brendan Constantine: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/needs-many
And then one about Sept. 11th from John Brehm: http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2012/03/pompeii-by-john-brehm.html
Lastly, Philip Metres has an interesting essay from 2011 about the demand for poetry post 9/11: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/article/242580
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ReplyDeleteI am gradually learning more about poetry as the semester goes on (#462ftw), and I think this is a really cool topic to explore. Often, when I think about responses to tragedy and art, my mind goes to two mediums: photography and songs. Poetry, I think, is a natural extension here-- metaphors and euphemisms are common things we use in everyday conversations when we are trying to broach uncomfortable subjects (gone to a better place, they've passed, kicked the bucket, punched out early, etc.) and I think embracing a medium which allows for this sort of processing component in its reading could be very cathartic
ReplyDeleteVery intriguing poetry ideas. To me, all poetry, be it Shelley or Ginsberg or Whitman or Silverstein, has this sense that each poem is talking about the feelings that the author has deep down inside. The more poetry we write, the more we let things out. Poems just seem to be the most personal writing out there; "The Divine Comedy" feels really personal to Dante, since he's writing about his favorite writer showing him where Dante himself thinks that people he knows or is familiar with will end up. Another example is "Kaddish" by Allen Ginsberg, which is Ginsberg's way of trying to cope with his mother's insanity and her death. I guess that's why people find poetry so uplifting; most of the best poems come from this personal place and therefore appeal more quickly to the pathos or ethos of its readers.
ReplyDeleteHave there been some poetry anthologies along these lines? Would be interesting, especially, if they were cross-cultural.
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