Genre Studies- Unit- III Confessional Poetry

 Confessional Poetry

            Confessional Poetry is the poetry of the personal (or) “I”. This style of writing emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s and is associated with poets such as Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton. Lowell’s “Life studies”, was a highly personal account of his life and familial ties and had a significant impact on American poetry. Plath and Sexton were both students of  Lowell and noted that his work influenced their own writing.

            The Confessional Poetry of the mid 2oth Century dealt with subject matter that previously had not been openly discussed in American poetry. Private experiences and feelings about death, trauma, depression, and relationships were addressed in this type of poetry, often in an autobiographical manner. Sexton, in particular, was interested in the psychological aspects of poetry, having started writing at the suggestion of her therapist.

            The Confessional Poets were not merely recording their emotions on paper; craft and construction were extremely important to their work. While their treatment of the poetic self may have been ground breaking and shocking to some readers, these poets maintained a high level of craftsmanship through their  careful attention and use of prosody.

            One of the most well-known poems by a confessional poet is “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath. Addressed to her father, the poem contains references to the Holocaust but uses a sing-song rhythm that echoes the nursery rhymes of childhood.

“Daddy, I have had to kill you.

You died before I had time-

Marble-heavy, a bag full of God,

Ghostly statue with one gray toe

Big as a Frisco seal.”

            The Confessional Poets of the 1950’s and 1960’s pioneered a type of writing that forever changed the landscape of American poetry. The tradition of Confessional poetry has been a major influenced on generations of writers and continues on this day.

Confessional Poets and Works

·         Robert Lowell’s “Life Studies”

·         Sylvia Plath’s “Colossus”, “Ariel”

·         Anne Sexton “ Live or Die”

·         D. Snodgrass “Heart’s Needle”

·         John Berryman “The Dream Song”