Of all forms of literature poetry is probably most popularly perceived as being above politics. But consider some of the Best Loved Poems of the American People (Felleman 1936): "Paul Revere's Ride" (Longfellow), "The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England" (Hemans), "Concord Hymn" (Emerson), "My Madonna" (Service), "The Indian Hunter (Cook). The most lyrical of nature poems become political in the context of environmental exploitation and pollution; the sweetest love poems become political in the context of gender power imabalances, heterosexism, and homophobia.
Yet each of the above could be read in terms of universal themes: patriotism, heroism, historical memory, cultural myths, good and evil, natural beauty, human love and attraction.
But what of a self-consciously political poet, such as Audre Lorde, whose identity as African-American, female, and lesbian was a dominant theme? How can she speak with the voice of a black woman and reach the ear of a white male? Can she be valued for her lesbian eroticism and at the same time for her universality?
The Black Unicorn
The black unicorn is greedy.
The black unicorn is impatient.
'The black unicorn was mistaken for a shadow or symbol
and taken
through a cold country where mist painted mockeries
of my fury.It is not on her lap where the horn rests
but deep in her moonpit
growing.
The black unicorn is restless
the black unicorn is unrelenting
the black unicorn is not
free.
It's clearly an expression of black female, perhaps also lesbian, identity, but surely a white male can appreciate greed, impatience, misunderstanding, mockery, anger, restlessness, determination, oppression, perhaps even gender inversion.
And how does a straight reader relate to lesbian eroticism? Gay or straight, male or female, black or white, I dare you to read her most erotic lesbian poems and not find an expression of the universal eroticism of earth and moon, flesh and fire, mountain and forest, animal heat...
On A Night of The Full Moon
I
Out of my flesh that hungers
and my mouth that knows
comes the shape I am seeking
for reason.The curve of your waiting body
fits my waiting hand
your breasts warm as sunlight
your lips quick as young birds
between your thighs the sweet
sharp taste of limes
Thus I hold you
frank in my heart's eye
in my skin's knowing
as my fingers conceive your warmth
I feel your stomach
move against mine
Before the moon wanes again
we shall come together.
II
And I would be the moon
spoken over your beckoning flesh
breaking against reservations
beaching thought
my hands at your high tide
over and under inside you
and the passing of hungers
attended forgotten
Darkly risen
the moon speaks my eyes judging your roundness
delightful.
In regards to the first poem, I would argue with your use of `certainly'. It wouldn't occur to me that this was an expression of black female identity, without it having been pointed out to me. As a white male who grew up reading a lot of fantasy, I bring to this poem a `black unicorn'. Unicorns are supposed to be white and pure; black unicorns are pure but a sign of corruption, a symbol of the distress of the land.
ReplyDeleteIn fantasy books, then, a black unicorn signals a book concerned with `a curse upon the land' that has to be resolved. Note that the unicorn itself is never cursed--unicorns are pure.
Also, I'm bad at reading poetry--it took me awhile to realized that `mist' was a subject, not an adjective. I initially read it as:
`mist-painted mockeries of my fury'
which was confusing.
As for the second--there's nothing there that indicates the sexual orientation of the speaker, save that the speaker desires women. An expression of a straight man or a lesbian woman? Could be both.
Finally, one of the difficulties I have in reading poetry (and prose, too) is the use of symbols. How universal are symbols? or, how private are they? A `black unicorn' could mean a lot of things, depending on the reader's previous experiences. And so, sometimes in reading poetry, a set of symbols are used by the poety that I interpret using my references rather than the poets. And then the poem makes no sense, because my references, applied to these symbols, render the poem incoherent to me.
I think what I said was "clearly," but, you're right, Bill. After all my years of teachihg poetry, I should know better than to use a word like that about any interpretation. My readings are (relatively) "clear" to me in the context of my knowledge of the author and the body of her work. There is a whole critical debate about whether literary interpretations should be based on the author's context or the reader's.
ReplyDeleteAs for the universality of symbols, both readers and writers have private symbols, but we also have shared cultural symbols that authors use either deliberately or unconsciously. Universal symbols would have to be based on universal human experience: light, dark, hot, cold, water, earth, air, fire, breath, etc. Is the association of "black" with "evil" racist? or is it a reflection of a universal fear of the dark?