8 Top Poems

Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1923

American liberal and pacifist - first poem published at 8

Bisexual and open about her sexuality - atypical for time 

Patricia Kelmans: 'feminist philosophy'

Lust over love - atypical for literature of the time - reason vs passion (lexical set of the body)

Subverts typical structure - Petrachan sonnet - with atypical content

Social Satire - riddled with sarcasm

Ironic title - challenging stereotypes about women - hysterical woman archetype

Edith Wharton

Robert Frost, 1913

Jimmy Anderson: 'Frost stands on the crossroads of 19th century American poetry and modernism'

Duty v love - moral dilemna

Wedding night - traditionally a time for the couple to be alone - for Victorian couples, often the first time without chaperones

Archaic syntax - Victorian poetry

Mental illness ran through Frost's family - father died of TB at 11

Frost himself suffered from depression

Dilemna not solved - mystery/ambiguity 

Elizabeth Jennings, 1985

Part of the movement - strict structure, atypical message - typical of modernism

Couple trapped in loveless marriage by Catholic faith (Jennings herself was Catholic)

Final lines reveal the couple as her parents

Lucinda Harrington: 'a negative view of couples who have been together a long time'

Clive: 'she has ben prolific without interruption'

Title ironically suggests intimacy - cynical

Typical of sixties generation who were encouraged to marry young?

Anne Sexton,  1968

Mental health issues and psychotic episodes - sleeping with her married psychologist

Confessional style - brutally open and honest

Beauty and idealisation of motherhood and 'the wife' - explicit sexual imagery (atypical)

Extended metaphor for being fleeting - setting him free

Creates pathos for Sexton, despite her role as mistress

References to art at start and end - cyclic in structure

James Dickney: 'the type of poetry she wrote is confessional poetry and often controversial

Seamus Healy, 1975

Pious Catholic, mildly nationalist, rural family

Execution of young adulteress in Germany - 'bog bodies' - and Belfast Girls - 'Betraying sisters' - shorn, tarred and feathered by IRA - women who dated British soldiers

Metaphorical connection between two violent events 

Sexual imagery

Cynical of both religion and 'the Troubles'

Richard Murphy: 'the finest art in presenting a coherent vision of Ireland, past and present.'

typical of modern literature

Keith Douglas, 1943

Forget me not - symbol of remberancr in Canada

During WWII, in which Douglas fought - KIA during invasion of Normandy 

Extrospective - 'quite callous' - 'unsettling' 

Owens: 'discomforts so profoundly'

Reflects on the nature of humanity 

Dated in Tunisia, during invasion of Italy 

Lots of war poetry from WWI, less from WWII (less criticism of WWII generally)

Paul Muldoon, 1998

Double Ballade

Imagery of Jewish wedding - 'Chuppah'

Dow - financial market - sibilance - 'soars and slumps in the Dow'

Ten year anniversary with wife - reflecting on marriage

The Irish Troubles - Matsukaze (story of Japanese sisters)

Pine word play - the tree and the emotion

Envoi - typical feature of ballade - 'Princess of Accutane' - excema cream

Positive message of love and acceptance - long-term focus

Wendy Cope, 2002

Waterloo Bridge - typical romantic setting

Conflict between head and heart - typical theme in modern literature

Comedic - typical of Cope

Down to earth struggle

Could be a metaphor for a moment rather than a realistic recollection

Childish and light hearted

A date? Or a funeral?