Feminine Gospels [Paperback]

A collection of 22 poems, Feminine Gospels can approximately be divided into: poems of sometimes comical feminine traits and archetypes, one long poem, and poems on women and metaphysical matters. It's a wide breadth for such a small book, all written in Duffy's sometimes-playful, sometimes-rhyming, empathetic language. The quality varies, but I believe the book gets better as it goes on. The archetypal poems didn't appeal to me, but the long poem, The Laughter of Stafford Girls' High, is brilliant and justifies the entire collection, and the denser, metaphysical poems that follow are all beautiful. Recommended.

Whether the poems are intentionally divided, I couldn't say--but there seems to be a clear difference between the thirds of the book. The first third explores the lives of beautiful women from Helen of Troy to Marilyn Monroe, a woman who diets herself down to almost nothing, a woman who's subbed for dozens of historical men's roles, and other stories of female traits (shopper, dieter) and archetypes (virgin, crone). Many of these poems share an irreverent, humorous tone; many of them mesh reality with fantastical events in a way that much reminds me of Atwood's The Edible Woman. Personally, I don't identity with any of these feminine archetypes, and I'm not a fan of humor--and so these poems, however skilfully written, left little impression on me. That may be a personal complaint, and other readers may have a better response to this section.

The Laughter of Stafford Girls' High follows. 20 times longer than the other selections, it's the story of laughter which infects a British girl's school, and it's word-perfect: Duffy's unexpected rhymes are an ideal match to the story's laughter and joy, and her voice also lends well to the remarkably sensitive emotional impact that the laughter has on the teachers. Joyous, liberating, empathetic, this long poem is well-rounded and a complete success--it alone justifies picking up this collection. The final third is made up of poems on words, umbilical cords, death, and love--more poetic, more metaphysical topics. Duffy's style curls in on itself, rich and dense; poems may require two or three readings, but they reward that effort: each a quiet, complex, metaphysical study, these poems are thoughtful and beautiful. So while this collection was initially not to my liking, it improves as it goes on and is by the end a distinct success. With such a wide breadth, there should be a poem here for every reader, and Feminine Gospels is a good place to begin with Duffy's work--I was fairly new to her poetry, and found this collection varied, approachable, and a joy to read. I recommend it.

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