To DJ: 3/11
I’m not sure our poets have too much in common like you suggested, but both poets are creative and out there. My poet, Valentine, discusses a lot about mysticsm and dreams, while your poet deals with social and political issues. Anyway they both are good at what they do and both express poetry in a fun and entertaining way. Mine uses unusual metaphor and simple vocabulary while your’s uses lush vocabulary. Both do explain an issue hidden in there. It would be cool if your poet and my poet met in the New England area.
To Stacey: 3/11
Stacey, maybe both of our poets have a similar life. Both were professors, both lived in the Midwest (Valentine in Chicago, yours in Detroit), and both wrote mystic poetry. It may be a bit of a stretch, but our poets could be kind of similar. Anyway my poet goes into mysticsm and makes up metaphor, so maybe there’s nothing in common. I’m interested to see if your poetry is at all similar to mine.
To DJ for 3/18 post
DJ, I took the time to read your poem, and it isn’t similar in style to Valentine. However, both have done feminist works obviously. Also Piercy is a lot more detailed about descriptions. I really enjoy reading your poet, and I agree that she writes gorgeous lines that I could not even come up with.
To Gabe 3/18
Hey Gabe, I finally took a look at your poetry. I knew that there would be virtually nothing in common with Jean Valentine, but I like the historical analysis you bring to the poem. I agree with your interpretation of Andrew Jackson, and a comparison to Malcolm X is perfect. Valentine has refered to political issues in her poetry, like Vietnam, so that could be a similarity between our two poets. Anyway that’s a very interesting poet you found.
To random blog on The Harvard Crimson
That’s really cool that Jean Valentine’s life is shown in a narrative. I see possible feminism links with her library ban in the 50’s. Also she comments on a “Conservative, white world”, which may explain why she breaks the barriers of poetry. The reference to a poor writing of anti-war in Vietnam proves her love of weaving current issues into her poetry. Also I learned she likes structure in her writing, not free verse. While I did not learn anything about the style of Valentine, this blog taught me some more about Valentine as a person.
To random blog on The Ithican Online
I like how this blog reveals Valentine’s willingness to go out into the real world. It also shows how Valentine goes about her business as a poet. She says it comes to her naturally, not in a forced way. If I was interested in becoming a poet, her words of wisdom would help my decision making. The blog also helped prove my point that Valentine loves Dickinson (and she writes stylistically like her too).
Good!