USA: Poetry Episode Anne Sexton

Presents an introduction to Anne Sexton's poetry. Describes how she began writing and gives an overview of her poems.

[@HaFannyHa]

There really ought to be a major documentary about Anne Sexton. She was so fascinating, complex, passionate, strong and vital yet so fragile. This is a fabulous programme. Thank you for uploading!

[@georgeanderson7499]

Or a biopic movie.

[@au5tinic38]

Will they talk about her molesting her daughter?

[@gypsyjezebel1651]

No one read their own work quite the same way Anne did. I could listen to her all day.

[@efleishermedia]

"I did not like my dolls for they resembled people." Damn. That's genius.

[@pariahmouse7794]

She was a genius, that's why...

[@enricovankeeken1624]

*:-)*

[@hectorlopez8095]

Her personality made her so freaking attractive. I love her poetry. Honest and strong with 50s 60s undertone from a woman that understood that era and the women that inhabited that period of time. She was no whiner... She was a real woman.

[@matthewschwartz6607]

She was very disturbed, though.

[@zaftra]

she was a beautiful woman, her personality detracts.

[@djlystics]

YESSSS! My thoughts exactly. And the way she looks in the camera. I'm an eye person. I bet I could hear her read her poems through her eyes.

[@djlystics]

@MarkAndrews71565 So true!!!

[@gracenurse3365]

She’s such an interesting combination of the capable and the helpless. In short, a real human being.

[@gane-1c]

Once I was desperate to yell and hurt my throat because I just couldn’t. I couldn’t express what I was feeling. I couldn’t grasp at the turmoil and it made me angry, sad and mad I was beyond repair then Anne came and she took that burden and she saved me, she made me feel understood. I know she saved a lot of people as well, but I swear I can’t imagine a world without her.

[@TheFray212]

anne sexton is a true picture of an american tragedy for me with all of the ugly and beauty. a brilliant poet, an artist that weaved and crafted her darkness and maladaptation, articulated it in such a way that not many others have like that. and she lived and breathed her art, it was a reflection of her, and her a reflection of it: between the possible abuse from whoever it could have been during her childhood/teenage years, her chronic mental illness and instability during a time when it was already hard enough just being a woman, her crimes against her children and husband, her affairs, and subsequently her suicide. she lived that darkness that many have danced with, been touched by, but she was able to eloquently express it in her work. she lived some of the most ugly, rough things in life and translated it into something to behold. had many things been different, had society been different, who knows where she could have went. my heart does go out to her daughter, and in anne’s death, i hope that she has been able to make some sense of it all and find peace.

[@asong4thedead]

​@timnray99 do you think only hungry people can be victims?

[@richardbroderick980]

This short film brought tears to my eyes as frequently occurs when I read Sexton's poetry. Her work is miraculous, her life a tragedy, her death both an end and a beginning of answers for which we do not even know the questions. Thank you for touching on so much in such a condensed amount of time.

[@asong4thedead]

For all her faults, I still am amazed at her poetry and personality. They should make a film on her life.

[@Jessicaunarex]

Cate Blanchett should play her. Watch her in the film 'Blue Jasmine'

[@JeffRebornNow]

@@Jessicaunarex oh Jasmine was great in that film, and her academy award was justified

[@efthimiakonstantinides4699]

@@asong4thedead I'm reading her daughter's book at the moment. It's disturbing.

[@asong4thedead]

@@efthimiakonstantinides4699 I've read her daughter's books and I agree, it's very disturbing. I love Anne's poetry, but frankly she was a very sick and disturbed woman who put her daughter through awful abuse. I feel terrible for Linda and can relate to having an awfully mentally ill mother. I've emailed her before and she seems to be in a good place now, despite all she's been through. She's very brave and strong.

[@efthimiakonstantinides4699]

@@asong4thedead I'm watching her read and she truly is mesmerising, but I feel for her children.

[@elizabethhcarson]

Incredibly gifted

[@salzburg18]

"I'm on a diet from death". Only those who have been on that diet understand the significance of those words. Anne was a genius.

[@caseymarinkovich8689]

I can hardly tell if she is reading poetry or speaking to the audience. This women lived in her poetry

[@ElizabethPoet]

More than other poets I have seen she really inhabits and lives in her words, her world.

[@grannybemx6729]

I have been her kind...💜

[@tomsparks6099]

She broke all the rules to quote a literary friend. She has inspired me since high school, even to start my own writing. She had an imp , a demon hidden inside that overran her eventually. You could see how proud she is of her depth. What was it that turned that talent against herself as in so many artists who take their own lives?

[@asong4thedead]

She stopped taking her Thorazine and continued drinking heavily.

[@BeeBeeBeeLol]

an unbridled desire to see beyond the veil of muttered words and dulcet eyes who could care less who you are.

[@rievans57]

Ann Sexton's poetry cuts.....

[@leahcotton5315]

Thanks for the amazing, complex, deliciously dark poems Anne. I love them all dearly.

[@ameerah1998]

I totally resonate with her writing. She writes and reads quite well.

[@asong4thedead]

Lets get an Anne Sexton movie already, with Natasha O'Keefe.

[@visceralmaneuvers7664]

*WHY has there not been a major *Biopic film made about this woman?? This is truly a Travesty! She was such a *Badass*

[@jamescrane936]

Mrs Sexton was my neighbor ... I was a kid in the neighborhood....I

[@maryemtarek8704]

James Crane what was that like?

[@ericme4767]

YES. Please tell us!!!!

[@46metube]

he's so overcome he cant speak.. neither could i.

[@gorvo31]

Thanks much for sharing these. Just came across your videos today, and am really enjoying them. -Carm

[@chriscameron6608]

Dangerously beautiful - those eyes.

[@eliseziegler8856]

She had been a model when she was younger. She is gorgeous!

[@thesiluresscribe567]

She was such a bad girl, Sexton. Yet I keep coming back for more. Priceless words.

[@louisatoland2383]

Whow, she blows me away...

[@efleishermedia]

The intelligence in those eyes, though.

[@Chesterton7]

So good. Thanks for posting.

[@eliseziegler8856]

She and Sylvia were from the same city and Sylvia adopted a Tranatlantic accent. She was very insuecure when she got to Cambridge and American and her voice was unrecognizable from when she livied in the USA. Anne Sexton was a great poet as was Sylvia Plath.

[@eliseziegler8856]

@@lancejohnson127 Read Red Comet by Heather Clark published last year. Over 1,000 pages of meticulous research writtem over a period of 8 years, Clark who is a renowned scholar had access to more information than everr known. That is where I got my infomration. I don't just make comments that can not be corroborated.

[@Lord_Heron]

Wonderful stuff, thanks for uploading. Anne is so very interesting, and I have never heard anyone read their work so beautifully and rhythmically. A very interesting poet.

[@camilafanmary]

Anne...MY HEART! My favourite forever.

[@edsa1318]

Thanks so much for uploading.

[@nancyrose8028]

Thank you for this.

[@soldtobediers]

1st ever impression of even knowing of her - let alone that of her works; seems to embrace the astute candor of the possible Looks, Voice, & Actions of actress Robin Tunney (Agent Lisbon) on the Mentalist Series. Her questioning perspectives are certainly a perfect hand to glove fit for the late Leonard Cohen's words - ''Your body will never be familiar.'' - ''How can I begin anything new with all of yesterday still in me?'' - ''I was born in a suit.'' Perhaps the latter he'd meant as related to his ever chosen attire of clothing. It could have been too; as a poetic sense of duality, to apply to the (ongoing spiritual law suit) we all are nakedly & reluctantly dress in - just from being an inherent human. @ any measure of what is believed to be the sleeve attire each poet should reveal of just what being a vessel of the feeling of life's presence is to them... She is from the heart, descriptively spot on! -Just another one of those many ones of we who are awaiting His Just Return. 102621

[@Damiano0630]

One of the greatest writers in any form. "Flee on Your Donkey" and "The Double Image" alone are such profound works, not to mention so many others. Would love to write a film about her starring Debra Winger :?)

[@wpynaemnasuchegoprzestworo8336]

Piękno. Najwspanialsze. Cudowna Ann.

[@creullon]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1428">23:48</a> live or die, but don't poison everything

[@OXSkuldream]

Legend.

[@fattymcfatso1083]

Another death-obsessed half-mad poet - - Berryman, Plath, Sexton - - they are all brilliant - - Lowell is a member of that club as well

[@whudjawant4413]

is that why he loved Bishop so much

[@fattymcfatso1083]

@@whudjawant4413 I'm sure Lowell considered Bishop his "soul mate". He had mad love for her which was more than platonic even though he was well-aware she was lesbian. Although she indulged him - not physically, of course - I always got the impression her feelings were not as strong. Although Bishop abused herself - she was an alcoholic - she was not self destructive to level of the poets who actually killed themselves . . neither was Lowell for that matter. Lowell's cross-to-bear was his severe bipolar depression which rendered him immobile every 2 years or so. BTW, if you are interested, the greatest insight you will ever get into either Lowell or Bishop is from the vast collection of their letters to each other. Hope this was helpful . .

[@maryemtarek8704]

I Love your channel!

[@user-ur5bo6ld8i]

What is that music she is listening to? Does anyone know?

[@patriciahart3040]

Sublime!

[@mattmammone2338]

Rachel Brosnahan should be cast to play Anne Sexton if there is ever a biopic made about her. The resemblance is almost scary.

[@RevenantEternal]

Elizabeth Moss as well....those eyes.

[@shakesrear7850]

Either her, Ann Hathaway (For the sound of her voice) or Natalie Portman for that intelligence). I mean looks are important but they'd have to get the voice right.

[@shakesrear7850]

I went to agree with this and found I already did.

[@andygtmo]

"and this is how the bells REALLY sound"

[@mairaparula4012]

She changed afterwards the last lines of The Addict? Here she says: What a lay me down this is with two pink, two orange, two green, two white goodnights. It's asleep, it's asleep you can keep.

[@inlandonline]

We love the Work, but curb our praise, disparaging the poet's humanity, their flaws, their scars, the deftly shaped, the texture, of their voice, their eye, their brutal Art. How sanctimonious and pure we are, that we fly so high above them, Because they, have fallen, fallen, fallen, Apart, for us, to see, and feel, and even Be, and if so, only temporarily, Great, but Nowhere great, as the poet's sapient thee. - copyright 2021 elizabeth star dylan moran, ravenswood notch and niles canyon, CA.

[@OXSkuldream]

👏

[@8angst8]

How sanctimoniously YOU write, Liz. Can't stand it when people re-hash words, can't find their own.

[@inlandonline]

@@8angst8 So tell me!? Who or what do I rehash? I doubt if you are literary enough to show me. That is oirginal writing and I'm sorry that you cannot appreciate that. But, please enlighten me! Give me the volume and page and chapter.

[@8angst8]

@@inlandonline Everything you wrote in your initial post sounded hackneyed and "received." Like bad poetry from, say, 1950, with a splash of post-2016 PC Twitter thrown in.

[@inlandonline]

@@8angst8 Thank you. Coming from you, that is a great compliment.

[@crmay72]

Does anyone know what year this was filmed? I imagine it was the late '60's, maybe?

[@geenyus]

1966

[@crmay72]

@@geenyus Thanks so much! :)

[@ledeyabaklykova]

Gosh. An accomplished poet whose works lifted her to the top of her art, with a complex inner life. Cursed with both penetrating brilliance and alluring beauty. She could have been a fashion model earlier in her life if she wanted to.

[@davidlee6720]

No Sylvia Plath without Anne Sexton - I thought Sylvia was totally unique when I first read her - then I came across Ann Sexton - but there is nothing new under the sun -we are all influenced by reading our peers - each person must add what he or she can - it is a never-ending process - .

[@carleywalton50]

Does anyone know the beautiful song in the background?

[@dooneypotter6601]

Same question!!

[@nikhilthottingal1366]

What is that song in <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1255">20:55</a>? Tell me. Please.

[@Mytsugaya]

It's a song by Heitor Villa-Lobos, brazilian classical composer kzbin.info/www/bejne/mH29dWOOpdGMqKs

[@Aquasaurousrex]

Mytsugaya thank you so very much

[@nikhilthottingal1366]

Finally!! Thankuuuuuu

[@HaFannyHa]

Bachianas Brasileiras by Villa Lobos

[@anatol1204]

Nice

[@call_in_sick]

🖤🖤🖤

[@xyzllii]

Great poet ...full stop. I read her 'Mercy Street' on my other channel... You Tube- Poemsapennyeach

[@ckhanson81]

Cool Poetic lineage: Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath- Please take note- Sincerely, Chris

♥️

[@ann5944]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1">0:01</a> ❤❤

[@granadahoy4704]

She was very nice woman so nice

[@au5tinic38]

She molested her daughter 😬

[@pendragonU]

Darned she be. My college GF had her voice and hair. So whenever I hear Annie, I feel her close again. Too close for any ease or peace. Darned both.

[@jackjohnhameld6401]

If only Anne Sexton could have read a book like Jennifer Michael Hecht's *Stay: A History of Suicides and the Philosophies Against It* but it was not published until 2014.

[@user-yk5oh4ve1q]

Ну чего? Можно слушать. Иностранная поэзия на иностранном языке. Читает со смыслом.

[@seldonlives19]

...why not d# ? ...one of my favorite lunatics....

[@charlespeterson3798]

That woman used her eyes...

[@Teadekun]

Quite successfully

[@pepryan2183]

Totally selfish and irresponsible to make her daughter feel that she has to mother her. At 11 years old. God knows when that started. Terrible.

[@heartshapedfox.]

not her looking like adam driver in the thumbnail

[@slowlikehoneyviolence]

💀💀💀💀

[@mrcharming5053]

Barmy

[@riteasrain]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="358">5:58</a> this is what life is like these days in aged care 🙄 Nothing new there.

[@46metube]

Can you imagine that now? Television educating Americans.

[@masker9885]

Very disturbing person given the information about how she sexually abused her daughter and what she put her through. It is interesting from a psychological perspective though

[@alternative7361]

She's wearing what was known as, then ...A " Bullet Bra" .... back when bra's weren't padded and were interestng in the way they presented the goods ... and that breakdown she mentioned wasn't a breakdown ... it was an illumination from which was born a poet... thanks to Jseph Cambell we know this ...special people have special initiations into the conscious world .. and often are driven mad from the world misunderstanding of them.

[@mslitchick]

She had postpartum depression. Today we know what that is.

[@alternative7361]

@@mslitchick I looked further into her life and they said she was bi-polar ... But... this much I know, a lot of the most creative writers poets and sculptors and painters, and physicists/scientists have some sort of "mental" affliction that seems to spark great art or powerful shamans and witches, and she was one of , and still is one of the greats. Godess bless them all , then and now. Thank you for your reply!

[@asong4thedead]

Why are you writing about her bra? It has absolutely nothing to do with..well, anything..and yes, she had MANY breakdowns. She was schizophrenic, highly medicated and molested her daughter more than once. She went into trances. Read a book about her life, instead of focusing on her "goods". She was unwell from an early age.

[@JeffRebornNow]

@@asong4thedead I read Middlebrook's book. So what? It didn't change my perception of Sexton as a great poet. Look at the boring crap Robert Lowell was writing before he started to write like Sexton -- I mean, adopt her personal approach. Nobody ever thought of doing that. It's unfortunate that now all we get in American poetry is the personal I poem, and 99.9 % of these poets aren't nearly as interesting as Sexton or Lowell. Their poems are as trivial and boring as they are. 60 years after the publication of "To Bedlam and Halfway Back" and people are still reading her and none of her books are out of print.

[@asong4thedead]

@@JeffRebornNow Of course she was a great poet. I don't think that's under dispute. I just don't see the point in focusing on her "goods", as opposed to her poetry and intellect, that's all. If you read her daughter's book(s) I think you'd have a better understanding of the pain and torment she caused her family.

[@edwardferry8247]

An unpleasant history surrounding her children, difficult to listen to given what is now known about their abuse. There is a very sinister aura around her particularly when we watch the artifice of her readings.

[@danb7601]

love her poetry but never saw the appeal of poets reading their poetry, doesn't work for me

[@HoratioTalbot771_a]

Her poetry is a little creepy and scary ......Horror poetry

[@pariahmouse7794]

Her poetry is the reality of too many women. Shut UUUUUPPPP... She's been misaligned enough She gave me what my mother couldn't. POETRY. and complete freedom of thought. Perhaps I am too damaged to know the difference... I cut my doll teeth on her truth. So. Whose truth do you live in? Is it real? She was. A true POET. And if she scares you? She SHOULD...