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see beyond th e co nstru cted view, like cranin g around someo n e in a cin–
ema.
Eli za beth Ui sho p has been accl aimed, and I think ri ghtl y, for di sa r–
ranging these perspectives . In a poem like " At the Fishh o uses" or " In th e
Waiting-Room " l3isho p re scheduled o ur e xpectati o n within the poem .
Her vo ice w ith its beautiful , desolate tones acts as a zoom lens, moving in
and out , remindin g us o f derail , lea ving us asto ni shed by th e o vervi ew. In
that sort of skillful se parati o n , and whJt it o ffers the contempo rary poem,
wonderful things Cl ll happen. A new sort of nature poem ma y occur, for
instance. The sac red can be res tated :lI1d reex:lIllined . And wh e n th e
foreground h3 s beell defined purel y 3S fo re gro und, then th e bac kground
recedes 31ld th e poe t's vo ice has a different urryin g powe r. W e hear a
wonderful array o f to nes 3nd arc instantly alerted to th em , like liste ning to
someone ca lling a child ho m e ill a summe r tw ili ght.
These di stances and perspectives arc Il o t o f course linear placements.
They ca n b e subtl e co ntra<; ts o f th e so rt o ll e of th es e po ets, Emil y
Hiestand . po inted o ut wh e n defIning her rega rd fo r Eli zabeth l3ishop: " I
admire her ho nesty: th at sh e yearn s fo r co rrespo ndences - betwee n things
transcendent and things qu o tidian , be twee n human consc io usness and the
rest of the natural world. " N o r can these perspectives - how ever striking
they look - be invented by contempo ra ry poets; they u n be o nl y redi s–
covered as permanellt poss ibiliti es in the fo nn . In an article o n Emil y
Dickinson , fo r instance , Ali ce Fulton is emphati c th at Di ckin son is h erself
a radi ca l ca rtograph e r. Sh e w ri tes o f Di ckin so n 's ability to " fo rge inn e r
landscapes frolll abs tra c t rather than co nc rete lan guage 3nd to express
ideas - states o f b e in g if yo u w ill - w ith o ut re so rting to an o bje cti ve
correlati ve ."
I like th e idea of an inner landsca pe m ade fro lll abstrac t rath e r than
concrete langua ge. l3ut I sec somethin g diffe rent in
POillers
<!f
CO II,~ress
b y
Ali ce Fulton. She is a n ambiti o us, powerful poe t. In fa c t one of he r
problems may be th at she is, quite o ften, a take-it- o r-Ieave-it technici an
with a rushing line an d a swift argument. Her th em es - like those of he r
great exemplar, Di ckin so n - are th e sacred and pro fane. l3ut instead o f
seeking
to
de fln e th e p rof:1I1 e b y th e sac red , as Di ckin so n o ft e n can ,
Fulton says - in poem after poem - how abo ut do in g th e o ppos ite, how
about using th e p rof:lI1 e to po int towa rd th e sac red? In th e masterful titl e
poem " Powers o f Congress," she in vites us to thi s parad ox, detailing ex–
periences of stress and fo rce in th e ironi es of dail y life:
All
ni ght couples pledge
to
stay flu x, th e hit- rull
stutT
or
crac ked hOlll es. M e n trilll th eir qui ck
