Unbosoming and the Circle of Life

The poem "Unbosoming" by the male poet Michael Field describes the magical reproduction cycle of the Iris flower. Field has a keen eye for beauty in the natural world, as is seen in his detailed account of the seasonal mating ritual of the Iris. The Iris gets its name from the Greek word for rainbow, which indicates that Field has a deep appreciation for the vibrant colors nature provides. This is clear by his use of color imagery, such as his reference to "a thousand vermillion-beads", the "silver scrip", and the harvest-secret as "burning red".
The form of the poem is not quite free verse, but certainly without any consistent meter or rhyme scheme until line 9, when he begins speaking in couplets. The switch in rhyme scheme indicates a switch from the chaotic process of fertilization and pollination to the steady step by step process of reproducing. This act of conception is referred to near the end of the poem in line 14, where he refers to the "harvest-secret is burning red". The poem eloquently describes the natural reproduction cycle to reflect his love for a lucky lady. As readers we can only hope their offspring will be as beautiful as the Iris (or, if you are Greek, rainbow) in the spring time.

Soaring the Skies: A Closer Look at "Power in Silence"

Power in Silence

Michael Field

I

Though I sing high, and chaunt above her,

Praising my girl,

It were not right

To reckon her the poorer lover;

   She does not love me less

For her royal, jewelled speechlessness,

She is the sapphire, she the light,

The music in the pearl.

II

Not from pert birds we learn the spring-tide

   From open sky.

   What speaks to us

Closer than far distances that hide

In woods, what is more dear

Than a cherry-bough, bees feeding near

In the soft, proffered blooms? Lo, I

Am fed and honoured thus.

III

She has the star’s own pulse; its throbbing

   Is a quick light.

She is a dove

My soul draws to its breast; her sobbing

   Is for the warm dark there!

In the heat of her wings I would not care

My close-housed bird should take her flight

   To magnify our love.

The joint written poetry by lovers Catherine Harris Bradley and Edith Emma Cooper under the pseudonym Michael Field is very powerful. Their works borrow from traditional love poetry, but add a twist because the love illustrated was (and is sometimes still) considered taboo. This particular poem is not only beautiful, but very revealing. In many ways it captures the essence of a secret relationship between two women.

The poem clearly illustrates a relationship between two individuals. Readers not knowing that the poem is written by lesbian lovers might think that the poem speaks of a normal relationship between a man and woman. If reading it in this way, one might come to the conclusion that the woman whom the poem is about seems to be about is not fully committed to the relationship, and that a full commitment would allow the relationship to bloom more fully. But while there is textual evidence to this sort reading, understanding the biography of the authors allows readers of the poem to interpret it differently. In the third stanza of this poem, the authors refer to the woman as a “close-housed bird.” This symbolizes a woman who has yet to embrace her lesbianism. The final lines of the poem, “My close-housed bird should take her flight/To magnify our love,” shows the speakers want of her lover to fully commit to her lesbianism.

We can tie these closing lines to lines from the opening stanza. The lines, “It were not right/To reckon her the poorer lover;/She does not love me less,” lead me to assume there is an inner-dialogue by the speaker: she feels as though her lover is the lesser lover, not because she loves less intensely, but because she masks her love from outsiders, afraid of the public scrutiny it might cause. Unpacking these lines and reading them together leads me to understand the relationship between these women as very complex. Not only are the lovers going through the struggles of a monogamous relationship, they are having to do so while also battling against societal norms of heterosexuality.        

                In the second stanza, the speaker of the poem likens herself to a freed bird who is provides for her baby birds. She is able to soar the skies, beautiful and wild. But while she enjoys the vastness of open skies, what she truly loves is still grounded back in the woods—in the nest. The speaker’s lover, who has yet to come to full grasp of her lesbian nature, is still grounded. This does not lessen the intimacy of the relationship. Together in the woods, the two birds are still close: “My soul draws to its breast; her sobbing/Is for the warm dark there!/In the heat of her wings I would not care.” The mentioning of “breast” and the warmth under her wing implies that the two are still very intimate.

But the final stanza illustrates the speaker’s real want: she desires her lover to take flight and fully embrace her lesbian nature so the two can soar the skies together. The image of the two birds flying together is not only beautiful, but also gives the lovers shared experience. Through their flight, the two lovers will grow closer together and their relationship can blossom.

Michael Field's "A Girl": The Physical and Beyond

In this poem, Fields seems to author a dual meaning.  There seems to be some intangible "love" for lack of a better word, as well as some deep sexual overtones    The second line illustrates this early and rather robustly.  It reads, "Her soul a deep-wave pearl".  The double meaning that I find here is rooted in the words "soul" and "deep-wave pearl".  There seems to be an inherent connection between the stimulation of the physical being -- "the pearl" which can be stimulated, the result of which is that "deep-wave" of the woman's reproductive organs -- and the stimulation of the soul.  Fields also uses some contrasting ideas to describe the girl in the poem saying "Dim, lucent" which could be interpreted as saying dark and shining, implying that the girl is more than just a simple being.  Not only that, but there are all of these references to nature, such as "seas", "forest-trees", "breeze", "flowered", "wave", and "pearl".  This introduces the idea that the alleged lesbian relationship described by the poem is natural.  Moving back to the dual meaning of the poem, lines 10 through 14 describe some half completed work and a notion that the girl may complete it if she so wishes.  Following the mention of the soul in line 10, the idea of completeness of one woman depending on another seems to reference love and since there is this implicit and natural connection between love, the soul and physical sexuality between these the female narrator and the female subject then it would seem that the narrator is made whole or fulfilled by the girl's presence and consent to engagement of the narrator.

Michael Field

Michael Field was a pseudonym used by English authors Edith Cooper and Katherine Bradley.  These two women were involved in a sexual relationship, which certainly ran counter to the social norms of Victorian England where they lived.  This is most probably the reason they felt the need to assume the pen name, and if so, it can be argued that a queer theory analysis may be hard to apply; after all, if queer theory seeks to undermine "hegemonic" heterosexuality, then masking one's identity would tend to lessen the subversive effect, especially if the identity assumed is male.  It would certainly be difficult to undermine prevailing social norms about sexuality if the poetic form mirrored that of many other traditional romantic poems, as is the case with many of Field's poems.  But in any case, it would still be useful to apply such a lens to Field's "Unbosoming."  In this poem, sexual imagery is abound.  The narrator compares his/her (not sure which to use in this case, as the poem was written by a woman, but the voice would be seen by a Victorian reader as male.  Perhaps this is an example of subversion, however, as it is causing me at least a little uncertainty) love to an "iris...brimful of seeds," further stating that "all that it flowered for among the reeds/ Is packed in a thousand vermilion-beads/ That push, and riot, and squeeze, and clip,/ Till they burst the sides of the silver scrip."  The last two lines are especially charged with sexual connotations, as the language employed, such as "squeeze" and "burst," could similarly be used to describe sex ending in climax.  The word "seed" is also notable, as it carries undertones of fertility/sexuality.  The words "fragrance" and "sigh" also give similar sexual connotations, as romantic poems often make note of a lover's scent and the satisfied sighs that result from lovemaking.  Even the name of the poem, "Unbosoming," carries with it an implication of release, one which, given the several allusions to fertility and love, can be assumed to be sexual.

Rotary Jail

In our trip to the Rotary Jail of Crawfordsville, Indiana I was surprised by how it was the sheriff’s living unit and a prison in the same building.  We took this trip after reading about Foucault and the theory of the gaze.  It was interesting how the jail was set up, instead of a guard being in the middle of the jail—at a view point where he could see all the prisoners—he was on the outside.  Think of an inverted Panopticon, making it more difficult to keep an eye on prisoners.  This was evident by the stories our tour guide told us about escapes where a prisoner waited right outside the gate and attacked the guard.  The fact that rotary jails put the guards at such a disadvantage when it came to monitoring prisoners is probably why they are no longer in use today.  Foucault’s theory of the gaze was not extremely well represented here in the rotary jail, but the aspects of taking in the ‘others’ from society and attempting to normalize them was seen.  The latter is also another theory Foucault had, that prisoners were taken into jails and made to be useful and passive in order to become a productive member of society. 

My Darling

The poem My Darling by Michael Field is a very interesting poem. When I first read this poem I couldn’t figure out if the name ‘Atthis’ was supposed to be spelled that way or if someone forgot to put a space in between to make it ‘at this’. Either way I think the poem would still work, so I am going to go with the assumption that it was the name ‘Atthis’ that was supposed to be in the poem.  It is interesting because if one did not know anything about Michael Field they would assume that it was a man talking to a woman.  But Michael Field was actually Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper, making this poem about a woman—or two women—talking to another woman.  This fact makes their use of the term darling appropriate because that is a very gender neutral term of affection.  The authors do use several feminine clues to possibly indicate the feminine attraction, by referring to dawn as “Queen Dawn”.  Referring to dawn this way is something that I have never heard of before, as the sun is usually associated with a masculine image.  The reason they hid this is because of the societal norms that were in place during that era. 

Michael Field recognizing oppresion of women

Michael Field, the pen name for writers Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper, published numerous plays and poems often resembling their love for one another, an act which was generally frowned upon by society. In their poem "Maids, not to you my mind doth change", we see a great sense of their love for women, as well as a desire to be liberated from the social restraints men have impressed upon them. In the first stanza, it reads "Men I defy, allure, estrange/ Prostrate, make bond or free" (Field lines 2/3). Men, and society for this matter, forbid any forms of homosexuality during this time. The two took this mentality into account when writing their poetry and sought to express views through writing. Further, to begin the second stanza, Field writes, "Soon doth a lover's patience tire,/ But ye to manifold desire" (Field lines 8/9). Here, Field is stating they are tired of disguising a forbidden love, especially a love which is so clear it exists to both of them. Lastly, Field concludes the poem with "And with your soft vitality/ My weary bosom fill" (Field lines 20/21). Field, here, is speaking of a woman's 'vitality' as soft, an often misconstrued view derived and carried out by men. However, Field embraces this, thus leading to her significant other making her feel full or complete.