Date of Award
5-2003
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
Abstract
This study explores the poetry of Jorie Graham, E.E. Cummings, and Guillaume Apollinaire, focusing particularly on the rich tradition of concrete and visual poetry and the concept of rule breaking in writing. The connection between Cummings, taking elements of visual poetry and free verse to experimental new heights with typographic techniques, and Apollinaire, whose poetry explores similar aesthetic challenges, is obvious. Graham may seem to be the one who doesn't belong, but part of my emphasis is to demonstrate how she does fit into this study. Her poetry, as is Cummings' and Apollinaire's, is as visual as it is audible. All three of these poets went beyond the constraints of poetry trapped in traditional form
Additionally, I am including my own work of poetry, The Manipulation of Echoes in a Shallow Canyon in this study. I am a poet and a breaker of rules. Part of my desire to begin this study in the first place is to exonerate my poetry and myself, and to be taken seriously as a writer.
Recommended Citation
Adams-Hays, Robin L., "Echoes in a concrete canyon : Graham, Cummings, and Apollinaire" (2003). Theses and Dissertations. 3328.
https://commons.und.edu/theses/3328