9.23.14

I've been writing a lot of thank-you notes recently, and it made me think of poems that are also notes. The first one that comes to mind is This is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams:

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

I love this poem, not just because it is visually beautiful, but because there is a little guilt along with the speaker's gratification, and they are thinking of another when writing this note. Writing thank you notes and letters (do any of you maintain written correspondence?) is done with the other in mind, even as we tell them about ourselves. As always, Wiki tells us about the Epistolary poem, originating in the Homeric era, and popular to this day. It had a heyday in the 18th century as the postal system flourished and a new class of literate people wanted to express themselves.

Epistle means letter in Latin, which I love. (Etymology is so exciting). As usual, poets.org has great examples of epistolary works, and a great breakdown. I was interested in their assertion that the form has usually been associated with women; female writers and subjects. Something I liked from the article concerning the voice of the epistle; "The appeal of epistolary poems is in their freedom. The audience can be internal or external. The poet may be speaking to an unnamed recipient or to the world at large, to bodiless entities or abstract concepts".

This piece from the Poetry Foundation is also a good resource, and made me feel a little better in my guessing of subjects to choose. I thought I remembered Dickinson as a poet who wrote in this style, but wasn't quite sure, and indeed they spend a good segment talking about her work's influence coming from and contributing to her letter-writing. Interestingly, this piece has exercises built in for the learning writer. I scoffed at them initially, but after a moment's though, I think I may give some of them a try. It also had good examples to examine, here's one from 17th century poet Lady Mary Chudleigh:

To the Ladies

Wife and servant are the same,

But only differ in the name:

For when that fatal knot is tied,

Which nothing, nothing can divide:

When she the word obey has said,

And man by law supreme has made,

Then all that’s kind is laid aside,

And nothing left but state and pride:

Fierce as an Eastern prince he grows,

And all his innate rigour shows:

Then but to look, to laugh, or speak,

Will the nuptial contract break.

Like mutes she signs alone must make,

And never any freedom take:

But still be governed by a nod,

And fear her husband as a God:

Him still must serve, him still obey,

And nothing act, and nothing say,

But what her haughty lord thinks fit,

Who with the power, has all the wit.

Then shun, oh! shun that wretched state,

And all the fawning flatt’rers hate:

Value your selves, and men despise,

You must be proud, if you’ll be wise.







This seems to me less of a letter and more of a cultural dictum, grown-up nursery rhyme, or proverb. Obviously a product of its time, the structure is very rigid, and much more formal than our first example (it would be hard to be more relaxed than This is just to Say, so that is not remarkable). In it I can imagine an older woman laying out her knowledge for a younger counterpart, part informative, part cautionary. There were other works I liked better, but some of them were very long. For some reason I am averse to posting something really long. Also, apologies for the formatting here. When I copy and paste poems, sometimes it messes up the formatting. (I don't relish re-typing everything, as I would definitely fail to catch all my errors)