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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
I love Sharon Olds, but the poems in this series seemed each to be a regurgitation of the same bitter sentiment.
Painful. There was honesty and a maturity I would never have achieved. If that was reality, then Olds is a much better woman than I. I kept waiting for the unraveling. It was not there, or at least not shared. Nothing wrong with either of those, after all, it's about the poetry not the narrative reality that wrote them.
The lines "...when I say, Is this about/ her, and he says, No, it's about/ you, we do not speak of her" broke my heart. There were other, prettier and wittier, turns of phrase in this collection - all deserving admiration, but that tiny bit was what brought me as the reader to attention.
The lines "...when I say, Is this about/ her, and he says, No, it's about/ you, we do not speak of her" broke my heart. There were other, prettier and wittier, turns of phrase in this collection - all deserving admiration, but that tiny bit was what brought me as the reader to attention.
"and I saw, again, how blessed my life has been,
first, to have been able to love,
then, to have the parting now behind me,
and not to have lost him when the kids were young,
and the kids now not at all to have lost him,
and not to have lost him when he loved me, and not to have
lost someone who could have loved me for life."
"When they say, If there are any doctors abroad,
would they make themselves known, I remember when my then
husband would rise, and I would get to be
the one he rose from beside. They say now
that it does not work, unless you are equal.
And after those first thirty years,
I was not the one he wanted to rise from
or return to -- not I but she who would also
rise, when such were needed. Now I see them,
lifting, side by side, on wide,
medical, wading-bird wings -- like storks with the
doctor bags of like-loves-like
dangling from their beaks. Oh well. It was the way
it was, he did not feel happy when words
were called for, and I stood."
first, to have been able to love,
then, to have the parting now behind me,
and not to have lost him when the kids were young,
and the kids now not at all to have lost him,
and not to have lost him when he loved me, and not to have
lost someone who could have loved me for life."
"When they say, If there are any doctors abroad,
would they make themselves known, I remember when my then
husband would rise, and I would get to be
the one he rose from beside. They say now
that it does not work, unless you are equal.
And after those first thirty years,
I was not the one he wanted to rise from
or return to -- not I but she who would also
rise, when such were needed. Now I see them,
lifting, side by side, on wide,
medical, wading-bird wings -- like storks with the
doctor bags of like-loves-like
dangling from their beaks. Oh well. It was the way
it was, he did not feel happy when words
were called for, and I stood."
I read these greedily, in sequence. They are deep renditions about the end of a marriage. They are ruminations about love and the meaning of love and rethinking love after it ends, all the while respecting the love that was.
I must read these more slowly. There are many words I do not know. Highly literate, beautiful, and moving poetry.
I must read these more slowly. There are many words I do not know. Highly literate, beautiful, and moving poetry.
These poems are at once brave, insightful, funny, apologetic, angry, and mournful. I love how Olds lays herself and her heartbreak bare here, fully aware of her need to divulge the most intimate details of her marriage. I will be going back to these poems.
"Sauve qui peut - let those who can save themselves save themselves."
"If I pass a mirror, I turn away, I do not want to look at her, and she does not want to be seen. Sometimes I don't see exactly how to go on doing this. Often, when I feel that way, within a few minutes I am crying, remembering his body, or an area of it, his back side often, a part of him just right now to think of, luscious, not too detailed, and his back turned to me. After tears, the chest is less sore, as if some goddess of humanness within us has caressed us with a gush of tenderness. I guess that's how people go on, without knowing how."
Heartbroken.
"If I pass a mirror, I turn away, I do not want to look at her, and she does not want to be seen. Sometimes I don't see exactly how to go on doing this. Often, when I feel that way, within a few minutes I am crying, remembering his body, or an area of it, his back side often, a part of him just right now to think of, luscious, not too detailed, and his back turned to me. After tears, the chest is less sore, as if some goddess of humanness within us has caressed us with a gush of tenderness. I guess that's how people go on, without knowing how."
Heartbroken.
What would it be like to be married to someone who uses both your lives in her writing. What would it be like if when you married the poet, she wasn't a poet at all and then she made her life into poems? I don't know if that was exactly how the story goes for Sharon Olds and her husband, but I can't quite imagine having the world know about your life through your lover's poetry.
Olds has always used her life and those in it as part of her poetry. Charles Bainbridge in The Guardian in 2006 said, "She has always confronted the personal details of her life with remarkable directness and honesty...". So the fact that Olds writes about what happens when her husband leaves her is not a surprise.
If I were Olds' ex-husband, the publication of Stag's Leap would have made me uncomfortable. Olds did not put the collection of poems together until 15 years after the fact, but I am not sure that would have helped me. On top of that, how does it feel to have your ex win major awards for her view of the end of your marriage?
These poems are beautiful. They seem honest and are about love as much (or more) than about anger and hurt. I have not been in Olds' place, but she seems to have defined this period of her life well. Olds is able to show the reader a part of life that all should know about. I read several of these poems over and over, especially "Material Ode", "Bruise Ghazal" and "Poem of Thanks". I don't think I have read many of Olds poems before and I hope to read more.
Recommended to all poetry readers and to those who want to know more about how life affects others through Old's amazing images.
Olds has always used her life and those in it as part of her poetry. Charles Bainbridge in The Guardian in 2006 said, "She has always confronted the personal details of her life with remarkable directness and honesty...". So the fact that Olds writes about what happens when her husband leaves her is not a surprise.
If I were Olds' ex-husband, the publication of Stag's Leap would have made me uncomfortable. Olds did not put the collection of poems together until 15 years after the fact, but I am not sure that would have helped me. On top of that, how does it feel to have your ex win major awards for her view of the end of your marriage?
These poems are beautiful. They seem honest and are about love as much (or more) than about anger and hurt. I have not been in Olds' place, but she seems to have defined this period of her life well. Olds is able to show the reader a part of life that all should know about. I read several of these poems over and over, especially "Material Ode", "Bruise Ghazal" and "Poem of Thanks". I don't think I have read many of Olds poems before and I hope to read more.
Recommended to all poetry readers and to those who want to know more about how life affects others through Old's amazing images.
This poet's talents are tested and true but what a difficult topic she's chosen for this book, the dissolution of her 32-year marriage after her husband finds another woman. It is worth reading but painful and poignant, and an interesting window into one woman's reaction to loss and hurt.
Stag's Leap reminded me of the scene early on in the John Cusack film Say Anything where Cusack's friend Corey sees her ex-boyfriend Joe at a party, and she gets out her guitar and begins playing all of the 65 songs she's written about their break-up. Stag's Leap is 49 poems about the dissolution of Olds's marriage. There are no poems on other topics.
Yet Olds hits on some fine metaphors and images in most of the poems, and the book as a whole isn't as tedious as one might expect from such a prospectus. While the book as a whole feel self-indulgent and wallowing, the individual poems somehow skirt the line between pain and self-pity with much more grace. There is one in particular I like, "Discandied," which can be found here: http://www.threepennyreview.com/samples/olds_sp11.html
Yet Olds hits on some fine metaphors and images in most of the poems, and the book as a whole isn't as tedious as one might expect from such a prospectus. While the book as a whole feel self-indulgent and wallowing, the individual poems somehow skirt the line between pain and self-pity with much more grace. There is one in particular I like, "Discandied," which can be found here: http://www.threepennyreview.com/samples/olds_sp11.html