Date of Submission

Spring 2018

Academic Programs and Concentrations

Literature

Project Advisor 1

Marisa Libbon

Abstract/Artist's Statement

Frank Stanford's little known poem titled "The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You" was published just after his suicide in 1978 and extends for approximately 17,000 lines. As the poem follows eternally 12 year old Francis through his dreams and twisted realities living in the south, it thrusts each reader into the farthest depths of disorientation using indescribably beautiful language. With no punctuation, structure, narrative, timeline, or distinction between the real and unreal, this poem exists on the far end of the experimental spectrum. My project, in response to Stanford's form, uses an alternative form of analysis and response. This is in order to both sort my way through the poem, as well as guide my own reader through it. With no chapters or outlined thesis, each page stands explicitly alone as a response to a small excerpt of the poem; however, each response remains implicitly connected. The reader of my project is thrown about in disorientation (just as the reader of Stanford is) and moves between engaging with poetic and pros responses. However, through this abandonment/reworking of traditional academic literary analysis, this project aims to bring each reader as close as they can be to standing next to me on Stanford's "Battlefield."

Open Access Agreement

Open Access

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
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