When it comes to women's poetry in the 20th and 21st centuries, Sharon Olds and Adrienne Rich are two of the most accomplished poets of our time. Rich became famous in the 1960s and 1970s for her engagement in (feminist) politics, as an activist, strongly committed to the use of poetry as an instrument of social change. Olds, who was born thirteen years after Rich, is not so much known for her political engagement but rather her obsession with “the foodlike and procreative possibilities of human bodies,” and her love for “images of animals, soil, blood and eggs” (Ostriker 242). The sometimes physical aggressiveness of her style and provocative poems like “The Pope's Penis” have even earned her a reputation for being pornographic.
Human misery as a topic in poetry is probably as old as the genre of poetry itself, but what can be of particular interest is how such a seemingly basic human condition can be used poetically to bring across different messages. In the following analysis of Rich's poem “Shattered Head” and Olds's “The Food-Thief”, I will exemplify how the contrasting depictions of human misery were used by the poets to convey their very different political attitudes.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Sharon Olds: "Food-Thief"
2.1 Setting
2.2 Formal Analysis
2.3 Stylistic Devices
2.3.1 Water Imagery
2.3.1 Repetition
2.4 Moral Complexity
3. Adrienne Rich: "Shattered Head"
3.1 Setting
3.2 Formal Analysis
3.3 Stylistic Devices
3.3.1 Nature Imagery
3.3.2 Images of Blood
3.3.3 Repetition
3.4 The Quest for Truth
4. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This work aims to examine how the theme of human misery is poetically constructed and utilized in the works of Sharon Olds and Adrienne Rich to convey distinct political and philosophical messages.
- Comparative analysis of poetic depictions of human suffering
- Examination of stylistic devices such as imagery and repetition
- Political implications of body-centered and abstract nature metaphors
- The relationship between historical reality and poetic abstraction
- Analysis of moral complexity in the context of survival and violence
Excerpt from the Book
2.3.1 Water Imagery
Olds uses water imagery as a contrast to the drought. The first allusion to wetness occurs when she describes the wound of the food-thief as “ripe and wet as a rich furrow” (ll. 17-18). The image does not only provide a contrast to the dryness of the drought, but Olds also manages to make the connection to food by comparing the wound to a furrow that farmers cut during plough-time, showing how essential water is to the supply of food and therefore life.
Throughout the rest of the poem, descriptions of the food-thief's body are inextricably linked to wetness. When he looks at his tormentors, the white of his pleading eye is depicted as “a dark occluded white like cloud-cover on the morning of a day of heavy rain” (ll. 21-23). Here, Olds makes use of two of the many meanings of “occlude.” The OED defines “to occlude” (though not as a primary definition) as a technical term used by opticians meaning “to cover an eye to prevent its use” (def. “occlude”), but it also points out its meteorological use. An occluded front forms when a “cold front overtakes a warm front.” The result is rain, as the “air is forced to rise upwards along the front, cooling and condensing as it does so.” The definition taken from optics could serve to emphasize that the thief's pleading is of no use, while the meteorological denotation makes the link between the thief's body and nature, i.e. water.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the two poets, Sharon Olds and Adrienne Rich, and establishes the research focus on how their contrasting depictions of human misery reflect their unique political attitudes.
2. Sharon Olds: "Food-Thief": This section provides a detailed formal and stylistic analysis of Olds’s poem, highlighting her use of water imagery and repetition to address moral complexity in a Ugandan drought context.
3. Adrienne Rich: "Shattered Head": This chapter analyzes Rich’s poem through its cryptic, abstract nature imagery and focus on the search for truth, contrasting it with Olds’s more concrete approach.
4. Conclusion: The concluding chapter synthesizes the findings, noting that while both poets use shared stylistic tools, they differ in their commitment to specific political statements versus historical musings.
Keywords
Human misery, Sharon Olds, Adrienne Rich, poetry, water imagery, repetition, political engagement, formal analysis, moral complexity, nature imagery, shattered head, food-thief, literary analysis, contemporary poetry, survival.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this work?
The work focuses on the poetic representation of human misery in the works of Sharon Olds and Adrienne Rich, exploring how they use specific literary devices to communicate political and philosophical ideas.
What are the central themes discussed in this analysis?
Central themes include the intersection of the human body and nature, the moral complexities of survival, the significance of suffering, and the role of poetry as a tool for social or historical commentary.
What is the main research question or objective?
The objective is to demonstrate how contrasting depictions of human misery, ranging from Olds's concrete, body-focused approach to Rich's abstract, enigmatic style, serve to convey different political stances.
Which scientific methodology is applied here?
The work employs a comparative literary analysis, utilizing close reading of the poems, an examination of stylistic devices (such as anaphora and metaphors), and reference to external scholarly interpretations.
What topics are covered in the main section?
The main section provides an in-depth exploration of "The Food-Thief" by Olds and "Shattered Head" by Rich, specifically analyzing setting, formal structure, stylistic devices, and the underlying moral or thematic goals.
Which keywords define this publication?
Key terms include human misery, political engagement, nature imagery, formal analysis, and the specific poetic techniques utilized by both authors.
How does Olds use the term "occlude" in her work?
Olds uses the term in a double-layered way: referring to the optical sense of covering an eye to emphasize the futility of the thief's plea, and to the meteorological sense to link the thief’s body to rain and water.
Why is the "soothseeker" concept important in Rich’s work?
The concept serves as a central metaphor for the restless human need to search for truth amidst historical suffering, reflecting Rich's refusal to be easily appeased by simple answers.
- Citation du texte
- Cordula Siemon (Auteur), 2008, The Depiction of Human Misery in Sharon Olds' "The Food-Thief" and Adrienne Rich's "Shattered Head", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/157001
