Stevie Smith, come back to us!

I think I claimed somewhere recently that I had not been exposed to Stevie Smith's poetry before this class.  Not true!  I've read "Not Waving, But Drowning" before, I'm sure.  Okay, I think.  But I have really developed a new appreciation for her since I've been reading more of her poetry.  I think she and I would have gotten along famously.  Sad she died when I was only two.  My work for today was to pick a Modern British poem we hadn't yet read for class.  I decided to let the textbook fall open and see what I came up with.  The result was Stevie Smith's "Souvenir de Monsieur Poop."  Somehow that title caught my eye!  Hard to believe, I know.  This poem puts into words what I feel about those who feel a might superior about their knowledge of English literature.  There's more in my head about it than Stevie (Yes, we're on a first-name basis now.) puts in this poem.  She talks about the belief that the classics are the only valid literature, citing Shakespeare, Milton, and (tee-hee) Housman.  Another aspect of this is the idea that only some topics of contemporary authors are good enough to be called "serious" literature.  Poop on mysteries and horror!  Turn away from sci-fi and fantasy!  No, not every contemporary writer is a master of his craft.  But there is more than one goal of writing.  Not everything we read has to elevate us or educate us.  Writing can entertain us.  It's okay to escape sometimes, as long as you make it back to the real world.  I love Stevie Smith.  And I love Stephen King.  Maybe I can even teach him some day.  You might be surprised.  He even has subtext.

Are we growing up?

Is modern society any more enlightened, any more "grown up" than its predecessors?  I really have nothing more to say here, but I'll blather on anyway.  Three poems in this segment: Larkin's "Church Going," Hughes's "Hawk Roosting," and Heaney's "Digging."  All well written.  Each a commentary on some aspect of modern society and culture, thought Heaney's is also a commentary on the value of poetry and/or literature.  Larkin was writing about the disappearance of religion from society.  I don't think we'll live to see that day, do you?  Hughes seemed to be addressing the self-centeredness of humans, our lovely ability to see the world as revolving around us, here to serve our wants and needs.  Heaney made me the happiest.  He values his work as well as the muddier work of his ancesteors.  He believes in the past and the present, disparaging neither, with a need for both.

Auden, you mad, depressing, encouraging poet!

I am really enjoying the Auden we've been reading for this class.  I loved rereading those I've read before - "Musee des Beaux Arts", "Funeral Blues", and "The Unknown Citizen", for example - and I relished the new experience of reading "In Praise of Limestone" (that was sure a challenge!) and "The Shield of Achilles".  One of our assignments for this class is to put together a web page focusing on some aspect of modern British poetry or on a poet.  I was having a hard time with this.  Today, I think I get it.  I should have gotten it before.  I mean, life is full of just such contradictions as Auden and the other poets I'm currently studying present.  Aren't we lucky to live in a time when we have leisure time to spend on the internet and dancing and poetry and whatever else we wish?  But on the other side of the world or down the street are people fighting just to live, soldiers fighting in wars of dubious origins, poisoned streams, vacuous celebrities - I could go on, but I think you get my point.  The bounty of the modern world isn't a bounty for all.  And even those of us lucky enough to benefit . . .  I feel uncomfortable sometimes, knowing how lucky I am, and feeling that there is so little I can do to pass that "luck" on to others.  Yes, I know there is more to these poets and their poems than what I find affecting me, but that's what I'm taking from them today.