Historical Context
Parallel Lives in a Tumultuous Era
The year 1859 was one of remarkable literary and scientific awakenings. As Charles Darwin introduced the world to his groundbreaking and contentious masterpiece, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, another prolific English writer, Charles Dickens, unveiled A Tale of Two Cities with its iconic opening, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Though Dickens captured the essence of the French Revolution, this poignant dichotomy could easily describe Darwin’s era, and indeed, the century beyond his death when Schnackenberg penned verses about him. During Darwin's life, the globe was engulfed in wars, much like today. The 1800s were a battlefield for Britain against France in the Iberian Peninsula, and the Middle and Far East witnessed skirmishes in places like Singapore, Persia, and China. India was embroiled in numerous conflicts, while the fledgling United States grappled with a devastating civil war. Amidst this backdrop, the Industrial Revolution surged ahead, revolutionizing transport, communications, and manufacturing, significantly enhancing many lives despite the surrounding social and political discord.
Darwin's scientific revelations were lauded by academics and segments of the populace; his insights into the biological and botanical realms promised a profound understanding of life. However, not everyone viewed him favorably. Some labeled him blasphemous, accusing him of promoting ideas that led people away from divine creation narratives. By the 1880s, the debate was still fervent, yet the undeniable impacts of the Industrial Age diverted more attention toward science and technology, challenging religious convictions.
Echoes of Evolution in a Changing World
A century onwards, Schnackenberg’s life began in the shadow of the Korean War's conclusion, her formative years marked by the tumult of the Vietnam War. By 1980, as she crafted the poems for her initial collection, Portraits and Elegies, violence was not confined to distant battlefields but also erupted on urban streets. The world mourned as John Lennon was gunned down outside his New York home, and the following year, both President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II narrowly escaped assassination attempts. The debate over Darwin’s evolutionary theory persisted, shifting from questions of validity to whether it belonged in school curricula.
Christian Fundamentalists sought to legislate a counterbalance to evolution’s teaching, reacting to the Supreme Court’s 1968 ruling against banning evolution in classrooms. They argued for instructional parity with creationism, leading to legislative battles in Arkansas and Louisiana during the 1980s. Yet, these acts soon met judicial defeat for violating the separation of church and state. Towards the century’s close, many Christians reconciled with the idea of evolution through natural selection, finding it harmonious with religious doctrine. In 1981, Pope John Paul II acknowledged this coexistence, advising the Pontifical Academy of Sciences that the Bible was not meant as a literal account of physical and biological phenomena, emphasizing instead a spiritual journey to heaven—a sentiment echoed in a Britannica.com article on evolution.
Interweaving Personal and Universal Themes
Schnackenberg’s poetry, especially in “Darwin in 1881,” often navigates the delicate interplay between personal introspection and the broader world. Robert McPhillips, in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, describes the collection in Portraits and Elegies as a “mature and unified meditation on mortality and the human capacity to impose order and derive meaning through science, history, family, and poetry.” It’s evident that in both the poet’s and Darwin’s times, order wasn’t always present, leading to significant societal and political strife. Yet, the biological and geological explorations highlighted in Schnackenberg’s Darwin poem unveil an intrinsic order within the natural world.
Perhaps Darwin’s contemplation of relinquishing his evolutionary studies, akin to Prospero’s...
(This entire section contains 637 words.)
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surrender of magical pursuits, reflects not merely a reaction to societal upheaval or scientific controversy. Instead, it might signify a yearning for simplicity as he approached life’s twilight.
Literary Style
New Formalism
During the vibrant 1980s, American poetry experienced a renaissance, embracing a more structured style compared to the freewheeling verses of the prior decades. The liberating spirit of free verse didn’t vanish; instead, it gracefully stepped aside for the advent of a burgeoning poetic movement known as the new formalism. This movement championed the use of defined forms, meticulous meter, and often rhyme, with Schnackenberg emerging as a luminary of this poetic style. Her enchanting piece, “Darwin in 1881,” predominantly unfolds in rhymed quatrains—a sequence of four-line stanzas—adhering to an a-b-b-a rhyme scheme. Delve into the initial quartet of lines that conclude with “room,” “miracles,” “tales,” and “loom.” Here, the first and fourth lines mirror each other in rhyme, while the second and third lines offer a near rhyme. Moving into the next quartet, a b-c-c-b pattern emerges, pairing “upwells” seamlessly with “tortoiseshells” and “crept” with “slept.” This intricate pattern dances throughout the poem, yet Schnackenberg wisely grants herself the liberty to oscillate between concise eight-line verses and more elaborate ones, generally divisible by four, with the occasional odd-numbered exception, as seen in the poem’s fifth stanza.
In an intriguing twist from lines 69 to 84, the quatrain pattern holds steady until line 85, where it unexpectedly inaugurates the first quatrain of the subsequent stanza. “Stakes” finds its partner in “gartersnakes,” while “write” and “upright” nestle snugly within. It is likely that the conventional stanza structure is disrupted because the line featuring “tortured grammars” aptly concludes the narrative begun with “raging hell,” prompting the poet to prioritize thematic cohesion over rigid formality at this junction.
Schnackenberg’s poetry is deeply personal and often autobiographical, inviting comparisons to confessional poets like Sylvia Plath or Anne Sexton. Yet, what distinguishes Schnackenberg is her ability to temper her emotional intensity and volatile themes with the disciplined elegance of new formalism. Through her careful employment of meter and rhyme, she expertly restrains any tendency towards dramatic excess that free verse might permit when exploring personal themes of grief, anger, or depression. Consequently, she garners acclaim for her subdued gravitas, even as her works delve into tumultuous or fervent subjects. In her hands, style becomes a vital instrument in conveying the poem's essence, deftly channeling emotion without letting it overshadow the message.
Compare and Contrast
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1880s: A period of groundbreaking discoveries unfolds in the
burgeoning realm of genetics. Building upon the pioneering insights of Gregor
Mendel from the mid-1800s, biologists of this decade unravel the mysteries of
heredity. They pinpoint the elusive “germ plasm,” a substance they later
identify as DNA, residing in chromosomes, forever changing our understanding of
life's blueprint.
1980s: This era witnesses a revolutionary leap forward as biologists successfully transfer genes across animal species, ushering genetic engineering into the scientific spotlight. Throughout the decade, researchers demonstrate that the boundaries of the "natural" world are not as rigid as once believed, proving that species can undergo profound genetic transformations.
Today: In a testament to scientific progress, pigs emerge as the latest subjects of cloning efforts. Discussions buzz around the potential of harnessing an endless supply of pig organs for human transplants. Yet, this promise is tempered by the apprehension of unleashing uncontrollable viruses, keeping scientists both hopeful and vigilant.
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1876: The unearthing of the fossil bird Archaeopteryx,
famously known as the Berlin Specimen, reveals a creature with teeth from an
era 150 million years past. This discovery fortifies the Darwinian theory that
birds evolved from reptilian ancestors, bridging the gap between past and
present with its prehistoric smile.
1980s: The "creation science" movement gains momentum, pressuring state legislatures to mandate the inclusion of "abrupt appearance theory" in scientific curricula. While some states comply, the judiciary steps in, declaring that teaching creationism violates the separation of church and state, thus reaffirming its stance as non-scientific.
Today: The Kansas Board of Education finds itself at the center of controversy, accused of erasing evolutionary and big bang theories from textbooks. This decision ignites a fierce backlash from scientists, educators, and the public alike, though the board contends that it merely opted not to impose these theories as mandatory learning or testing material.
Media Adaptations
Numerous adaptations of Shakespeare’s The Tempest are captured on VCR tapes, each offering a unique rendition of this classic tale. While audio renditions on cassette allow audiences to delve into the narrative, the rich tapestry of visual effects woven into the play is best experienced through its spectacular sights, far surpassing the mere act of listening.
Bibliography and Further Reading
Sources
Belz, Joel, “Witnesses for the Prosecution: Darwin on Trial Author Brings Together Anti-Darwin Coalition to Bring Down Evolution,” in World Magazine, Vol. 11, No. 28, Nov. 30, 1986, p. 18.
Brittanica.com: Evolution, http://www.britannica.com/bcom/ eb/article/9/0,5716,108619+7+106075,00.html (December 11, 2000).
Cohen, Rosetta, “Book Reviews: The Lamplit Answer,” in Nation, Vol. 241, Dec. 7, 1985, p. 621.
Darwin, Charles, The Autobiography of Charles Darwin: With Original Omissions Restored; Edited with Appendix and Notes by His Granddaughter, Nora Barlow, Norton, 1969.
Lake, Paul, “Return to Metaphor: From Deep Imagist to New Formalist,” in Southwest Review, Vol. 74, Fall 1989, 515–29.
McPhillips, Robert, “Gjertrud Schnackenberg,” in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 20: American Poets Since World War II, Third Series, Gale Research, 1992, pp. 276–80.
———, “Reading the New Formalists,” in Sewanee Review, Vol. 97, Winter 1989, pp.73–96.
Pettingell, Phoebe, “Sound and Sense in Poetry,” in New Leader, Vol. 83, September 1985, pp. 14–15.
Schnackenberg, Gjertrud, Portraits and Elegies, edited by David R. Godine, 1982.
Shakespeare, William, The Tempest, edited by David Bevington, Bantam Books, 1988.
Warren, Rosanna, “Book Reviews: A Gilded Lapse of Time,” in New Republic, Vol. 209, No. 11, September 13, 1993, p. 37.
———, “Visitations,” in New Republic, September 13, 1993, pp. 37–41.
For Further Study
Feirstein, Frederick, ed., Expansive Poetry: Essays on the New Narrative and the New Formalism, Story Line Press, 1989. Published at the tail end of the decade in which the new formalism movement began, this collection of essays helps explain the reasons that some poets turned to a formal style of writing, using rhyme, meter, and a narrative voice. This is interesting reading for the serious student of poetry.
Golding, William, and Harold Bloom, eds., William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” Modern Critical Interpretations, Chelsea House Publications, 2000. This is, of course, only one of the many publications of Shakespeare’s last play. Like most, this version contains an insightful introduction to the tragicomedy and helpful interpretations throughout.
Jarman, Mark, and David Mason, eds., Rebel Angels: 25 Poets of the New Formalism, Story Line Press, 1996. As the title suggests, this anthology celebrates new formalism as a welcome and unexpected change in American poetry in the late twentieth century. Although Schnackenberg is not included, the book offers a good mix of new formalist poets, including Dana Gioia, Marilyn Hacker, and Timothy Steele.
Schnackenberg, Gjertrud, A Gilded Lapse of Time, Farrar Straus, 1992. This is Schnackenberg’s third poetry collection, and it continues the theme of history through an exploration of human creation versus God’s creation and the impact of myth on actual events. Written in the same style as Portraits and Elegies, the book will not disappoint any reader who is a Schnackenberg fan.
