The
United States of America is a quite unique experiment in
nation-building. Everything American is something that is borrowed or
taken from somewhere else. In this regard, American poetry developed
its own voice a long time ago. Whether we are talking about Puritan
poetry, Transcendentalism, American Romanticism, Modernism or
Conceptualism, America is a giant in the playground. In this paper, I
will attempt to give a brief account of how America's poetry evolved
into a literature that did not simply mimic or copy the British
styles, but became a force
majeure
in World literature. First, I will present the Puritans through Anne
Bradstreet and move on to Transcendentalism and Romanticism,
exemplified here by Whitman and Poe. Then, I will discuss how Ezra
Pound and T.S. Eliot used the platform that was created by these
literary predecessors and how Modernist poetry was used to criticise
the society that surrounded them. From there, I will present Kenneth
Goldsmith and his work in Conceptual poetry and why this poetry can
draw upon the lineage of the Modernists.
Beginnings
of American Poetry
It
seems almost impossible to ignore the importance of the Puritan poets
and how they affected poetry in the English-speaking world. I will
argue that the Puritans are foreshadowing events in Britain that will
come to life with Romanticism through an example from Anne
Bradstreet. “To my Dear and Loving Husband” is a perfect example
of how poetry could be written in the 17th
century and while I would not characterise it as an independent voice
that is separate from British poetry, it is still a good example of
the words of common people that the Romantics would try to reproduce.
Bradstreet has several lines that are both defiant and obedient at
the same time and the revolutionary spirit which is found here can be
followed through almost all of the great American writers and to
contemporary literature. Bradstreet draws on a highly stylised
version of iambic pentameter and the poem starts with three instances
of anaphora, but the tone of the poem is so intensely personal that
it is possible to imagine someone speaking these words at the time.
The poem draws upon biblical references and a relation to the Orient
as rich and exiting, but the speaker would rather have her husband's
love than “all the riches that the East doth hold” (Bradstreet
ll.6). Love as a central theme in poetry is hardly new, not even by
17th
century standards, but Bradstreet's register is so different from the
English verse prevalent in Britain at the time. An approximate
contemporary is Milton, whose style is so immaculate and his register
is highly poetical, so something is up on the other side of the
Atlantic. Milton constantly references classical myths and ideas,
whereas we only find a glimmer of it in Bradstreet and her notion of
poetry seems grounded in her experience and life, rather than being
grounded in classical learning. This style can later be found in
British Romantic poetry, where Wordsworth and Coleridge are
rediscovering old myths and attempt to frame them in the speech of
“real men”(Wordsworth 5).
American
Style in Transcendentalism and Romanticism
A
true American voice appears to develop around the beginning of the
19th
century with a great deal of influential writers and thinkers. It is
not a coincidence that the US gains independence at this time and the
development of an American language becomes a priority to the new
statesmen of the Republic. Webster and other important authors were
“actively
concerned with
the construction of
an American national identity through a shared culture of print”
(Pelanda 434).
This
concern is echoed by Emerson in his oft-anthologised essay
“Self-reliance”, where he espouses: “Insist on yourself; never
imitate” (Emerson 547). This statement is quite interesting to
categorise as an integral element of American literature and poetry,
especially when we turn our attention to later movements in poetry.
It was seen as a necessity to develop an American literature that did
not copy the sentiments and styles of Europe and to create this
poetry, the topics move from the classical myths and towards
experiences that are more easily identifiable as American. Walt
Whitman is one of the most important figures in literature and his
ground-breaking Leaves
of Grass
is one of the first large-scale forays into free verse. “Song of
Myself” is devoid of a standard metre, but it has a very strong
rhythmical “feel” to it, with anaphora scattered across many
lines. As Kruse argues (with reference to another Whitman poem),
Whitman follows a very special schema in his construction of verse
and the criticism that it could be prose is denied by a reference to
how his lines are not arranged purely by syntactic restraints (See
Kruse 2012, 175-179, for a more thorough investigation of Whitman's
verse). Whitman sought to become the great national bard and he has
become one of the reference points in any informed discussion on the
development of free verse and the impact that it has had on modern
poetry.
At
the same time as Whitman, another American voice emerges. Edgar Allan
Poe uses a notably different style from Whitman and is hyper-metrical
in his poems. Poe uses obscure words that the reader cannot be
certain to know the origins of and his poetics are clearly defined in
the two essays “The Poetic Principle” and “Philosophy of
Composition”. Both of these essays have been subjected to harsh
criticism and my interpretation is that the principles Poe sets forth
in these are just as subversive as his poetry. On the surface, Poe
and Whitman appear to be the extremes of how poetry can function, but
the poets are quite similar in the effect that they want to produce.
In another paper, I argued that Poe was using metrics to undermine
the rhythm of the poem (Uri 3). This rebellion towards old styles of
poetry are at the core of what I define as the American poetic voice.
The best American poetry rebels against preconceived notions of what
poetry is and attempts to break away from the traditions of old. In
this regard, Poe and Whitman are using two methods of achieving the
same end and they seem to break away from British poetry in a violent
struggle; one through a fascination with the macabre,
the other by transcending the boundaries of tradition. While Poe and
Whitman broke with age-old traditions in their poetry, I will argue
that the next development in American poetry is even more rebellious
in its nature.
Modernist
Poetry in Two Works
As
I stated above, the American poetic voice is highly rebellious and
attempts to flaunt the prejudices of its society. The highly
controversial The
Waste Land is
no exception, but the stylistic choices that Eliot makes are unlike
any seen before. The
Waste Land
is so full of references to literary sources that it is an almost
insurmountable task to dissect the poem to clarify all of them.
Several critics accused Eliot of merely copying his material from
other sources and by picking the great works of other poets, he was
merely producing meta-text that by the act of repetition would be
mediocre poetry. I beg to differ. Eliot's wasteland is a very unique
experience and it can be used as a shining example of how to write a
story without giving in to the temptation of an easy way out. The
poem ends with a blessing that comes from Eastern mysticism and
invites an interpretation that all will be well if we adopt the
spiritual teaching of the East. Although I am not entirely convinced
that this reading is the correct one, I will concede that the reading
is not forced. The reason that I do not agree with the reading is
that The
Waste Land creates
meaning through perverting all that it touches. If the poem has a
“happy ending”, I am unconvinced of why it goes through all of
the trouble of representing the European literary canon as perverted
and then argues that the Transcendentalists were right all along,
with their acceptance of the Bhagavad
Gita and
the Upanishads
as
spiritual rejuvenators to a dying civilization. Eliot was not
convinced by Transcendentalist poetry and stated that he 'did not
read Whitman until much later in life, and
had to conquer an aversion to his form, as well as to his matter, in
order to do so' (Eliot qtd. by Kruse 178). If the poem is unresolved
and does not give any positive outlook, the blessing at the end
becomes a piece of dark humour that has been inserted to mislead and
subvert the remaining fragments of text that are presented in the
poem. That amount of humour is quite hard to find one of the other
great Modernists, Ezra Pound.
Pound
was a notable editor and critic of poetry and his poetic notions are
very interesting. He did not seek to produce free verse poetry for
the sake of free verse but rather because his topic demanded it. He
claimed that poetry should always hold 'a
rhythm
[....] which corresponds exactly to the emotion or shade of emotion
to be expressed' (Pound qtd by Bittner 84). This notion of poetics
seems very relaxed when it is compared to his style, which is far
from laid back. Pound is probably most well-known for his epic
Cantos,
an account to write a world history with a poem. As an experiment, it
is probably the most awe-inspiring Modernist poem, mostly because it
failed so spectacularly. First
of all, it is incomplete. Pound never finished the poem and the
unfinished nature gives it a distinct feel. The reader is never
presented with the ultimate punchline and I do not presume to know if
Pound had one. The Cantos
are
also extremely experimental in their use of citations and references.
Pound and Eliot shared this aspect but they used it for quite
different effects. Eliot's references seem calculated to present a
certain point of view and the reader should be constantly on guard,
when he is reading Eliot. On the other hand, Pound seems to be very
truthful in his readings of original texts. Although many of his
allusions are quite obscure, they present the image that they are
supposed to. In “Canto XLV”, Pound names a horde of artists and
places himself in their midst as another innovator that needs to be
recognised. The poem circles around usury and the problems that have
arisen because of it. His historical figures are representatives of
new artistic movements and the statement that these figures would not
have been found in a world without usury is an angry rant against
capitalism. I have discussed how Pound distorts historical images to
fit with his “truth” in a previous paper, but the overall
impression of Pound's writing is not one where he attempts to subvert
society. Pound is an active revolutionary and fights with everything
he has against the injustices he sees. This revolutionary approach
can also be affirmed by his trial for treason after WWII.
These two
Modernists represent two ends of another spectrum than Whitman and
Poe, but they are no less incompatible. While they were good friends
in real life and worked closely together in the early years of their
careers, their styles are very dissimilar. They share a bleak outlook
on the future in their best known works, but where Eliot represents
society as morally and spiritually corrupt, Pound flames against the
injustices that he finds in society and spews vitriolic statements
that seek to create an uprising against the injustice. Pound is a
true revolutionary, who sided with the losers and got defamed for it.
However, his poetry is brilliant and incredibly intelligent. Eliot
draws attention to the perversion that is found in society by
flaunting the errors, but his solutions seem to be of a different
character than Pound's. Eliot is not providing easy solutions, but he
is undermining the foundations of the society he lives in and,
therefore, he is also providing a comment on literature, society and
all of the same elements that seem to preoccupy Pound.
When
Intention Becomes Most Important
Like
many other artistic genres, verse has undergone quite a
transformation from its infancy and it is hard to recognise the
similarities between the Homeric tradition and Modernist poetry. They
are seen as similar because of the genre conventions, but the
Modernists sought to break down the old traditions by applying new
guiding principles to how we read poetry. There are many interesting
new developments in poetry and it is outside the scope of this essay
to categorise or even list these developments. American poetry
entered a new phase around the turn of the millennium with the advent
of Conceptual poetry. This movement was spearheaded by another
American poet, Kenneth Goldsmith. One of Goldsmith's most recognised
works is Day,
a complete retyping of the New
York Times
from September 1, 2000 and is possibly the single most dreary reading
anyone has ever done (I have only read excerpts from it). The idea
behind the poem is exceptional though. In a blog post, Goldsmith
explains that the idea of the poem is to stamp out all creativity
from himself and create something that has value simply because he
has put effort into creating the text (Goldsmith n.p.).
The thing that can gain the most value is something which is utterly
devoid of value and '[n]othing has less value than yesterday's news'
(Goldsmith). Goldsmith has created a great idea and on the basis of
this idea, the trivial becomes valuable. Conceptual poetry works by
presenting great ideas in the least creative manner, such as retyping
a newspaper and since the process is experimental, some of the ideas
might turn out to be poor.
A Work in
Progress Is a Proper Ending
According
to Place it is important in Conceptual poetry to '[n]ote
the potential for excess in allegory. Note the premise of failure, of
unutterability, of exhaustion before one’s begun' (Place 16). Place
is highlighting the necessity of experiments in poetry and this
experimentation is at the core of what I have attempted to show. All
of the poets I have dealt with in this paper, with the exception of
Bradstreet, have been big personalities that demanded recognition and
staged a performance that gave an impression of greatness. I
believe that this style of staging oneself is a very American notion
and it serves to highlight the aspiration to excel. I also see a
great deal of experimentation in the differing poetic styles. These
styles have created a unique American voice that has become central
to English language poetry and is distinct from other poetic
traditions. What struck me in dealing with these poems is how
subversive or revolutionary they are. The poems constantly challenge
taboos and preconceived notions, and I could easily have included
Allen Ginsberg, Robert Frost or a plethora of other American poets to
prove the same point. In today's society, there is a interconnection
between people where geographical distance is less important but it
is still possible to speak of a national identity in poetry and the
American voice is going strong.
Bittner,
Hansjörg. The
Metrical Structure of Free Verse.
Norwich: University of East Anglia. 1997.
Bradstreet,
Anne. “To My Dear and Loving Husband”. The
Norton Anthology of American
Literature.
Gen. ed. Nina Baym. 7th. ed. New York: Norton, 2012. 108.
Eliot,
T.S. The
Wasteland.
Ed: Michael North. London: Norton, 2001.
Emerson,
Ralph Waldo. “Self-Reliance”. The
Norton Anthology of American Literature.
Gen. ed. Nina Baym. 7th. ed. New York: Norton, 2012. 532-550.
Goldsmith,
Kenneth. “Uncreativity
as a Creative Practice”. Eletronic
Poetry Central.
Buffalo, NY: State University of New York. No
publication date.
Kruse,
Jesper. Free Verse
and the Constraints of Metre in English Poetry.
Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen. 2012.
Pelanda,
Brian Lee. “Declarations of Cultural Independence: The
Nationalistic Imperative Behind the Passage of Early American
Copyright Laws, 1783-1787”.
Journal
of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. 58.
431-454. 09 October 2011.
Place,
Vanessa and Robert Fitterman. Notes
on Conceptualism.
New York: Ugly Duckling. 2009.
Uri,
Jonas. “Breaking Away from Tradition: Subversion in 'The Raven'”.
Unpublished.
06 May 2016.
Wordsworth,
William. “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”. Harvard
Classics Vol.39: Prefaces and Prologues.
New
York: Bartleby.com, 2001.
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