tuckergegr1′s Blog

Of all the original poets in the 19th and early 20th century, Valentine writes her poetry in the style of Emily Dickinson, with no respect of punctuation or the rules of English whatsoever. It would upset 3rd graders learning grammar that famous American poets completely disrespect what teachers say is necessary; That’s the world of poetry (especially Dickinson) for you. As stated in MEL, “Valentine herself writes of Emily Dickinson” (Amy Newman). A blog i found contains an interview, and when asked what her favorite authors are, Valentine responds “I have a couple. I think Emily Dickinson is a favorite and a European poet, Paul Celan”. Anyway, Valentine is a writer that gives the context, but there is no respect to grammar or spacing.

Trim my hooves

  The Definition of Beauty, is
   That Definition is none–       The dash
   Of Heaven, easing Analysis,
   Since Heaven and He             Reference to religion there
   Are One–                    No period!!!
Emily Dickinson

  Anyway the comparison of the two shows obvious stylistic comparisons. Some have called Dickinson a stylistic genius because of bad grammar. Since this is not an English essay, but poetry, it is okay for the two of them to have bad grammar. According to William Franke,

“Dickinson’s highly originalwriting makes her a maddeningly difficult poet, one whom eminent critics confess baffles them. Yet her poems become startlingly readable when read according to their apophatic grammar and rhetoric: the words and phrases fall into place–the place they make for what they necessarily leave unsaid but let show up distinctly silhouetted in their hollows and shadows” (Franke).

Dickinson and Valentine are both very difficult poets to understand completely. Some of the essence of their poetry is the lack of understanding due to the originality. As the Harvard Review points out

Valentine began her career writing rhymed and metered verse, then shook off that style for a more experimental free verse. “First Love,” the first poem in Dream Barker, is especially moving. It ends with the lines that are already signature Valentine: “How deep we met, how dark, / How wet! before the world began” (Harvard Review).

Another similarity between the two is there use of religion. Both have poetry hinting toward god or heaven in their poetry. Emily Dickinson is a poet that believes in a supreme being (god), and William Franke describes her faith as “apophatic”, which means that there is “speculation concerning the ineffable One as supreme principle of reality”. “Harold Bloom employs apophatic terms to describe Dickinson’s poetry when he comments that her “unique transport, her Sublime, is founded upon her unnaming of all out certitudes into so many blanks; it gives her, and her authentic readers, another way to see, almost, in the dark” (308-09, MEL). As seen in the poem Dickinson clearly states “Heaven and he are one”, which shows the religion. Valentine writes “The red and blue fire around my head this minute vanishing…I befriended it”, which I interpret as going into a supernatural world befriending a higher being. Some of Valentine’s other poetry is better at showing religion, like her poem “The Growing Christ of Tzintzuntzan”. Valentine’s sort of mysticsm is more hidden, but still there. Also it is less Christian based then Dickinson, using more generic religion and wondering and not a specific god.

Anyone interested in poets who defy the rules of grammar, Jean Valentine and Emily Dickinson are ones to read. Religious people, read a bit of Dickinson and Valentine. The two poets are different people. Valentine is a professor in New York, a person who has put her works into the world with a website and some collections. Dickinson was a more isolated person than Valentine, a stay at home housewife probably huddling in her home studying the bible, baking cookies for the family, and writing poetry that never got published until her death. They come together in their discussion of religion, god, and definitely the supernatural world of Heaven. They also come together in breaking conventional grammar, making third graders scream to their teachers that famous poets don’t care about English rules.