Levertov, O'Hara, Blackburn, Armantrout, Oliver

Levertov, Blackburn, et al

Take a look at the Levertov/Kooser exercise on BB for a suggestion of some issues to explore, and for a critical quote you can use as a secondary source for journal #4. If you base your journal on Kooser's "Letter...", be sure to have a look at Richard's Capozzi's blog, in "More Blogs from Previous Classes" (as well as others' blogs and my comments, of course); see also my comments on Christian's, Jackson's, Steven's and Amanda's blogs.  For Levertov, see my comments on Stephen Martinez's, Michael Curro's, Florina's, Khan's, and Zanasha's bogs .  For O'Hara: my comments on Erica's, Jannah's, and Jeffrey's blogs (More Blogs form Previous Classes). Mayer: one taker, Maxx.  See my comments there--typical of Mayer's perplexity...

The O'Hara/Blackburn study sheet will give you lots of stuff to think about regarding these two poets, as well as links to further readings that you can apply to all four poets (and most other poets we'll cover...)

Blackburn's "Brooklyn Narcissus" is an example of "open form" poetry in which page space and layout contribute to meaning and rhythm of the poem, and help articulate the speaker's state of mind/emotional state; in oral presentation, the layout can also function as a "score" for performance.

Read the overview of Narcissus Personality Disorder (NPD) on Wikipedia, esp the causes, which may help frame some of the emotional/psychological conflicts suggested by the tone, imagery, rhythm and layout. Though it would be wrong, or at least a stretch, to say the speaker in the poem exhibits NPD, or is necessarily a candidate for it, some of the underlying factors leading to the condition may be apparent.

Also notice how allusions are used to clarify/support the speaker's emotional state; two substantial allusions are utilized--to the Narcissus myth, and to a particular poem by another poet.  The firs is identified in the title--what are some specific ways the myth can be applied here to help understand the speaker's state of mind, and perhaps the existential crisis he seems to be in.  Consider how the final image of the poem gives an ironic twist to the myth, bringing it into closer contact--making it more relevant to--the speaker's actual emotional/psychological situation.  The other allusion comprises several lines, beginning with "the rain, R.F." and ending with the repetition of "& local stops before I sleep."  Can you trace this allusion? How does the speaker of Blackburn's poem closely identify with the speaker of the poem alluded to? note the similarities in both poems, including the situation of the two speakers, and particular details.

Armantrout is a very intriguing poet, but it will take some effort and reading/thinking between the lines and stanzas to follow the associational network of her poems; hard to reduce them to a single concept or theme, though you may chart a  constellation of concerns in the poems.  The other "open form" poets listed for this week are definitely worth a look--see what you can find... Mayer may seem to be the more accessible of those, but there is more subtlety to many of the poems than may at first appear, if you think about them... it is helpful to think about some of her poems in series, as well, and the sense of the series as a whole in relation to individual poems in a series...This could also apply to Armantrout and the others.

Here is a link to the Belladonna collaborative, which has  videos of Akilah Oliver reading her work.  In the bottom video (with the blurred images) she reads from The She Said Dialogues: Flesh Memories. " DO NOT attempt to write a journal on this poem unless you are willing to listen to it many times and transcribe it.   However, the right frame on the site includes a link to her chapbook, A Collection of Objects, and other works, which you can read and ponder.   http://www.belladonnaseries.org/oliver.html