Postmodern Poetry - Confessional Poets Essay -- essays research papers

postmodernistist Poetry - Confessional Poets      With World War II fin aloney over and a chapter in history written, the next chapter is about to begin. The twentieth century brings with it a new literary movement called postmodern, where song is "breaking from modernism" and taking on a unanimous new style Within postmodern poetry emerge confessional poets whom remove the mask that has masked poetry from former generations and their writings become autobiographical in nature detailing their lifes most intense personal experiences, therefore becoming the focus of their work.      Considered to be the "mainstream of postmodern poetry" confessional poetry did non hit its peak until the late twentieth century. Confessional poetry is in direct contrast to the poetry of William Butler Yeats. Yeats poetry, amatory in nature, depended on symbols and images to convey his themes. Confessional poetry is very direct and conveys the informal most feelings of the post modern poets. The twentieth century brought forth some confessional and post confessional poets who appeared to be embarking on unmarked territory. Confessional poets Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Theodore Roehtke and post confessional poet Adreinne Rich all dealt with taboo subjects. Their life held an intensity of personal experience that became the focus of their work. Confessional poetry does not simply touch upon emotion. Confessional poetry allows emotion or looks at emotion through an examining eye rather to drive poetrys, permeating from each one poem with an air of necessity, the necessity of conveying and aiming to understand emotion through confession.      Postmodern poet, Robert Lowells poetry really captures the true essence of confessional poetry by sharing his own raw emotions with the reader. The mask that once was placed upon the trance of the symbolist, Eliot and Pound, Lowell removes. The speaker of his poems is unequivocally himself. Lowell does not spare himself in his poetry. In his poem "Man and Wife" he deals directly with his own marriage. The reader gets howling(a) glimpses into his marital life. He begins "Tamed by Miltown, we lie on mothers bed." And later tells how "All night I have held your hand,/ as if you had/ a fourth part time faced the kingdom of the mad-/ its hackney... ...bspThe thing itself and not the myth.Diving fat into the sexual most recesses of her self, exploring the wreck of her own life, Rich feels compelled to map the geographics of her self. Rich declares in a forward to her poems "with the failure of patriarchal government" and "to be a woman at this time"     is to know unusual forms of     anger, joy, and impatience, love and hope. Poetry,     words on paper, are necessary but not enough      we need to touch the living who s hare our     determination that the snug myths underlying     the human condition can and shall be changed.Richs work is personal, intimate and confessional.Confessional and post confessional poets clearly chose to write about subjects that were taboo. That took their private lives and deep inner thoughts and made them public. Confessional poets took the baton from the moderns such as Yeats and Eliot and took poetry to another whole level. They opened up their heart, mind and feelings to a society that was able to relate.