In the writing of my own poetic pieces, I attempted to break down the characteristics from each period, discovered both in secondary research and analysis of the poems themselves. From this list of characteristics, I attempted to adapt my own poetic style to those criteria while still maintaining my distinct poetic voice. For the Colonial and Early National period, this meant interweaving Biblical imagery and incorporating the format of the heroic couplet. This period was perhaps the most difficult for me to emulate, as it was the furthest from my usual style of writing.
For the Romantic period, I focused the concept of love through idealism and nature– on this attempt, I ended up with two poems of which I was equally proud and ultimately decided to keep both as part of the project. “The Walnut Tree” was based specifically on the long lines of Walt Whitman, while “Viola Sororia” was an attempt at a poem with shorter lines and a repeating phrase.
For the Realism and Naturalism period, my focus was on the political aspect of the period. I drew upon a current social justice issue which is close to my heart, namely the issue of undocumented immigrants and DACA in the era of President Trump. As my romantic partner is a DACA recipient, I felt this was an appropriate subject– each poet from this period seemed emotionally connected to their political issues, despite the emphasis on unembellished details. While I ultimately did make my focus romantic, rather than on labor, family, or something similar, “Soñador” felt true to the period.
With the Modernist period, I aimed for a darker tone of love, contrasting against the idealistic love portrayed in my earlier poems. Like Frost, I wanted to show the lingering effects of lost love. Like Hughes, I wanted to provide an underlying danger to the self as a result of love– in this case, a cigarette. For the form, I settled on a sonnet, emulating Robert Frost’s traditional formatting.
Finally, for the Contemporary period, I expanded my ideas of love into self-love, focusing on a physical acceptance of body. Drawing inspiration from the Contemporary poets’ use of current media, I decided to incorporate thematic ideas stemming from the effects of social media on ideas of self-love, as with the mention of detox teas which are a dangerous trend pushed by social media “influencers.”
Throughout the creation of this project, what impacted me the most was the change in my personal perspectives on love– not just through the poetry I read but through the process of creating this piece. In my younger years, I loved writing. It was a practice in freedom, granting the ability to create beyond the boundaries of the existing world. But as I grew older, writing became constricting. I was increasingly expected to write in an academic voice, a formality that felt stifling. Often, as an English major, writing feels like suppressing the self in order to comply with the academic standard. Writing was no longer an activity to be embraced and enjoyed. Rather, it was something to be avoided until the last minute then performed in a rushed manner, throwing together a piece haphazardly and submitting it for a grade. Often, this involves downing half a bottle of wine to press down the anxieties and reluctance holding me back from writing. Because of the expectations of university, my writing had become alienated from me.
This project was different. Sure, there was research and literary analysis involved. But that academic work formed the basis for what I considered to be the heart and soul of the project: my poetry. The poetry of love taught me how to fall back in love with my own writing.
Give All To Love 