Schools of Poetry

Professor Meyerhofer

Schools of Poetry

There are many different schools of poetry reflecting (or reacting to) major shifts in history and culture. Here are just some of the different classifications and schools that affect us as contemporary writers. Some poets’ individual poems might fit into different schools, obviously, but here’s the general layout.

The Romantics (late 18^th and early to mid 19^th century)—these are probably the poets you read in high school. Romantic poets tended to write formally—that is, with strict rhyme and meter. Examples: William Blake, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, John Keats, Mary Shelley, Samuel Coleridge, etc.

The Imagists (early 1900s)—these poets reacted to the lofty language of the Romantics by stressing clear, “simple” imagery (hence the name). Examples: T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, D.H. Lawrence, etc. Eliot’s famous poems, The Waste Land and The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock come out of this movement. Imagist poems are often a bit more overtly “personal”, but not quite confessional. This is often seen as the dawn of English free verse (although its granddaddy, Walt Whitman, died in 1892).

The Beats (1940s)—Examples: Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs. Mostly New York poets known for more political and social commentary, bawdy subject matter, free association, etc. Ginsberg’s famous poem, Howl, fits in here. Subjects like drug use, rebellion, and sexuality (also homosexuality) are often graphically addressed in Beat poetry. The Beat poets are known for high energy work that signaled an increase in the accessibility of poetry to a wider audience.

The Confessionalists (50s, 60s)—U.S. poets who drew off their own personal experience in a more direct manner. Examples: Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, John Berryman (famous for The Dream Songs), etc. Some would say that Sharon Olds and Marie Howe fit into this category. Note: this is when we start seeing female poets gain respect (and criticism). Before the Confessionalists, poetry was often considered a man’s game.

The New York School—seen as a reaction to the Confessionalists, started close to the same time (maybe a bit later). Their writing is often more abstract (maybe less “I”), more cosmopolitan (a little more focus on the world than on the inner self), although they had quite a bit in common with the Beats. Some drew inspiration from art, especially surrealist painters like Jackson Pollock. Examples of “New York School” poets: John Ashbery, Barbara Guest, Kenneth Koche and Frank O’Hara.

Deep Image (latter half of the 20^th century to present)—these poets rely on concrete images, allowing the imagery to tell the story (Deep Image poems are usually narrative) and generate the feeling (they often have a strong lyrical component as well). Examples: James Wright, Galway Kinnell, maybe George Bilgere.

There are many other schools—the Black Mountain poets, the San Francisco Renaissance, etc.—that are a little obscure. You also have Language Poets (inspired by Gertrude Stein, who died in ’46), who push the boundaries of form and syntax. Slam Poets, very popular right now, focus almost entirely on presentation rather than how a poem actually looks/reads on the page. The closer we get to the present, the harder it becomes to lump poets into categories or define the prevailing school of thought. You also have a lot of poets who might seem, say, Confessional on one page then Deep Image on the next.

All we can really say about now is that we’re living right smack dab in this hyper-social/super-political/mega-technological confusion we call the Postmodern Age. As with music—more than ever—there are countless different genres, forms, theories, reactions, and reactions to the reactions all floating around (and competing) simultaneously. Basically, you have to establish (and often reassess) your own Personal Aesthetic—that is, what you like, what you don’t like, and why—and go with it.