Crown of Planets Open Access
Henry, Christopher Rhett (2015)
Published
Abstract
Crown of Planets is a collection of poetry that takes up as its question: what happens after the tragedy? My work is interested in extreme emotional experiences felt because of, or in the aftermath of, personal trauma. My thematic palette spreads to religious authority, gender, domestic abuse, death, working class experiences, and the ways in which art and meaningful relationships develop, not merely as reactions to traumas, but also as a way to actively resist and remake the world. A shifting "I" inhabits multiple speakers, including an alien abductee, delirious lovers, devil worshippers, and stressed-out few minimum wage workers. By treating these subjects and their concerns with the utmost seriousness, I try to develop, in the manner of William Blake or Tracy K. Smith, a collection that inhabits its own world and operates on its own principles. A witch bemoans a bourgeois god's breaking and entering; the last man in a post-apocalyptic Rome surveys his ruins; a young, monkish antique dealer gains enlightenment; a television recounts the horrific birth of the universe. Blending together lyric, narrative, and contemplative poetic styles, Crown of Planets is an experiment in tonal alteration and formal play. It is my attempt to generate a properly focused collection that remains in constant motion across emotional and poetic intensities.
Table of Contents
Fires in the Vineyard
Moving Days 2
Meditating Near the Osborn Railyard 4
Son of a Preacher Man 5
Science Fiction 6
Child Surgeon 7
Fly Me to the Moon 8
All the Hits 9
Fortune Tellers 10
Venusberg 11
Ransacked 12
Holofernes
Young Prayer 14
Annunciation 21
Saturnalia 22
When the Cops Come 23
Among the Sculptors 24
Jupiter Whistles 25
Sabbath 26
Duet 27
Earned the Crown 28
On Brutalism 29
Crowns into Plowshares
Garden 31
Exorcism 32
Antiqueland 33
A Bigger Splash 34
The Beauty of Surfaces 35
Tapestry Torso 36
Military History 37
The Good News 38
Aubade 40
About this Honors Thesis
| School | |
|---|---|
| Department | |
| Degree | |
| Submission | |
| Language |
|
| Research Field | |
| Keyword | |
| Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor | |
| Committee Members |
Primary PDF
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Crown of Planets () | 2018-08-28 14:45:31 -0400 |
|
Supplemental Files
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
|---|