Date of Award
2014
Call Number
PS3603.E77 C65 2014
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Stonecoast
First Advisor
Jeanne Marie Beaumont
Second Advisor
Justin Tussing, Interim Director
Third Advisor
Lynn M. Kuzma, Dean
Keywords
Stonecoast MFA, emotional, academic journey, Sandra Cisneros, family relationships
Abstract
Coming to Terms, by Kathleen Cerveny, is a collection of poems exploring loss: of a long-term romantic relationship, of parents, and of youth. Taken together, the poems describe a journey through a range of emotions and the missteps and triumphs along the way. Dreams figure importantly in the collection. Dream-culled imagery is used to explore and express what is often hidden, suppressed, or actively denied in the face of loss. Sound and rhythm are consistent lyric elements throughout as are the use of assonance, alliteration, slant and internal rhyme. There is attention paid, but not slavish adherence to, metrical patterns. Most poems are written in free verse, but the collection includes a sonnet, two villanelles, and a pantoum. There is humor here, giving some relief to the overall somber nature of the work, and several poems inspired by the work of others. In all, the collection chronicles the efforts of a woman in her later years, struggling through both unanticipated and routine life changes and making her way to a place of new beginning.
Recommended Citation
Cerveny, Kathleen MFA, "Coming to Terms" (2014). All Student Scholarship. 234.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/etd/234