Anne Sexton: Early poems from To Bedlam and Part Way Back!(1960) All
My Pretty Ones (1962). Poems from Live or Die (1966) and Love Poems
(1969)
-Became a poet as an adult !
-She didn’t have studies on poetry !
-She started poetry as an escape suggested by her psychologist !
-She started to work in a poetry workshop !
-For her, poetry was her self reflection AND EXPRESSION (own life, expressions,
anxieties, etc)!
-During her career she was always in some psychologic treatment. And poetry was the
instrument that gave her access to her subconscious (analyse her subconscious)!
-Poetry as a source of power !
-W. D. Snodgrass was a big inspiration for her !
Ringing the Bells
-They are in a mental hospital!
-It is Tuesday in the morning!
-The speaker is a patient, who is receiving a music lesson !
-She plays the bell (as everybody) !
-She defines the two ladies beside her as her clothes only (dehumanising the patient next
to her” “the fray dress next to me”. This grey dress is grumbles. On the other side, she
calls the woman “squirrel girl” !
-The bells are untroubled and clean unlike the patients !
-She feels superior to the other patients !
-She is not engaged to the music lesson!
-Words like “and” gift the poem with a sense of continuity !
-Uses a lot of repetition, internal rhymes and alliteration to obtain a sense of musicality !
The Operation
-It is divided into 3 parts!
-In the 1st part:!
-Her mother was ill of cancer (during the end of the summer)!
-The speaker is in a mental hospital “white office” !
-She is sick !
-Then she links to the time with her mother. (it is a bond poem) She has the same illness
as her mother. !
-She uses alliteration of consonants and vowels !
-In the 2nd and 3rd part: !
-There is the operation !
