This poem was published in the
collection Evening Train
(1992).
Mid-American:
Middle America
Oxford Guide to British and
American Literature 1 middle-class Americans, who usually have
traditional values and are politically moderate and conservative 2 another name for the Middle West
the Middle West, the Midwest
the northern central region of the US. It is considered to be
between the Rocky Mountains and the eastern borders of Illinois or
Ohio, and from the Great Lakes to the Ohio River and the southern
borders of Kansas and Missouri. It is rich farming land. People
living in the Middle West are thought to be traditional and
conservative.
Urban
Dictionary
Middle-class America. Suburban, predominately Caucasian, reminiscent
of Pleasant ville. Common family unit consists of moderately
successful father, stay-at-home mother, 2.5 blond kids, and a very,
very nice lawn. Middle Americans thrive on monotony of routine and
everything vanilla. The police have nothing better to do but harass
and oppress anything remotely teenager, while 90% of parental figures
are taking some sort of anti-depressant/bi-polar medication. The kids
are avid drug users, as there is nothing else in town to occupy
themselves with
Sounds a little like a Twilight Zone? It is.
"She'd never heard of a rave before."
"Grew up under a rock or something?"
"No, she's straight from Middle America."
"Ohh."
Merriam-Webster 1: the region of the western
hemisphere including Mexico, Central America, often the West Indies,
and sometimes Colombia and Venezuela 2: the midwestern section of
the United States 3: the middle-class segment of
the United States population; especially : the traditional or
conservative element of the middle class
tragedy:
Merriam-Webster 1a: a medieval narrative poem
or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man b: a serious drama typically
describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (as
destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits
pity or terror c: the literary genre of tragic
dramas 2a: a disastrous event: calamity b: misfortune 3: tragic quality or element
Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious,
complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with
each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in
separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative;
through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these
emotions. By "language embellished," I mean language into which
rhythm, "harmony" and song enter. By "the several kinds in separate
parts," I mean, that some parts are rendered through the medium of
verse alone, others again with the aid of song.
Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which parts determine
its quality- namely, Plot, Character, Diction, Thought, Spectacle,
Song. Two of the parts constitute the medium of imitation, one the
manner, and three the objects of imitation.
But again, Tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action,
but of events inspiring fear or pity. Such an effect is best produced
when the events come on us by surprise; and the effect is heightened
when, at the same time, they follow as cause and effect. The tragic
wonder will then be greater than if they happened of themselves or by
accident; for even coincidences are most striking when they have an
air of design. We may instance the statue of Mitys at Argos, which
fell upon his murderer while he was a spectator at a festival, and
killed him. Such events seem not to be due to mere chance. Plots,
therefore, constructed on these principles are necessarily the best.
In "Mid-American Tragedy," she [Levertov] addresses the
inadequacy of a pair of American parents whose gay son is dying during
Christmas. These parents love their son and think they have accepted his
sexual preference, but their behavior indicates that subconsciously they
wish he were "eight years old again, not a gay man, / not dying." While he
struggles for breath, they insist on chattering meainglessly and playing
"Jingle Bells," instead of giving him "the healing silence" in which they
could have heard "his life at last." Despite her earlier lack of sympathy
with lesbian feminism, Levertov's circle had always included gay men. Now
Levertov was close friends with two gay men who were ill with AIDS--poet
Arturo Islas, her colleague at Stanford, and poet Steven Blevins, her former
student--and this poem was probably inspired by them. Levertov had known
Blevins since the midseventies, and she stayed in close contact with him
during his treatment in the early nineties, urging him "to share bad news."
Unlike the parents in her poem, she wanted "to participate in the truth" and
felt that "troubles shared are troubles lessened."
Read
some of the following definitions of tragedy. What is
tragic, do you find, about the situation described in
Levertov's poem?
This
world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to
those that feel.
(Horace Walpole, Letter to the Countess of Upper
Ossory , 16 August 1776)
Herein
lies the tragedy of the ape: not that men are
poor...not that men are wicked...but that men know so
little of men.
W. E. B. Du Bois, The
Souls of the Black Folk, (1903
Life's
tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.
(Benjamin Franklin)
In
human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there
is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is
not understood.
(Henry David Thoreau)
Life
is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in
long-shot.
(Charlie Chaplin)
History
will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this
period of social transition was not the strident
clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of
the good people.
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Tragedy
is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide
by which to live.
(Robert Kennedy)
Sample Student
Responses to Denise Levertov's "Mid-American Tragedy"
Response 1:
Study Question:
Student Name
2202234
Introduction to the Study of English Literature
Acharn Puckpan
Tipayamontri
June 12, 2013
Reading
Response 1
Title
Text.
Links
Denise Levertov, Six
Poems, Lannan Foundation (1993; Levertov reads from
six poems: "Settling," "Open Secret," "Tragic Error,"
",The Danger Moments" "A Gift," and "For Those Whom the
Gods Love Less"; 9:42 min.)
Denise Levertov, Six
Poems, Lannan Foundation (1993; Levertov reads
from six poems: "Settling," "Open Secret," "Tragic
Error," ",The Danger Moments" "A Gift," and "For Those
Whom the Gods Love Less"; 9:42 min.)