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Robert Lowell is born
March 1, 1917. -
Anne Sexton is born
November 9, 1928 -
Sylvia Plath is born
October 27, 1932 -
Influences of the Post-War Era
After World War II, the U.S. government promoted traditional values like domesticity and political and cultural conservatism, to fight for stability on the domestic front in a seemingly turbulent and threatening world. The new media, especially television, helped to enforce this domestic ideology in which
family and home remained a central priority for women. This eventually led to the media exploiting the undercurrents of discontent with racist, sexist, and economically inequitable Americans. -
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The Confessional Poetry Movement
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The Second Wave of the Feminist Movement
Poets like Sylvia Plath wrote about the predicaments faced by women during this time. -
"Howl" by Allen Ginsberg
Although Allen Ginsberg is most known as a Beat-Era poet, he can also be categorized as a Confessional poet. His poem, "Howl" can be considered confessional because of its explicit sexuality, descriptions of abject people and places, and the effect of drugs. -
"Life Studies" by Robert Lowell
Robert Lowell publishes "Life Studies" in 1959. This book of poems was written in a mix of free and metered verse and documented details from Lowell's family and personal life and mental illness. It marked a big turning point in Lowell's career and in American poetry in general. Lowell's students, including Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath, were heavily influenced by this work in writing their own confessionalist poems. -
"Heart's Needle" by W.D. Snodgrass
William De Witt Snodgrass' most renowned poem is "Heart's Needle" detailing his emotions during his divorce. -
M.L. Rosenthal coins the term confessional poetry.
Macha Louis Rosenthal is credited as the first person to apply the term confessional to a style of poetry. In his influential article, "Poetry as Confession," Rosenthal used this term to review Robert Lowell's "Life Studies." Rosenthal contends that although there were a few previous attempts towards confessionalism, there usually was a mask hiding the poet's actual face; Lowell removed this mask. -
Sylvia Plath dies
After struggling with depression for a long time, Plath committed suicide on February 11, 1963. -
"Ariel" by Sylvia Plath
Plath's confessional poems were published in "Ariel" posthumously. The darkly poems address her own experiences with motherhood, sexuality, marriage, and depression. The collection includes "Daddy," "Lady Lazarus," "Ariel," and the opening poem of the collection, "Morning Song." -
"Live or Die" by Anne Sexton
Anne Sexton's most celebrated collection of poems is "Live or Die" which includes poems "Little Girl, My String Bean, My Lovely Woman," "Wanting to Die," and "Sylvia’s Death." These dealt with her life and recovery in the mental hospital. -
Anne Sexton dies
October 4, 1974 -
Robert Lowell dies.
September 12, 1977
