Aunt Jennifer's Tigers
by Adrienne Rich
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At a glance:
- Author: Adrienne Rich
- First Published: 1951
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry
- Subjects: Tigers, Art or artists, Marriage, Needlepoint or needlework
The Work
“Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers,” which appeared in Rich’s first collection of poems, is typical of her early work, illustrating the modest poetic ambitions for which she was praised by Auden. Technically, the work displays flawless craftsmanship, with a carefully regulated meter and rhyming couplets. Only later did Rich recognize how formalism functioned as she writes, “asbestos gloves,” enabling her to grasp potentially dangerous materials without putting herself at risk, as in this poem.
The formalism of “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” hides the more...
(The entire page is 512 words.)
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Popular Questions
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