Baudelaire, Sex, Death and banned Poems

Portrait de Charles Baudelaire
 en 1844 par Émile Deroy 

I don't recall reading the French poet Charles Baudelaire in my college days. He is most famous for his collection of prose poems, Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil). I think I would remember poems about sex and death. When the book was published in 1857 it made Baudelaire famous. 

There were 126 poems. Six are about lesbianism. The poems linked sexuality, love and death, and touched on lesbian love and some of the seamier side of Paris. One 1857 reviewer wrote: “Never has one seen so many breasts bitten or even chewed in so few pages.” 

The entire book was considered obscene enough that Baudelaire, his printer, and his publisher were put on trial. The six poems were banned from future printings of the book and banned in France. Baudelaire responded, “Give them only carefully selected garbage.” The judgment of obscenity was finally reversed in 1949 and the poems were restored. T.S. Eliot called Baudelaire “the greatest exemplar in modern poetry in any language” 

One of the banned poems is "À Celle qui est trop gaie" (To One Who Is Too Gay) which though it is in the old sense of gay meaning happy, seems like a curious coincidence to a modern ear. 

...To whip your joyous flesh
And bruise your pardoned breast,
To make in your astonished flank
A wide and gaping wound,

And, intoxicating sweetness!
Through those new lips,
More bright, more beautiful,
To infuse my venom, my sister!
   (translated by William Aggeler)

Baudelaire barely made a living wage writing. Besides his poetry, he did art reviews and articles and translated Edgar Allan Poe’s works into French. He became addicted to laudanum, then opium. He became quite ill, moved in with his mother, and the last two years of Baudelaire’s life were spent in semi-paralysis in an aphasic state. He died in 1867 at the age of 46. Most of his poetry was published after his death and sold well.

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

from Poets Online Blog https://ift.tt/tQgwzsU

Hello Laura. Farewell Writer's Almanac

I was saddened to learn that Garrison Keillor will be ending The Writer's Almanac program this spring. I have listened to that daily program since it began in 1993 - first as a radio program and later as a podcast. I was fortunate to have several of my poems featured on the show. Each day, you got a poem read aloud in his good radio voice with some almanac-style notes on things about the day, mostly about writers.

Today, for example, you learn about poor Petrarch and his unrequited love for his sonnet muse, Laura.

"It was on this day in 1327 that Italian poet Petrarch first set eyes on “Laura,” the ethereal woman he would use as his muse for more than 300 sonnets. He met Laura on a Good Friday at St. Clare Church in Avignon. Some historians think she was a woman named Laura de Noves, a married woman, and mother, and most agree she never responded to Petrarch’s overtures. She died during the Black Death of 1348. The first 263 poems Petrarch wrote for her are known as the Rime in Vita Laura. After she died the remaining poems were known as Rime in Morte Laura. Petrarch’s works for Laura laid the groundwork for the sonnets of the Elizabethan era. Shakespeare would not be Shakespeare without Petrarch."

About his unconsummated love for Laura, Petrarch wrote:

“In my younger days, I struggled constantly with an overwhelming but pure love affair — my only one, and I would have struggled with it longer had not premature death, bitter but salutary for me, extinguished the cooling flames. I certainly wish I could say that I have always been entirely free from desires of the flesh, but I would be lying if I did.”

Apparently, the Almanac just wasn't paying its way and Garrison Keillor is leaving radio in favor of writing. He has a full shelf of books written already and lots of audio collections. Many of those concern his fictional town, Lake Woebegone, and come from his long-running radio program A Prairie Home Companion. 

How many radio shows became major motion pictures? PHC did - directed by Robert Altman with Keillor, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan, Virginia Madsen, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Meryl Streep, and Lily Tomlin. Wow!

He still writes frequent columns, and newsletters and has a new audiobook, Serenity at 70, Gaiety at 80, coming out, (here is a preview) so he hasn't given up on reading aloud to us.

The show's ending leaves a poetry gap that I hope someone else fills.

More about Petrarch and his poetry

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

from Poets Online Blog https://ift.tt/sm5YXAq

Prompt: Bed Sonnets

When I saw Carol Ann Duffy's poem "Anne Hathaway," I confess that my first thought was that it was about the actress with that name. No, it is about William Shakespeare's wife, or more specifically about the bed he left her in his will.
He gave his wife, Anne Hathaway, his second-best bed. On the surface, that seems like an insult. Beds and other pieces of household furniture were often the sole bequest to a wife because the common practice was for the best things to go to the children and the second-best to the wife. (see Anne's bed)

Duffy's poem is a sonnet written by Anne to her husband, the man known for his sonnets. It is about that second-best bed. It seems very appropriate to use a sonnet form for this topic and having Anne write the poem is a nice turn.

It's not a formal sonnet, though it has 14 lines and a closing heroic couplet. We have called for sonnets twice before. Once for sonnets in one of the sonnet forms (2013) and earlier we asked for sonnets that were less adherent to the forms but that focused on a specific topic (1999). You might look at those earlier issues for information about the sonnet forms and examples.

This month the call is for sonnets concerning beds. That is one piece of furniture that suggests many things - sleep, dreams, sex, escape, laziness...

Our minimal sonnet requirements are 14 lines and a concluding couplet. You may go for a full rhyme scheme, one of the sonnet forms, the 8 lines with a turn to the concluding 6, or any allusions to sonnets. 

Deadline: April 30, 2022

  

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

from Poets Online Blog https://ift.tt/n8j6DVE

National Poetry Month 2022

National Poetry Month began in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets as a reminder that poets have an integral role to play in our culture, and that poetry matters. 

It has become the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K–12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, families, and—of course—poets, marking poetry's important place in our lives. 

There are activities, initiatives, and resources so that anyone can join the celebration. For example, order a free 2022 National Poetry Month poster (shown above) and find online poetry readings and events on their Poetry Near You calendar.

See all the possibilities at  poets.org/national-poetry-month

---

The 2022 poster was designed by eleventh grader Lara L. from Saunders Trades and Technical High School in Yonkers, New York, who was the winner of the 2022 National Poetry Month Poster Contest, and features a line by 2021 Presidential Inaugural Poet and 2017 National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman.

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

from Poets Online Blog https://ift.tt/yg7FWU1

Is the Artist's Way the Poet's Way?

One book on creativity that has been a regular best-selling title for three decades is The Artist's Way.

The author, Julia Cameron, is an active artist and now the author of more than thirty books of fiction and nonfiction. But she is certainly best known for her books on the creative process, especially The Artist's Way, which started her in a different creative direction herself.

It has sold more than 4 million copies since its publication in 1992. Cameron was in the prior decades part of the "New Journalism" at the Washington Post and Rolling Stone. She was briefly married to Martin Scorsese, with whom she has a daughter, Domenica, but she was not a celebrity.

The book is an eclectic blend of affirmations, inspirational quotes, fill-in-the-blank lists and creative "tasks" for prompts. Cameron is a believer that everyone has creativity in them. This egalitarian view of creativity no doubt is part of the book's appeal.

Today, many of her techniques and suggestions probably seem less original because they have been adopted and adapted by other people and groups. 

Cameron has herself gone beyond the original book with additional publications and has offered 12-week creativity courses which are outlined in the book. The two main goals of the book and program are to break through artistic blocks and foster confidence in your abilities.

The title's "artist" suggests visual art but her examples come from different artists and authors. I wonder how many poets have read the book and found the techniques useful in their writing. If you are someone who has used Cameron's book in your writing life, post a comment below.

"The Artist's Way Starter Kit" is Cameron's two most commonly used tools: The Artist's Way and The Artist's Way Morning Pages Journal. You can do your own twelve-week program, though having a group for support would probably make the work more meaningful. I always found that writing in a group improved my writing, if only because I wanted to please the member with my work.

Certainly, the journaling is well-suited to the writer. Cameron says she has shelves full of Morning Pages journals because it is not that once to do the 12 weeks you are done.

When I first encountered The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity a few years after it was was published, I was attracted to the word "spiritual." I always suspected that there was a strong spiritual element in my creative life but I had not explored it in any formal way. But my "spiritual" is not religious while Cameron does make a connection between artistic creativity and a spiritual connection with God. When I used her book with a group of writers, several people didn't like that element of her process.

Julia Cameron keeps going and now has an online course and artists' community led by her at www.juliacameronlive.com 

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

from Poets Online Blog https://ift.tt/YXhac3m

How to Write a Poem?

I got an email from Grammarly (the online proofreading app) with a link to a post on their blog titled "How to Write a Poem: A Step-by-Step Guide" and - though I immediately question that title - I had to look.

What does it tell us?

Poems don’t have to rhyme;
They don’t have to fit any specific format;
They don’t have to use any specific vocabulary or be about any specific topic.
It’s okay to break grammatical rules when doing so helps you express yourself.

Okay, that sounds freeing and it sounds quite basic, but is there anything that they are required to do?

Use words artistically by employing figurative language. (Easier said than done.)
The form is as important as the function. (Easier said than to be explained.)
Show. Don’t tell. (Basic elementary school writing class advice.)
The goal is to provoke an emotion in the reader.
Less can be more. (More can also be more.)

I am being tough on this advice. That's because after having taught writing of all types including poetry for some decades I would not want to have to write  on "How to Write a Poem."

As with other kinds of literature, poets use literary devices. So in the "how to" class, you need to learn about figurative language. You need to learn about the elements that are more unique to poetry, such as sound, rhythm, rhyme, and the many formats that poems can take. As the blog post pointed out, "The first three of these are apparent when you hear poetry read aloud. The last is most obvious when you read poetry."

What is most useful in the blog post is some sample poems used to illustrate a literary device or form. I think the best way to teach how to write a poem is to read many kinds of poems and then start writing.  

"Often, poets use literary devices in conjunction with other poetic elements. One famous example of a poem that layers multiple literary devices is the very short poem by Margaret Atwood “[you fit into me].”

you fit into me
like a hook into an eye

a fish hook
an open eye

In the first stanza, Atwood uses a simile, a type of figurative language, to create an initially pleasant image: a hook and eye closure, a small metal hook that neatly fits into an appropriately sized metal loop to fasten clothing. Then the second stanza juxtaposes this with a jarring image: a fish hook plunged into an eyeball. These images together, formatted as two stark sections separated by a break, express the poem’s uncomfortable, visceral theme." 

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

from Poets Online Blog https://ift.tt/dLKwPZY

Prompt: Lessons

When the psychiatrist gives you the word association test, what comes to mind when she says "lesson"? School is probably considered a normal answer since we get so many lessons in classrooms. There are certainly many formal lessons in life in school, but we spend more time outside of school, so the number of lessons there is certainly much greater.

I found in a search a surprising number of poems about lessons. I found a "Dancing Lesson," "History Lessons," and a "Driving Lesson." 

For this month's prompt, we offer as a model "Lessons from a Mirror" by Thylias Moss ( from Wannabe Hoochie Mama Gallery of Realities’ Red Dress Code: New & Selected Poems)

Snow White was nude at her wedding, she’s so white
the gown seemed to disappear when she put it on.

Put me beside her and the proximity is good
for a study of chiaroscuro, not much else...

When you look at me,
know that more than white is missing.

Moss' lesson is learned by looking at herself - perhaps literally in a mirror. Some lessons have a teacher. Some lessons are presented and learned; some lessons are presented and not learned. As someone who taught for four decades, I know the latter to be very true.

For our next issue, we are looking for poems about a variety of lessons - formal, informal, in school, in life, learned, and ignored.

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

---

Visit our website at poetsonline.org

---

from Poets Online Blog https://ift.tt/YQspaGH