The topic of loss and separation in poetry

Hanno Frey

mar 2003 · GRIN Verlag

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Seminar paper from the year 2000 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Hamburg (FB Anglistik), course: Seminar II, language: English, abstract: As the title suggests, this term paper deals with the topic of loss and separation in poetry. The texts which have been chosen as relevant material are the poems “THE BREAK AWAY ” by Anne Sexton, “SHE IS AWAY” by Kenneth Rexroth and “RIVER ROAD” by Stanley Kunitz1. These three poems center around the same problem but they differ not only in the perspective of the lyrical I2 but also in certain stylistic devices. It is the aim of this term paper to point some of these differences out and to describe the concept of loss and separation, i.e.: how loss and separation are perceived in each case by the lyrical I. In this context it should be mentioned that not all relevant elements of each poem can be taken into consideration- doing so would go beyond the scope of this term paper3. Consequently, the main idea is to present some basic ideas. In some cases it will be necessary to look at certain parts of a poem in great detail. There will also be some autobiographical references to the lives of the authors – mainly to Anne Sexton and Kenneth Rexroth as only very few material has been available about Stanley Kunitz. In doing so the reader must be aware of the fact that the poems do surely not present totally autobiographical experiences- nevertheless it seems to be quite impossible to strictly keep these out of them.