Who are Sweeney and Mrs. Porter?
November 4, 2005 7:26 AM Subscribe
In Weldon Kees' "The Speakers" there are a few references which feel like they should be fairly straightforward, but that I don't understand at all.
I came across Kees after reading a great article a few months back. I stumbled across a copy of The Collected Poems in a used book store, and I've been slowly making my way through it. The Speakers is a neat poem but it's caused me a bit of difficulty as well: in the first line of the second stanza, the poet quotes: "This age is not entirely bad." A bit of commentary on the poem suggested that this was from Elliot, but I'm at a loss as to what, or where. As the stanza continues, he goes on to comment on "Sweeneys" and "Mrs. Porters"; My only possible guess here is that Sweeney refers to Sweeney Todd, but I have no idea about the other.
This has been bugging me for too long. Kees poems tend to be fairly coherent, and I have to believe that there is a simple answer. If anybody has any clues, they'd be greatly appreciated.
I came across Kees after reading a great article a few months back. I stumbled across a copy of The Collected Poems in a used book store, and I've been slowly making my way through it. The Speakers is a neat poem but it's caused me a bit of difficulty as well: in the first line of the second stanza, the poet quotes: "This age is not entirely bad." A bit of commentary on the poem suggested that this was from Elliot, but I'm at a loss as to what, or where. As the stanza continues, he goes on to comment on "Sweeneys" and "Mrs. Porters"; My only possible guess here is that Sweeney refers to Sweeney Todd, but I have no idea about the other.
This has been bugging me for too long. Kees poems tend to be fairly coherent, and I have to believe that there is a simple answer. If anybody has any clues, they'd be greatly appreciated.
both sweeney and mrs porter are in the wasteland--see the fire sermon section
and "sweeney among the nightingales" is a famous eliot poem
eliot also wrote other sweeney poems, and a play too
you might want to check out "sweeney" as a representative type in literature. see this:
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2198/
mrs porter is from a popular song, google will help you find it
all that said, kees is really good!
posted by subatomiczoo at 7:41 AM on November 4, 2005
and "sweeney among the nightingales" is a famous eliot poem
eliot also wrote other sweeney poems, and a play too
you might want to check out "sweeney" as a representative type in literature. see this:
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2198/
mrs porter is from a popular song, google will help you find it
all that said, kees is really good!
posted by subatomiczoo at 7:41 AM on November 4, 2005
Response by poster: God, it's in the Wasteland? How do I miss that? I guess I was only looking for the initial quotation. Thanks for the quick responses. Any clue on "this age is not entirely bad" would be great, but I'm not holding my breath.
posted by cmyr at 8:00 AM on November 4, 2005
posted by cmyr at 8:00 AM on November 4, 2005
Waste Land. Not Wasteland.
posted by zadcat at 8:03 AM on November 4, 2005 [1 favorite]
posted by zadcat at 8:03 AM on November 4, 2005 [1 favorite]
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posted by misteraitch at 7:38 AM on November 4, 2005