American Poetry
Poetry in America can be dated back to the colonial era. The first poets to record and store their works have been said to have used British poetry styles in their works. America has, however, witnessed a rich body of poetic work from prominent poets such as Anne Bradstreet and several others who have taken American poetry high. American poetry has not been gender biased since female poets have been equal to the task, just like their male counterparts despite the challenges that they have to go through. Since the 17th century, when the British were ruling America, poetry has continued to grow in America, taking various forms and styles over the period.
First poets who came to fame in the 17th century, used to write poems using British styles due to the dominance of the British culture. Anne Bradstreet is one of the pioneer poets in the history of American poetry. Being a female poet, Bradstreet had to rise above several challenges before managing to come on stage. First, Anne had eight children to take care of as a mother. Second, society was still patriarchal, and no one was willing to support her work. Bradstreet lived in a period that was before the independence of America from the British. Being in a British colony, poetry was not an easy task, especially for women since the colonial government would not allow moves that would appear to go against the colonial rule. Bradstreet was also among the first female poets to write poems in English, and thus she attracted a lot of attention that made her work more challenging but also made her famous. Most of Bradstreet’s works revolved around religion, love, family, and the family chores that she had to undertake as a mother. The general themes drawn from Bradstreet’s works proved that she was not decided between dedicating her love to God and loving the physical world. Anne Bradstreet lived between 1612 and 1672 and wrote several poems. In one of her poems, Anne expresses her undying love to her husband: “I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold…,” Bradstreet (59). In yet another poem, Anne expresses her praise to God and proves the point that she loved God. The poems written by Anne Bradstreet brought to light the struggle that poets have when balancing their religious life and physical life.
Christianity had reached America in the 17th century as confirmed by several poets. The origin of Christianity has been identified to be in Europe. However, the work of the missionaries who preceded colonialism is said to have spread the religion across continents. The fact that America was under the colonialism of Britain further confirms the impact of colonialism on the spread of Christianity. Edward Taylor is one of the poets who lived in almost the same lifetime as Anne Bradstreet. However, Taylor lived from 1642, which was around twenty years before the death of Anne Bradstreet. Unlike Bradstreet, Taylor was committed to religion, and his works were purely based on praising the Christian God. Taylor was however not outspoken like other poets, and his works were not seen until later in the 21st century. The ability of Edward Taylor to commit his works only to Christianity gave a different perception of poets and meant that poets did not have to necessarily have to struggle in choosing a theme always to build. Most of the line in Taylor’s poems appeared to be a communication with God: “Except thy sweetness, Lord… expels these damps…,” Taylor (60). The discovery of Taylors works led to the publishing of his works, and his poems have been essential in the analysis of American poetry. Edward Taylor was a fan of Anne Bradstreet, and by the time of his death, Taylor’s library had Bradstreet’s works has the only English works.
Poetry went through various changes, and the post-colonialism era did not bring an end to poetry in America. Poets continued to engage in poetic works, but the field was gradually changing with the independence of America. The styles were slowly changing from the original British styles to classic American poem styles. Among the post-colonial poets was Henry Longfellow who appeared to have a slightly different way of presenting his poems from the pioneer poets. Henry brought a new strategy of developing poetry by translating original poems from ancient poets to English. The translations by Henry Longfellow came into fame in the mid 19th century. However, Longfellow was also involved in creating new poems, and his poems were mainly religious. The spiritual sense in Longfellow’s works was in the sense that he advocated for the importance of morality and the possibility of living beyond materialism. Longfellow won the love of the readers of his time and became popular through his poems such as “The Bridge,” “Evangeline,” and the “Song of Hiawatha.” Several writers have rated Longfellow’s works from different perspectives. However, Longfellow’s works have fallen out of favor due to the appearance of better poets after him, although his translations have remained to be among the best in history. The contribution of Henry Longfellow developed a belief that poets were supportive of each other and that developing the works of other poets was an act of kindness.
The wake of the 19th century saw a complete departure from British related poetry to an all-American poetry era. The colonization of America by Britain had affected several fields, and poetry was among the affected fields. The dominance of the British culture meant that the poets had to rely on Britain styles for their poems to avoid appearing irrelevant or failing to win the support of the government when needed. Walt Whitman was among the first poets in history to write poems that were purely American-style. Whitman late came to be referred to as the father of poetry owing to use tireless contribution towards making poetry an all-American affair. The fact that Whitman existed during the civil war era made that his poets had to touch on the issues affecting the Americans and independence was one of them. Whitman’s first works of poetry involved the use of both British and American styles of poetry in a bid to create a gradual transition from a British era to an American era. One of the works by Walt Whitman was the “Leaves of Grass” that was published in the year 1855 although Whitman had been in the writing sector since his young age. The works by Whiteman revolved around sexuality, independence, and spirituality: “The pleasures of heaven are with me, and the pains of hell are with me…,” Whitman (159). Also, Whiteman was not afraid of including criticism in his works although he employed a wide use of metaphors and allusion to passing his message. Whitman was however, not purely a poet since he was also involved in the writing of essays and journalism. The criticism of Whitman has not spared the works by Shakespeare and Whitman has been hailed for his contribution to the changes that poetry has gone through.
Late into the 21st century, American poetry had grown into modernism. Poets were free from using British styles, and the themes to be included in poetry were at the discretion of the poet. The development in poetry was evident in the way poets were able to use imagery effectively in poetry to pass their message. William Carlos Williams was a 21st-century poet who brought the idea of imagery in poetry. Working as a medical doctor, William was able to incorporate the ideas of medicine and life in his poetic works. William’s works were based on free verse, and most of his poems were lined on object lessons. Among the works by William is “The Young Housewife,” where William compares the housewife to a fallen leaf. The image build by comparing a housewife to a fallen leaf brings to light the little importance that is associated with homemakers.
In sum, the evolution of poetry in America can be explained from the pre-colonialism to the post-colonial era. The first poets used British styles in their poetry due to the dominance of the Britain colonialism. With the independence of America, poets changed their way of presenting poetry. The 20th century marked the complete departure from British styles of poetry to all-American poetry styles. Currently, poetry in America is based on pure American styles and a free verse choice of style.
Work Cited
DAVID, JOHN B. The Oxford Book of American Poetry. Oxford University Press, 2006.