Notes on a competency-based curriculum in poetry therapy

The Art.s in Psychotherapy. Vol. 11 pp. 77-88, '~ Ankho International Inc., 1984. Printed in the U.S.A. 0197-4556/84 $3.00 + .00

N O T E S O N A C O M P E T E N C Y - B A S E D C U R R I C U L U M I N P O E T R Y T H E R A P Y

H E L E N J A S K O S K I , PhD*

As the title o f this essay indicates, I aim to present a prel iminary sketch of the skills in poetry that a poet ry therapist should have. The need for an outline of this sort has become ap- parent as I have observed poetry used in therapeutic and educational contexts , and have noted the available literature. My own background is primarily in the study and teaching of li terature, with additional work in poetry therapy work- shops, demonst ra t ions for professionals in the healing arts, and volunteer counseling. My exper ience in these varied situations has consistently suggested that enthusiasm and even love for poetry without the literary training needed to exploit this tool fully can be frustrating and somet imes counterproduct ive . I see the need for a systematic , organic course of study in poetry for the therapeutic pract i t ioner . t

In this paper I hope to accompl ish two ends. First, I want to give the interested person some notion of the sources and materials available to anyone who wishes to undertake the serious study of poetry. Thus, I hope that what I say here will prove immediately useful to the therapist or counselor wishing to begin or extend knowledge of poetry for use in therapy, as in the second of Le rne r ' s criteria for educating the poetry therapist: " W h a t is called for is a training which emphasizes both therapy and p o e t r y " (Lerner , 1976).

Secondly, I hope to be theoretically provocative as well as practical. The subject of what a poetry therapist should know about poetry has not received very detailed attention. That the

therapist should know some things about poetry I argued in an earlier paper (Jaskoski, 1980). Be- fore outlining what those things should be, I want to extend that earlier discussion.

Lerner (1981) has defined possible functions of the poem as being emotional catalyst , interpretation, projective instrument or even dream. In any case, as he argues e lsewhere (1979), emphasis must be given to the person, not the poem. By this directive I understand him to mean that ac- curacy or correctness of interpretation gives way to explorat ion of the reader ' s responses and their personal significance. Bleich (1978) argues along similar lines for an approach to literary analysis based on the reader ' s response to the text. Har- rower ' s (1960) outline of project ive counseling cor responds to much of what I have observed in poetry therapy groups. Thus, the poem may function as a verbal focus for the client 's projections, as the inkblot is a visual focus. Poems, however , must be referential and cannot be the purely " n e u t r a l " forms that inkblots seem. Lan- guage totally without referent is symptomat ic , not poetic. Poetry, therefore, cannot function in exact ly the same way as abstract visual forms, or as music. It always carries content. For this reason, the therapist using poet ry must be able to deal with the content of the poem, as distinct from a cl ient 's projections into the text.

There is resistance to this approach. Even among outspoken poetry lovers one can encoun- ter the f irmest determinat ion to knowing nothing about poetic form or technique. It is possible to speculate about possible origins for this attitude,

*Helen Jaskoski has taught at Stanford University, the California State Universities of Los Angeles and Fullerton, at the Universities of Lublin and Poznfin in Poland, and at the Poetry Therapy Institute, Encino, California. She is a member of the Advisory Board for the Poetry Therapy Institute and is enrolled in the program leading to the MS in counseling at California State University-Fullerton. +I use the word "therapist" in its general sense of "a person trained in methods of treatment and rehabilitation other than the use of drugs or surgery" (Wehster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionao'). Anyone from psychoanalyst to guidance counselor may fall into this category.

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but here I want only to note the phenomenon of resistance to poet ry as a thing generally felt in modern life. Rukeyse r (1974) has pondered the question in some depth and was one of the first to use the term " res i s tance" to describe the problem.

What is the fear of poetry? To a great extent it is a fear produced by a mask, by the protective structure society builds around each conflict. The conflict, here, is a neurotic one, a false conflict based on a supposed anti- thesis of fact and relationship, of inner and outer effectiveness; it is a conflict upheld by the great part of organized society. The fear is a fear of disclosure, but, in this instance, of disclosure to oneself of areas within the individual, areas with which he is not trained to deal, and which will only bring him into hostile relationships with his complacent neighbor, whose approval he wants.

The person who claims to love poetry and to want to use it, but who does not seek expert ise, and instead prefers to remain unblemished by any technical knowledge or ski l l - -such a person displays the same fear of poetry as the individual who outspokenly hates it. Both, according to Rukeyser , suffer f rom the same disease.

Most writing on poetry therapy has been di- rected to those already recept ive to the idea. Topics considered have been the various ways of using poetry , f rom the creation of Zen telegrams (Clancy & Lauer , 1978) to group singing (Greenberg, 1969), as well as situations in which poet ry therapy has succeeded, f rom individual psychoanalys is (Heninger, 1978) to special schools (Koback , 1969) to prisons (Barkley, 1973). By emphasizing success and the posit ive aspects of using poetry in therapy, such articles may also encourage any therapist to consider poetry as a therapeut ic tool.

The present paper continues that theme with suggestions on how a person can set about get- ting the necessary expert ise for using poetry in therapy and counseling. While I do not include extensive references to cases, I hope to make specific suggestions as to why p o e t r y - - a n d some poems espec ia l ly - -can be effective in the context of therapy. All the poems I cite here have proven, in my own experience, to be potent catalysts in therapeutic situations. I also cite a large number of works about poetry and sources for poems, as this article is meant to introduce the reader to important areas for further study.

My remarks about the poetry therapis t ' s train-

ing are specifically limited here to training in poetry itself, and I assume the practi t ioner will have the appropriate therapeutic skills. Lerner (1979) has differentiated various categories of professional and paraprofessional individuals who may be involved in poetry counseling groups, and he emphasizes that the limits and duties of each pe r son ' s role must be clear. Davis (1978) and Lauer (1978) both address the question of adequate versus inadequate clinical prep- aration, while Edgar and Hazley (1969) suggest components for a curriculum. My intention here is to deal solely with the knowledge of poetry that the poetry therapist should have. It is un- derstood that the requisite training in therapeutic techniques will have been undertaken.

I believe training for poetry (and other) therapists should be competency based. As a potential client, I expect a therapist to have command of a particular body of knowledge, and to know how to do certain things. The therapist belonging to a particular school should know the principles and theories of that school, and should be able to use its methods.

The art therapist is no exception. Dance therapy provides a good example , with useful paral- lels to poetry therapy. In addition to a repertoire of therapeutic methods, the dance therapist must know dance. He or she must know, first of all, what a client may safely at tempt , avoiding the danger of physical injury. In addition, the dance therapis t ' s expert ise should probably include a knowledge of anatomy, an understanding of basic physiology including respiration and mus- cle physiology, the ability to perform a range of body movements , an understanding of connections between body movemen t and psychic state, and, finally, the ability to communica te these things.

So being a dance therapist involves knowing more than knowing how to walk and dance. The same is true for poetry: being a poetry therapist involves more than knowing how to speak or read. The poetry therapist should know about poetry as the dance therapist should know about dance.

It does not matter how the dance therapist at- tains competence . Academic study, private les- sons, conserva tory work, or professional danc- ing are all possible avenues toward the necessary skills. The same is true for the poetry therapist.

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While I discuss below certain areas of exper- tise for the poetry therapist , I do not specify what academic courses should lead to competence , or even whether academic study is always appropriate. In this respect , my approach is different from that of Edgar and Hazley (1969). They define a curr iculum of undergraduate prerequisi tes and describe a set of graduate courses leading to a certificate or degree with a specialization in poetry therapy. (Surprisingly, nowhere in their lists do they mention a course in the generic study of poetry . ) I propose , rather, certain sub- stantive areas in which the poetry therapist should attain competence . The knowledge and skills I describe could be included in material for courses already existing within a curriculum like Edgar and Haz ley ' s . Alternatively, the subject areas could be used as the basis for a course or courses to be newly developed, or included as parts of courses combining study in several a r e a s .

I also believe we should recognize and value modes of learning outside the academy. Any individual, whether a therapeut ic practi t ioner or not, may use this article as a guide for independent study. Or a group who wish to study poetry together may use it the same way. What matters is the knowledge rather than the c i rcumstances in which it is pursued.

I p ropose six areas in which a poetry therapist should be competent : oral reading, prosody, rhetoric, historical deve lopment , bibliography, and cross-cultural dimensions including translation. These are areas I have identified as critical in the course of my teaching of poetry and participation in demonst ra t ion and workshop groups in poetry therapy.

O R A L R E A D I N G

The therapeut ic situation reminds us as perhaps no other does that poetry is essentially a spoken and heard form. Probably the oldest form of literature, its origins antedate writing by mil- lenia. Poetry, like drama and unlike fiction, re- tains its oral charac ter in literate cultures. A play must be " p l a y e d " - - p e r f o r m e d - - t o be a play, and until pe r formance it is merely a script. The same is true for poetry: until a poem is spoken and heard, it remains a mere script for a poem.

Such a concept ion seems foreign to our

visually-oriented, pr int-dependent culture. Judg- ing from the general per formance in my university classes, the number of people in this country who can read aloud with any facility is remark- ably small. Fewer still can adequately read poetry aloud.

Yet it is precisely this aural dimension that gives poetry its unique characteristics: poetry is poetry because it sounds different f rom prose. The incantatory qualities of poetry, Welch (1978) and Blinderman (1973) remind us, provide the very qualities that make it effectual in the healing pract ices of non-literate societies, where poetry therapy is practiced more extensively and more successfully than anywhere else. H a y a k a w a (1969) singles out oral interpretation as an area the poetry therapist must emphasize:

The metamessages of poetry are often missed in silent reading because they are unheard; not every reader, going over a poem on the printed page, knows how it should be accented and phrased, how it should sound. But the therapist should be able to recreate the sound, so that he may reach by incantation, as well as by oblique, imaginative symbols, levels of response that cannot be reached by ordinary discourse.

The aim of the oral reader resembles the aim of the pianist or other instrumentalist in render- ing a c o m p o s e r ' s work. In the reader ' s case, the voice is the instrument, and the goal is to realize most appropriate ly the c o m p o s e r ' s s tatement. The therapis t / reader eschews declamation, pos- turing and sel f -express ion--a l l the dramatic t echn iques- - in favor of permitting the author ' s s ta tement to become articulated. A poem that needs a lot of extra expression by the reciter in order to become clear is probably not suitable.

Such a method of reading requires a good deal of practice and attention. The best exponent of the theory is probably Winters (1957), who reminds us that "Poe t ry , alas, like painting and music, is an a r t - - i t is not a form of happy self- indulgence; and to master an art or even understand it, one has to labor with all of one ' s mind and with at least part of one ' s b o d y . "

However , as to actual training, I know of no systematic study or methods other than my own at tempts to train myse l f and my students in aspects of oral reading. Breath control and adequate relaxation of neck and face muscles are essential for control of sound production. Breath

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and tone production exercises similar to those of vocalists might be helpful. What I have found most useful are my own adaptations of techniques from yoga and autogenic training. (I have described some of these techniques in detail in an unpublished paper on the uses of yoga in the teaching of poetry.) This is an area in which ex- perts in speech communicat ions and theater arts can also contribute much to the comprehension of poetry and how it works.

PROSODY

Adequate oral reading requires a study of prosody. I extend the term here to include all the sound dimensions of poetry, such as rhyme and assonance, in addition to rhythmic structures. Prosody is at the heart of poetry, for it is rhythmic pattern alone that distinguishes poetry from prose. Prosody is the one essential study for the poetry therapist, who finds in the rhythmi- cally specialized language of poetry a tool for treatment. Meerloo (1969) has made some suggestions concerning the importance of rhythm, but this is an area that begs for much more re- search. My purpose here is to mention certain poems that have been effective catalysts for strong emotion, and to suggest how analysis of their rhythmic properties can contribute to an understanding of this catalytic function.

The poems I refer to represent the three basic types of English versification: accentual, syllabic and metrical. For reasons of copyright it is im- possible to quote them in full; the poems by Loy, Crapsey and Paine can be found in Winters and Fields' (1969) anthology, and " T h e Monoli ths" in Momaday (1976).

A single line from Langland's Piers Plowman can illustrate the power of the oldest English form, alliterative accentual verse: " L o v e is the plant of peace and most precious of vir tues ." The therapist knowledgeable in techniques of poetry immediately notes the emphasis on the organic metaphor with the alliteration of "p l an t " and " p e a c e . "

Mina Loy ' s poetry is part of the twentieth- century reassertion of accentual forms in falsely named " f ree ve r se . " Three lines from "Apology of Genius" exemplify the accentual form and even a return to the ancient alliterative formula- tion: '~We are the sacerdotal clowns/ who feed

upon the wind and s tars /and pulverous pastures of pover ty . " This poem is intellectually tough and emotionally powerful; I have seen it create a profound and moving effect in a group of people with educational backgrounds varying from graduate school to functional illiteracy. I was, in fact, extremely surprised that so much of the poem was available to people of such varying levels of education, and from oral readings only. The lesson from that experience was twofold. First, the audible experience of the poem is essential, and having a script in hand can actually work against initial understanding. Second, the therapist (like the teacher) should beware of underestimating the client 's intelligence or inter- pretive capacity. The question of clients" educational levels and the presumed difficulty of certain poems has been raised. Education, for better or worse, has little or nothing to do with native intelligence or the kinds of sensitivities employed in responding to poetry, especially in the context of the therapeutic situation, which requires response and self-exploration rather than " tes table knowledge." The "di f f icul ty" of poems resides in the reader 's or presenter 's belief in their difficulty as much as in any inherent qualities. If I think a poem is hard to understand, then it will be; if I think a poem is easy to understand 1 may disagree with someone who has an insight I can ' t reach, but the poem will be, for me, accessible and perhaps valuable. The client 's educational level is a non-issue. The same is not true for the therapist, who needs to know all the possibilities in the poem.

To return to English prosody, syllabic verse is a recent innovation, practiced mostly in Amer- ica. Scott Momaday 's " T h e Monoli ths" and Adelaide Crapsey 's " 'Amaze" are examples of syllabic poems with identical and fixed-pattern line-lengths, respectively. Each line of Morea- day 's poem has six syllables ( "Th e monoliths were there / in the long light, standing"), whereas Crapsey 's is in the familiar cinquain pattern of two, four, six, eight and two syllables. " A m a z e " in particular is very moving; it has never failed to evoke deeply felt responses in women.

The tonal and emotional differences between accentual and syllabic verse should be mentioned. My own extensive study of Marianne Moore (Jaskoski, 1969) leads me to conclude that syllabic forms tend to flatten emotional expres-


sion, whereas accentual forms tend to emphasize emot ion at the expense of subtle distinctions. Successful syllabic forms are always short; fur- thermore , since counting syllables is a mechani- cal operat ion of little difficulty, they are easy to write. The whole connect ion between reading and writing poet ry for therapeutic purposes needs a study of its own, however .

Metrical, or accentual-syl labic, verse is the predominant and most flexible form of English versification. Philip Pain 's "Medi ta t ion 8" is a poem of only six lines that has deeply moved many people, especially the elderly or those at turning points in their lives.

MEDITATION 8

Scarce do I pass a day, but that I hear Some one or other's dead, and to my ear Me thinks it is no news. But oh! did I Think deeply on it, what it is to die,

My pulses all would beat, I should not be Drowned in this deluge of security.

The person who understands metrics will be able to see how within the f r amework of the pentame- ter couplet Pain varies pauses , run-on lines and metrical substitutions to create an almost over- whelming sense of inundation in the last line, with the focus on security so important for the modern reader.

But what is the precise value of a technical subject like prosody to the poetry therapist? First, the person who wants to be able to read poetry aloud must know prosody. Someone who tries to impose meter on M o m a d a y ' s poem, or fails to recognize the caesurae and en jambement in Pain 's , will read awkwardly , at best.

Second, important nuances of meaning may be lost to the reader who is unskilled. It is important to realize, for instance, that virtue has more emphasis than love in Langland ' s line, or that in Pain 's poem " d r o w n e d " receives t remendous emphasis through trochaic substitution. Winters (1943) gives other examples of the importance of form to meaning. Hence , this most technical as- pect of poetry is probably the one most important to the poetry therapist , for it underlies competence in oral reading and is the basis for understanding rhythm.

Admit tedly a technical area with peculiar jargon, p rosody can still be learned by anyone

without an absolutely tin ear. The poetry therapist will probably not want to delve into the various arguments , lately expanded by linguistic phonological studies, of how poems should be analyzed prosodically. Rather , for purposes of preparing to use a poem in therapy, the therapist needs a simple sys tem that works almost all the time. Winters ' guidelines as outlined in the two essays cited thus far are the easiest to teach and learn. Anthologies and introductions to poetry abound, and most devote a section to prosody, though few give exercises. An except ion is Per- rine (1977), a widely used source and easily available. Zillman (1966) has a standard treatment of poetic devices, and Fussell (1968) pre- sents a clear and readable discussion of prosody. Woods (1958) is an excellent synopsis in pam- phlet form.

The best way to learn, however , is by doing. No other method teaches a form so well as the a t tempt to produce it. Turco (1973) is an excellent text for this purpose; the book introduces a wide array of forms, with exercises in composing them, and is suitable for independent study as well as classes.

R H E T O R I C

Under the heading of Rhetoric I include all those aspects o f poetry and its language that have to do with semantics. There are three main areas: the implied situation of a poem, diction and imagery, and organization of ideas. All three are crucial for the person using poetry in therapy, for here is where the therapist can most closely per- ceive the basis o f the client 's response.

Implied Situation

In the simplest analysis, a poem may imply either a dramatic situation, in which a person (or group) addresses an audience, or it may imply a meditat ive situation, in which a person ruminates or talks to himself or herself. The first, more dramatic, type reflects more closely poe t ry ' s oral beginnings. For reasons I can only speculate on right now, this sort of poem often seems more conducive to therapeutic uses than the more in- t rospect ive variety.

An example of a poem suggesting a dramatic situation is Thomas Wya t t ' s " T h e Lute O b e y s , " reprinted in Winters (1967). Wya t t ' s poem sug-

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gests a miniature drama in which the text is a speech by one of the characters. This implied speaker explains to another character why it is that unpleasant statements may be justified by their truth. If the listener wishes to hear nice things said about herself (or himself), then she or he ought to act differently: specifically, the listener should become reliable, t rustworthy and honest. This new way of acting will provide material for new, complementary songs.

This poem has much potential for therapy, as I have seen it consistently evoke strong and varied reactions from different people who have read it. The positive or negative character of these responses seems to correlate with the way the reader identifies with the poem. A reader who likes the poem and feels that he or she agrees with it generally identifies with the speaker. On the other hand, I have observed readers reject the poem in very intense terms, expressing se- vere dislike for its didactic and accusatory tone; readers who feel this way are usually identifying with the poem's implied auditor.

Transactional analysis as outlined by James and Jongeward (1971), which is also based on a metaphor of dramatic interaction, can provide a key to poems like this and their readers ' responses. The reader who dislikes the poem usually perceives it as a "chi ld /parent" interchange and identifies with the listener in the role of child. The reader who likes the poem, on the other hand, is more likely to assume that it is an "adul t /adul t" transaction and to identify with the "adu l t " implied speaker. Either of these strong responses can provide a basis for fruitful exploration of a person's feelings and beliefs in other interpersonal situations. Another example of the same type of poem with a strong implied dramatic situation is Mina Loy ' s "Apology of Genius , " mentioned earlier. This poem also pro- vokes strong positive and negative reactions, again based on the reader 's identification with either speaker or listener.

It is worth noting here that negative responses to a poem may sometimes be more useful to the client than agreement with a poem's statement. Most writing to date on poetry therapy has em- phasized the comforting, relief-giving features of poems that patients like (although Lerner , 1981 has cautioned against mistaking euphoria for therapy). However , in the hands of a skilled

therapist; a good poem that engages negative feelings may be very beneficial. It is also crucial, however , that the therapist be able to determine the quality of the poem, as a client may quite properly object to insulting or offensive material.

With the widespread use of printing and the increase in literacy from the seventeenth century onward, the experience of literature became an ever more solitary, individual enterprise. Renais- sance and romantic emphases on individualism and practices of self-examination and introspec- tion fostered rhetorical approaches that were essentially introspective. Thus, one begins to find many poems formulated as meditations in which an implied speaker muses or ruminates within his or her own mind. Philip Pain's "'Meditation 8"" and Adelaide Crapsey 's " A m a z e " (mentioned above) are two examples of meditative poems, as is Catherine Davis' " N a u s e a , " reprinted in Hall (1957). Poems such as this do not so often evoke the strong negative responses of the more dra- matically based ones. The value of these meditative verses, rather, may lie in the variety of situations to which they seem to apply.

"Nausea," for instance, graphically captures the experience of depression, as is evident from even a few lines quoted out of context: "Promis- cuous disgust!/ How shall I know or choose'?/ This loathing, like pure lust,/ Taints all that I might use ." This poem has been successful with depressed individuals, regardless of the circum- stances surrounding their depression. I observed this effect during a discussion held with a group of women in a shelter for battered women. One of the participants in the group had recently undergone an abortion and was filled with depression, guilt and remorse in connection with her husband, her boyfriend (the father of the child), her deceased mother (who had died in childbirth), and her father, s tepmother and younger half-sister. Various poems on the subject of abortion failed to assist her in coping with the burden of her despair, although they con- tained the quality Leedy suggests for this situation, of being "sad and gloomy in tone yet having lines or stanzas that reflect hope and opt imism" (Leedy, 1969). Finally, upon reading "Nausea," the woman underwent a pronounced change in demeanor and expression. During the discussion she had been diffuse in reactions, vague or repe- titious, biting her fingernails and pulling at her

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hair. After reading the poem, she sat calmly, spoke directly, distinctly and precisely, and became in all respects a more focussed person. The poem had given her the ability to name her dis- tress: self-hatred.

I introduce this particular event also to point out that the tone of a poem is generally more pertinent than its subject matter. While the two aspects can never be separated within a particular poem, the therapist setting out to use poetry should be aware that the details of any subject are not so important for therapeutic purposes as the way in which the subject is treated. For example, poems about sleep, for insomniacs, may not be as appropriate as poems on another subject that reflect the particular feeling of the client reader.

Some poems, finally, may imply either a meditative or a dramatic situation. Momaday ' s " T h e Monol i ths ," mentioned earlier, is one such work. Another is a poem, again by Catherine Davis, titled " T o C .D .M. , " which can be found in Winters and Fields (1969). This poem can be read as a meditative address that the implied speaker makes to herself or himself. Alternative- ly, it may be seen as a dramatic speech to an implied listener, living or dead. This ambiguity of situation, along with the precision in emotional statement, makes it a rich source of insight to individuals who are experiencing grief, loss and death.

It is in this subtle perception of the poem's situation, and the reader 's relation to it, that the projective uses of poetry seem to me most valuable. Fairly abstract poems with little or no visual imagery are not total abstractions like an inkblot or a painting by Mondrian or Kandinsky. On the other hand, they are not the strongly representational writing that tends to direct the reader ' s imagination through an insistence on the minutiae of concrete detail (as do some of the poems of Marianne Moore, for instance). Rather, I speak of poetry that makes use of words in ways that parallel an artist 's use of semi- abstractions to enlarge the viewer 's participation in the picture. Gombrick (1972) describes this effect in the visual arts, and its complements in verbal structures are well worth investigating.

Diction and hnagery Contrary to much prevailing and rather care-

less thought, poetry does not always consist of images or imagery. Davis' " T o C .D .M." is a case in point: the language, while extremely precise, is also extremely abstract. The only term remotely close to a visual image is " h e a r t , " a metaphor so attenuated as to be grotesque if taken in its physical sense. Other poems mentioned here, including Wyatt ' s poem on his lute and Crapsey 's " A m a z e , " likewise consist of almost totally abstract language. The lute in the former poem and the hands in the latter are part of the dramatic situation, and not tropes in the language of the poem.

Even among those poems that contain imagery, relatively few take the association of images as their organizing principle. The perspective that would chain poetry to visual perception and imagery excludes from the therapist 's repertoire a t remendous number of poems of great potential value to the client.

Only one poem I have mentioned, Loy ' s "Apology of Genius , " is organized solely on the basis of imagery. The person wishing to understand poetry for use in therapy should be able to recognize the difference between images that function as the poem's organizing principle, and those that appear as tropes within the rhetorical argument. Examples of the latter are the simile of the corrupted meat in Davis' " N a u s e a , " and the metaphor of love as a plant in the line from Langland.

Once again I have entered a terrain of specialized vocabulary. Understanding terms like " m e t a p h o r , " " s imi le , " " t r o p e " and the rest can help a therapist immeasurably to interpret a client 's response. Frequently the reader or listener ignores the tenor of a metaphor and responds only to its vehicle: this gives the therapist an important avenue for comparing the client 's associations with other ways of thinking about things and for opening up new ways of looking at a subject.

Image and symbol are the fundamental materials of classical psychoanalysis, and their function has long been a special study of the psycho- therapist. The practit ioner who wishes to use poetry in therapy needs to be especially skilled at dealing with image and metaphor. By way of example, I should like to cite one instance of such potential for confusion. Arieti (1975), in an essay on creativity, quotes Blake's poem, " T h e Sick

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Rose , " and associates the image of the rose with that of a sick woman. More importantly, he at- tributes this metaphorical equation to the poet, although in fact the text of the poem offers no firm substantiation for this reading. (Blake himself may well have had in mind the church or some other institution, or indeed a literal rose.) Readers of ten- - in fact a lways- -do what Arieti has done with Blake's rose: they make their own connections when encountering poetic texts. This is one of the reasons that poems with images work as well as they do in therapy. However , it is absolutely imperative that the therapist be capa- ble of differentiating between the text and what has been projected into it. The patient who finds a sick woman in Blake's rose may be helped to great insight as a result of pursuing that association. It is of no help, however, if the therapist fails to see the association as the patient 's rather than the poet 's .

Bleich (1978), among others, argues that the subjective paradigm is the only defensible critical response to literature. Even so, the therapist must still be able to sort out the differences between his/her response and that of the patient. The text is not a blank, and must be seen as at least potentially an object, if its use in therapy is to be productive.

Rhetorical Organization

The therapist needs to be able to recognize how a poem is organized. Some, like those mentioned here by Davis, Pain and Wyatt , are con- structed as closely reasoned logical arguments. Others, like many of Marianne Moore ' s poems, are purely descriptive. Others may have or imply, as does Momaday ' s " T h e Monol i ths ," a narrative. Still others express a thought purely by association of images, like Loy ' s "Apology of Genius . " I want to call attention to a particular and important paradox here. Those poems that present a cogent argument in a plain style very often evoke far stronger responses and provide far more potential for emotional insight than do poems more dense with imagery and more emotional in expression. Stainbrook (1978) points out that poetic language is more complex than mere image-making, and his critique of poetic cogni- tion suggests crucial areas for further study.

Aids for the person setting out to study the

rhetorical elements of poetry abound. Perrine and Zillman, mentioned in connection with prosody, are also helpful introductions to theoretical aspects of poems. Introductory anthologies of poetry usually contain explanatory material; two such compilations are that of Altenbernd and Lewis (1975), which is chronologically arranged by historical period, and that by Miller and Greenberg (1981), which has a thematic ar- rangement by subject matter. Introductory anthologies are also rich sources of many different types of poems, again an important resource for the therapist. The single critical work most helpful to the therapist is probably Richards (1929), as it confronts the issues of misunderstanding and emotional distortion. Bleich (1978) is absolutely essential for understanding the theoretical basis of subjective reading, and Caws (1981) has a provocative discussion of contemporary ways of evaluating the reader 's response.

HISTORY

While the poetry therapist will not put major emphasis on a historical study of literary trends and influences, some notion of a poem's historical and cultural context is indispensable to understanding it well enough to use it. Pain's "Meditat ion 8" is a good example. The author was a seventeenth-century Puritan, a sailor by trade, who drowned in Boston harbor. In the light of his time and his philosophical convic- tions, his use of " s ecu r i t y " is considerably different from the usage we might find today. For Pain, security could have been knowing he had been spiritually saved and was among those who would attain everlasting life after death. On the other hand, the poem makes no explicit mention of religious doctrine, and has even been inter- preted as a romantic affirmation of life- awareness. Thus, the text is amenable to both "his tor ica l" and " m o d e r n " readings, and knowing the context of Pain's expression opens up new ways for the therapist to use it.

Ben Jonson 's elegy on his first son affords a different insight into the value of historical interpretation. The poem speaks poignantly across the centuries of loss and grief and reconciliation. Knowing the author 's language can enhance the reader 's ability to respond. For instance, the edition that I have (Hunter, 1963) glosses "like'"

C O M P E T E N C Y - B A S E D C U R R I C U L U M IN POETRY T H E R A P Y 85

in the last line as " t h r i v e , " a sense that gives a whole new dimension to the like/love contrast in the line: " A n d what he loves may never like too much. " Again, simply for the sake of oral reading, the student is helped by knowing that " e n v i e " could be pronounced to rhyme with " e y e , " and that " l i e " could be pronounced as " l e e . " The therapist is unlikely to share this information with a client, but ought to be familiar with it as well as with other features of the poem in order to make intelligent use of it.

Such historical matters will not form the pri- mary focus of the poetry therapist 's study, yet they must be considered. It is especially important that the therapist be able to use material from other centuries, for many feelings were best articulated for all of us before an age of specialization cheapened the expression of deep human problems with the jargon of the social sciences. This at least is one of the hopes that Stone (1973) holds out for poetry therapy, that it be an anti- dote to the vulgarization of healing. Here I disagree specifically with Edgar and Hazley that contemporary poetry is more productive in therapy. I have found, on the contrary, that good poetry in the plain style from whatever era can evoke response and growth.

Most important, I believe, is the quality of the poetry, regardless of its era. This anonymous four-line stanza from the middle ages is an example:

Western wind, when will thou blow, The small rain down can rain'?

Christ, that my love were in my arms And I in my bed again!

Loneliness, homelessness, and alienation are human- -no t historical--condit ions. The poems I have cited thus far in this paper range from medieval Langland, through the Elizabethan Wyatt , to the twentieth century. All, I believe, are valuable.

For the person wishing to begin study of poems in English with regard to their historical context , Abrams, et al (1968) and Gottesman, et al (1979) are unquestionably the best places to start. Winters (1967) provides an excellent comprehensive discussion of important trends for understanding and interpreting English poetry in its historical context .

B IBLIO G RA P H Y

The therapist using poetry should have the widest possible access to sources of poetry, as well as to secondary materials to aid in understanding and using poems. The usefulness of poetry as a tool in therapy is only commensurate with the array of implements available to the practitioner. This is one instance in which quan- tity and quality go together: one gauge of the therapist 's skill in using poetry is the range of poems he or she knows.

Familiarity with standard anthologies and collections is essential. I have used Gardner (1972) in this paper for the excerpt from Langland and the anonymous medieval verse. Other volumes in this series of standard collections are Ellman (1976) and Smith (1973). These, with Eastman (1970) are excellent comprehensive collections. I also use Winters and Fields (1969); while histori- cally not so complete, it has a remarkable range of poems representing all varieties of emotional expression and most types of poetry.

Acquaintance with more narrowly defined collections is also important. Anthologies with special focuses are plentiful. I have used two historical collections: Meserole (1968) for Pain's poem and Hall, et al (1957). Other specialized types of anthologies include those on a particular theme (Newman & Suk, 1978), collections of poems by women (Stanford, 1972, and Howe & Bass, 1973), and collections of poems by members of ethnic groups, such as Randall' s ( 1971) anthology of Black poets or Astrov 's (1962) selection of American Indian verse.

Careful editions of an author 's works are the best sources for accurate texts. Ben Jonson 's elegy on his first son is in Winters and Fields (1969) and in Gardner (1972), but in the first a misprint muddles the last line, and neither con- tains the glosses that help elucidate the poem's meaning. Thus, the ability to put one 's hands on a good text is as important to the therapist using poetry as the availability of decent recordings is to the music therapist.

Periodical sources put one in touch with the most current and timely work of living poets. The American Poetry Review and Poetry are vital publications both for contemporary poetry and for new ideas about poetry.

Some ancillary works are indispensable aids to


the practi t ioner using poetry. Preminger, et al (1965) is a t reasury of information and a bargain in price. Standard handbooks of literature like Abrams ( 1971) and Holman (1972) are ext remely useful, as also are more specialized guides to poetry like those of Deutsch (1974) or Altenbernd and Lewis (1966).

Material pertaining specifically to poetry therapy is still not abundant . Heninger (1981) reviews the field in an excellent introduction with a very helpful bibliography, and Lerner (1981) offers a good synopsis. I have cited essays in the collec- tion by Lerner (1978) and Leedy (1969, 1973). Schloss (1976) and Blanton (1960) should also be mentioned. The Poetry Therapy Institute of Los Angeles and Encino has compiled a bibliography, as yet unpublished, of works relating to poetry therapy and the creative process. As work in the field grows in depth and extends into new areas and techniques, the bibliographical task will become crucial to keeping individuals informed about advances in the field.

T R A N S L A T I O N A N D C R O S S - C U L T U R A L D I M E N S I O N S

Therapis ts have been especially sensitive to the riches of poetry in translation. The Psalms and the Book of Job (Blanton, 1960) are Often cited as examples in literature of comfor t and support . F reedman (1970) reflects on the Greek and Roman classics as well as Russian and Ger- man literary masterp ieces in connection with grieving. Unfortunately, often over looked are works from non-Western traditions that can speak across sociocultural barriers to common human concerns . The blues tradition of Afro- Amer ican culture, for instance, is a form of poetry therapy, as Ellison (1964) maintains. I have written elsewhere (Jaskoski, 1981) on American Indian medicine poetry; the healing spirit of many of these poems survives translation and cultural differences. One poem that I have found again and again to be of great power and comfor t is a prayer from the third day of the Navajo Night Chant; the full text, with explanatory notes, is in Bierhorst (1974).

While such cross-cultural appreciat ion on the part of the therapist can be helpful, s/he must remain aware of the cl ient 's own cultural background. Lerner (1981) specifically mentions

those for whom the language of therapy is not their native language, but who may find solace in poems in their own tongue. But this is an area for ex t reme care. The therapist ignorant of or insen- sitive to cultural nuances may alienate a client even further from an integrating wholeness of personality. A crude or unsuitable translation can have just such an effect.

C O N C L U S I O N

The program I have just outlined may seem excess ively ambit ious or detailed. To the first point, I would say that I have not specified what minimum level of competence in each area might be considered adequate for a poetry therapist. In my own work as a professor of English literature, I introduce the first five of the topics 1 discuss here (oral reading, prosody, rhetoric, history, bibliography) during the first half of a fifteen- week graduate seminar in the generic study of poetry. This course is intended for MA candi- dates in English, but of course it includes psycho- logical aspects essential for understanding how poetry functions. In an undergraduate introduction to literature the topics of oral reading, prosody, and rhetoric comprise about one-third of the course.

Some areas I have defined could easily become components of courses aimed especially at poetry therapists. For example , oral reading could be made part of the study of language behavior, and the elements of rhetoric I define are inseparable from the study of semantics and semiotics. I should also stress again that I hope to imply methods of study besides the purely academic. Apprenticeships, group study, individual independent reading--al l these could adapt the areas of inquiry I have outlined here.

I myse l f am convinced that the study of poetry can be valuable for the therapist , whether or not he or she goes on to use poetry in practice. De- veloping the skills and sensitivity necessary to understanding a poem is one of the best ways to acquire the special listening capabilities that ti good therapist must have.

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BARKLEY, BILL J. (1973) Poetry in a cage: Therapy in a correctional setting. In Leedy, Jack J. (Ed.) Poet O, the Healer. Philadelphia: Lippincott. Pp. 1-16.

BLANTON, SMILEY (1960) 7he Healing Power ~['Poeto,. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell.

BLINDERMAN, ABRAHAM (1973) Shamans, witch doc- tors, medicine men and poetry. In Leedy, Jack J. (Ed.) Poetry the Healer. Philadelphia: Lippincott. Pp. 127-141.

CLANC~(, MARY & LAUER, ROGER (1978) Zen telegrams: A warm-up technique for poetry therapy groups. In Lerner, Arthur (Ed.)Poetl3, in the Therapelttie Experi- ence. New York: Pergamon. Pp. 97-107.

DAVIS, LOUISE (1978)The paraprofessional and poetry therapy. In Lerner, Arthur (Ed.)Poetry in the Therapeu- tic Experience. New York: Pergamon. Pp. 108-113.

EDGAR, KENNETH F. & HAZLEY, RICHARD (1969) A curriculum proposal for training poetry therapists. In Leedy, Jack J. (Ed.) Poett 3, Therapy. Philadelphia: Lip- pincott. Pp. 260-268.

FREEDMAN, MORRIS (1970) Notes on grief in literature. In Schoenberg, Bernard et al. (Eds.) Loss and Grief" Psycho- logical Management in Medical Practice. New York: Co- lumbia University Press. Pp. 33%346.

GREENBERG, SAMUEL ALVIN (1969) AFTLI and/or poetry therapy. In Leedy, Jack J. (Ed.) Paett 3" Therapy. Philadelphia: Lippincott.

HARROWER, MOLLY (1960) Projective counseling--A psychotherapeutic technique. In Harrower, Molly et al. Creative Variation on the Projective Techniques. Spring- field, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

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HENINGER, OWEN (1978) Poetry therapy in private practice: An odyssey into the healing power of poetry. In Lerner, Arthur (Ed.) Poeto' in the Therapeutic Experi- e~we. New York: Pergamon. Pp. 56-62.

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JAMES, MURIEL & JONGEWARD, DOROTHY (1971) Born to Win: Transactional Analysis with Gestalt E.~peri- merits. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.

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KOBACK, DOROTHY (1969) Poetry therapy in a "600" school and in a counseling center. In Leedy, Jack J. lEd.) Poetl 3' Therapy. Philadelphia: Lippincott. Pp. 180-187.

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MEERLOO, J. A. M. (1969) The universal language of rhythm. In Leedy, Jack J. (Ed.)Poett 3' 77terapy. Philadel- phia: Lippincott.

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Techniques and Interpretation o f Poetry

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ALTENBERND, LYNN & LEWIS, LESLIE L. (Eds.) (1975) Introduction to Literature: Poems. New York: Macmillan.

BLEICH, DAVID (1978) Suhjeetive Criticism. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

CAWS, MARY ANN (1981) The Eye in the Text. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

DEUTSCH, BABETTE (1974) Poet O" Handbook. New York: Funk and Wagnalls.

ELLISON, RALPH (1964) Shadow and Act. New York: Signet.

FUSSELL, PAUL JR. (1968) Poetic Meter and Poetic Form. New York: Random House.

GOMBRICH, E. H. (1972) Art and Illusion. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

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JASKOSKI, HELEN (1969)A method of conclusions: A critical study of the poett3" o./'MariaJme Moore. Unpublished dissertation, Stanford.

MILLER, RUTH & GREENBERG, ROBERT (Eds.) (1981) Poett3": An Introduction. New York: St. Martin's Press.

PERRINE, LAURENCE (1977) Sound and Sense. New York: Harcourt, Brace.

PREMINGER, ALEX E7 AL. (Eds.) (1965) Prim'eton Eney- elopedia t~['Poetry and Poetics. Princeton: Princeton Uni- versity Press.

RICHARDS, 1. A. (1929) Practical Criticism. New York: Harcourt, Brace.

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TURCO, LEWIS (1973) Poeto,: An Introduction Tlu'ou~h Writing,,. Reston, VA: Reston Publishing Co.

WELCH, ANDREW (1978) Roots ~1" Lyric. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

WINTERS, YVOR (1957) The audible reading of poetry. In The Function o f Criticism. Denver: Alan Swallow. Pp. 100-150.

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ABRAMS, MYER E1 AL. (Eds.) (1968) 7he Norton Anthology o f English Literature, 2 vols. New York: Norton.

ALTENBERND, LYNN & LEWIS, LESLIE L. (Eds.) (1975) Introduction to Literature: Poems. New York: Macmillan.

ASTROV, MARGOT (Ed.) (1962)American Indian Prose and Poe to . New York: Capricorn.

BIERHORST, JOHN (1974) fot~r Masterworks o f American Indian Literature. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

EASTMAN, ARTHUR M. (Ed.) (1970) The Norton Anthol- o~,,y o f Poeto:. New York: Norton.

ELLMAN, RICHARD (Ed.) (1976) 7?le New O.~J~rd Book ~f America;; Verse. New York: Oxford University Press.

GARDNER, HELEN (Ed.) (1972) The New ());f~n'd Book ~ f En~,,lish Verse. New York: Oxford University Press.

GOTTESMAN, RONALD E7 AL. (Eds.) (1979) 7he Nortoll AntholoL, y ~/" Americtm Literature, 2 vols. New York: Norton.

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Documents

Notes on a competency-based curriculum in poetry therapy