The Iow Review Volume 5 Issue 2 Spring Article 38 1974 Rll "El": A Key to Motive Technique in His Poetry Russell Fowler Follow this dditionl works t: http://ir.uiow.edu/iowreview Prt Cretive Writing Commons Recommended Cittion Fowler, Russell. "Rll "El": A Key to Motive Technique in His Poetry." The Iow Review 5.2 (1974): 113-126. Web. Avilble t: http://ir.uiow.edu/iowreview/vol5/iss2/38 This Contents is brought to you for free open ccess by Iow Reserch Online. It hs been ccepted for inclusion in The Iow Review by n uthorized dministrtor Iow Reserch Online. For more informtion, plese contct lib-ir@uiow.edu.
Rll "El": A Key to Motive Technique in His Poetry Russell Fowler The growing criticl interest in work Rll Jrrell revels two things: his reputtion s one most perceptive helpful literry critics lst three decdes continues to flourish, while his own poetry remins center intense controversy. Judgments its overll vlue plce longside work contemporries like Robert Lowell Theodore Roethke vry rdiclly, even his dmirers seem unble to relte his poetry conclusively to ny mjor criticl or methodologicl "schools" this century. For friend foe like he is most "idiosyncrtic" modern poets, for one consistent ele ment in diverse collection strtegies subjects found in poems from "The Rge for Lost Penny" (1940) to The Lost World (1965) is n insistence on unfettered improvistion, n bsolute refusl to be systemtic or provide oreticl or symbolic prdigm for his own work. This ttitude is lso clerly opertive in his criticism,, ironiclly, is chiefly responsible for its fresh innovtive pproches to writers like Whitmn Frost. Nothing like Stevens' "Supreme Fiction," Frost's chrcteristic idioms or Pound's con lscpes, sistent use privte sources is vilble to reder Jrrell, for core his work, nnounced purpose rr thn oreticl or estic. for its existence, is emotionl qusi-mysticl Wht unifies poems modeled fter Germn M?rchen drems, drmtic on wr monologues supermrkets, tortuous, syntcticlly dense considertions life deth in "Modern Age" is ttitude behind m, belief tht y ll provide specific nswers for sme vgue question sponsor recognition (not necessrily understing) humn condition in its priml form. Necessry mnifesttions this belief in poetry re n ongoing, pinfully symptic tone n overt hostility towrd bsolute defini tion ny kind or "tht trumtic pssion for Authority, ny Authority t ll, tht is one most in our unplesnt things time our prticulr prticulr culture."1 Once one recognizes fundmentl chrcter sensibility its insistence tht poetry function s "loction" where effects experi ence re most drmticlly presented, common purpose behind much experimenttion with drmtic monologue vitl presenttion scenes childhood, wrfre, modern culture becomes clerer. His chrcter istic use syntcticlly complex stnzs, hevy with pposition qulifiction, his love prdox his "musculr identifiction with his subject mtter" ( 1 Rll Jrrell, Poetry Age (New York, 1955), p. 90. 113 Criticism University Iow is collborting with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, extend ccess to The Iow Review www.jstor.org
phrse Jrrell used to explin his specil dmirtion for Rilke's lyrics), re ll designed to show "rel difficult fce" humn experience to promote sympthy for those who suffer its effects. Mny critics hve eir filed to recognize importnce this emotionl nexus or dismissed it s sentimentl self-indulgent. The ltter is n esy judgment ten pplied to work recent poets, but it is prticulrly dm ging to since intensity tone underlying ple for emotionl re not recognition simply poetic devices or lterntives but indictions recurring vgue yet constnt ims behind ll his poetry. Stephen Spender feels, is "Jrrell very difficult to or even describe s becuse he "seems 'plce' poet," to most complin ginst humn condition without... much discrimin tion."2 His critique is predicted on wht he sees s lck selectivity, "self control," in subject mtter joined with tedious, unchnging tone pproch. "B.," "Opposing Self" Jmes Dickey's rticle on Jrrell, shrply dismisses his on more poetry oreticl s conscientious grounds lcking "technique" too on mere domesticted Both dependent presenttion generlized, relity.3 critics qurrel s much with intentions poetry s with its estics or how those intentions re successfully relized, bse ir mjor objections on personl views wht poetry "should do." Jrrell prtisns hve tended to reply in kind, procliming how well Jrrell cretes direct, moving visions modern life free personl prejudices pointless verbl gymnstics more forml poetry. It is my intention not to join in this generl debte bout "true function" poetry, but to define s s precisely possible tht centrl ttitude behind ll poems responsible for both ir diversity content consistency pproch. One cn t lest gin clerer understing rel ims ccomplishments by briefly chrting his development mture technique which he felt best expressed bsic motivtions mes behind ll his work n exmining in more detil one finest exmples his mture verse, drmtic entitled "Seele im Rum." monologue erliest work, poems published in "The Rge for Lost Penny"4 Blood for Strnger (1942), encompsses n stonishing vriety subjects, strtegies, influences. ws Clerly young poet serching mong vrious methods idioms his contemporries for those he could best dpt to his own mes poetic needs. The erly poetry W. H. Auden seems to hve hd most drmtic effect on own experimenttion. Erly efforts like "A Little Poem" "On Rilwy Pltform" dopt Auden's convers tionl, economicl mode ddress lso employ domestic trvel imgery ssocited with much Auden's best erly poetry. Above ll, Auden's 2 Stephen Spender, "Rll New York Review Complint," Books, ix, No. 9 (Nov. 23, 1967), p. 28. 3 Jmes Dickey, "Rll Jrrell," Rll Jrrell / 1914-1965, ed. Robert Lowell et l. (New York, 1967), pp. 33-48. 4 Five Young Americn Poets (Norfolk, Conn., 1940), pp. 81-124. 114
bility to build complex mood with progression concrete imges, ten vigorously idiomtic in nture, seems to hve impressed Jrrell. He explined his dmirtion for specil Auden's in criticl on lnguge essy poet: They [Auden's imges] gin uncommon plusibility from terse under stted mtter--fctness ir tretment, insistence (such s tht found in speech children, in Mor Goose, in folk or svge verse, in drems) upon "thingness" words mselves.5 Jrrell continued to use concrete, descriptive imgery in his drmtic poetry in order to "locte" ir events mes in scenes with ir own sense drmtic immedicy "uncommon plusibility." His development drm tic monologue in wr poems Little Friend, Little Friend (1945) Losses (1948) his ceseless revision erlier poems suggest common im n insistence on pulse, poems with ir own utonomous settings internl on totl developments, elimintion didctic uthoril voice. sub sequent rejection his erly Audenesque models seems n outgrowth this sme bsic concern, for lthough he first dopted Auden's brusque, declrtive mode uthoril ddress long with his shrp, idiomtic imgery, he lter boned it s too didctic "omniscient" in tone nrrtive perfected pproch tht is more conditionl, itertive, ten mildly rhetoricl in its ssertions generl Auden's his oc "judgments." llegoricl lscpes csionl towrd tendency socil re too strightforwrd commentry one-dimen sionl declrtive for purposes in his lter, more verse. investigtive His rejection more ssertive tone his own is erly, poetry clerly fctor in his personl selection poems to be included in Selected Poems edition 1955. Of forty-odd poems Blood for Strnger, only ten were included, most those hd eir been revised structurlly or were similr in strtegy tone to lter poems. Perhps best poem from tht first volume, "Children Selecting Books in Librry," is most instructive ll in indicting motives effects revisions. A quick comprison first stnzs originl revised versions will show wht Jrrell ws bout: The little chirs tbles by wll Bright with bests wepons book Are properties bent vrying heds Slip pst unseeingly: ir looks re tricked our By fondness ir grce into world Our innocence is ccustomed to find fortunte. Our gret lives find littie blnched with dew; Their cries re those crickets, dense with wrmth. We wept so? How well we ll forget! One tste memory (like Ffnir's blood) 5 Rll Jrrell, The Third Book Criticism (New York, 1969), p. 155. 115 Criticism
Mkes ll ir lnguge sensible, one's ers Burn with child's peculir gift for pin.6 With bests gods, bove, wll is bright. The child's hed, bent to book-colored shelves, Is slow sidelong food-gring, Moving in blind... grce Yet from murl, Cre, The grey-eyed one, fishing morning mist, Seizes bby hero by hir And whispers, in tongue gods children, Words doom s ecumenicl s dwn But blnched, like dwn, with dew. The children's cries Are to men cries crickets, dense with wrmth?but dip finger into Ffnir, tste it, And ll ir words re plin s chnce pin.7 The second version not only hs greter complexity ese rhythm imgery but lso trnsforms comprtively stiff personl ddress originl into more lyricl, direct observtion chrcters who re involved in process rr thn serving s mere "illustrtions" for series declrtive, generl remrks. The first line revision is more syntcticlly complex mnges to convey most rw informtion first two lines originl. This movement towrd more complex condensed phrsing syntx is perhps most consistent chrcteristic stylistic development in ll poetry. As in se lines, use syntcticl puses inverted phrses becme fvorite device, for y llowed syntcticl rhythms tht were sonorous while remining converstionl in tone. In words Denis Donoghue, Jrrell hd specil understing " reltion between silence speech, flow feeling between m," could do "wonderful things with full stop, colon, mrk."8 question But even more importnt for our purposes is brupt chnge in mode ddress, for it is sure technicl clue to motives behind mture style. The speker in originl, who seems to control so insistently "men ings" his nrrtion, withdrws to greter distnce in revised version refuses to generlize bout scene until it hs worked itself out. The imgery likewise moves towrd greter specificity drmtic utonomy. The generl ctegory "bent vrying heds" becomes "The child's hed... / Moving in blind grce." The rr stuffy commenttor disppers, "wordly wisdom" he supplied is expressed by nor "chrcter" involved in drm, by fntstic figure "Cre," who belongs to scene itself does not 6 Rll Jrrell, Blood for Strnger (New York, 1942), p. 15. 7 Rll Selected Poems Jrrell, (New York, 1955), p. 97. 8 Rll Jrrell / 1914-1965, p. 55. 116
intrude upon it with extrneous generliztions. In short, Jrrell trnsforms mere "exmple" into self-relized drmticlly intct scene. The chnge prtilly relieves uthor his s n responsibilities omniscient interpreter, stnce Jrrell finds prticulrly uncomfortble. The worst exmples such wkwrd commentry "public" imgery occur in following lines explin ir totl deletion from revised poem: re They not lerning nswers but method: To give up ir own dilemms for gret Mze Of The World?to turn in ll ir gold For bnk-notes one un wiring Stte. Such mjor revisions throughout poem show key technicl effects lter revolt ginst reltively complcent morlizer who ten nr rtes Auden's much own. erly poetry The use ever-incresing persone drmtic scenes in wr poems middle period doption drmtic-monologue strtegy lmost exclusively in his most mture poetry seem direct consequence ttitudes ims behind extensive revision "Children Selecting Books in Librry." Although Jrrell never overtly defined se ims in or philosophicl criticl terms, we hve cler evidence consistent intense motives behind his revisions chrcter istic strtegy he develops in his lter poetry. His "spekers" become prticipnts in concrete, drmtic situtions?s wounded fighter tired pilots, housewives, or ging government employees? Jrrell speks for m if he speks t ll. Incresingly he expresses generl mes through specific persone or con circumstnces which ten fusing, "unexplinble" entrp m. The ponderous "explntions" in erly lines, like "Our gret lives find little blnched with dew," re strenuously voided, re chnged less declrtive through pproch to specific subject mtter. chnnels his Jrrell generl mes into intricte symbolic syntcticl pt terns tht express ir "own" menings through interction chrcters key phrses, producing less didctic but more subtle complex expressions emotionl mes tht re mselves ten vgue, intricte, prdoxicl. The more successful wr poems, like "Eighth Air Force," where morlizing speker is inevitbly drwn into his own judgment soldiers who re both chil dren murderers t sme time, re those where distinct, ten bizrre scenes World Wr II its prticipnts re llowed to sort out pr doxicl, bsurd menings ir own ctions mchintions. The combtnts, s unique representtives humn kind, re usully rel subjects such poems re lwys shown to be both victimizers victims with equl cogency. A wide reding work begins to revel recurrent ttitude behind diverse events scenes, sense tht explntion itself, s pt, logicl generliztion bout wht humn life "mens," is gretest bsurdity ll. The motives behind own movement wy from didctic voice re 117 Criticism
best explined by constnt undercutting ( ten downright prodies) didctic, positivist pproch to experience in lter poems mselves. In his best criticism, prise poets like Whitmn W. C. Willims for courgeously presenting world humn experience with ll its contrdictions bsurdities intct helps us underst his own ttitude. Ultimtely his poetry seems designed to present specific exmples "humn condition," not in generl, bstrct terms, but through direct, ten consciously colloquil description individul lives. finl development cn personl style best be understood s n ttempt to find n pproch which best llows such presenttions. In one his finest essys, "Some Lines from Whitmn," Jrrell lmost certinly speks for his own poetics s well: There is in him lmost everything in world, so tht one responds to him, or willingly unwillingly, lmost s one does to world, tht world which seems both evil beyond ny rejection wonderful beyond ny c ceptnce. We cnnot help seeing tht re is something bsurd bout ny judgment we mke its whole?for re is no "point view" t which we cn st to mke judgment, morl ctegories tht men most to ns seem no more to pply to its whole thn our sptil temporl or cusl ctegories seem to pply to its beginning or end.9 voidnce bsolutes or "ctegoricl judgments" in few comments on his own poetry his frequent dismissl m s useless within poems mselves is surely relted to such criticl prise sme ttitudes in work or poets. Although I hve only been ble to give most cursory ttention to development mture style, it is cler even from briefest exmintion tht strtegies relted to drmtic monologue so widely effectively used in finl collections, The Seven-Legue Crutches (1951), The Womn t Wshington Zoo (1960), The Lost World (1965), re designed to permit most direct, concrete presenttion lives" s re in modern world "things y reby sponsor recogni tion humn predicment. The ltter cn only be "judged" by sum its prts, chrcters scenes finl volumes prticulr compose "gllery" unique instnces which defy logicl summtion. I would now like to turn to one finest exmples se lter poems, n interior entitled "Seele im monologue Rum," for it lso expresses, perhps more thn overtly ny or poem, essentil emotionl motivtion qusi mysticl "beliefs" responsible for its own form. Like so mny better lte poems, it describes confused concrete sense person's yet personl being its pprent fte in hostile culture environment. Yet, unlike most her "fellows," protgonist "Seele im Rum" mnges to previl rr thn submit to " world's one wy" defining public relity. Thus her tle becomes one few instnces humn existence encourging mong or more despondent portryls personl filure like "A Girl in Librry," "The Fce," "Next And in those wreness Dy." expressing feelings personl 9 Poetry Age, p. 114. 118
being which llow her to escpe common fte, speker becomes espe cilly useful to us. She becomes one few effective "spokesmen" for n ttitude consistently fostered in poetry ir true "rison d'etre." In short, "Seele im Rum" enuncites vision idel humn con completed sciousness. If re is unifying element in ll his poetry, it is emotionl for this wreness life sense ple tht it must be comprehensive pro tected encourged ( especilly by poetry itself) with specil cre in hrsh, mechnistic impersonl, ge. "Seele im Rum" begins with typicl, domestic dinner scene. Yet setting is lso "like drem" since plce is set for mysterious visitor who is mterilly invisible yet seen: It st between my husb my children. A ws set for it? plce plte greens. It hd been re: I hd seen it But not somehow?but this ws like drem Not seen it so tht I knew I sw it. It ws s if I could not know I sw it. Becuse I hd never once in ll my life Not seen it. It ws n el.10 The hlting, contorted syntx is, s I hve noted, chrcteristic lter verse. It is designed to function drmticlly s well s structurlly usully denotes sense in despertion helplessness who to speker ttempts explin wy bsurdities his own ctions Yet experiences. here confusion is less desperte, for speker wishes to describe fmilir yet fntstic vision. She shows ll pprehension people who fer ir listeners will think m insne. Yet her "vision" is not tht schizophrenic, for she "sees" doesn't see prt her own being precisely becuse it is so fmilir to her. She chrcterizes it s n "el," prt her erliest consciousness self, "feels" its presence t her tble without undue lrm. Her "el" seems strnge, not becuse it is unfmilir, but becuse it is n el. As in "Children Selecting Books in Librry," Jrrell presents rr thn defines his concept "Seele" exotic creture n ctive by mking prticipnt in scene. The womn reclls, "Mny times / when it bred hevily (when it hd tried / A long useless time to spek") she "touched it" found el " different size / And order being." And this is relly niml's function s concrete in imge poem. It represents subliminl directly wreness humn life tht is both orgnic mysticl; incpble logicl rticultion, it simply "bres." In his introductory notes for Selected Poems Jrrell explined tht title, "Seele im Rum," is tken from "one Rilke's poems; 'Soul in Spce' sounded so glib tht I couldn't use it insted."11 Yet it is 10 Selected Poems, p. 27. 11 Ibid., p. x. 119 Criticism
cler tht Jrrell is ttempting to present with specil conclusiveness his own sense tht spiritul entity in this poem, el serves s its drmtic representtive. A prdox, it embodies both n expnsion reduction humn consciousness. In context poem it serves s "domesticted in crntion," mysticl yet inntely personl, rr thn s trditionlly fersome mnifesttion deity. Its condition invokes sympthy rr thn reverence. Its exotic nture is lso intentionl. In sme introductory notes Jrrell suggests his resons for choosing niml: An el is lrgest sort Africn ntelope? mles re s s big horse, you ten see people gzing t m, t zoo, in unesy wonder. Its "wondrous" identity is importnt, for, like or such fbulous chrcters in poems, its physicl form expresses strnge yet concrete nture "or self" it embodies. persone, like "die lte Mrschllin" in "The Fce" nrrtor "A Ghost, Rel Ghost," ten see in ir mirrors imge nor being, comprble to mysterious "Doppelg?nger" Germn M?rchen, who incorportes "writhlike" elements humn existence from which y feel estrnged. For Jrrell such ppritions embody personl senses self most evident in child's imgintion clerly opertive in drems, myths, imgintive literture. As such, y re no less "rel" s expressions humn relity thn more empiricl, objective descriptions. Such in "beings" pper not s mere devices but s literl poems poetic represent tives more deeper, irrtionl levels humn consciousness. Mrs. Mry Jrrell reclls tht "Rll (so it seemed to me) hd n ffinity for wht he thought s his Or: tht One he sw in ponds photogrphs mirrors."12 So for Jrrell, children's "tles re full sorcerers ogres / Becuse ir lives re." In this sense, womn's fntsy is "childlike," but in view this mrks her s fortunte. She hs not lost her exceptionlly "soul," her sense complete mysticl being, like most "dults" poetry. The drmtic conflict "Seele im Rum" does not spring from womn's own doubts but from necessry reltionships with " ors," with her fmily, who mke jokes bout her setting plce for best, "my whole city," which, "fter some... cme yers / And took it from me?it ws ill, y told me." The person "Seele im Rum," like mor in "Second Air Force," "Womn t Wshington Zoo," or Jrrell himself in "Thinking Lost World," wrestles with disprity between reson public privte vision, essentil conflict responsible for intensely symptic tone ir dvoccy in most poetry is overtly delt with in her internl debte. After loss her el womn's tone becomes elegic, in reminder poem she ttempts to generlize bout its "mening." In so doing she not wht el "ws" such re expresses precisely, (gin, generliztions voided in lte poetry), but wht it ment to her, her rumintions ssume qulity personl credo. I2 Rll Jrrell / 1914-1965, p. 279. 120
use repeted subjunctive in following pssge reinforces conditionl, uncertin tone estblished in lredy syntx, for womn struggles with bsurdity her "fith": It is s if someone remembered sying: "This is n ntimcssr tht I grew from seed," And this were true. And, truly, One could not wish for nything more For nything more. And yet it wsn't?it ws worse thn impossible, it ws strnge? interesting joke.... And yet when it ws, I ws? Even to think tht I once thought Tht I could see it is to feel swet Like needles t my hir-roots, I m blind?it ws not even joke, not even joke. The issue remins unresolved, s such issues must in but poetry, womn's remrks indicte belief strength, even more importnt, imgintion which hold world's rtionlity derision t rm's length. orgniztion first sentence in second group helps show this, for lst prepositionl phrse quite suddenly sserts generl ttitude bout vlue "strnge" best which remins unshkble. The womn's tencity in defending her privte vision becomes min subject this poem certifies her sttus s one heroines. She defends form subjective mysticism, for mrtyr she worships is neir "holy" in conventionl sense, nor public, but destroyed prt her own psyche. Her fith is com pletely privte presumes nothing beyond itself; it is simply both n indiction fulfillment personl needs. The womn's imgintive memory, which llows her to feel el's presence t slightest suggestion, sves her from dull, lonely "relity" less open responsive persone in poems. It would lso seem t this tht she comes s ner s one cn to point expressing own feelings. A prose pssge describing his fvorite elements John Crowe Rnsom's poetry lso illumintes in remrkble detil purposes "Seele im Rum": His poems re full n ffection tht cnnot help itself for n innocence tht cnnot help itself?for stupid trvellers lost in mze world, for clever trvellers lost in mze world. The poems re not public rgument but personl knowledge, personl feeling; ir virtues re virtues.13 "merely" privte In such context, womn's "blind" persistence in defending her "merely 13 Third Book Criticism, p. 313. 121 Criticism
privte" terribly frgile vision is both courgeous rllying point for defenceless." Her "honestly very dmission confusion is personl sign her specil enlightenment. In following pssge she sttes her cse in terms tht sum up own fundmentl ttitudes s well s one could hope: Yet how cn I believe it? Or believe tht I Owned it, husb, children? Is my voice voice Of tht skin being? wht owns, is owned In honor or dishonor, tht is borne bers? Or tht rw thing, being inside it Tht hs neir wife, husb, nor child But goes t lst s nked from this world As it ws born into it? And el comes grzes on its grve. This is senseless? Shll I mke sense or shll I tell truth? Choose eir?i cnnot do both. The key lterntives self-definition re stted here, "norml," fctul, socil self is seen s "tht skin being," mteril shell for "tht rw thing, being inside it." The former is finite, visible, esily ctegorized by referring to its orgnic prcticl ctivities in time, wheres ltter is unffected by temporl relm, is "nked" "rw thing," untouched by bstrct dulisms humn society its impersonl "definitions." its ex Inspired by womn mple, puts very ultimtum to Jrrellin reder, for she dis between sense" tinguishes "mking (in norml, rtionl, empiricl terms) "truth." re They judged mutully exclusive, she, like child or mystic, must del in fntstic beings to prdoxes explin wht is most importnt to her. Her wreness two levels existence comprehensive opposed keeps her, like most enlightened persone, in stte constnt indecision. Yet conclusion "Seele im Rum" shows how well integrtion her "el self" hs helped her both judge live with her life, tht is rel purpose succor such wreness in poetry. She lso understs folly didcticism even egotism, when defending existence personl "Demon," tht too mkes her "tle" one most in tone optimistic mong poems one surest indictions motives behind his own distrust declrtive mode. She concludes, not with logicl pro, but with n enthusistic, "childlike" cry fith: I tell myself tht. And yet it is not so, And wht I sy fterwrds will not be so: To be t ll is to be wrong. Being is being old 122
And sying, lmost comfortbly, cross tble From? from wht I don't know in voice Rich with kind longing stisfction: "To own n el! Tht's wht I cll life!" Wht sits, or st, t her tble remins beyond identifiction, yet her wreness "owning" it llows her to be old "lmost comfortbly." One does not encounter word "stisfction" very ten in poetry unless it is used ironiclly, but here tmosphere womn's voice re "rich" with it. It is ple for this specil wreness personl being which lies behind most poetry; his mture technique is designed to present "plusible" scenes chrcters in which eir its presence or, more ten, its loss is shown to hve specific existentil consequences. The desperte tone this underlying ple promotes in mny poems, long with its vgue emotionl outlines refusl to give it conclusive oreticl or estic definition, is wht seems to nnoy critics who consider pproch eir too unvried or effusively sentimentl. Yet, s Dunn notes in recent on Dougls essy Jrrell, "When poets re ccused sentimentlity it is sometimes n indiction tht feeling in ir poems hs been misunderstood."14 Such objections re bsed more on tste thn on direct nlysis or technique estic reliztion emotionl yet definite intentions. own ims in his poetry seem remrkbly constnt, s we hve seen in ceseless development personl style over twenty-five-yer period, in terms its own gols, "Seele im Rum" works extremely well. Its drmtic strtegy integrtes fntstic figure el norml, domestic setting so well in womn's mind tht seem y to ber out her finl judgment exist in precrious but nturl union. One must eir judge "Seele im Rum" s chrming confession genuine neurotic or see it s remrkbly comprehensive explntion self by one who hs lerned to strddle its two worlds refuses to in simultneously. Jrrell chrcteristiclly step decide for reder; in fct poem's technique is designed to mke such n intrusion pper rtificil unnecessry. Like so mny lte poems, "Seele im Rum" is intended s prble, ssessments speker's "cse" must mselves be subjective. Of course, by dopting person whose sense "fcts" dily life is consistently strong who undercuts ny chrge generl insnity with her thoughtful, understted, self-nlyticl mode ddress, Jrrell slnts rgument in his protgonist's fvor. The rel intention poem, in both its form content, is direct involvement reder in dilemm he my recognize s his own, in this it succeeds dmirbly. In ny cse, it is cler tht Jrrell is ten more interested in emotionl impct his poems thn in ir forml rtistry, tht this plces him t odds 14 Dougls Dunn, "An Affble (October, 1972), p. 43. Misery: On Rll Jrrell," Encounter, xxxix, No. 4 123 Criticism
with much prctice recent yers. His incresing use drmtic monologue strightforwrd, descriptive imgery in his lst yers seems nturl outgrowth this dem for recognizble, ccessible "portrits" modern life in Americ. His developed style is clerly intended s mens to n end, "Seele im Rum" suggests with specil clrity philosophicl source this shift in emphsis from "objective technique" generl ssertion towrd more subjective, impressionistic explortions "privte lives" per sonl experiences. The concrete experience is primry; its estic rticultion is evluted by its bility to trnsmit physicl emotionl outlines "single life" s directly comprehensively s possible. In developing style cpble expressing such ttitudes in poems m selves, Jrrell drew on wide vriety sources he felt shred his intense con cern for non-rtionl, intuitive sttes wreness. His poetry criticism re filled with references to Freudin psychology, Americn Trnscendentlism ( "pplied" Whitmnin school), Germn M?rchen, Proust's nlysis memory in Remembrnce Things Pst, to cite only few exmples. extensive llusions to such diverse wide-rnging sources, ir despite single mindedness re new purpose, more phenomenon suggest bout cross-culturl eclecticism wide-open, explosion "subjective" poetic conventions systems lst three decdes thn y do bout "purer," more codified ories Imgists or Surrelists. But becuse emo tionl description idel humn wreness dems inclusive vision ll mysticl systems feeds on unchecked prdox observtion, it is ex tremely difficult to define with ny or precision selectivity. I hve seized upon Rll "el" simply becuse it is distinct mnifesttion this t titude with temerity to express it literlly in precise lnguge. "el self," s soul or source cnnot being, be relted to Christin conception tht entity, for Judeo-Christin soul is involved in its own liner, temporl progress towrd some finite moment redemption is subject to ll kinds morl existentil ctegories judgments. As Jr rell's tells "A Girl in speker Librry," "The soul hs no... ssignments / it wstes its time."15 Its functions vlue for ech individul must be rec rr thn ognized understood; s womn in "Seele im Rum" she explins, hd "Not seen it so tht I knew I sw it." These re some resons I hve identified "Soul in s Spce" essentilly mysticl in conception; it de fines s stte intuitive wreness rr enlightenment comprehensive thn s complex orgniztion logicl empiricl hyposes. In fct, ltter re impediments to direct unified recognition true self. Ner end "Seele im Rum," cn speker only suggest nture her el by defining wht it "is not." In so doing she employs process "negtive definition" found in writings mny mystics when y describe chr cter God or soul. In like mnner, own refusl to provide 15 Selected Poems, p. 4. 124
oreticl definition for his estic or philosophicl intentions should not be judged s irresponsible or self-indulgent, but s necessry extension ttitudes expressed in poems mselves. Attempts to objectively define rr thn simply present "beliefs" behind such feelings re lwys self-defeting, like speker's ttempt to define wht he seeks in "A Sick Child": "If I cn think it, it isn't wht I wnt."16 But in "Bmberg," short poem written yer his deth, Jrrell unchrcteristiclly employs simple religious imgery to suggest depth his belief in unifying "powers concentrtion": You'd be surprised how much, The Lst Judgment, The powers concentrtion Of blest dmned Are improved, so tht Both smile exctly like At remembering so well All y ment to remember To tell God.1? t As "representtive," el mocks world's logicl dichotomies (visible invisible, mteril spiritul, life deth) by dopting both lterntives it on its own simultneously tunelessly; "grzes It ex grve." presses insistently emotionl, nti-logicl view humn life round which poetry must be unified. The vried interests sources which influenced his own prctice, his intense interest in Freud nture drems, his d mirtion for Rilke's surrelistic imgery, his insistence on deling with con temporry Americn scenes in Americn idioms, ll relte to subliminl nture yet concrete personl relevnce "stte mind" his poetry is designed to encourge. His poems re instructionl without being prescriptive or undercutting for responsibility personl recognition one's own condition. His tone is ten desperte pinfully shrp becuse he feels modern culture besets his en lightened persone on ll sides, insisting on lobotomy consciousness frgmented, unfocused perceptions. The world defines "rel knowledge" only s ccumultion objective, impersonl dt?"divides itself into fcts," c to cording positivist Stn18? dems tht one "mke sense." Yet, s person "Seele im Rum" knows, such is knowledge fundmentlly useless in helping her live her life. It is, in fct, destructive to soul, to emotionl, imgintive sense being tht is her birthright. In poem clled "The Lost World," one lst works, he mkes cler his own feelings bout world's wisdom with imges similr to those "Seele im Rum": 16 Ibid., p. 43. IV Rll Jrrell, The Complete Poems (New York, 1969), p. 490. 18 IM., p. 31. 125 Criticism
In my Tlk with world, in which it tells me wht I know And I tell it, "I know?"how strnge tht I Know nothing, yet it tells me wht I know!? I pprecite nimls, who st by Purring. Or else sit pnt. It's so? So greeble.19 And in n essy from Poetry Age Jrrell provides n effective description those embttled beings he wishes his poetry might encourge protect: Children re plying in vcnt lots, nimls re plying in forest. Everything tht mchine t center could not ttrct or trnsform it hs forced out into suburbs, country, wilderness, pst: out re re tles firy nursery chnces rhymes, choices, drems sentiments intrinsic estic goods?everything tht doesn't py doesn't cre.20 Agin, ultimte "utility" Jrrell strives for in his verse is kin to tht prble or spiritul exercise. The poems his lte period, products endless technicl experimenttion revision, re intended s "ct psychic lysts," ir direct, ten highly emotionl pproches to ir subject mt ter re prt ir design. We, course, re still fced with ongoing controversy bout m, yet it seems tht critics must t lest del with those elements his work y find excessive s integrl components n overll method. It seems too esy to rect to ny consistently strong emotion in modern poetry s mere lck rtistic control, this is certinly not cse in prctice. Sister Bernett Quinn, in discussing lst book, The Lost World, suggests rel source debte over poetry: There is gret tenderness here, with to willingness present emotion without pology, unique mong poets tody.21 Perhps, ironiclly, Jrrell simply worked his design too well. We must be con tent, like so mny his persone, to tke sides. Yet it is hoped tht both dvoctes his detrctors will t lest know wht y re fighting bout. In yet nor his criticl essys Jrrell probbly described best criteri for those who would judge his own poetry: To hve distnce from most wful most nerly unberble prts poems to most tender, subtle, loving prts, distnce so gret; to hve this whole rnge being treted with so much humor sdness composure, with such plin truth; to see tht mn cn still include, connect, mke understble so much?this is one humnly freshest oldest joys.22 19 Ibid., p. 287. 20 Poetry Age, p. 99. 21 Rll Jrrell / 1914-1965, p. 147. 22 Third Book Criticism, p. 302. 126