Nicola McTaggart
English 125 F11N04
Clay Armstrong
November 28th, 2011
Thom Gunn: The man who showed the importance of giving true identity to poetry
Thom Gunn spent many years drawing inspiration from those who came before him and influencing his work. Through Gunn's work you are able to see the importance of showcasing poetry that has identity by simply writing about "things from the world" and everyday life experiences. As a young man his own life lacked true identity, he was just beginning his poetic journey and to expect perfection at such a young age would be maddening. Life constantly brings new experiences into your life, both good and bad. While Gunn excelled into his adult life his poems began to take on a more of an adult identity. The following pages will show the transition from one verse and society to another.
Thom Gunn was born in England during the year 1929, the eldest of two boys. During Gunn's childhood days he and his brother suffered through the divorce of their parents, an estranged relationship with their father and the suicide of their mother when Gunn was only fifteen. Despite all Gunn went on to become an educated man of Cambridge University and onto a journey overseas to America, where his education would finish at Stanford University and a professional career would continue to take shape. Longing for the title of "writer" and after attempting the many different facets of writing (script, fiction etc.) he came to realise his true talents lied within the confines of the poetic verse.
"All young men are unhappy. That's why they identify so strongly with Hamlet. They're unhappy in a formless kind of way, partly because they don't have an identity—they don't know where they're going; they don't know who they are." - Thom Gunn: on the less upbeat nature of his early work. (Paris review website).
Thom Gunn was only just becoming to discover his own identity through his own personal experiences, so when the poetry lacked context he would simply borrow from others as he had previously scene in the work of those he has read. A lover of Shakespeare, Gunn started his earlier career with a passion of writing heroic poetry. Heroic poetry came about in the sixteenth century and is very formal and dramatic and has a strong narrative, as is the case with one of his most famous poems of his early days "On the Move". The following stanza gives a glimpse into the world Gunn was just beginning to discover
"It is part solution, after all
One is not necessarily discord
On Earth; or damned because, half animal,
One lacks direct instinct, because one wakes
Afloat on movement that divides and breaks.
One joins the movement in a valueless world,
Crossing it, till, both hurler and the hurled,
One moves as well, always toward, toward."
This poem was written in a very formal context, with 8 line stanzas in iambic meter. As with Gunn`s personal life the poem lacks identity. The times were tough; the world around him was suffering through the rehabilitation of post war. "One joins the movement in a valueless world" describes a society wrought with alienation; people were faced with a lack of purpose, which lead many to follow others with a lack of destination and direction. On the move was very much a poem influenced directly with the surrounding society. Although Gunn did not directly formalize who the poem was referring to, using the word "one" instead of "you" or "me", you get the sense that he was speaking of a young man who lacked the "instincts" of experience and simply "joins the movement". Gunn finishes off the poem "On the Move" by saying: "One is always nearer by not keeping still", meaning even if you do not have a laid out path you will never get to where you are meant to be if you do not keep moving.
Society at the time was not very accepting of those who did not follow a direct path, which lead Gunn to keep much of his personal life out of his work. In the early 1950`s it was very unusual for a poet to write of being gay. The only exceptions of the time that Gunn was aware of were two poets, Robert Duncan and Angus Wilson. An example one of those who "lied" in poetry would be Tennessee Williams who would write of men disguised as women, which we are more aware of today. To avoid "lying" Gunn would use the word "you" which would give the reader a sense of "universalization". Universality was taught in schools at the time to give the reader the option of delegating who the poem was meant for. It is only in most recent years, when society has a much stronger sense of acceptance that you begin to see poetry written with implied direction. Today critics do not speak fondly of universalizing poetry; you no longer have to hide the true meaning to your poems.
During his mid twenties Gunn met the love of his life whom he would later follow to San Francisco where Gunn enrolled at Stanford University to finish his schooling and study under Yvor Winters, who became one of his mentors. Although a sense of movement was on the rise for the gay community, Gunn still feared being deported back overseas so he kept his relationship with Mike Kitay private. Winters influenced Gunn in a more "Americanized", personalized direction, teaching Gunn the true definition of a poem: "a statement in words about a human experience" (Gunn, Paris review). Gunn was leaving his British grass roots behind and joining a new world. Gunn classified himself as an "Anglo-American" and held on to his British roots while embracing his new American surroundings.
The 1950's to early 1960's found Gunn educated and in a serious relationship, he was developing a sense of himself and so his poetry began to take on a similar perspective. With the influence of William Williams, Gunn was influenced into adding even more "things from the world" (Paris review) and write about everyday experiences. Gunn had left his British upbringing behind and was becoming more American by the year. Gunn wanted to branch slightly away from his "heroic" poetry (Shakespeare) and turn more towards a balanced more modern free style equivalent. This direction leads Gunn to write the poetic book "Touch" in 1967. Even Gunn described this collection as a "mess" and "inferior" to his earlier work. Times were changing the "Gay Liberation" was taking place. Gunn was once again faced with change, people were starting to stand up for their freedom and fight for their rights. While the world was transitioning Gunn's work began to transition right alongside it. "Touch" was harshly critiqued by his English audience and aside from his close community in San Francisco went relatively un-noticed by his American community.
The 1970's showed a slightly more accepting world. The "Gay Movement" allowed Gunn a little more freedom and a far less sense of suppression. In the late sixties/early seventies Gunn took a detour off the straight and narrow and entered into a new world of drugs, experimenting with acid and writing in free verse. Gunn took a break from teaching and used the time to indulge in a shadier world. By 1975 Gunn was back on track and able to "come out the closest" and alongside him followed his work. There was a much more relaxed world taking place around him so he was able to finally leave behind his dreaded "universalized" up-bringing and write with direction, stepping away from just eluding to his sexuality. He considered "Jack Straw's Castle" his "coming out". Drugs had renewed Gunn's imagination and while he took a few "detours", he was once again on a path of becoming one of the greatest "real world" British/American poets of the twentieth century.
In many interviews and self criticism Gunn has explained the talent of "free verse" relies strongly on the poet on how it will come across in a poem. Each poet has the creative freedom to showcase this style in their own way. Leaving behind his "hallucinogenic" days, Gunn was back on a structured path. The mess of "Touch" was in the past and true to Gunn's personal way of thinking he was back focusing on his present surroundings. Gunn believed as many poets do the metrical verse poetry is poetry of the past. It has a sense of being finished. Most of metrical poetry is influenced by past experiences. Whereas free verse is poetry of the present, it borrows from present life experiences. Gunn's definition of free verse is much more literal he borrows from everyday life experiences no matter how trivial they may seem at first.
Gunn had left behind his days of formal literary traditions that focused on ornate distractions and took on a much more direct personal contemporary style. The 1980's were probably one of the most influential decades of Thom Gunn's poetic career. San Francisco and Gunn's life were turned upside down with the invasion of the Aids virus. Elizabeth A. Armstrong described the outbreak in "Forging Gay Identities": "People were confused and fearful. Without definitive knowledge about the source of the disease, how to avoid it, or how to cure it, it was difficult to respond effectively to the epidemic." (p.156) The aids virus swept through the gay community with an alarming rate. Following the worst of the outbreak Gunn released one of his last publications "The Man with Night Sweats". In the pages of this collection lies one of his most well known to date poems "In Time of Plague". The first few lines of the poem set the tone and give a glimpse into Gunn's darker day to day life:
"My thoughts are crowded with death
And it draws so oddly on the sexual
That I am confused
Confused to be attracted
by, in effect, my own annihilation."
The inspiration for this poem and many found within this collection are drawn from the loss of some of his most cherished acquaintances. For the first time a poet was able to take a stand and give word to those who society would have much preferred to suppress. The HIV epidemic was largely misunderstood by all of society. Gay men were among the highest percentage of those inflicted, largely due to lack of education on preventative methods and precautions. "Their mind is the mind of death. They know it, and do not know it" is a passage from "In the time of plague" that reflects this lack of knowledge. Gunn has always found an attraction to the freedom of street life, drugs and sex from personal experiences becoming a large influence. Although he finds himself fascinated by death, Gunn quotes himself as "not being much of a risk taker" but finding it "admirable in a wonderful and showy kind of way" (Paris review). From this you see a darker side of Gunn, one that wishes he could share their freedom and lack of care, but instead allows his conscience to take over, "I weigh possibilities till I am afraid of the strength of my own health and of their evident health." Gunn was tempted by the attraction of the dark side, but chooses the higher road. It was never Gunn's intention to write poetry with a didactic form, but this example clearly shows off Gunn's side as educator. While we as humans can find ourselves attracted to self harm, we must keep our wits about us.
The collections of poems found in "The man with night sweats" showcase Gunn at the height of his career. Although not worldly renowned and accepted for his style, he himself has finally found a clear sense of whom he is. The death of his peers from the aids epidemic allowed Gunn to confront once and for all his suppressed past. In a sense he was able to come to terms with the suicide of his mother, which he had kept to himself for many years. Gunn was no longer hiding his sexuality and writing poems with direct reference to himself in bed with other man, he was free from society's caged confines. Unlike the world around him, Gunn was able to bring reality of the deadly Aids plague and showcasing the pains and sufferings others have chose to ignore. Gunn was also able to finally engage with his sexuality in his poetry without the fear of deportation or criticism, which can be seen as the silver lining to the darker nature of this collection.
At Gunn's passing in 2004 he left behind a poetic career full of life accomplishments. In 1992 Gunn won the first "forward prize" which is now England's largest poetry prize. In 1993 he won critical acclaim for "The man with night sweats" by winning the "Lenore Marshall-Nation Magazine prize for poetry and a 5 year MacArthur fellowship for a lifetime of achievement in poetry. Everything Gunn went through in his life, good and bad, lead him on the path to becoming an acclaimed writer of poetry. Despite all his accomplishments, Gunn was never opposed to self-criticizing his own work and the work of others.
Thom Gunn started off his career with very little life experience. In his early twenties he was just beginning his journey to self discovery. While he trudged along on this path, he wrote very formal generalized poetry. He even admits to borrowing inspiration from others. It was only though his personal life experiences and schooling that he was able to later form his own poetic career. Gunn was able to find a balance between structured traditional verse and free verse. Drawing upon his most intimate past and present experiences, his poems took on very real and emotional context. Gunn was finally able to write meaningful poetry based on real life world experiences, be it light or dark. Gunn is able to draw upon his role of educator and privy us on the importance of being the real you with the simple use of a few stanzas. The evolution of Gunn's poetry showcases a man who brings forth the importance of giving poetry true identity from real life experiences.