Sincerity's shadow : self-consciousness in British romantic and mid-twentieth-century American poetry PDF
Preview Sincerity's shadow : self-consciousness in British romantic and mid-twentieth-century American poetry
Sincerity’s Shadow S I N C E R I T Y ’ S S H A D O W Self-Consciousness in British Romantic and Mid-Twentieth-Century American Poetry DEBORAH FORBES HarvardUniversityPress Cambridge,Massachusetts,andLondon,England 2004 Copyright©2004bythePresidentandFellowsofHarvardCollege Allrightsreserved PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Forbes,Deborah. Sincerity’sshadow : self-consciousnessinBritishRomantic andmid-twentieth-centuryAmericanpoetry / DeborahForbes. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex. ISBN0-674-01188-0(alk.paper) 1.Englishpoetry—19thcentury—Historyandcriticism. 2.Self-consciousnessinliterature. 3.Americanpoetry—20thcentury—Historyandcriticism. 4.Postmodernism(Literature)—UnitedStates. 5.Romanticism—GreatBritain. 6.Sincerityinliterature. 7.Selfinliterature. I.Title. PR585.S44F67 2004 821(cid:1).709353—dc22 2003056671 DesignedbyGwenNefskyFrankfeldt For my parents, Janet and Stephen Forbes Acknowledgments Writing is fundamentally an act of communication, and its coming into beingdependsasmuchuponthepresenceofimaginedandactualreaders as on the writer. I owe an incalculable debt of gratitude to the readers whohavehelpedshepherdthisbookintoexistence.HelenVendlerurged me to pay closer attention to the shape each poem makes on the page. Thepatienceanddetailofhercriticisms,thecounter-pressureofherper- spectives,andthegenerosityofherencouragementhavebeenindispens- abletothisproject’sevolution.BarbaraJohnsonraisedcrucialquestions, encouraged me to take as few as possible terms and assumptions for granted,andpressedmythinkingfurtherthanitcouldhavegonewithout her.IbenefitedgreatlyfromJamesEngell’sthoughtfulguidance;thecare and clear-sightedness of his observations have often helped me see my wayoutofatangleofideas. Special thanks must go to the members of Harvard’s Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century British Literature Colloquium, particularly to Ann Rowland for providing advice at key moments, and to James Von der HeydtandKathleenPetersonforintellectualandotherformsofnourish- ment.IamalsogratefultothethreeoutsidereadersforHarvardUniver- sity Press, whose criticisms allowed me to see my arguments anew, and whose advice made important contributions to the final shape of this book. And I thank Margaretta Fulton for her kindness and patience in guidingmethroughtheprocessofmanuscriptpreparation,andMaryEl- lenGeerforhercarefulattentiontoeverypage. I gratefully acknowledge the Packard Foundation, which provided a fellowship that permitted me to focus exclusively on this project from June2000toJuly2001. VIII ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am also grateful to the following publishers: the selection from “Edge” in the volume Ariel by Sylvia Plath, copyright © 1963 by Ted Hughes,isreprintedbypermissionofHarperCollinsPublishersInc.;Dream Song #76 from The Dream Songs by John Berryman, copyright © 1969 byJohnBerryman,copyrightrenewed1997byKateDonahueBerryman, isreprintedbypermissionofFarrar,StrausandGiroux,LLC. Finally, I must offer two, more personal thank-yous: to my husband, MarkLorey,forallthathislovemakespossibleinmyworkandlife,and to my parents, Janet and Stephen Forbes, to whom this volume is dedi- cated. Contents Introduction 1 1 ThePersonalUniversal SincerityasIntegrityinthePoetryofWordsworthandRich 14 2 BeforeandAfter SincerityasForminthePoetryofWordsworth,Lowell, Rich,andPlath 47 3 SincerityandtheStagedConfession TheMonologuesofBrowning,Eliot,Berryman,andPlath 82 4 TheDramaofBreakdownandtheBreakdownofDrama TheCharismaticPoetryofByronandSexton 116 5 AgnosticSincerity ThePoetasObserverintheWorkofKeats,Bishop,andMerrill 151 Conclusion 190 Notes 197 Index 241
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