Quilting - Foxes in the Poetry of Lucille Clifton Essay example -- Bio

Quilting - Foxes in the Poetry of Lucille Clifton In 1942 Virginia Woolf immortalise a paper to the Womens Service League about The nonpareil in the House. For Woolf, this Angel represented the voice in the back of the opinion of a woman that was saying, Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own (1346). During Woolfs time a woman was non supposed to write critically. Rather, a woman was supposed to be philanthropic be tender flatter deceive use all the humanities and wiles of her sex. Woolf writes of the need to kill this angel. She says, Had I not killed her, she would have killed me (1346). Thankfully now it is no longer considered improper for a woman to write critically and truthfully, but Lucille Clifton has her own angel to kill in some of her poetry. Clifton is a woman artist who uses her past experiences and those of her ancestors to write her poetry. Clifton uses the ideas of light and foxes to convey the pleasance she finds in being a woman poet, a s well as the fear that an artist sometimes feels when first struck with an idea for a poem. The poems telling our stories and the coming of fox reveal the feelings of fear an artist may have when creating a work. In telling our stories Clifton compares a fox to a poet the fox came every evening to my doorasking for nothing. my fear confine me inside, hoping to dismiss herbut she sat till morning, waiting.at dawn we would, all(prenominal) of us,rise from our haunches, look through the glassthen walk away.did she hoard up her village around herand sing of the hairless moon face,the trembling snout, the insensible eyes?child, i tell you now it was notthe animal furrow i was hiding from,it was the poet in her, the poet andthe terrib... ...ht some terrible stories. By take to light these terrible stories a poet in effect slays the angels that kept her from writing. each author has his/her own angel to slay. Lucille Clifton sees past the fear she has about what she cleverness wr ite about using her gift of poetry to slay her angel. whole caboodle Cited Clifton, Lucille. Good Woman Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980. Rochester, NY BOA, 1987. ---. Quilting Poems 1987-1990. Rochester, NY BOA, 1991. ---. The Terrible Stories. Brockport, NY BOA, 1996. Rushing, Andrea Benton. Lucille Clifton A Changing Voice for Changing Times. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Roger Matuz. Detroit, MI Gale look Inc, 1991. 79-81. Woolf, Virginia. Professions for Women. The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women. Ed. Sandra M. Gilbert and S. Gubar. New York, NY Norton, 1996. 1345-48.