So this week we got to dive into some of Sylvia Plath's poetry, and I have to say, she has always been one of my favorite poets. She gets down into the dark stuff and doesn't pull any punches when it comes to letting out how she feels. She sees things differently, and she hows the world how she sees them. In other words, I totally love her poetry.
I still have some mixed feelings on Catherine Bowman's stuff though-I can see the similarities to Plath's-she too is unafraid of offending. But at the same time, I can feel some sort of offness about it, at least in some of her poems, that just don't ring true to me as they should. Some of her poems I loved-others felt like they really missed the mark. I can't recall the name of one, and it might have been because it was swear heavy, or at least, the heaviness on the swearing made it seem like she really wasn't saying anything. I don't know-it just wasn't my favorite poem for some reason. It's odd, because normally I don't mind things like that. Yet for this one, it seemed to detract more than add to the piece. I will say that I love the way she adds some of Sylvia's lines to her own poetry-just enough to really ring a bell.
Writing a poem was a little different though. When I sat down, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. It was Catherine Bowman imitating Sylvia Plath that was I was trying to imitate. And imitating an imitator can easily dilute the message of the poem. But maybe, in a way, that was the point of the exercise. Like, as we progress, we're stepping away from imitation and entering more of a realm where we create and find our own voice. Does imitating an imitator dilute the message, or does it force you to find your own footing when you have holes in the way something sounds? I guess it's all up to the individual there.
No comments:
Post a Comment