Marilyn Hacker’s Selected Poems 1965-1990 :: Hacker Selected Poems 1965-1990

Marilyn machine politicians Selected Poems 1965-1990Without question, I found Selected Poems to be the most challenging book weve read for this class.Strangely enough, in my rush to finish this book, I remained certain that somewhere in this often unsettling collection Marilyn Hacker would find a way to touch a cord or demand a response. When I reached Towards pin, the picture finally cleared and crystallized, and I realized I had arrived. Towards AutumnThinking of hers (the daughter) like thinking of a loverI hope will someday grow to be a friend.I missed the linguistic process to make friends with my mother.--pg 139 At this moment, it seems that a crossroads has been reached hope for the future coupled with a recognition of past failure. In this case, we see the writer in the theatrical role of mother and daughter, simultaneously. What this excerpt does not make clear, however, is the fact that Hacker seems to have spent her life (if 1 is correct in assuming the use of I throu ghout her work is a reference to herself) failing to find the words she needed to connect with others. Based on her inability to find the words in her personal relationships, her success in becoming friends with her daughter is uncertain. If one considers the less-than-ideal relationship Hacker shared not only with her mother but also with marsh elder (see following excerpt*), we might ask, Is the connection between mothers and daughters cyclical or lineal? If cyclical, then one might be inclined to assume Hacker will be unable to realize her goal (to one day be friends with her daughter). *Taking Notice. . . Inanother room, my daughter, home from school, audibly murmurs spanking, stupid, unwarrantedvoice--a closet drama where I am played secondhand to unresisting dolldaughters. Mother and daughter both, I seemyself, the furious and unforgivenmyself, the terrified and unholythe child punished into autonomythe unhealed woman hearing her own voice damn her to the nightmares of the brooding girl.--pg. 133 Taking Notice On the other hand, if one ascribes to the lineal school of thought, Hacker may, in fact, be able to break the cycle of her past and create a bridge to her daughter.