There’s so much about Edith Sitwell
that I find fascinating; her upbringing, personality, looks, fashion
sense and lifestyle. Strangely, one of the most essential things about
her- her work as a poet- is something I was originally less familiar
with. In ‘Edith Sitwell: Avant Garde Poet, English Genius’- Richard Greene refers to Sitwell's poems as "the most important events in her life.”
As
a keen amateur analyser of poetry, and an actor/voice teacher who
understands the importance of rhythm and language within a play text,
Edith’s poetry has a natural attraction, but I wanted a professional
opinion. I went to meet Kate Evans- a poet who has written her own response to Edith’s work- ‘Words in My Head’
Kate lives in Scarborough,
(Edith’s birthplace). Another excuse for a family day out, this time
with mum, dad and dogs. (They’ll all be glad when I’ve got this ‘Edith
thing’ out of my system- although I think the dogs were grateful for a
breezy beach walk, and we had a good lunch overlooking the Grand Hotel, the harbour and, to my Dads delight, one of the funicular railways.)
Whilst the family were frolicking on the beach I discussed Edith’s early poems with Kate. We started in the obvious place with Façade- poems set to music by William Walton.
The fact that Edith is sometimes referred to as the godmother of rap
still makes me laugh. I made a flippant joke in a feature for the Funny Women website- referring to Mr Walton as Will.i. am, adding that in reality you can’t compare him and Edith to the Black Eyed Peas.
When you know Edith like I’m beginning to know Edith the ‘down with the
kids, gangster rap’ image really doesn’t fit- (apart from the bling,
maybe?). But the point is that like rap, her poems rely on the texture
of language, sound and image and its relationship to rhythm and melody-
And this Kate explained made it innovative. ’It’s radical for its time…a radical jump from the Romantics to Modern poetry.’
Also as Edith remarked to Stephen Spender,
as a female poet "There was no one to point the way. I had to learn
everything – learn, amongst other things, not to be timid."
And there wasn’t always support from other female writers. Virginia Wolf reviewed Edith’s poem ‘Clowns Houses’ remarking
‘Miss Sitwell owes a great deal to modern painters and until her optic
nerve has ceased to be dazzled it is difficult to say how interesting
her vision is.’ (Although it is worth noting, as Richard Greene observes Sitwell and Wolfe’s friendship was complicated, one which was both ‘intimate and competitive.’)
Edith’s
later poetry still relied on word, sound and image but also became more
intense in emotion influenced by her personal life and world events.
The ripping apart of her personal life came in the form of the death of
Helen Rootham, the governess who became a life long companion, and, with
her tumultuous but platonic relationship with the painter, Pavel Tchelitchew. The Second World War was a ripping apart of the countries national identity, provoking poems such as ‘Still Falls the Rain’. Other events such as a late conversion to Catholicism encouraged religious references and imagery.
I also asked Kate about Edith’s prose; of particular interest to me, as my play focuses on Edith’s biographies of Elizabeth the 1st. Reading Fanfare for Elizabeth and The Queens and the Hive-
despite Edith’s insistence that they were non fiction crust earners-
the mark of the poet runs through them. Kate described them as creative
non- fiction or poetic prose. Again, as a writer and creative, Edith was
running ahead of the pack. Kate also said, as writers, we owe a lot to
her- ‘We are the God Daughters of Edith’ (I’m glad for this- I’m
certainly more suited to being a God daughter of Edith then a God
Daughter of rap!)
I could have talked to Kate for hours about Edith, and her poetry, but had another meeting lined up at Woodend. However there are plans afoot for various Sitwell events in 2014, to commemorate fifty years of Edith’s death, which we will both be involved in. You can also find more about Kate Evans and her work by visiting her blog http://www.writingourselveswell.co.uk/
