Chaosss: Gertrude Stein and Lyn Hejinian

Gertuide Stein is most striking through her repetition. By simply glancing at a page “Patriarchal Poetry,” the repetition is highly visible. Her prominent feature almost numbs the mind when reading. I wanted to skim over the wall of “As to and to not to as to and such a pretty bird and to as such a pretty bird and…” (58). I expect these moments to be reliable in their repetition, as if a contemporary Stein would employ copy and paste. Yet, she disrupts the rhythm of repetition with extra small words. At the end of the paragraph the words alter to: “as to and to and such a pretty bird and to as to as such a pretty bird…” (58).  The same words are used, but the pattern slightly changes and disrupts my expectation as a reader.

While the poetry displays her craft, a feeling of chaos overwhelms me. Why dedicate so much physical space to this repetition and disorder?  I think its safe to say Stein argues for a particular perspective on patriarchal poetry. Toward the end of her prose poem, the words “Patriarchal Poetry” are repeated. Most often both words are capitalized, it varies: “Patriarchal Poetry means in turn for that./ Patriarchal poetry means in return” (76). Stein is playing with meaning, expectations, and even presentation and genre. She demonstrates the slippery and unpredictable nature of language by disrupting the reliability of repetition. These formal elements contribute to her perspective on Patriarchal poetry perhaps more so than at the content. (However, I still don’t know what she’s on about.)

Contemporary poet Lyn Hejinian also uses prose poetry and some repetition in her publication My Life. In the opening lines “Reason looks for two, then arranges it from there,” the speaker says, “Where I woke and was awake, in the/ room fitting the wall, withdrawn, I/ had my desk and thus my corner.” Though not as aggressive as Stein’s poetry, Hejinian uses light repetition (“woke” and “awake”) and creates a fluid sound with the alliteration of the “w” and “wh” sounds. The speaker provides a self-narrative lacking in Stein’s poem. However, the narrative reads like stream-of-conscious writing that creates the same feeling of chaos of Stein’s poetry. Both these poems raise questions of how different techniques and genres create similar experiences.