James Dickey Research Paper
Throughout life we all make mistakes, how we handle them, and express our feelings in different ways is what defines a person. Every person has a different way of dealing with feelings, James Dickey used poetry. James Dickey was a southern, American poet that was born on February 2nd, 1923 (Dickey, Poets). Dickey wrote many different types of literature from screenplays to poetry (Dickey, Contemporary). Before Dickey’s vivacious poetry career took off Dickey served in the Air Force and lied about being a bomber pilot (Ruppersburg). When Dickey returned from the Air Force, he began teaching at universities all across The United States of America (Dickey, Contemporary). James Dickey was a successful poet because of the intensity of his poetry
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and how engaging it is as most of his writing was actually about his own life (Ruppersburg).
Dickey led quite the interesting personal life as he lied to the people close to him and became an alcoholic (Ruppersburg).
Every person has their specific traits and James Dickey was no exception. Dickey was born on February 2nd, 1923 in Buckhead Georgia, a more wealthy section of northern Atlanta (Dickey, Poets). His parents names were Maibelle Swift and Eugene Dickey (Ruppersburg). Dickey’s family was relatively well off even though it was The Great Depression and the majority of people were living in poverty and were homeless (Ruppersburg). Dickey attended North Fulton High School and played football throughout his childhood (Ruppersburg). His poem “Looking for the Buckhead Boys” encapsulated some of the good times he experienced with his friends …show more content…
(Ruppersburg).
In 1942, Dickey graduated high school and enrolled at Clemson University, but dropped out when he was called to serve in the Air Force (Ruppersburg). Dickey trained for thirteen months to be a bomber pilot but failed and became a navigator, even though throughout most of his life he claimed he was a bomber pilot (Ruppersburg). Once Dickey returned from the war he enrolled at Vanderbilt University to get his undergraduate in english and then a year later his master's degree (Ruppersburg). Some say it was at Vanderbilt where Dickey began writing poetry, some say it was during his service in the Pacific Sphere. In 1948, Dickey married Maxine Syerson, his first wife and mother of two of his sons (Dickey, Contemporary).
Dickey’s relationship with Maxine and his two sons was poor and distant.
Dickey had affairs with other woman and his drinking problems caused his family to stray away from him (Suarez).Dickey began teaching in 1950 at Rice University but was called to duty for the Korean war (Ruppersburg). After returning to Rice University he later moved to the University of Florida in 1955(Ruppersburg). Only a year later Dickey resigns from his position after reading a controversial poem at a reading circle (Ruppersburg). Then in 1976 his first wife Maxine dies causing, Dickey to become a financial and social mess because now he has to act like an adult (Suarez). Less than two months after his wife's death he married Deborah Dodson, a former student and had a daughter with her (Dickey,
Contemporary).
Later on in his life, Dickey becomes determined to overcome his alcoholism to make it up to his family and continues to write poetry to apologize for his poor behavior (Ruppersburg). Dickey Continues teaching at many different universities but never stays at one university for too long (Dickey, Contemporary). Dickey is poetry laureate in Washington D.C from 1966-1969 (Dickey, Contemporary). In 1994 Dickey apologizes to his son for not being a good father (Ruppersburg). Dickey teaches university classes every day until two days before his death (Ruppersburg). Dickey dies on January 19th, 1997, due to alcoholism and old age (Ruppersburg).
Dickey’s poetry is mainly based around emotions and used to apologize for his poor behavior(Ruppersburg). Dickey didn’t really have a great start as a writer despite being a university level teacher, not many of his poems sold in the beginning(Suarez). His poetry style morphed into different shapes overtime, his most popular works were during the middle of his career(Suarez). The middle of his career was when he was most happy with himself but everyone who knew him personally wasn’t happy with him,which caused most of his poetry to be apologetic. The more intense these emotions were, the easier it was for the audience to connect with his writing and people like art they feel a connection to.
During the middle of his career when Dickey started to become a more preponderate poet. Dickeys most well known poetry collection was “Poems 1957-1967” (Dickey,Contemporary). One of Dickeys best known work of literature is “Deliverance” published in 1970 ,is one of his few novels.”Deliverance” ended up doing so well it was turned into a movie in 1972 (Suarez). Dickey tried to maintain the same level of fame that he attained for a while so that way his other poetry would become popular. Due to Dickeys fame, his poetry was analysed by many different poets and scholars creating a better writer with nothing to write about.
Dickey wrote “The Rain Guitar” while he was in England during 1962 (Fahey). The poem is not very well known due to it being apart of his “Poems 1957-1967” collection (Dickey, Contemporary). Dickey never really had a poem in particular that was very well known his popular literature was all usually apart of a collection. The story of “The Rain Guitar” is the tale of two men near a weir. One man plays the guitar and one man fishes, they are both similar yet different at the same time.
The man with the guitar is a veteran of the Air Force and is wearing a scruffy sweater which seems to be symbolising poverty, as it is a constantly getting worse unless you have a way to reverse the affects . The man with the fishing pole is also a veteran of the air force but has a wooden leg which represents physical honor that he can show off and receive sympathy for. The man with a guitar is a soldier, he listen to the other man when it come to when and when not to play and sing. The man with the fishing rod is another previous soldier except he is now in the military at a higher level of command hence why he can tell the man with the guitar when and when not to play and sing. The wooden leg is the man telling him to march, the singing and guitar playing is the soldier singing and keeping sanity. The poem is actually about the order of command and how similar yet different the people are inside it. The man with the pole has come to recruit but the man with the guitar has come to get them to rebel, the man with the pole targets specific targets but the man with the guitar targets the mass audience.
I like the poem’s theme of similarities and differences between people.It’s use of symbolism to describe traits about the characters, it allows you to feel as if you know these characters individually.The descriptiveness allows you to get a feel of how its an average day but there is really a battle for loyalty going on between these two men.Dickey writes in a strange pattern and the words are out of order so you have to really analyze what is going on. The thoughts seem a bit scatter brain, which makes sense for the poem due to there being a lot of different things going on, but causes the reader to take their time and analyze what each individual word means and why it is relevant to the poem’s story. This copy of the poem also has no consistent pattern in lines making it hard to follow because the reader does not know where their eyes should go next. Overall the poem is interesting and very detailed but can be a bit hard to follow.
Although James Dickey may have had his share of social problems he was a very smart writer. The reader can see why he wrote the way he did, why he used certain items to symbolize certain ideals or actions, and how he used his poetry to convey his emotions. “The Rain Guitar” showed us that two people may be similar in one large instance but completely different in every other way and how that can truly affect who that person is. We can see in James Dickey’s poetry his emotional intensity and why people enjoy and connect to his poetry.
and how engaging it is as most of his writing was actually about his own life (Ruppersburg).
Dickey led quite the interesting personal life as he lied to the people close to him and became an alcoholic (Ruppersburg).
Every person has their specific traits and James Dickey was no exception. Dickey was born on February 2nd, 1923 in Buckhead Georgia, a more wealthy section of northern Atlanta (Dickey, Poets). His parents names were Maibelle Swift and Eugene Dickey (Ruppersburg). Dickey’s family was relatively well off even though it was The Great Depression and the majority of people were living in poverty and were homeless (Ruppersburg). Dickey attended North Fulton High School and played football throughout his childhood (Ruppersburg). His poem “Looking for the Buckhead Boys” encapsulated some of the good times he experienced with his friends …show more content…
(Ruppersburg).
In 1942, Dickey graduated high school and enrolled at Clemson University, but dropped out when he was called to serve in the Air Force (Ruppersburg). Dickey trained for thirteen months to be a bomber pilot but failed and became a navigator, even though throughout most of his life he claimed he was a bomber pilot (Ruppersburg). Once Dickey returned from the war he enrolled at Vanderbilt University to get his undergraduate in english and then a year later his master's degree (Ruppersburg). Some say it was at Vanderbilt where Dickey began writing poetry, some say it was during his service in the Pacific Sphere. In 1948, Dickey married Maxine Syerson, his first wife and mother of two of his sons (Dickey, Contemporary).
Dickey’s relationship with Maxine and his two sons was poor and distant.
Dickey had affairs with other woman and his drinking problems caused his family to stray away from him (Suarez).Dickey began teaching in 1950 at Rice University but was called to duty for the Korean war (Ruppersburg). After returning to Rice University he later moved to the University of Florida in 1955(Ruppersburg). Only a year later Dickey resigns from his position after reading a controversial poem at a reading circle (Ruppersburg). Then in 1976 his first wife Maxine dies causing, Dickey to become a financial and social mess because now he has to act like an adult (Suarez). Less than two months after his wife's death he married Deborah Dodson, a former student and had a daughter with her (Dickey,
Contemporary).
Later on in his life, Dickey becomes determined to overcome his alcoholism to make it up to his family and continues to write poetry to apologize for his poor behavior (Ruppersburg). Dickey Continues teaching at many different universities but never stays at one university for too long (Dickey, Contemporary). Dickey is poetry laureate in Washington D.C from 1966-1969 (Dickey, Contemporary). In 1994 Dickey apologizes to his son for not being a good father (Ruppersburg). Dickey teaches university classes every day until two days before his death (Ruppersburg). Dickey dies on January 19th, 1997, due to alcoholism and old age (Ruppersburg).
Dickey’s poetry is mainly based around emotions and used to apologize for his poor behavior(Ruppersburg). Dickey didn’t really have a great start as a writer despite being a university level teacher, not many of his poems sold in the beginning(Suarez). His poetry style morphed into different shapes overtime, his most popular works were during the middle of his career(Suarez). The middle of his career was when he was most happy with himself but everyone who knew him personally wasn’t happy with him,which caused most of his poetry to be apologetic. The more intense these emotions were, the easier it was for the audience to connect with his writing and people like art they feel a connection to.
During the middle of his career when Dickey started to become a more preponderate poet. Dickeys most well known poetry collection was “Poems 1957-1967” (Dickey,Contemporary). One of Dickeys best known work of literature is “Deliverance” published in 1970 ,is one of his few novels.”Deliverance” ended up doing so well it was turned into a movie in 1972 (Suarez). Dickey tried to maintain the same level of fame that he attained for a while so that way his other poetry would become popular. Due to Dickeys fame, his poetry was analysed by many different poets and scholars creating a better writer with nothing to write about.
Dickey wrote “The Rain Guitar” while he was in England during 1962 (Fahey). The poem is not very well known due to it being apart of his “Poems 1957-1967” collection (Dickey, Contemporary). Dickey never really had a poem in particular that was very well known his popular literature was all usually apart of a collection. The story of “The Rain Guitar” is the tale of two men near a weir. One man plays the guitar and one man fishes, they are both similar yet different at the same time.
The man with the guitar is a veteran of the Air Force and is wearing a scruffy sweater which seems to be symbolising poverty, as it is a constantly getting worse unless you have a way to reverse the affects . The man with the fishing pole is also a veteran of the air force but has a wooden leg which represents physical honor that he can show off and receive sympathy for. The man with a guitar is a soldier, he listen to the other man when it come to when and when not to play and sing. The man with the fishing rod is another previous soldier except he is now in the military at a higher level of command hence why he can tell the man with the guitar when and when not to play and sing. The wooden leg is the man telling him to march, the singing and guitar playing is the soldier singing and keeping sanity. The poem is actually about the order of command and how similar yet different the people are inside it. The man with the pole has come to recruit but the man with the guitar has come to get them to rebel, the man with the pole targets specific targets but the man with the guitar targets the mass audience.
I like the poem’s theme of similarities and differences between people.It’s use of symbolism to describe traits about the characters, it allows you to feel as if you know these characters individually.The descriptiveness allows you to get a feel of how its an average day but there is really a battle for loyalty going on between these two men.Dickey writes in a strange pattern and the words are out of order so you have to really analyze what is going on. The thoughts seem a bit scatter brain, which makes sense for the poem due to there being a lot of different things going on, but causes the reader to take their time and analyze what each individual word means and why it is relevant to the poem’s story. This copy of the poem also has no consistent pattern in lines making it hard to follow because the reader does not know where their eyes should go next. Overall the poem is interesting and very detailed but can be a bit hard to follow.
Although James Dickey may have had his share of social problems he was a very smart writer. The reader can see why he wrote the way he did, why he used certain items to symbolize certain ideals or actions, and how he used his poetry to convey his emotions. “The Rain Guitar” showed us that two people may be similar in one large instance but completely different in every other way and how that can truly affect who that person is. We can see in James Dickey’s poetry his emotional intensity and why people enjoy and connect to his poetry.