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=John Berryman = =(Oct. 25, 1914-Jan. 7, 1972) = By: Shannon Prisco http://media.us.macmillan.com/authors/258H/337961.jpg

"We must travel in the direction of our fear." -John Berryman

John Confessional poet, teacher, husband Depressed, emotional, suicidal Lover of alcohol Who believed that his life was horrifying, and that alcohol was the solution for everything Who feared nothing, wanted to "travel in the direction of his fear" Who wanted to be reunited with his father in heaven Who gave the world the experiences he experienced but through the eyes of innocence Who told us that "life is boring" but who also told us to conquer our fears Berryman John Berryman's Life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKUSR-yOgpA media type="youtube" key="HKUSR-yOgpA" height="390" width="480" align="right" John Allyn Smith was a man who put all of his depressive feelings and self-destructive emotions into writing his confessional poetry and wasn't afraid for the world to hear it or criticize him for it. Smith was born on October 25, 1914 in McAlester, Oklahoma into a small family of just his mother, Martha Little, his father, John Allyn Smith and his brothers (John Berryman). Growing up was difficult period for Smith because his family was always moving. His parent's lives were very unstable and his writings often reflected these hardships. When he was only ten, his father, having failed at his real estate business, shot himself outside of Smith's bedroom where he would be the first to find the body. After this tragedy, his mother remarried to John Angus McAlpin Berryman and John Smith decided to change his last name to Berryman (Bloom). Later on, the entire family moved to New York City in 1929 and in 1931 John Berryman attempted suicide (John Berryman's Life and Career). After that, he enrolled into Columbia College. He graduated from Columbia and from Phi Beta Kappa in 1936 (John Berryman). During his college years, Berryman was influenced by his professor, Mark van Doren and began to publish his poetry (Boswell) He started teaching the subject Creative Writing at Princeton and has an adulterous love affair that leaves him clinically depressed. He considers suicide and thus began years of psychiatric treatment (Bloom). In 1956, his wife, Eileen Mulligan, divorces him and he later re-marries to his second wife, Elizabeth Ann Levine (Bloom). In 1993, he taught at Wayne University (John Berryman's Life and Career). Even though he was teaching at the university, he still continued his work as a poet. After years of melancholy brought on by family loss, broken relationships, a war and stress, Berryman's poetry expresses his sadness and personal experiences,.

= Dream Song 14 = By: John Berryman

Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so. After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns, we ourselves flash and yearn, and moreover my mother told me as a boy (repeatingly) "Ever to confess you're bored means you have no

Inner Resources." I conclude now I have no inner resources, because I am heavy bored.  Peoples bore me,  literature bores me, especially great literature,  Henry bores me, with his plights & gripes  as bad as Achilles,

who loves people and valiant art, which bores me. And the tranquil hills, & gin, look like a drag and somehow a dog has taken itself & its tail considerably away into the mountains or sea or sky, leaving behind: me, wag.

John Berryman's Poetry Berryman's lyrics, and other confessional poets of his time, change American poetry forever and create a new style of writing that focuses directly on the poet's life.* Poems that Berryman made, like the one above, were inspired by the death of Berryman's father. His father's suicide scarred him forever but as a poet, it made his writings more intense and dramatic. Berryman became friends with Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot before their deaths (Stalling). In 1964, after competing against Robert Lowell (Stalling), Berryman won the Pulitzer Prize for his //77 Dream Songs// (John Berryman). His Dream songs were published in two different parts, the first winning the Pulitzer and the second won the National Book Award for "His Toy, His Dream, His Rest" in 1968 (Bloom). Other works include "Homage to Mistress Bradstreet (1959) and a biography on Stephen Crane (1950). After T.S. Eliot passed away in 1965, Berryman and Lowell were considered the two best living American poets (Stalling).

**Dream Song 29** By: John Berryman

There sat down, once, a thing on Henry's heart só heavy, if he had a hundred years & more, & weeping, sleepless, in all them time Henry could not make good. Starts again always in Henry's ears the little cough somewhere, an odour, a chime.

And there is another thing he has in mind like a grave Sienese face a thousand years would fail to blur the still profiled reproach of. Ghastly, with open eyes, he attends, blind. All the bells say: too late. This is not for tears; thinking.

But never did Henry, as he thought he did, end anyone and hacks her body up and hide the pieces, where they may be found. He knows: he went over everyone, & nobody's missing. Often he reckons, in the dawn, them up. Nobody is ever missing.

Literary Criticism on John Berryman The critics of Berryman have many different opinions on his work; some find his work confusing and disturbing;, some say it's the worse they've ever read; and some say his work is theatrical and very important; but no matter what is said, Berryman helped change the style of American poetry. Harold Bloom considers Berryman to be a pioneer and thinks his real breakthrough work to be his //Homage to mistress Bradstreet where Berryman finds his "true voice" (//Bloom on John Berryman). Bloom, (Bloom on John Berryman), says, "That there are breakthroughs in the development or unfolding of a strong poet cannot be denied; the burden for literary criticism always must be to determine which poets inevitably compel the canon to make place for them. Roethke in his two best volumes achieved strength and then fell away from it. Robert Lowell, concerning whom I seem to be the only dissenter in our nation, did not achieve it, either in the manner of Eliot and Tate, or in that of W.C. Williams. Berryman I find the largest puzzle of his poetic generation, though I believe he will be judged at last only by //The Dream Songs.// Not only does Bloom like Berryman as a poet, Britain overpraises Berryman and Lowell (Bloom on John Berryman).

Earnest Stefanik reviews Berryman's poem Love and Fame. He thinks most critics are too severe when judging Berryman because he does not use the standard form for his poetry that was normal up until then (Bloom). Stefanik thinks Berryman poems are familiar enough to most readers because of his stanza style and therefore easy for most readers to follow. He does however think the text is difficult because it deals with such strong emotions. Love and Fame have four parts, the first two concentrate on Berryman's student days, the third part talks about his fears and isolation and the fourth part focuses on Berryman's spiraling depression. He believes the poet writes this book "to restore his lost faith and affirm his being" (Bloom). Like Stefanik, I personally think that Berryman's poems are difficult to comprehend but you can understand just enough to get what Berryman is trying to say. I have read "The Ball, The Curse, and Dream Song 127." Most critics believe although Berryman was a sad person, it made him successful at his writing.

**The Ball Poem** By: John Berryman

What is the boy now, who has lost his ball, What, what is he to do? I saw it go Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then Merrily over--there it is in the water! No use to say 'O there are other balls': An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down All his young days into the harbour where His ball went. I would not intrude on him, A dime, another ball, is worthless. Now He senses first responsibility In a world of possessions. People will take balls, Balls will be lost always, little boy, And no one buys a ball back. Money is external. He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes, The epistemology of loss, how to stand up Knowing what every man must one day know And most know many days, how to stand up And gradually light returns to the street A whistle blows, the ball is out of sight, Soon part of me will explore the deep and dark Floor of the harbour. . I am everywhere, I suffer and move, my mind and my heart move With all that move me, under the water Or whistling, I am not a little boy.

John Berryman was a key figure in confessional poetry not only because he poured his emotions into what he was writing but, because he was a different type of writer. He helped define a new style of contemporary poetry. One that make readers think within to fully understand what he is trying to say. Instead of writing about a common topic, he decided to make his own topic from experiences from his life. Sadly, Berryman committed suicide on January 7, 1972 because he jumped off the Washington Avenue Bride in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
 * The Legacy **

[] This is a podcast of John Berryman reciting one of his very first dream song, Dream Song 1.

http://gstrecker.iweb.bsu.edu/PoetryProject/johnberryman_files/image002.jpg

__Works Cited__

Bloom, Harold. "Bloom on John Berryman." //Poets and Poems//, Bloom's 20th Anniversary Collection. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2005. //Bloom's Literary Reference Online//. Facts On File, Inc.  (accessed May 2, 2011).

Bloom, Harold. "Chronology." //John Berryman//. New York: Chelsea House, 1989. 165-67. Print.

Boswell, Marshall, and Carl Rollyson, eds. "Berryman, John."//Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Contemporary World, 1946 to the Present//, vol. 4, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. //Bloom's Literary Reference Online//. Facts On File, Inc.  (accessed May 2, 2011).  "John Berryman." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. <[].> "John Berryman's Life and Career." //Welcome to English « Department of English, College of// //LAS, University of Illinois//. American Council of Learned Societies. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. 

Stalling, Annie. "John Berryman." //John Berryman//. Web. 02 May 2011. .