Gallagher and Plumly: Starting with the Grounds
The writing styles of poets Tess Gallagher and Stanley Plumly can be best described in a category of their own. Both poets first entered the writing scene in the 1970's and continue to publish works today. The 70's were dominated by the Black Mountain, New York, and Language poets. The Black Mountain poets emphasized the experience of writing and the transference of the poet's energy to the reader. The New York poets focused of urban themes and situations, often with a snappy, unusual beat. The Language poets, as the name suggests, focused on the utilization of language and believed that language dictates meaning.
Unlike the poets of these movements, Plumly and Gallagher's poetry places priority on the meaning of the work. Their poetry features ordinary scenarios and personal themes. Language is used as a tool to convey meaning, rather than the reverse. Since Tess Gallagher was raised in Washington in the Ozarks and Stanley Plumly was raised in the green hills of Appalachia, it is needless to say that both poets use nature to symbolize the personal events and people in their lives. Both poets' work is a combination of lyrical and narrative styles, though they use neither wholly.
It would be most accurate to call them Confessional poets, whose poetry is a result of introspect and vulnerability. However, this poetic era occurred in the 50's and 60's and contained topics that were considered taboo. Riding on the heels of this movement, it can be supposed that Stanley and Tess were greatly influenced by Confessional poets like Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and W.D. Snodgrass, though their poetry is not necessarily as groundbreaking. In addition to the Confessional poets, some of Gallagher's earlier poetry can be considered feminist. A woman poet of the 1970s she naturally embraced the push for women's rights that was sweeping the decade.
Unlike the poets of these movements, Plumly and Gallagher's poetry places priority on the meaning of the work. Their poetry features ordinary scenarios and personal themes. Language is used as a tool to convey meaning, rather than the reverse. Since Tess Gallagher was raised in Washington in the Ozarks and Stanley Plumly was raised in the green hills of Appalachia, it is needless to say that both poets use nature to symbolize the personal events and people in their lives. Both poets' work is a combination of lyrical and narrative styles, though they use neither wholly.
It would be most accurate to call them Confessional poets, whose poetry is a result of introspect and vulnerability. However, this poetic era occurred in the 50's and 60's and contained topics that were considered taboo. Riding on the heels of this movement, it can be supposed that Stanley and Tess were greatly influenced by Confessional poets like Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and W.D. Snodgrass, though their poetry is not necessarily as groundbreaking. In addition to the Confessional poets, some of Gallagher's earlier poetry can be considered feminist. A woman poet of the 1970s she naturally embraced the push for women's rights that was sweeping the decade.
To read more about the connection between these poets, and especially Stanley Plumly, visit http://uh2010-erk.weebly.com/
"My feeling is that I don't belong to any group in the way I write. I think that
I'm straddling things in my work, writing this intense, lyrical poem, being able
to continue to write that, but not in the Formalist sense. No rhymes, no fixed
stanzas. Then, working at the other end of the spectrum, to write this quite
wide-ranging, narrative, dramatic, cinematic kind of poem. There are writers, of
course, who also write both kinds of those poems, but I don't know who's doing
it simultaneously."
-Tess Gallagher, in an interview with Daniel Bourne