THE DIVIDED SELF IBD

Sinopse

âÇÖGraeme HetheringtonâÇÖs ninth collection of poems portrays the poetâÇÖs troubled journey to escape an âÇÖafflicted selfâÇÖ shadowed with loneliness and paranoia. During the journey, the poet feels âÇÖtwisted and deformedâÇÖ as he confronts a personal sense of psychological dislocation - a divided personality and confused sexual identity. Such feelings are the poetâÇÖs âÇÖdemons of despairâÇÖ that prompt in him a sense of complete dispossession, emptiness and rejection of humankind. No matter how long the journey and how far from the past the poet travels, he is trapped and haunted by these demons whose power colours the diction and imagery of his poetry. Tautly crafted short stanzas with references and images connoting blackness, punishment and curse, such as Mount BlackâÇÖs shadows on TasmaniaâÇÖs West Coast, the cat-oâÇÖ-nine-tails, ColeridgeâÇÖs albatross and the scourge of ChristâÇÖs crucifixion, convey the depth of the poetâÇÖs despair. Despite the poetâÇÖs desire to escape the âÇÖdarkness of the pastâÇÖ, the reader senses that the power of his personal psychological drama will challenge his search for transcendence. The poet will certainly continue to seek poems that âÇÖsoar beyondâÇÖ the theatre of the self, but they will provide perhaps only temporary respite as he continues to experience personal uncertainties and pain.âÇÖ - Ralph Spauldingá