Adrienne Rich1929-Present

By Megan, Kathryn, and Eleanor

Biography• Born on May 16, 1929 in Baltimore Maryland to Dr. Arnold

Rich (Pathology professor at Johns Hopkins) and Helen Rich (pianist and composer).

• She was home schooled until the 4th grade.• Graduated from Radcliffe College in 1951.• In 1951, Rich published her first poetry collection, A

Change of World. Her earlier influences were T.S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, and Robert Frost.

• In 1953, she married Alfred Conrad (Harvard economist). Later, she gave birth to 3 sons.

• First change in Rich’s poetry style was seen in Snapshots of a Daughter-in-law, where Rich expressed her political activism towards women’s political and social roles.

• In1966, Rich moved to New York, where she protested the Vietnam War.

Biography continued...• In 1970, Rich broke off her

marriage with Conrad. Later, he committed suicide.

• In 1974, Rich refused the acceptance of the National Book Award for Diving into the Wreck, claiming to celebrate it in the name of all women.

• In 1976, Rich came out to the world about her lesbian relationships in her book, Twenty-One Love Poems.

Biography

• Rich has produced over 16 volumes of poetry and 4 of non-fiction prose. They have been translated in many different languages.

• Rich has won many awards such as the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize and the Lambda Book Award.

• Rich currently lives in California.

“The Knight”A knight rides into the

noon,and his helmet points to

the sun,and a thousand splintered

sunsand the gaiety of his mail.The soles of his feet glitterand his palms flash in

reply,and under his crackling

bannerhe rides like a ship in sail.

A knight rides into the noon,

and only his eye is living,a lump of bitter jellyset in a metal mask,betraying rags and tattersthat cling to the flesh

beneathand wear his nerves to

ribbonsunder the radiant casque.

Who will unhorse this riderand free him from betweenthe walls of iron, the emblemscrushing his chest with their weight?Will they defeat him gently,or leave him hurled on the green,his rags and wounds still hiddenunder the great breastplate?

1957

“The Knight” Criticism• Theme- Honor and bravery are

unmasked by motive• Appearance vs. Reality• Uses heroic imagery such as “soles of

his feet glitter” and “his palms flash in reply”

• Makes an allusion in the first stanza to the stereotypical image of a British knight

• Structure shift in poem occurs between the first and second stanza– The first stanza epitomizes a perfect knight

through appearance; the second stanza reveals the reality of a cowardly man.

– The imagery changes from beauty and awe to distasteful imagery from the first to the second stanza.

“The Knight” Criticism

• The first stanza in itself is melodramatic almost to the point of hyperbole.

• The third stanza uses rhetorical questions in order to convey the urgency of this man to be stripped from his false appearances. Ex. “Who will unhorse this rider” and “will they defeat him gently”– The speaker in this poem wants to unhorse the knight

in order to allow him to be himself and not let his false appearances drive him to his death.

“Song”You’re wondering if I’m

lonely:OK then, yes, I’m lonelyas a plane rides lonely

and levelon its radio beam,

aimingacross the Rockiesfor the blue-strung aislesof an airfield on the

ocean

You want to ask, am I lonely?

Well, of course, lonelyas a woman driving

across countryday after day, leaving

behindmile after milelittle towns she might

have stoppedand lived and died in,

lonely

If I’m lonely

it must be the loneliness

of waking first, of breathing

dawn’s first cold breath on the city

of being the one awake

in a house wrapped in sleep

If I’m lonely

it’s with the rowboat ice-fast on the shore

in the last red light of the year

that knows what it is, that knows it’s neither

ice nor mud nor winter light

but wood, with a gift for burning

1971

“Song” Criticism • Written one year after her divorce• Poem spurred by isolation and transition• Repetition of “lonely” demonstrates the feeling of isolation• Images of solitude and emptiness convey the speaker’s feeling that she’s

the only one– Ex. needle in a haystack, plane on airfield, woman driving across

country• Juxtaposed with a traditional woman

– The contrast is indicated by the word “might”– The “little towns” are juxtaposed with the open areas

• Juxtapositioning of being awake with being asleep– Ex. “breathing dawn’s first cold breath” and “with a house wrapped in

sleep”• The last stanza conveys negative imagery of being metaphorically trapped

– Ex. “rowboat ice-fast on the shore”, “the last red light”, and “ice nor mud”

• The final image of wood– Wood is a “gift” for burning; but fire, both resourceful and admired, is

destructive and feared.

“Power”Living in the earth-deposits of our history

Today a backhoe divulged out of a crumbling flank of earth

one bottle amber perfect a hundred-year-oldcure for fever or melancholy a tonicfor living on this earth in the winters of this

climate.

Today I was reading about Marie Curie:she must have known she suffered from

radiation sicknessher body bombarded for years by the elementshe had purifiedIt seems she denied to the endthe source of the cataracts on her eyesthe cracked and suppurating skin of her finger-

endstil she could no longer hold a test-tube or a

pencil

She died a famous woman denyingher woundsdenyingher wounds came from the same source as her

power.-1974

“Power”• The poem is about sources and frustration of

women’s power.• Uses irony in order to demonstrate women’s struggle

to change society’s perception of a woman’s place in the world.

– Ex. “her wounds came from the same source as her power”

• It is ironic how the source of Marie Curie’s power is the same source that weakened her through illness.

• Employs the juxtapositioning of male and female– The male represents selfishness.– The woman is representative of selflessness.

• The word “tonic” represents medicines used by doctors, mostly men, to scam patients; medicines were not effective.

• Makes an allusion to historical figure, Marie Curie. – Marie Curie was a crucial figure who struggled to prove

to the world that women were capable of the same things as men. Marie was a woman who struggled for power and respect in the world through her use of science.

• Uses the repetition of the word “denying” in order to demonstrate the constant denial women have about their own capability.

Annotated BibliographyAdrienne Rich’s Literary Works

Nelson, Cary. “An Adrienne Rich Bibliography.” Online Internet. 5 May 2005. http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rich/biblio.htm

This is the live link to the list of Adrienne Rich’s Bibliography.

Reference ResourcesRich, Adrienne. “Song.” Diving into The Wreck. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1973. 20.

This is where the poem “Song” can be found.Rich, Adrienne. “The Knight”. Snapshots of a Daughter-in-law. New York: Harper & Row, 1956. 16.

This is where the poem “The Knight” can be found. “Rusted Legacy.” Poetry for Students. Vol. 15. This contains Adrienne Rich’s biography.

CreditsPictures

http://www.fineartandgiftdepot.com/fantasy/ny8222_lg.jpgThis is the picture of the knight on slide 5.

http://www.denison.edu/publicaffairs/pressreleases/richbeck.htmlThis picture can be found on slide 1.

http://www.mi-pagina.cl/patricioluco/exposiciones/poetas/adrienne%20richUSA.jpgThis picture can be found on slide 3.

http://www.bestamericanpoetry.com/pages/volumes/?id=1996This picture can be found on slide 12. The book featured is a book in which Adrienne

was a guest editor.www.yale.edu/opa/v31.n19/story4.html

This picture can be found on slide 11.www.ohiou.edu/theohioreview/Rich.HTML

This picture can be found on slide 6.www.logan.pvt.k12.co.us/Graphics/borders.html

This frame was used on slide 1.

Creditshttp://www.nortonpoets.com/richa.htm

This picture was found on slide 11.

http://www.baymoon.com/~poetrysantacruz/books/books.html

This picture was found on slide 12.

http://www.britannica.com/nobel/art/ocuriem001p1.jpg

This picture was found on slide 10.

http://www.tongass.com/images/Paintings/Blue%20Rowboat.jpg

This picture was found on slide 8.