POETIC IDENTITIES IN “THE KNOT” BY RUTH FAINLIGHT
POETIC IDENTITIES IN “THE KNOT” BY RUTH FAINLIGHT

Summary/Abstract: Conversational and intimate, the poetry of Ruth Fainlight combines a lightness of touch with great intensity due to the fact that she finds strangeness and mysticism beneath the surface of everyday life events. Although her themes have changed and developed with the passage of time, her poetry always tried to render the subtlest perceptions and emotions of the world in its complexity. The most important dimensions of her creation are poetic craft, race and gender. Certainly, poetic craft, feminist and Jewish elements can be easily traced in her poetry all clothed in a highly symbolic language. However, besides these, her work is constructed around themes like hope and despair, death and ageing, loss, heart’s affections, human fears, human behaviour, human relationships, awareness of the natural world, its changes and continuities.“The Knot” appeared in 1991, half way her literary career and has a rich, complex structure which illustrates her main themes and reveals her identities as a woman, a poet and a Jew. The title of the collection refers directly to the poetic creation and poetic craft. The volume includes poems about poetic creation, female-centred nature and attitudes, human experiences, natural world and the mythical power which lies underneath, journeys through time and space.

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