I must admit to mixed feelings on Sylvia, a film about the American poet Sylvia Plath. There’s not much of Path’s poetry included and no poems from her husband Ted Hughes. I understand that their daughter, the poet and painter Frieda Hughes, refused permission. She felt the producers were “voyeuristically raking over the ashes of her mother’s death.” What poetry is quoted includes: “Dying is an art … I do it exceptionally well …” from Ariel, which was read in voice over (as were any other bits of poetry) more than once. This perhaps speaks to Frieda Hughes’ concerns.
The producer (BBC) and director (Christine Jeffs) chose to focus on Plath’s clinical depression, her tumultuous relationship with Hughes, and her suicide.The sense of Plath as a poet is background to all that. One could argue that it should have been the other way around.
Gwyneth Paltrow plays Plath and while she does bare some resemblance to Plath, she is rather wooden. If you’ve listened to recordings of Plath’s interviews, you know she was animated. Lively. A smoldering and sauterne Ted Hughes was played by Daniel Craig. Blyth Danner (Paltrow’s real-life mom) plays Plath’s stern, knowing and concerned mother, not a big part but well done.
I think what’s redeeming is that the interplay between Plath and Hughes illustrates the extraordinary challenge presented to their marriage by the depth and persistence of her depression. Neither excusing nor judging Hughes for his adultery, the film gives a nod tohis pain and the fact of his love despite all.
After Plath’s death, Hughes was vilified as someone tantamount to a murderer. He often still is even after the publication of Birthday Letters, which gives his side of the story.
“Nor did I know I was being auditioned For the male lead in your drama, Miming through the first easy movements As if with eyes closed, feeling for the role. As if a puppet were being tried on its strings, Or a dead frog’s legs touched by electrodes.”
Plath was deeply wounded by her father’s death when she was eight and saw in Hughes a replacement. The situation couldn’t have been easy for the man. And, after all, Plath’s depression predates her relationship with Hughes, as did her first attempt at suicide.
If I was using stars to rate Sylvia, I’d give it two out of five, mainly because it perpetuates the mythology that surrounds Plath over her poetry, which I find intrusive and ultimately disrespectful. If you’re a Plath fan and haven’t seen the movie, you might want to just because of your affinity for the poet and her poetry … and, of course, you might like it more than I do. If you have no particular affinity for Plath or know little about her, you might appreciate it as the story of a depressive.
They thought death was worth it, but I
Have a self to recover, a queen
Is she dead, is she sleeping?
Where has she been,
With her lion-red body, her wings of glass?
excerpt from “Stings” by Sylvia Plath
*** ANTHOLOGY “HER WINGS OF GLASS” *** “I’m completely wowed … the most important anthology for decades,” John Killick “tremendously inspiring,” Moniza Alvi
“an amazing anthology,” Pauline Stainer “It’s a magnificent anthology (and I’m not just saying this because my mother’s face peers at me from the cover!),” Adam Horovitz “I’m impressed,” Anne Stevenson
Second Light Network of Women Poets (SLN) does many wonderful things for women poets of a certain age, but among the loveliest is the production of poetry anthologies. SLN’s latest anthology is Her Wings of Glass, the title taken from Sylvia Plath’s poem Stings in which she uses the life in the hive as metaphor for her own life and feelings.
When we consider all the elements of an apiary with its oddly flipped sexual structure, the momentary life of the parthenogenic queen juxtaposed against the leisurely life of drifting drones, we appreciate the brilliance of Plath’s using the apiary as an allegory for her relationship with her husband and her conflicted feelings about domesticity and motherhood. The bee community makes for an apt illustration of Plath’s poetic self (queen), her domestic self (drudge), her distaste for other women willing to be drudges, to sacrifice themselves. The poem is intensely personal, has elements of tenderness but ends fiercely. (FYI: You can view photographs of Plath’s worksheets HERE.)
It’s easy to appreciate just why the women of the ’60s were so enamored of Sylvia Plath, why she is still appreciated for both her observations and her craft. It’s also easy to understand why a reference to Plath’s work would make such a good title for a collection of poetry by contemporary women poets. The anthology, like the poets, poetry and the work in ARTEMISpoetry (biannual magazine) represent a cross-section of A-list poets and a range of themes, subjects and styles.
Issue 14
There’s a good piece by Anne Stewart on HerWings of Glass in the May 2015 issue of ARTEMISpoetry, which focuses on anthologies. Due to the very nature of SLN, many are the poets and poems that might be overlooked by other press as not in line with mainstream literary standard. I deem this an advantage indeed and wish more publishers would take note.
In addition to celebrating poetry anthologies, the current issue also featured Alison Brackenbury, the award-winning author of eight collections, and Jemma Borg in an interesting piece by Kay Syrad: The Illuminated World, A Dialogue Between Science and Poetry. Jemma studied evolutionary genetics and worked as a tech editor among other jobs. She stands at the intersection of science and poetry.
“I tend now to think of science and poetry in some kind opposition because they are such different systems of thought in terms of the philosophical roots and development, but essentially it is this love of what is unknown that is common to both and which forms my motivation as an individual: how can we, and indeed is it possible to, understand this world we are embedded in.”
Susan Wicks selected the poetry shared in this issue, which included these two:
Gift from my Daughter
A pink bag with lime-green flowers
in silk floated
like a lotus as she carried it
down the ward.
We fizzed with giggles over
the contents,
cream laced with sandalwood
and lavender,
lip-salve with lemon,
little bottles steeped in mint
and nutmeg,
a Morpheus spray
to enchant the pillow with sleep.
Outside, the weather slashed its tail
of water-scales
and hail,
and we unpacked the orient,
distilled these gardens from the east.
The homage to Anne Cluysenaar in this issue was warm and appreciative and the thoughts of several poets who knew her were included. I find this sort of acknowledgement and loyalty touching and asked for permission to include Alison Mace’s poem in this blog post. Alison said that we need to read Anne’s Diary Poems to fully appreciate her poem, but I took it at face value and warmed to it, though I haven’t readTouching Distances: Diary Poems. I like Alison’s poem for the gentle way it shows how one poet and her work and life were valued.
from LIVES OF THE POETS ANNE CLUYSENAAR 1936-2014
Alison Mace writes: Since Anne Cluysenaar’s appalling and untimely death, I have meant to write about her, a poem if possible. Anne came, when she could, to our monthly NaCOT poetry-writing group at William and Juliet Ayot’s house near Chepstow. We were so lucky to have her. Her contributions were memorable and heart-warming, both of her own work – several of the Diary Poems that became Touching Distances – and in the help she gave the rest of us with our own poems.
. Anne
‘Wise’ comes first to mind,
then ‘kind’,
and then so many more.
Heartsore,
we count the ways she was:
capable, nurturing,
loving her cob, her cat,
at home with hens and hay,
Mozart and Henry Vaughan;
happy to teach, to learn –
learned indeed – at ease
combining earth with wit,
abstruse with everyday –
and ours: muse, mentor, friend,
bringing her poetry
for us, wanting our own:
probing, encouraging –
all with her gentle smile.
And so it shatters sense
that such a life should end
with terror, suddenness
and wanton violence –
a bleak atrocity.
The distance we would touch
that our intensest thoughts
might wing to her
has widened beyond reach,
leaving us at a loss,
empty, and blank, and still
heartsore.
– Alison Mace
So, another altogether enjoyable read. Another issue to return to with pleasure.
All things SLN may be found HERE including gatherings and classes, remote – or as we in the U.S. would say “distance” – classes, coaching, contests, books, magazine, samplings of poetry and introductions to poets. Much appreciation to SLN Founder Dilys Wood and to Myra Schneider and Anne Stewart and all the other women for their work, their poetry, and their commitment to women and poetry. Second Light Network of Women Poets is based in London and most of the members are in the UK, but membership is not geographically restricted. Of note: Anne Stewart has a site – poetry p f – which makes it easy to pay membership fees and to order books, ARTEMISpoetry, poem cards and other goodies.
♥
Congratulations to Myra Schneider: Goulash from her collection Circling the Core (Enitharmon Press, 2008) was recently featured on Anthony Wilson‘s Famous Lifesaving Poems. We’ve featured it in The BeZine and are all fans. Bravo, Myra! Here it is on the Lifesaving Poems site. Contact Myra for Circling the Core and other books.
Poems, cartoon, cover art are published here with permission of the publishers and authors.
One of the things I appreciate about this particular poetry magazine – to me this is no small thing – the print is a reasonable size. I can enjoy it without wearing readers … unlike my also much appreciated Poetry Magazine (Poetry Foundation), which necessitates 3.50 readers. Yikes! Having got that off my chest . . .
Opening the cover of Issue 10 of ARTEMIS poetry (Second Light Network) was like unwrapping caramels: one chewy gem after another from the editorial by Myra Schneider and Dilys Wood to the back cover, which featured three poems by Alison Brackenbury, one of the two featured poets. The magazine is a celebration of poetry and women poets and artists and I found myself being introduced to more than the usual number of new-to-me women poets.
“2012-2013 is proving an annus mirabilis for the publication of poetry by women,” write Myra and Dilys in their editorial, “appropriately since we are on the fiftieth anniversary of Sylvia Plath‘s final burst of writing and her death in January 1962.”
Indeed, far more women poets are being published today than in my own youth (50s and early 60s) and a fair share are “celebrity” poets; not that I think that is necessarily the hallmark of the best, but it would seem to indicate a happy breakdown of barriers.
Of special interest was Adele Ward’s short feature on her experience starting and running a publishing company: Ward Wood Publishing. As a poet, writer and former columnist, I have followed the industry for years and find the developments evolving out of the recession and new technologies an odd mix of fascinating, promising and distressing. Adele addresses women’s roles in publishing and the desire to keep traditional outlets open:.
“Initially, It surprised me that I was regularly congratulated on being a woman starting a publishing company because I hadn’t realized this was still an issue. I don’t see any obstacles to women starting and running this kind of business, but it’s certainly the hardest work I have ever had to do and I’ve had tough jobs in publishing, journalism, and distribution throughout my career. It can also be physically demanding work, as I’m often expected to move the furniture around at venues for events and to carry a suitcase fill of books to launches, together with bottles of wine . . .
“There weren’t even a lot of women poets on our school curriculum in the 1970s. Times have changed and there are not only more women poets around, there are also more women wanting to face the challenge of keeping publishing outlets open. If we support each other by sharing our experiences and advice on how we have tackled the most difficult problems, poetry publishing will continue to thrive as we move out of recession?”
The second featured poet in this issue is Pauline Stainer, whose work has been likened to that of Ted Hughes, Frederico García Lorca, and Kathleen Raine. I particularly enjoyed the six poems and this little excerpt from one will give you an inkling why …
“They wear silk
shear as woven wind,
while the bells sewn
into their hems
sound like colours
in rippled water . . . “
The winners of the 2012 Poetry Competition were announced along with a sampling of poems and there was an interview of Mimi Khalvati by Ruth O’Callaghan. This is an organization that goes a long way toward encouraging narrative and long poems in both the content of the publication and in their poetry competitions. I found Myra Schneider’s piece, The Possibilities and Pitfalls of Narrative, worthwhile and I asked for permission to publish the entire piece HERE and extend my thanks once again to Myra for that gift.
With the generous permission of ARTEMISpoetry and poet Wendy Klein, I am able to share her poem with you this evening:
Bird
….Installation by Anselm Kiefer
Even if you hate installations
there’s an element of purity
about this mammoth recycling of books …………………………….as bird ………..its wings tatty notebooks
the pages torn or falling out
their whiff of damp or char …………like scorched feathers
…………reminding me of the fire sales
she took me to as a child ..my sewing grandma the one
who made things
………..There were shelves and tables
covered with tall bolts of cloth their edges
hideously singed her hands reverent
as she unrolled each unpromising bundle
planning curtains planning
voluminous skirts ………..chintz-covered cushions ………………….rose covered coats ….their blossoms
bursting to escape …………and in her eyes
the pride of the scavenger
……..Think road-kill red-tailed kites
their wing-span a fraction
the size of this ragged specimen …but functional earning their right
to the sky the planet
– Wendy Klein
In close, here is a bit more of Myra and Dily’s editorial. They address the concerns that all of us have who love, read and write poetry, regardless of our gender:
“The problem remains of how widely our excitement about women’s poetry – and all poetry – can be spread. The cultural revolution that is contemporary poetry – rich in voices that express all human concerns – has already happened. It needs to be recognised. So much poetry is vivid, accessible, meaningful. But the outreach is too small. We feel it is a great loss that such poetry is not reaching the many devourers of novels and biographies, far less winning its way to the attention of a broad base of young and old readers …
“It seems therefore extremely important that poetry and what it has to offer is promoted by the pressure of smaller initiatives. It can be done by modest acts of courage – who dares to suggest a poetry book to their Book Club? And generosity – when did you last buy a poetry book, two poetry books? And initiative – do you aim to put your poems on internet sites, write and submit a review of a book you admire? … “
On that note: I am proud of all our poet-bloggers and their efforts to educate, support one another, and promote poetry. Thank you! and Bravo!
♥
…. and thus we begin another week …
The work quoted from ARTEMIS poetry is under copyright by the magazine or the author/s and used here with permission.
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I must admit to mixed feelings on Sylvia, a film about the American poet Sylvia Plath. There’s not much of Path’s poetry included and no poems from her husband Ted Hughes. I understand that their daughter, the poet and painter Frieda Hughes, refused permission. She felt the producers were “voyeuristically raking over the ashes of her mother’s death.” What poetry is quoted includes: “Dying is an art … I do it exceptionally well …” from Ariel, which was read in voice over (as were any other bits of poetry) more than once. This perhaps speaks to Frieda Hughes’ concerns.
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