Evening+in+the+Sanitorium

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“The Evening in the Sanitorium” is a poem about sadness. There are several traits of Modernism shown throughout the course of this poem. The life of Louise Bogan had a lasting effect on her works as well as the lives of other people. Modernism has many mutual bonds between the different pieces of works that Bogan has produced as well as other Modernism examples. This poem represents the modernism literary period through the use of a variety of conventions.

Modernism is reflected by this poem in a multitude of ways. The main way that it shows it is through the use of negative words. The fact that the characters in the poem seem to have mental issues as well as social issues shows the relation between the reality and the poem. During this time the Great Depression was happening, which started to cause a loss of hope for people (Beginnings 651). “ The period of the wildest weeping, the fiercest delusion, is over. The women rest their tired half-healed hearts; they are almost well. Some of them will stay almost well always: the blunt-faced woman whose thinking dissolved, Under academic discipline; the manic-depressive girl, Now leveling off; one paranoiac afflicted with jealousy.” (Bogan). This passage from her poem has many negative words, such as “weeping” or “paranoiac”, reflecting the rough times when she wrote the poem. Modernism is more than just a style of writing, it is also the extending of a combinations of emotions to a large group of people during a rough economic time in the past (Gordon).  “Her childhood was painful.” (Barnes). This comment was made in a short essay about the life of Louise Bogan. This single sentence can help a person to completely understand where a lot of her motivation came from. This same article talks about how her family had moved around a lot while she once a child and that her mother was emotionally unstable (Barnes). This alone gives some insight into her poem called “Evening in the Sanitorium”. “O lucky older wife, who has been cured of feeling unwanted!” (Bogan). This line could be alluding to her mother when she died, because her constant troubles are cured by death (Cone). This use of this symbolism is important to the style of her writing and it makes her writing somewhat difficult to understand. Her rough past had created emotions inside of her that she could not contain. She unleashed these emotions through her use of imagery as well as her symbolism (Cone). Having such a difficult life can turn a person into a horrible thing, or possibly it could make a person want to change the world through her writing such as Louise Bogan had done.

There are few differences between two different poems by Louise Bogan. In many of her poems, she writes about different psychological situations in which the poems because very confusing to analyze. In her poem “Medusa”, she writes, “Bogan speaks through the persona of an individual who is either metaphorically or literally petrified, a state of existence linked to the poem's title, which alludes to the Greek myth of Medusa, the hideous, serpent-haired monster whose gaze could turn any being it touched to stone.” (Cone). This except from a critical review is explaining how lines in one of her poems can be difficult to follow unless one understands the background of mythology. Some modernist poets used allusions to different cultures or mythology just like Bogan did in this poem (Gordon). “Medusa” relates to “Evening in the Sanitorium” through the use of her psychological thinking. Both characters in each poem are scared or have some other kind of psychological problem that he or she is struggling with (Cone). This character development keeps her works similar.

The similarities continue between her poems and other modernist works such as “Breakfast” by John Steinbeck. Her allusions to the mind are similar to the imagery used by Steinbeck because of the negative images produced by both descriptions. The Modernism time period was a time of depression, and it seems that many of the examples of writing from the time support that thought. Ezra Pound also uses many descriptions to the psychological aspect of the characters in his poems. “So much barren regret! So many hours wasted! And now I watch from the window.” (Pound). These lines are inside the characters head narrating what he is thinking and doing. The similarities help quality Bogan’s works as modernist poetry.

In conclusion, Louise Bogan shows modernism through her poetry, specifically “Evening in the Sanitorium”. Her lifestyle as a child was not of her choosing as she struggled to survive with her odd family, but these challenges helped her to write some fantastic poetry. The qualities in her poems make her poetry similar to that of other modernist works, specifically “Breakfast” John Steinbeck and “Villanelle: The Psychological Hour” by Ezra Pound. The qualities in modernist writing represents what has happened in the world during the early twentieth century through the use of imagery and symbolism.

Works Cited

Barnes, Sharon L. "Bogan, Louise." In Kimmelman, Burt, and Temple Cone, eds. The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 2. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=CAP050&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 3, 2010).  Bogan, Louise. "Poem of the Day » Evening in the Sanitarium by Louise Bogan." //Rinabeana.com//. Web. 04 May 2010. [].

"Beginnings of the Modern Age." //Literature American Literature//. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm, PhD. Columbus, OH: Glencoe, 2009. 645-58. Print.

Cone, Temple. "'Medusa'." In Kimmelman, Burt, and Temple Cone, eds. The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 2. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=CTAP0349&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 3, 2010).

Gordon, Stephanie. "modernist poetry." In Kimmelman, Burt, and Temple Cone, eds. The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 2. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=CAP299&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 30, 2010).

Pound, Ezra. "294. Villanelle: The Psychological Hour by Ezra Pound. Monroe, Harriet, Ed. 1917. The New Poetry: An Anthology." //Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More //. 2010. Web. 01 May 2010. < [] >.

Steinbeck, John. "Breakfast." //Literature American Literature //. Columbus, OH: Glencoe, 2009. 866-70. Print.