This is a quote taken from from the introduction of poets in a book called Invited Guest: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Southern Poetry. This introduction is discussing the poet Randall Jarrell. "Jarell knew that poetry, like children's tales, was a culturally recognized means by which psychology swelled into the mythical... His poems of the 1950s become a catechism of lost innocence and he often draws on fairy tales, dreams, and mythological stories to explore the consequences manifested by experience in a world not rescued by religion, community, or politics". This is very fascinating that when things such as religion, community, and politics aren't working that Jarrell found it more useful to use the language of children's tales, mythology, and dreams. Perhaps Jarrell understood that all the stories that we're contemporary to him were not original but rather the retelling of stories told already. Perhaps he found solace and comfort in being able to pursue storytelling from this angle in the confusion of a post World War II society. This could have helped him to mirror events current to him with the past so as to understand that . The two poems of his that I found to be the most interesting were "A Girl in a Library" and "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner", neither of which are children's lit.. Especially in "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" it was interesting to note the childlike image of the gunner and the gore in which he died and is washed from the turret. This recalled images of chopped off toes and heels, doves pecking out eyes, dead bodies of wives hanging from the ceiling, and fingers being pared like radishes. The relationships between death and child and between gore and child is very interesting. Perhaps someone has pursued that... It is also worthwhile to note that he died in 1965 while hit by a car on an evening walk. How fascinating to know that this stuff happens.

A link to Randall Jarrell on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Jarrell


"The Animal Family"




"The Bat Poet"
http://stuffasdreamsaremadeon.com/2008/09/30/the-bat-poet-by-randall-jarrell/http://stuffasdreamsaremadeon.com/2008/09/30/the-bat-poet-by-randall-jarrell/