Transformations

I was a little surprised when I read Transformations. I assumed the poems would explore in depth, just one aspect of each fairy tale. Instead, the poems were extraordinarily thorough in her renditions. I didn’t expect the poems to retell the fairy tales so completely. Each one is really a story, a short fiction almost, more than just a poem. Most, if not all, have some kind of introductory poem that leads into the fairy tale poem. Many of those introductions are practically separate poems of their own, often giving some sort of back story like the one that begins Rapunzel.

Additionally, I like Sexton’s use of humor. It can be dark, but nonetheless amusing. For example, in Rumpelstiltskin, the woman who’s child is on the line if she can’t guess the dwarf’s name is “persistent | as a Jehovah’s Witness.” Hansel and Gretel’s “parents | had come upon evil times. | They had cooked the dog | and served him up like lamb chops.”

I haven’t read Sexton before so I looked up a few of her poems: Wanting to Die, The Truth the Dead Know, and Her Kind. It is easy to understand, after reading these, why her fairy tale poems are on the more depressing side. Her poetry in general is very somber and depressing.

There is a creepiness, too, about the book in general. I don’t know if every edition has illustrations, but mine does. They certainly aid in giving the book a macabre feeling. The sketched eyes, without any other facial features, that accompany One-eye, Two-eyes, Three-eyes, while appropriate, are particularly disturbing. And speaking of disturbing, I’m interested to hear what everyone thinks of Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty). I honestly am not sure what is going on in that poem, well the end particularly. There’s an incestuous relationship introduced and I can’t quite put my finger on the purpose or reasoning behind it.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the book. It’s quite a bit different than the poetry that I’m typically interested in. It’s easy to see why she is a highly celebrated poet. She mixes storytelling with poetry in this collection and it works well. Though I haven’t read the originals, it almost seems like the revised tales in her book are original Brothers’ Grimm tales. They are dark and foreboding, almost medieval.