Kamala Das as a Confessional Poet
Confessional poetry is a style of poetry which deals with the personal and intimate thoughts, mental distress and individual experience. Often the themes presented in this type of poetry has elements of taboo issues.
The term confessional was first used by M.L Rosenthal in a review of Robert Lowell's Life Studies entitled "Poetry as Confession". Other notable confessional poets include Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Robert Lowell.
In order to publish such poetry, a great amount of courage and mental resilience is needed. The structure of the confessional poems are usually the same; they don't have any defined Rhyming scheme and are written in Free verse. This may be due to the fact that the poet outpour his/her predicaments and private thoughts on the paper and to make it more coherent is the last thought (s)he has.
Kamala Das was one of the prominent poets whose poetry's main feature is confessional and autobiographical. In her autobiography "My Story", she wrote :
"Some people told me that writing an autobiography like this, with absolute honesty, keeping nothing to oneself, is like doing a striptease.
True, maybe. I, will, firstly, strip myself of clothes and ornaments. Then I intend to peel off this light brown skin and shatter my bones.
At last, I hope you will be able to see my homeless, orphan, intensely beautiful soul, deep within the bone, deep down under, beneath
even the marrow, in a fourth dimension"
In her poem "The Sunshine Cat", she describes her anguish and desperation due to her failure in getting love from her husband and her alleged lovers who exploited her for satisfying carnal hunger. In the end, she fell into the state of physical and mental breakdown.
"They let her slide from pegs of sanity into
The term confessional was first used by M.L Rosenthal in a review of Robert Lowell's Life Studies entitled "Poetry as Confession". Other notable confessional poets include Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Robert Lowell.
In order to publish such poetry, a great amount of courage and mental resilience is needed. The structure of the confessional poems are usually the same; they don't have any defined Rhyming scheme and are written in Free verse. This may be due to the fact that the poet outpour his/her predicaments and private thoughts on the paper and to make it more coherent is the last thought (s)he has.
Kamala Das was one of the prominent poets whose poetry's main feature is confessional and autobiographical. In her autobiography "My Story", she wrote :
"Some people told me that writing an autobiography like this, with absolute honesty, keeping nothing to oneself, is like doing a striptease.
True, maybe. I, will, firstly, strip myself of clothes and ornaments. Then I intend to peel off this light brown skin and shatter my bones.
At last, I hope you will be able to see my homeless, orphan, intensely beautiful soul, deep within the bone, deep down under, beneath
even the marrow, in a fourth dimension"
In her poem "The Sunshine Cat", she describes her anguish and desperation due to her failure in getting love from her husband and her alleged lovers who exploited her for satisfying carnal hunger. In the end, she fell into the state of physical and mental breakdown.
"They let her slide from pegs of sanity into
a bed made soft with tears, and she lay there weeping, for sleep had lost its use. I shall build walls with tears,"
Although she wrote the poem in the third person but clearly she talks about herself and her exploitation.
In another poem of hers "The Freaks", she gives a glimpse into her married sex life with her husband. Subtly, she raises the issue of subjugation and marital rape. Her husband who only intends to satisfy his sexual desire, doesn't care about the needs of her wife. She as a perfect wife has to submit herself to the wills of her husband and that's why she fakes a "grand, flamboyant lust"
"I am freak. It's only
to save my face, I flaunt, at
Times, a grand, flamboyant lust."
The poem "My Grandmother's house" also reflects her confession of being discontented with her present life where she has to "beg at stranger's door to receive love, at least in small change"
So the above poems tell us about her anguish, personal life and her conundrums.
Although she wrote the poem in the third person but clearly she talks about herself and her exploitation.
In another poem of hers "The Freaks", she gives a glimpse into her married sex life with her husband. Subtly, she raises the issue of subjugation and marital rape. Her husband who only intends to satisfy his sexual desire, doesn't care about the needs of her wife. She as a perfect wife has to submit herself to the wills of her husband and that's why she fakes a "grand, flamboyant lust"
"I am freak. It's only
to save my face, I flaunt, at
Times, a grand, flamboyant lust."
The poem "My Grandmother's house" also reflects her confession of being discontented with her present life where she has to "beg at stranger's door to receive love, at least in small change"
So the above poems tell us about her anguish, personal life and her conundrums.