Feminist Poetry

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studied, is that of naming the unnameable, of speaking about topics which are too bad to be normally discussed or named. Two poems that mention this are On Aging by Maya Angelou and Mirror by Sylvia Plath. For many, aging is a topic that most people try to avoid as it is a topic which makes people feel down when they witness it themselves. Once again both poets take opposing views but now about an avoided topic. Maya Angelou takes a view in which she knows that she’s getting old, but she doesn’t care and she is still happy with the way she is. She still feels alive, and takes a positive outlook on aging, however Plath takes a view in which she feels as though aging is a horrible depressing thing, she talks about how people get negative emotions when they witness themselves aging, and she views it as a sinister thing. Aging is a process, almost like the process of baking a bread, it starts off young and malleable, but then when you bake it, it starts becoming more hard and it becomes edible. This is a metaphor for how people start off young and are easily influenced, and as time progresses you become set in your ways and become more wise.

The last point, that of poems changing the world is an aspect that is definitely found in Mushrooms by Sylvia Plath, and Million Man March by Maya Angelou. The poem Mushrooms gives a new perspective on life for whoever reads it, and it is literally about how certain people who you wouldn’t expect will change the world. It is about how those who always act quiet, and who always seem passive might actually have secret agendas to change the world. And they get their tactics by "you mix the dough of experience with the yeast of inspiration". Million man march is a poem which takes that aspect of the seemingly passive, the seemingly weak, (in this case the oppressed) coming together quickly, overnight and making a change in the world. In this way, the poems most definitely change the world as it gives people a new perspective, and tells people about events they may not have known about.

To conclude, it is said that Sylvia Plath and Maya Angelou were really perfect poets, in Rashdies eyes. They fulfilled all criteria that he required for a good poet, and they all made meaningful poems. All of their poems contain the points that Rashdie believes makes a good poem, and poet

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