While reading through Howe's poetry this week, I found several things I liked, and several that I didn't. I figured a critical post was more than appropriate for examining these aspects of her writing.
One thing I enjoyed throughout her work was, as we talked about in class, she has an ability to say shocking things without shocking the reader. She uses such strong language and imagery that there's no way around what she's saying to you. Sometimes she uses words that would get me a slap across the mouth. But she does it in such a way that you can't be upset because it fits so perfectly.
I must admit that, while I understand having a central theme to your poetry, the repetition throughout her poems was driving me nuts. If I read about a lamb or a bird one more time I was going to shut the book and give up. I feel like a great writer would be able to express their ideas with a multitude of words rather than the same ones over and over.
Another thing I liked about Howe's writing was that some of her work was religious. I've never read religious poetry before so I really enjoyed that new facet. Although her religious poems used the lamb metaphor constantly, I feel like here it was almost okay because the lamb is a religious idea anyway.
Did any of you feel like this about her writing? Or am I completely crazy?
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I agree...I liked the shocking element to her poetry. The repetition of the lamb was almost a deal breaker for me too so you're definitely not crazy. I enjoyed the book for the most part though.
ReplyDeleteI agree also... the repetition of animals and nature was very common throughout her book and her relationship with her father, but I must say it was written in a graceful way.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but I liked her repeated metaphors because she used them to convey different messages. I think maybe that was the theme in this book? I read other poems by Howe online after reading the book, and they do not use the dog, lamb, and earth so much. She has one book she had published (I forget the name) that deals a lot with her brother dying of aids. Maybe she publishes poems that have certain themes for certain books.
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