Are you ready for an adventure in the world of poetry? In this episode, journey through the life and works of Louise Glück, the Nobel Laureate poet who died Oct. 13. Our guide on this voyage is Ann Beebe, a UT Tyler Literature and Languages professor. From Glück’s initial struggles to her eventual rise to literary stardom, Beebe helps us navigate the terrain of a distinctive voice and powerful work.
Explore the heart of Glück’s poetry, as Beebe shines a light on her unflinching exploration of human nature and exceptional dedication to her craft. Delve into the complex dynamics of family, the raw emotions Glück so deftly expressed, and the profound influence of classical mythology on her portfolio. Whether you’re a poetry enthusiast or just someone seeking to understand the human experience through the lens of literature, immerse yourself in the world of one of the most celebrated poets of our time.
MIKE LANDESS: American author and Nobel Prize winner, Louise Glück, passed away at 80 years old in October 2023. I’m Mike Landess for UT Tyler Radio. Louise Glück may not be a household name in your household, but her poetry is recognized as among the finest in the world. Poems like “Red Poppy” …
ANN BEEBE: “The great thing is not having a mind. Feelings, oh, I have those, they govern me. I have a Lord in heaven called the Son, and open for him, showing him the fire of my own heart, fire like his presence. What could such glory be if not a heart? Oh, my brothers and sisters, were you like me once, long ago, before you were human? Did you permit yourselves to open once who would never open again? Because, in truth, I’m speaking now the way you do. I speak because I am shattered.”
LANDESS: We’re pleased to have Ann Beebe, who is a UT Tyler Literature and Languages professor and assistant chair of the department, as our guest today. Welcome.
BEEBE: Thank you, it’s a pleasure to be here.
LANDESS: Louise Glück was certainly no overnight success. Her first book was rejected 28 times, but in 2020 she was honored with the Nobel Prize for literature.
BEEBE: She was certainly someone who had a long and prolific career. Twelve books; the first one published in 1968. She was born in Long Island but lived most of her life in Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut. She taught at universities — lasted at Yale from 2004 to 2023, where she shaped the early careers of a lot of poets who you’re probably reading today. And she was someone who was just plain brilliant. There’s a range in her poetry across the 12 volumes. She perfected one thing and then moved on to the next, and then moved on to the next. And I think that’s one thing the Nobel Prize Committee recognized, that from 1968 until 2020, in her 12 books, she continually evolved and grew and pushed the boundaries of poetry while maintaining a central, unique voice.
LANDESS: Tell me about that unique voice. What is it that makes her work so distinctive?
BEEBE: Well, first of all, I think it’s a dedication to poetry. She took it seriously. She said in an interview once “poet” the word must be used cautiously and names an aspiration not an occupation. In other words, not a noun for a passport. She took what she did. She took the honor and the privilege of being able to spend her life thinking about words and trying to put into verse form, lyrical form, the, in her case, some of the darkest, most unappealing parts sometimes of human nature. She wrote a lot about death, about loss, about disillusionment, about anger, about isolation and rejection. And so I would caution everyone, yes, to read her poetry, but you have to be in the right mindset to approach a Glück poem simply because she demands so much of a reader, because she demanded so much of herself as a poet who was unsparingly and unflinchingly honest about people. She wrote a lot about family. Her first book was called “Firstborn.” And that she was unsparing and thinking about the relationship between a mother-daughter, between parents and children, between husband and wife. There’s a short poem called “Portrait:” “A child draws out the outline of a body. She draws what she can, but it is white all through. She cannot fill in. What she knows is there within the unsupported line. She knows that life is missing. She has cut one background from another. Like a child, she turns to her mother, and you draw the heart against the emptiness she has created.”
Now you think she’s writing about children and the relationship between parents and children, and yes, I mean she does. You know, Ararat’s collection is about her father and mourning her father, but she’s unflinching at the sometime tensions and awkwardness and pain that relate family relationships can cause.
LANDESS: How did you first come upon her work? Obviously, in your field you would, but when do you remember when you first read a Glück poem, and what your reaction to it was?
BEEBE: Ouch, that was my first reaction. She is starting off, she was 68, was associated with the confessional poets, and so I enjoy the poetry of Robert Lowell and Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, at times, right? And so she was just someone that, through them, I, OK, this is the next generation, so started reading. So, it was a while ago, in graduate school most certainly, when she won the Nobel Prize. I was like, well, let me take another look here. And I became even more interested in her. I loved in her Nobel Prize speech, she referenced Emily Dickinson and the poem, “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” and the impact that had on her teenage life. As with so many Emily Dickinson poems, for so many people, it just seemed to speak directly to her, right? Louise Glück and Emily Dickinson sitting on a couch talking, “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” And so certainly after that win, because Glück was the second poet, a novelist had won, but the second American poet after T.S. Eliot to win the Nobel Prize. So, it was quite a big deal. So, I returned back to her in 2020 and just truly enjoyed the, the richness she -there’s so, we talked about family, but and those allusions, but classical mythology, the gardening elements, the flowers, the entire collection of “Wild Iris” from 1992 are either “Red Poppy” came from that. The persona, the flower is speaking, or the gardener is speaking, or some omniscient god is speaking, right? So that there’s just so much there. There’s a lot of classical mythology, entire collection of “Averno” about the Persephone myth and story-that she’s just someone who as I said, with the 12 poems, there’s just a range and a constant exploring and development. And the Nobel Prize committee talked about her unmistakable poetic voice that, with austere beauty, makes individual existence universal.
LANDESS: Well, that’s powerful. Let me digress for just a quick moment. You referred to Emily Dickinson. You wrote a book about that. That was our first interview.
BEEBE: Yes, I did. Thank you for plugging that.
LANDESS: Did you, did you draw, I mean other than what you talked about, about the conversation, the two of them sitting on a sofa having a conversation, any other similarities?
BEEBE: The precision of and the clarity of the language. Both Glück and Dickinson- it comes through to me-again, obviously never met either one-but that the love of language that they have and that absolutely no poem was getting out of their hands until they were sure that every word was exactly the word they wanted right there. The precision and the unflinching look at human nature. There’s no rose-colored glasses. There’s no illusion about humans and what, in our most trifling and trivial sort of moments, were capable, and evil moments, were capable of doing to another human being.
LANDESS: Our guest has been Ann Beebe, UT Tyler Literature and Languages professor and assistant chair of the department. To hear this conversation again or to share it, go to KVUT.org. I’m Mike Landess for UT Tyler Radio.
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