Today I heard a fabulous talk on James Wright's Two Citizens. Apparently the book was panned because it diverged from his earlier imagistic work and turned to focus on colloquial language. Alan Williamson did a close reading of "Ohio Valley Swains" that opens "The grandaddy longlegs did twilight / And light" moves from lyric to close with "and if I ever see you again, so help me in the sight of God, / I'll kill you." I think it's a perfect narrative poem. Williamson, citing Kristeva, described Wright's technique as "pre-position" in which he inserts certain phrases or allusions earlier into the poetic sequence than the narrative sequence. In Kristeva's view, this indicates the "pleasure principle" (showing what's important to *me*) winning out over the "reality principle" (accurately giving an account for the other/reader). Now, in either poems or conversation, I am thinking about whether the pleasure or reality principle is winning (for me or for my interlocutor).
In another talk on "Daring, Drama, and Melodrama" given by Baker, he cited a poem by Linda Gregerson that really blew me away with its epic, almost cosmic ennui. Gregerson is someone I would like to read more closely. He also read an amazing poem by Auden that manages to avoid sentimentality while rhyming and concluding with the following lines :
"Much can be said for social savoir-fare,
But to rejoice when no one else is there
Is even harder than it is to weep;
No one is watching, but you have to leap.
A solitude ten thousand fathoms deep
Sustains the bed on which we lie, my dear;
Although I love you, you will have to leap;
Our dream of safety has to disappear."
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