John Ashbery as an Avant-garde Poet - Research Paper Example

Borrowing some elements form modernist poetry the poet has invented his own style keeping at par with the period he belonged. However, the move of this great poet from the shadows to the limelight was quite sudden without giving any scope to the readers for the deeper perception of his style. Though his style was simple and straightforward as declared by him, his poems raised puns and questions about the theme enfolded between the lines. His approach to poetry has often provided different scopes for interpretation form more than one angles.

It is the aspect of hidden meaning which has raised the controversies against him amongst his critics and this relates essentially to the homosexuality and autobiographical content. Hence criticism of his work continued for the next decades till date and these works of criticisms have gained literary acclaim and worth over time. some examples of such are “On the Outside Looking Out, by John Shoptaw, Five Temperaments, by David Kalstone, Beyond Amazement, edited by David Lehman, John Ashbery: Modern Critical Views, edited by Harold Bloom, The Tribe of John, Ashbery and Contemporary Poetry, edited by Susan Schultz, and John Ashbery and American Poetry, by David Herd” (Hilbert).

The nature of his poems comprises of changes in tone, speaker and voice randomly. They often seem to lack integrity and each line cannot stand out independently. The themes are often combinations of abstract expressionism, deconstruction and contain cultural components.Looking at the scenario of American poet John Ashbery has made huge fame and smoothly made himself a delicacy for the critics to discuss. It is often hard to classify him under categories like romantics, an “abstract thinker”, or a gay poet without any autobiographical indication.

His compositions began to be difficult to interpret over the 80s and often have been disjunctive and irregular.