The debilitated muse: poetry in the face of illness.
Poetry is a supremely sensory art, both in the imagining and in the writing. What happens when the poet faces illness? How is the poetry affected by alterations of the body and mind? This paper examines the poetry of several writers afflicted by physical illness-poets of great renown and poets who might be classified as "emerging voices," in order to explore the interplay between creativity and corporeal vulnerability.
Ofri
Danielle
D
Department of Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, 550 First Avenue, Rm OBV-612, New York, NY 10016, USA. dofri@BLReview.org
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D003405:Creativity; D005197:Famous Persons; D005260:Female; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000266:history; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology; D011037:Poetry as Topic / Q000266:history*; D013315:Stress, Psychological