Abstract
Poetry is a supremely sensory art, both in the imagining and in the writing. What happens when the poet faces illness? How is the poetry affected by alterations of the body and mind? This paper examines the poetry of several writers afflicted by physical illness—poets of great renown and poets who might be classified as “emerging voices,” in order to explore the interplay between creativity and corporeal vulnerability.
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Notes
J. Milton, The Poetical Works of John Milton: Volume 2: Paradise lost ... Paradise regained. Samson Agonistes, ed. D Masson (New York: Macmillan and Co., 1890), 400–401. Digital reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=2jQPAAAAMAAJ&dq=milton+paradise+lost+volume+9&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Ibid, 228–229.
J. Milton, The Poetical Works of John Milton: Volume 30 from Volumes 28–30 of Aldine edition of the British poets (London: Bell and Daldy, 1866), 212. Digital reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=eOwTAAAAIAAJ&dq=milton+%22on+his+blindness%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s
JL. Borges, Dreamtigers. (Austin: U of Texas Press, 1964), 89.
JL. Borges, Twenty-Four Conversations with Borges: Interviews by Roberto Alifano 1981–1983. Ed. R Alifano (New York: Grove/Atlantic, 1984), 25 (poem, 140).
JL. Borges, “On His Blindness,” Poetry Magazine, 164, (1994), 71.
J. Kenyon, Collected Poems. (St. Paul: Graywolf Press, 2005). Poems reprinted with permission of the estate of Jane Kenyon.
Ibid, 286.
Ibid, 301.
Ibid, 271.
Ibid, 231–236.
P. West, Tea with Osiris. (St. Paul: Lumen Books, 2006). Poems reprinted with permission.
Ibid, 59.
Ibid, 27.
Ibid, 87.
JS. Sidney, Body of Diminishing Motion. (Fort Lee: CavanKerry Press, 2004). Poem reprinted with permission.
Ibid, 62.
A. Lemon, Mosquito. (Portland: Tin House Books, 2006). Poems reprinted with permission.
Ibid, 7–8.
Ibid, 6.
References
Borges, JL. Dreamtigers. (Austin: U of Texas Press, 1964): 89.
Borges, JL. “On His Blindness,” Poetry Magazine, 164, (1994): 71.
Borges, JL. Twenty-Four Conversations with Borges: Interviews by Roberto Alifano 1981–1983, ed. R Alifano (New York: Grove/Atlantic, 1984): 25 (poem, 140).
Kenyon, J. Collected Poems. (St. Paul: Graywolf Press, 2005).
Lemon, A. Mosquito. (Portland: Tin House Books, 2006).
Milton, J. The Poetical Works of John Milton: Volume 2: Paradise lost ... Paradise regained. Samson Agonistes, ed. D Masson (New York: Macmillan and Co., 1890): 400–401. Digital reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=2jQPAAAAMAAJ&dq=milton+paradise+lost+volume+9&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Milton, J. The Poetical Works of John Milton: Volume 30 from Volumes 28–30 of Aldine edition of the British poets (London: Bell and Daldy, 1866): 212. Digital reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=eOwTAAAAIAAJ&dq=milton+%22on+his+blindness%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Sidney, JS. Body of Diminishing Motion. (Fort Lee: CavanKerry Press, 2004).
West, P. Tea with Osiris. (St. Paul: Lumen Books, 2006).
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Ofri, D. The Debilitated Muse: Poetry in the Face of Illness. J Med Humanit 31, 303–317 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10912-010-9121-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10912-010-9121-5