Comments on: Berryman and Schwartz http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/2007/01/12/berryman-and-schwartz/ Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:20:27 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Theresa http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/2007/01/12/berryman-and-schwartz/comment-page-1/#comment-7132 Theresa Mon, 15 Jan 2007 00:02:19 +0000 http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/2007/01/12/berryman-and-schwartz/#comment-7132 To Loren and "RB"--this is such a great exploration. Thanks for the YouTube reference! That is so interesting! To Loren and “RB”–this is such a great exploration. Thanks for the YouTube reference! That is so interesting!

]]> By: Mike Ivory http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/2007/01/12/berryman-and-schwartz/comment-page-1/#comment-7130 Mike Ivory Sun, 14 Jan 2007 09:32:42 +0000 http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/2007/01/12/berryman-and-schwartz/#comment-7130 These Dream Song threads are terrific Loren, some do not find Berryman difficult, they find that he speaks clearly to a broken mind. I am hopeful that at some time in the future you will be able to give your insights to his LOVE & FAME and DELUSIONS collections. I think that in "Scherzo" and "He Resigns" and the prayer poems from DELUSIONS it is clear for all to see. These Dream Song threads are terrific Loren, some do not find Berryman difficult, they find that he speaks clearly to a broken mind. I am hopeful that at some time in the future you will be able to give your insights to his LOVE & FAME and DELUSIONS collections. I think that in “Scherzo” and “He Resigns” and the prayer poems from DELUSIONS it is clear for all to see.

]]> By: Theresa http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/2007/01/12/berryman-and-schwartz/comment-page-1/#comment-7126 Theresa Sat, 13 Jan 2007 06:42:51 +0000 http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/2007/01/12/berryman-and-schwartz/#comment-7126 Schwartz was Berryman's best friend. Whenever Berryman despaired about his writing, it was always Schwartz who bolstered his spirits and gave him the courage to carry on. Berryman would have probably never stayed the course with his writing if not for Schwartz. Unfortunately, Schwartz was mentally unstable and their relationship was strained now and again. There was a huge sadness in Berryman about what happened to Schwartz, Schwartz's slow deterioration into madness. Schwartz's illness was paralleled by Lowell's, who was hospitalized several times for manic episodes. Berryman always felt he, too, was hounded by madness. Schwartz was Berryman’s best friend. Whenever Berryman despaired about his writing, it was always Schwartz who bolstered his spirits and gave him the courage to carry on. Berryman would have probably never stayed the course with his writing if not for Schwartz. Unfortunately, Schwartz was mentally unstable and their relationship was strained now and again. There was a huge sadness in Berryman about what happened to Schwartz, Schwartz’s slow deterioration into madness. Schwartz’s illness was paralleled by Lowell’s, who was hospitalized several times for manic episodes. Berryman always felt he, too, was hounded by madness.

]]> By: Amanda M http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/2007/01/12/berryman-and-schwartz/comment-page-1/#comment-7124 Amanda M Sat, 13 Jan 2007 02:59:07 +0000 http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/2007/01/12/berryman-and-schwartz/#comment-7124 Thank you, Loren, for the link to the interview with John Berryman. The 33 pages are well worth reading. If I understand correctly, THE DREAM SONGS was written in 1969, when Berryman was drinking heavily and experiencing the unbearable edginess and despair that tend to accompany heavy drinking and alcoholism. At the time of that fall 1970 interview, he was no longer drinking and was beginning to write about his experience in the spring of 1970 of being rescued by God as he came to understand God, not the God he had been raised to understand. He had had what William James, in THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, called a conversion experience. In the interview, Berryman remarks about the religious tone in some of his last poems, which he predicted was not going to be popular with many of his readers and contemporaries. His interview voice is not that of a man tormented by active alcoholism. A sensitive man, yes, but a man who has gone through the wringer and survived, a man who does not expect his future to be easy but who is willing to face whatever comes. I wonder what happened between the hard-won hopefulness at the time of the interview and his death by suicide on January 7, 1972. After reading the interview, I see him as a courageous man. Thank you, Loren, for the link to the interview with John Berryman. The 33 pages are well worth reading.

If I understand correctly, THE DREAM SONGS was written in 1969, when Berryman was drinking heavily and experiencing the unbearable edginess and despair that tend to accompany heavy drinking and alcoholism.

At the time of that fall 1970 interview, he was no longer drinking and was beginning to write about his experience in the spring of 1970 of being rescued by God as he came to understand God, not the God he had been raised to understand. He had had what William James, in THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, called a conversion experience. In the interview, Berryman remarks about the religious tone in some of his last poems, which he predicted was not going to be popular with many of his readers and contemporaries.

His interview voice is not that of a man tormented by active alcoholism. A sensitive man, yes, but a man who has gone through the wringer and survived, a man who does not expect his future to be easy but who is willing to face whatever comes. I wonder what happened between the hard-won hopefulness at the time of the interview and his death by suicide on January 7, 1972. After reading the interview, I see him as a courageous man.

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