Mansfield’s Poems contains poems organized in five distinct periods of her life as a poet, from child verses (1907) to the later years of her life (1919). The work is framed by an introductory note which discusses her identity as a New Zealand born writer of both short stories and poetry, along with her brother’s death in 1915 which influenced her most profound writing. The book was published by Constable & Co. Ltd in 1923, the year after her death, and is 89 pages featuring 70 short poems. The target audience appears to be fans of Mansfield’s writing, who want to explore her other forms of writing beyond the typical short story. One of Mansfield’s most famous short stories, “The Garden Party”, grapples with class dynamics through the lens of an upper-class young woman, Laura. When a tragic accident prompts her to visit the lower-class village outside the gates of her luxurious world, Laura begins to question her frivolous, privileged lifestyle and values.
Mansfield put magical, poetic images and language into her short stories, creating a unique “special prose”. I found the introductory note incredibly interesting and relevant to understanding the broader context of Mansfield’s work: “Perhaps her poetry is not quite poetry, just as her prose is not quite prose. Certainly, whatever they are, they belong to the same order; they have the same simple and mysterious beauty, and they are, above all, the expression of the same exquisite spirit.” In “The Garden Party”, Mansfield uses poetic language in her prose, like the magical image of hundreds of roses blooming in a single night, “the green bushes bowed down as though they had been visited by archangels.” Though Mansfield often discussed herself as a short story writer, her collection of poems challenges her self-proclaimed identity as a writer by blurring the line between poetry and prose.
In the poem “A Fine Day”, Mansfield writes with a similar lyrical prose to that of “The Garden Party”. She includes similar details, like naming flowers such as “lily”, “lilac”, and “primrose”, along with other natural details like vibrant colors and bird songs. There is also a contrast between dark and light, a theme which underlies much of Mansfield’s work in different forms. Before this fine day, full of the sun’s warmth, happy bird songs, and blooming flowers, there was a period of rain, clouds, and dreary conditions in the garden. At the end, the speaker proclaims their gratitude for the sun, the birds, the flowers, and for all the things that give them hope and happiness. The garden has been both a setting of darkness and despair, but also light and hope. Similarly to the poem “A Fine Day”, in “The Garden Party” Mansfield beautifully writes of beautiful flowers, perfect weather, delicious food, and gorgeous clothing, though she doesn’t advert her eyes from the realistic world of poverty and the presence of death that lies beyond the garden’s gates. In fact, Laura finds beauty, wonder, and happiness in the presence of the dead man, laying in eternal sleep. In the end, Laura experiences a reconciliation of beauty and death, marveling at the peacefulness of death, unable to find the vocabulary to describe the enlightenment and emotions which language may fail to convey.
In both the poem and the short story, and across her poetry collection, Mansfield seems to reconcile our relationship with dreariness, darkness, and death that can pervade the garden, by seeing the beauty in death and by holding onto hope.
Question: How did you read the ending of “The Garden Party”? With the knowledge of the theme of light and darkness, or life and death, do you think that Laura experiences a revelation about life and death, do you think her brother, Laurie, put her down due to her gender, or do you have any other interpretations?
Recent Comments