Hyde: 'Alcohol and Poetry'

 I have tried to read John Berryman’s Dream Songs and failed.

It’s almost an allergic reaction. Something about Berryman’s poetry affects me — and not in a good way or in a way that I understand.

I wanted to at least understand my reaction, but books on Berryman didn’t help.

I got to the point where I was no longer willing to invest hours on this question, but when I came across Lewis Hyde’s pamphlet, I was willing to give him 45 minutes.

It was time well spent. I’m clearer, though still perplexed.

Hyde analyzes the connection between writers and alcoholism.

I think this is where I stumble: 

If you like old blues tunes, you grasp this: Suffering is an activity. It’s about something. The woman across town has done you wrong, and it’s going to hurt for a while. But the suffering will end, and you’ll move on.

In Hyde’s telling, anxiety, rather than suffering, is a symptom of alcoholism. Anxiety is not focused on anything — not about anything. And it’s a state, rather than an event, so it doesn’t end.

I know people who appreciate Berryman’s poetry. But I’m among those that should stick to old blues tunes.

• Lewis Hyde, Alcohol and Poetry: John Berryman and the Booze Talking; The Dallas Institute, 1986. It’s available at Hyde’s website:

https://lewishyde.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/18AlcoholandPoetry.pdf