Wakoski and Her Connections to Confessional and Deep Image Poetry
Diane Wakoski situates herself within the context of many great contemporary poets and movements. Particularly, she has roots in confessional, deep image, and beat poetry. These genres present themselves in many of her works and understanding these certainly provides more insight into her poetry. The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems certainly draws upon many of these ideas, along with emerging as quite unique in style. This collection of poetry provides as inside look at many of her thoughts and feelings, along with using quite detailed images in order to convey meaning.
Wakoski’s poetry is highly personal and often draws upon individual emotion and thought, making it very confessional. In an article analyzing the origins and intents of this type of writing, Charles Molesworth emphasizes that confessional poetry “arose from the experience of the fifties in America, when the country first used its mass media to probe and lament the lack of cultural continuity” (Molesworth 163). It then “flourished in the early and mid-sixties” and attempted to portray emotion in a personal, stylized way. (Molesworth 175). Confessionalist poets essentially experimented with the “psychologizing of a society adrift from purpose” (Molesworth 175). These poets attempted to bring meaning to a culture essentially a bit lost, and stressed the importance of individual thought and feeling, arguing its value.
Some of Wakoski’s poems are in the form of letters, certainly adding to their confessional nature. While the separation of writer and narrator is often necessary, particularly when analyzing poetry, it is quite easy to see the two entities emerge as the same person in her poems, and in most confessional poetry. In “Letters to Shep,” she writes that “this is a letter [she] can never send” and laments that the man of the letters “could not carry [her],” which causes her to live a “lonely / life” (Wakoski 43,44). She expresses her deep, personal thoughts, which almost seem as if they are not meant to be read. Confessional poetry often demonstrates the struggle between the need to “tell "all" and yet to whisper to a band of initiates in their special psychological codes,” claims Molesworth (176). While Wakoski essentially presents her personal thoughts for the world to read, she does so in a subtle, secretive manner. Furthermore, “irony, concealment, and defensiveness” are often present in confessional poetry (Molesworth 169). These ideas particularly appear in “I Lay Next to You all Night, Trying to Awake and Understand the Watering Places of the Moon,” when she seems to sarcastically defend herself. She pleads, “Forgive me/ for my restlessness / and my expectations” and asks the implied man of the poem to forgive her for expecting him to love her (Wakoski 64). These lines are riddled with sarcasm, and an undertone of anger, particularly popular in confessional poetry. In these types of poems “the language itself provide(s) their salvation” and counteracts the idea of self-destructions” (Molesworth 166). “The Moon Has a Complicated Geography” is also one of her more confessional poems. In addition to using a personal anecdote about almost getting hit by a car, she continues to use the first person narrative, writing her internal, psychological thoughts. She writes, “I cannot talk to strangers, / and I have no friends; / I sleep with the light on” (Wakoski 56). This is highly confessional as she admits the most embarrassing, personal parts of herself. Confessional poetry is essentially poetry of the “interior life,” and she demonstrates this extensively (Molesworth 177). Wakowski places herself with other confessional poets such as Robert Lowell and Anne Sexton. Furthermore, there are many parallels between Wakowski and Syliva Plath, who both express deep emotion through their poems. Particularly, they share the use of edge, moon imagery, and a questioning of male authority.
Wakowski is also a part of the small, yet influential group of poets known as the deep image poets. This movement relied on concrete images to create tone and meaning. Galway Kinnell and James Wright are often associated with this idea, along with Wakoski. Deep imagist poetry demonstrates a “withdrawal from society into the more deeply mythic recesses of the Self,” writes Harold Fromm in an article about contemporary poetry (235). In this type of poetry, there are some common reappearances, like those of “images of bone, blood, water, and stone” (Fromm 236). These ideas are prevalent in her work and water and blood imagery are both present in “Anticipation of Sharks.” She writes, “stay / away from blood,” and that the night is “deep water” (Wakosi 41). Deep imagery is an “attempt to cure the discontent … of civilization” by allowing for specific, detailed images to provide meaning (Fromm 236). Wakowski writes that she is a “pink dress / thrown against the back / of the chair” in “The Pink Dress” (Wakoski 160). Images are meant to solidify meaning within the poem. For the image of the dress in particular, the emphasis is on desertion and despair of an outwardly attractive woman, perfectly summed up in the metaphor of the rejected dress. In other poems she uses concrete images such as a “butterfly / in a jar,” a “purple mountain,” a “tiger in a desert,” and “birds / trying to get away” (Wakoski 47, 48). While these images are beautifully written, they are quite easy to understand, particularly in the context of the poems. The images provide for specific meaning, a main characteristic of deep image poetry.
The Beat Movement and Wakoski
Paul Varner wrote a book called The Beat Movement, in which he mentioned Wakoski multiple times. He talked about a trend known as “The East Side Scene” which took place in the lower east side of New York City. A similar trend was occurring in San Francisco around the same time and it was basically poetry readings and “organized coffeehouse readings.” Varner claims that many young poets, Wakoski included were “at the heart of the scene” (Varner). Wakoski’s Motorcycle Betrayal Poems would definitely be labeled part of beat literature because of how different her writing was compared to many women. The front cover of the book reads, “This book is dedicated to all those men who betrayed me at one time or another, in hopes they will fall off their motorcycles and break their necks.” Her poems have elements of comparison between men and motorcycle and showing men’s worth based on their mustache. She is definitely a woman who does not care how much she criticizes men.
In an interview with Wakoski and Gary Corseri, he mentioned that although [Wakoski] was not a major author in the beat generation, she is considered one of the “pillars” of the beat movement along with many other beat poets. Wakoski claims that this new trend in poetry made her feel like she could write about whatever she pleased, that “I felt I was no longer minimalized; no longer did I have to pretend I was living in the world of Oedipus, King Arthur, Athena, or any other mythic or legendary figure. I could invent Diane as a persona—there was no stigma to writing in the first person” (Waksoki). By this, she meant that she didn’t feel like poetry restrained her from writing what she really wanted to write about and that’s what the Beat generation was all about, rejection of what was expected. She could put herself in the writing instead of creating a character, she said that this new trend gave the poets the ability to become “self-heroes/heroines of their own poems” (Wakoski). And that’s exactly what she did, she wrote an entire collection on herself and the men, or motorcycles, which betrayed her.
Diane Wakoski situates herself within the context of many great contemporary poets and movements. Particularly, she has roots in confessional, deep image, and beat poetry. These genres present themselves in many of her works and understanding these certainly provides more insight into her poetry. The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems certainly draws upon many of these ideas, along with emerging as quite unique in style. This collection of poetry provides as inside look at many of her thoughts and feelings, along with using quite detailed images in order to convey meaning.
Wakoski’s poetry is highly personal and often draws upon individual emotion and thought, making it very confessional. In an article analyzing the origins and intents of this type of writing, Charles Molesworth emphasizes that confessional poetry “arose from the experience of the fifties in America, when the country first used its mass media to probe and lament the lack of cultural continuity” (Molesworth 163). It then “flourished in the early and mid-sixties” and attempted to portray emotion in a personal, stylized way. (Molesworth 175). Confessionalist poets essentially experimented with the “psychologizing of a society adrift from purpose” (Molesworth 175). These poets attempted to bring meaning to a culture essentially a bit lost, and stressed the importance of individual thought and feeling, arguing its value.
Some of Wakoski’s poems are in the form of letters, certainly adding to their confessional nature. While the separation of writer and narrator is often necessary, particularly when analyzing poetry, it is quite easy to see the two entities emerge as the same person in her poems, and in most confessional poetry. In “Letters to Shep,” she writes that “this is a letter [she] can never send” and laments that the man of the letters “could not carry [her],” which causes her to live a “lonely / life” (Wakoski 43,44). She expresses her deep, personal thoughts, which almost seem as if they are not meant to be read. Confessional poetry often demonstrates the struggle between the need to “tell "all" and yet to whisper to a band of initiates in their special psychological codes,” claims Molesworth (176). While Wakoski essentially presents her personal thoughts for the world to read, she does so in a subtle, secretive manner. Furthermore, “irony, concealment, and defensiveness” are often present in confessional poetry (Molesworth 169). These ideas particularly appear in “I Lay Next to You all Night, Trying to Awake and Understand the Watering Places of the Moon,” when she seems to sarcastically defend herself. She pleads, “Forgive me/ for my restlessness / and my expectations” and asks the implied man of the poem to forgive her for expecting him to love her (Wakoski 64). These lines are riddled with sarcasm, and an undertone of anger, particularly popular in confessional poetry. In these types of poems “the language itself provide(s) their salvation” and counteracts the idea of self-destructions” (Molesworth 166). “The Moon Has a Complicated Geography” is also one of her more confessional poems. In addition to using a personal anecdote about almost getting hit by a car, she continues to use the first person narrative, writing her internal, psychological thoughts. She writes, “I cannot talk to strangers, / and I have no friends; / I sleep with the light on” (Wakoski 56). This is highly confessional as she admits the most embarrassing, personal parts of herself. Confessional poetry is essentially poetry of the “interior life,” and she demonstrates this extensively (Molesworth 177). Wakowski places herself with other confessional poets such as Robert Lowell and Anne Sexton. Furthermore, there are many parallels between Wakowski and Syliva Plath, who both express deep emotion through their poems. Particularly, they share the use of edge, moon imagery, and a questioning of male authority.
Wakowski is also a part of the small, yet influential group of poets known as the deep image poets. This movement relied on concrete images to create tone and meaning. Galway Kinnell and James Wright are often associated with this idea, along with Wakoski. Deep imagist poetry demonstrates a “withdrawal from society into the more deeply mythic recesses of the Self,” writes Harold Fromm in an article about contemporary poetry (235). In this type of poetry, there are some common reappearances, like those of “images of bone, blood, water, and stone” (Fromm 236). These ideas are prevalent in her work and water and blood imagery are both present in “Anticipation of Sharks.” She writes, “stay / away from blood,” and that the night is “deep water” (Wakosi 41). Deep imagery is an “attempt to cure the discontent … of civilization” by allowing for specific, detailed images to provide meaning (Fromm 236). Wakowski writes that she is a “pink dress / thrown against the back / of the chair” in “The Pink Dress” (Wakoski 160). Images are meant to solidify meaning within the poem. For the image of the dress in particular, the emphasis is on desertion and despair of an outwardly attractive woman, perfectly summed up in the metaphor of the rejected dress. In other poems she uses concrete images such as a “butterfly / in a jar,” a “purple mountain,” a “tiger in a desert,” and “birds / trying to get away” (Wakoski 47, 48). While these images are beautifully written, they are quite easy to understand, particularly in the context of the poems. The images provide for specific meaning, a main characteristic of deep image poetry.
The Beat Movement and Wakoski
Paul Varner wrote a book called The Beat Movement, in which he mentioned Wakoski multiple times. He talked about a trend known as “The East Side Scene” which took place in the lower east side of New York City. A similar trend was occurring in San Francisco around the same time and it was basically poetry readings and “organized coffeehouse readings.” Varner claims that many young poets, Wakoski included were “at the heart of the scene” (Varner). Wakoski’s Motorcycle Betrayal Poems would definitely be labeled part of beat literature because of how different her writing was compared to many women. The front cover of the book reads, “This book is dedicated to all those men who betrayed me at one time or another, in hopes they will fall off their motorcycles and break their necks.” Her poems have elements of comparison between men and motorcycle and showing men’s worth based on their mustache. She is definitely a woman who does not care how much she criticizes men.
In an interview with Wakoski and Gary Corseri, he mentioned that although [Wakoski] was not a major author in the beat generation, she is considered one of the “pillars” of the beat movement along with many other beat poets. Wakoski claims that this new trend in poetry made her feel like she could write about whatever she pleased, that “I felt I was no longer minimalized; no longer did I have to pretend I was living in the world of Oedipus, King Arthur, Athena, or any other mythic or legendary figure. I could invent Diane as a persona—there was no stigma to writing in the first person” (Waksoki). By this, she meant that she didn’t feel like poetry restrained her from writing what she really wanted to write about and that’s what the Beat generation was all about, rejection of what was expected. She could put herself in the writing instead of creating a character, she said that this new trend gave the poets the ability to become “self-heroes/heroines of their own poems” (Wakoski). And that’s exactly what she did, she wrote an entire collection on herself and the men, or motorcycles, which betrayed her.