Poetry Collection- James Jones

The Seven Ages by Louise Gluck 

         Louise Gluck was born April 22, 1943 in New York City, she is of Hungarian -Jewish descent, her father, an immigrant from Hungary was an inventor. She attended both Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College however she did not graduate from either of the two. She has written twelve poetry collections and has been awarded many times for her work.

         Her collection provides many themes and subjects that one may think of when in self reflection during different stages of their life. Worry, loneliness and regret are all very prevalent subjects in her collection, however there are more positive pieces in this collection as well. In "Exalted Image" she speaks about a young child, excluding himself from his classmates by only focusing on his work, he worries about his life, calling it empty, he doesn't know how to fill the hole he has found in his existence. In "Radium" she gives the perspective of a young person worried and bothered by the way time passes, claiming that life was simply a distraction from the horror of the fact that time continues moving with no sign of stopping. In "Summer Night" she uses the perspective of an older person to express the regret of someone that did not complete many actions they could have so easily. 

         "Youth" is one of the poems that interested me most from this collection. It discusses the feeling of childhood, sitting back as time moves and life happens all around you. You have no control over the fact, which is the horror of youth, you must tolerate the odd happenings around you without giving input. Her take on childhood is fairly accurate, and when looking back regardless of how great one's childhood may have been her assertions are still true,.  

          Though I'm not entirely sure of what my style of expression through verse may be because I don't write poetry very often Louise Gluck's collection does inspire me in a way. I think that her choice to focus on self reflection throughout different stages of life was intriguing, and I also think that her poems wonderfully created.

Gluck, Louise.