King Lear

It is impossible not to appreciate the poetry of Adrienne Rich. The unusual and innovative imagery of her poetry, the variance of themes her poetry encompasses, the variance of register present and the seriousness of her poetry combine to make her poetry unique. The poems I have studied are STORM WARNINGS, AUNT JENNIFER’S TIGERS, LIVING IN SIN, TRYING TO TALK WITH A MAN and DIVING INTO THE WRECK.
As said, the variance of register present makes the poetry of Adrienne Rich unique and hence cannot but be appreciated. Many poets stick with the use of “I” throughout their poetry or refrain from using it all. Adrienne Rich switches from focusing poems on herself to others and then including herself with others.
I believe doing this gives her poetry as a whole a universal feel, being of worth not just for her but many others besides, and hence holds resonance for all; this must be appreciated.
We see this beginning in STORM WARNINGS. Rich places herself at the centre of the poem and declares that “I leave the book upon a pillowed chair”. It is she who responds to “the mastery of elements” as she declares that “I draw the curtains as the sky goes black.” We see the variance of register beginning to present itself in another poem, AUNT JENNIFER’S TIGERS (“another” – cohesion). Here Rich leaves herself out of the poem and allows the poem to focus on Aunt Jennifer, the Uncle and her tigers, who “go on prancing, proud and unafraid” even after the death of Aunt Jennifer.
Throughout her poetry Rich grants poems to others, to herself and to others – they are for all, each in an original way through her varying of register. Producing her poetry in this manner to suit all cannot but be appreciated. I think that like variance of register, through covering many different themes in different poems Rich allows her poetry to appeal to many and thus makes her poetry unique.