THE USE OR AVOIDANCE OF SENTIMENTALITY IN POEMS

I will discuss the issue of sentimentality in two poems from the readings. The

poems that I will discuss include "The Truth the Dead know" by Anne Sexton

and "Momentos 1" by W.D. Snodgrass. It is my conclusion that Sexton's poem was

written with the author having the protagonist avoid sentimentality while the poem

written by Snodgrass describes a protagonist that expresses sentimentality.

The poem "The Truth The Dead know" by Anne Sexton apparently tells the story of a

person who has lost both parents in a short period of time in quick succession. The

protagonist is acknowledging the passing of the parents but apparently refuses to be

broken by grief, and avoid sentimentality. An excerpt from the poem can illustrate

this:

Gone, I say and walk from church,
refusing the stiff procession to the grave,
letting the dead ride alone in the hearse,
It is June. I am tired of being brave.

The poem "Momentos 1" by W.D. Snodgrass, relates the story of a man who once

loved a woman through WWII when he went ot war and fought Japanese forces. He later

got married to this woman and eventually divorced. The author did not avoid

sentimentality and used sentimental language when writing the poem. An example of

this can be seen from the following excerpt:

Then through the war and those two long years
Overseas, the Japanese dead in their shacks
Among dishes, dolls, and lost shoes; I carried
This glimpse of you, there, to choke down my fear,
Prove it had been, that it might come back.
That was before we got married.

Sentimentality has been both used and avoided by these two poets.