...so Leo Tolstoy didn't write any poems (at least none that I can find). What a bummer.
Onto plan B then, which is just as intriguing: Virginia Woolf. I am ashamed to say that I often confuse Woolf and Plath, perhaps because they were both working towards the same goal of female independence and both unfortunately committed suicide after suffering from depression. However, Plath died aged 30, whereas Woolf lived until the age of 59. Woolf was born in the 29th Century in England, Plath the 20th in the USA. Both great women whose linguistic power will never fade from literary memory, whether it's Woolf's novels or Plath's poems. They have both shed so much light on female representation and we must be forever grateful to them.
A little more focused background to Virginia Woolf: she had seven siblings/half-siblings because her parents had both been widowed prior to their marriage. The family lived in one large house in Kensington. her father was an author and a mountaineer, her mother a model for painters and a nurse.
The girls of the household were educated at home and utilised their Victorian library. Here at home she wrote a household newspaper, noting the family's goings-on. Sadly, this was also the place where, at the age of six, Woolf was sexually abused by her two half-brothers. To make matters worse, her mother died aged 49 in this period. Two years later, her half-sister also died, leading to a breakdown.
However, being the scholarly pioneer that she was, she still learnt languages at King's College London in the female department, meeting many radical feminists. Then her father suddenly passed away, causing Woolf to be taken to a mental rehabilitation centre, which sounds much fancier than it is.
During this time, her siblings had bought a house in the Bloomsbury area, meaning the family became a part of the Bloomsbury group of intellectuals and artists. Here, Woolf met her husband and the two loved each other throughout the remaining years of her life.
Virginia Woolf's death was what she chose it to be. She was afraid of her mental state and so decided to drown herself by putting stones in her coat pocket to weigh her down in a river. I won't say it's sad because she had the right to choose what she did with her life, as we all should do.
This is the only poem I have found under her name. Maybe it was not her work, maybe it was. Either way it links in so well with her death that I felt compelled to comment upon it.
The first line captures her mental state at the point of considering death. She cannot 'see' anything, whether that is the love her husband as for her or the fate of her own future or even any more reason to go on. The stanza break provides literal emptiness on the page to mimic this statement, making the reader feel how empty the narrator is.
The first person plural address that comes next in 'we may sink' could be seen as Woolf's split in body and mind; her body will sink and so will her spirit and the voices in her head, meaning that her 'ears' will be free to listen to the natural and real world. The tone therefore becomes schizophrenic almost. 'Settle' denotes peace and her final rest after the trauma of her life. She no longer wants to struggle and has already done so much for the female battle that now she wants to become one with nature.
I do not know for sure what the 'white petals' symbolise. it might be mimicking the passing of innocence as white darkens as if blemished. It might mean that the parts of herself that she found beautiful will no longer be. Maybe even the petals symbolise the memory people will have of her once she has gone, thus 'sink' implies that no one will remember her after initial grief. Whether she wanted to fade from memory or not, she needn't have considered it an option.
As with many other poets I study, my next step will be to read her novels as well.
On a different note, maybe I should do a Christmas poem next week?! Exciting!
Onto plan B then, which is just as intriguing: Virginia Woolf. I am ashamed to say that I often confuse Woolf and Plath, perhaps because they were both working towards the same goal of female independence and both unfortunately committed suicide after suffering from depression. However, Plath died aged 30, whereas Woolf lived until the age of 59. Woolf was born in the 29th Century in England, Plath the 20th in the USA. Both great women whose linguistic power will never fade from literary memory, whether it's Woolf's novels or Plath's poems. They have both shed so much light on female representation and we must be forever grateful to them.
A little more focused background to Virginia Woolf: she had seven siblings/half-siblings because her parents had both been widowed prior to their marriage. The family lived in one large house in Kensington. her father was an author and a mountaineer, her mother a model for painters and a nurse.
The girls of the household were educated at home and utilised their Victorian library. Here at home she wrote a household newspaper, noting the family's goings-on. Sadly, this was also the place where, at the age of six, Woolf was sexually abused by her two half-brothers. To make matters worse, her mother died aged 49 in this period. Two years later, her half-sister also died, leading to a breakdown.
However, being the scholarly pioneer that she was, she still learnt languages at King's College London in the female department, meeting many radical feminists. Then her father suddenly passed away, causing Woolf to be taken to a mental rehabilitation centre, which sounds much fancier than it is.
During this time, her siblings had bought a house in the Bloomsbury area, meaning the family became a part of the Bloomsbury group of intellectuals and artists. Here, Woolf met her husband and the two loved each other throughout the remaining years of her life.
Virginia Woolf's death was what she chose it to be. She was afraid of her mental state and so decided to drown herself by putting stones in her coat pocket to weigh her down in a river. I won't say it's sad because she had the right to choose what she did with her life, as we all should do.
This is the only poem I have found under her name. Maybe it was not her work, maybe it was. Either way it links in so well with her death that I felt compelled to comment upon it.
The first person plural address that comes next in 'we may sink' could be seen as Woolf's split in body and mind; her body will sink and so will her spirit and the voices in her head, meaning that her 'ears' will be free to listen to the natural and real world. The tone therefore becomes schizophrenic almost. 'Settle' denotes peace and her final rest after the trauma of her life. She no longer wants to struggle and has already done so much for the female battle that now she wants to become one with nature.
I do not know for sure what the 'white petals' symbolise. it might be mimicking the passing of innocence as white darkens as if blemished. It might mean that the parts of herself that she found beautiful will no longer be. Maybe even the petals symbolise the memory people will have of her once she has gone, thus 'sink' implies that no one will remember her after initial grief. Whether she wanted to fade from memory or not, she needn't have considered it an option.
As with many other poets I study, my next step will be to read her novels as well.
On a different note, maybe I should do a Christmas poem next week?! Exciting!
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