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An Interview With Helga Ross
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Helga Ross is Resident Poet at PLT since May 2006 and
author of her web site Passions in Prose
. She was previously interviewed in her capacity as a poet by former
PLT Editor Sara Russell in 2004. (Read
interview) |
| Poetry L & T: | Helga, visiting your
site I’m struck immediately by your choices of, quote ‘Spiritual
Writing and Esteemed Literary Sources’. Your selections under
friendly links covers commentaries on Shakespeare, Jane Austin,
Chaucer, Sophocles’ Oedipus and the Rubaiyat with tributes to Rumi and
Hafiz and even the Gathas of Zoroaster. Quite academic but very
instructive, though tell me, in the latter are you personally
influenced by these ancient Sufi forms of poetry ? |
| Helga: | Ha!
Ha! Robin, unwittingly, you have introduced me with just the right
touch of the right ingredient: Humour. It’s appropriate we begin with this, as I consider it one of my most characteristic attributes, as artist and student of the art. Indeed, I don’t deny there’s a strong “Spiritual” aspect behind it all, but the correct quote is “Spirited Writing...” The Spiritual element drives me to a fair degree, I freely admit. I’ve no doubt it’s brought me the latter influences in synchronicity with events in that part of the world and the transformation of my writing efforts from essays to poetry. They all came together at the same time. So, while I’m long familiar with the former influences, my exploration, appreciation, and discovery of the latter forms is still unfolding. |
| Poetry L & T: | What about Jane
Austin, are you a great fan, do you as a poet identify with her, is she
a muse? |
| Helga: | Oh,
yes, she’s one. She would have to be one. She’s such a fine role model,
as artist, for making the most of the world from where you are, with
what you have, and leaving a mark: Her keen powers of observation; her
sense of humour; her shrewdness regarding human nature; her
independence of mind. One must never forget how small her world was,
actually, practically, geographically; how limiting and limited, her
worldly experience. |
| Poetry L & T: | I think that readers
who are unfamiliar with your background, should know that you only came
to writing poetry quite recently and quite late in life and that you
took to writing sonnets like a duck to water. In my consideration that
makes your work all the more remarkable, not for nothing are you PLT’s
Resident Poet, indeed we believe you should be recognised as one of
Canada’s leading female poets. I’d like to ask, since you first
ventured into writing sonnets in classical form, if you feel you’ve
passed through any radical phases of transformation since then in your
works? |
| Helga: | What
a lovely, lovely compliment. Robin, thank you. I’m most honoured that
you believe so, and feel pretty humble at the same time. I would love
it to be so, as a literary and literal fact, of course. It would be
nice to be better known, including by my own (fellow Canadians). No,
I’m far from a household name, except in my own home. Ah well, I strive
to be the best poet I can be, the only thing I know how to work on
effectively. I have no clue how to market myself, nor is that as
important to me as the writing itself. I do it because I love it, and
I’m just so glad the muse indulges me with fresh ideas, so far. I feel
privileged to be here at PL&T among such fine company. The
opportunity plays a big part in keeping me motivated and inspired. I’m evolving all the time, absolutely. My ear is working better with my voice. I continually go back and improve upon earlier work. There are pieces that came to me without needing further perfecting beyond the initial effort. There are some others made me cringe to reread, and since repaired. There are some, pending improvement, when I think of how to fix them, posing unsolved puzzles, even yet. As skills evolve, I find better phrasal rhythms, and come up with more strikingly singular ways of saying what I’ve written; and sometimes a completely new and inspired line; sometimes requiring further respective changes. The most important thing I’ve discovered with sonnets is that there’s several ways one could write the line and be technically correctly, but rhythm and syllable emphasis is everything, often times a subtle thing; the difference between something as simple as employing two words rather than a two-syllable word here or there; an “a” rather than “the”. The thing I want to dig deeper for is to communicate more emotion, more range of emotion, and evoke the same from the reader. I want to put more weight into the work, more meat into more lines and have the totality say more than one message, layers of import. My role model for what I mean would be Edna St. Vincent Millay. She was the first female Pulitzer Prize winning poet. Noted for her lyricism, and among her lovely poems, one who liked to work on sonnets. My personal favourite: "Epitaph for the Race of Man", all I could aspire to. "I will put Chaos in fourteen lines," “Love is Not All” more fine illustrations. |
| Poetry L & T: | In your link Articles
by Category, there’s one written by you on
The Lost Cherokee Nation and their Trail of Tears, do you identify
with that in some way? |
| Helga: | I’m
very drawn to American history from a broad perspective and have done
some travelling in that vein over the years. As a humanist, I can’t
help but identify with what happened to the Native Americans—they’re an
important part of that history. I visited Little Big Horn, the place of
Custer’s Last Stand; the Black Hills of Dakota, also. |
| Poetry L & T: | In your Articles,
Writers Sites, Poetry Page etc, you feature quite a lot writers and
poets David Coyote and Richard Rockwell amongst others,
the latter who I believe helped you design your site. Both I would
say are Green Writers, I mean in so far as telling us of the
imminent danger the world is in as far as ecological crisis is
concerned. It’s obvious you have sympathy with these views and even of
the old religion of the sacred feminine, there are references. Tell me
do you think there is still hope and that we can yet save the planet or
are we doomed perhaps to Gaia’s Revenge as James Lovelock warns. |
| Helga: | Richard
Rockwell was a dear friend. I knew him during a relatively short but
critical period, the couple of years of my artistic blossoming,
reflected in my web site. He was my mentor, if I ever had one. He
introduced me to so much art and philosophy and thought. He was my
biggest fan as writer/poet, my artistic support. He died suddenly in
2004. (Read Helga's poem dedicated to Richard Rockwell). I’m frankly, very, very worried about what’s happening to the climate and ecology, and my apprehension and understanding began in the Sixties. So much of the flora and fauna that was included in the pages of my childhood encyclopaedia is gone, and was already under threat since that time. Everything we’re doing is cumulative and exponential in effect. Is there hope? For a Spiritualist like me, the answer is yes, very likely, as far as our capability. We humans are never given problems we’re unable to come up with solutions for; but, what’s required to deal with this one is our recognition, focus, and will, be in concert. And these three before it’s too late. I think the scientific community has some innovative ideas on what we can do and need to do, and things to try as counter measures. Perhaps that’s our fatal flaw; we’re incapable of that kind of International cooperation. So that, on the other hand, seized by a lemming-like impulse, we may blow us up first. Every bomb that goes off, regardless of where, has blowback effects and contributes to our environmental soup, already warming up. I suspect a major ecological disaster has to happen somewhere important before we’ll decide we have to refocus our act, away from wars; that our petty human problems have been pre-empted. |
| Poetry L & T: | Under your link
Article Index there are many articles by yourself, often reflecting a
very wry and ironic humour, is that also a bitterness and is that a
source of inspiration to your poetry? |
| Helga: | Bitterness
is not a word I’d use to describe myself, Robin. I’m an exceptionally
happy human—haven’t met many as content with where they are with what
they have as I am—as I have good reason to be, at this point in my
life. There is a core of anger in me, I suppose—you’ve gleaned and
identified for me. Well then, I would say, ironically, it arises
simultaneously, with reaching where I’ve longed to be; to do with what
I see happening out there. As I grow and improve things get worse in
the world! There are things I wanted to do; places I wanted to go,
which the situation ruins for me, now that I’m this free. I wanted to
meander with Alexander! (as in, the Great; ‘go where he go’) and
the like. |
| Poetry L & T: | Do you have any
future poetry projects for Passions
in Prose? |
| Helga: | That
was a platform from which to leap creatively: A stage in my creative
development. I’ve moved on, and Richard, who helped me with it, is
gone. Today, it would have been “Passions In Poetry”, but I don’t need
to be that platform myself. I need to keep on expressing myself,
improving my art, and being worthy of profile. |
| Poetry L & T: | One
final question for now, do you think
that the poet has a specific role to play in the world today and if so
what? I must admit it’s a question I would shirk if it were put to me,
that’s why I’m putting it to you, since I’m quite lost about it, I’m
hoping you’ll be my muse on this one. Saludos |
| Helga: | The
way I see it, some great people have said already, Robin, starting with
the ancients. The poet’s role today is as it’s always been, and serves
important manifold purpose: Poetry is nearer to vital truth than
history. ~Plato, Ion
The distinction between historian and
poet is not in the one writing prose and the other verse... the one
describes the thing that has been, and the other a kind of thing that
might be. Hence poetry is something more philosophic and of
graver import than history, since its statements are of the nature
rather of universals, whereas those of history are singulars.
~Aristotle, On Poetics
Poets are the unacknowledged
legislators of the world. ~Percy Bysshe Shelley
"The true philosopher and the true poet
are one, and a beauty, which is truth, and a truth, which is beauty, is
the aim of both." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
"No man was ever yet a great poet,
without being at the same time a profound philosopher. For poetry is
the blossom and the fragrancy of all human knowledge, human thoughts,
human passions, emotions, language."~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
"Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden
beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not
familiar." ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley
Robin, thank you so such for this interview and giving me the opportunity to be here. |
| Poetry L & T: | Thank you for the interview, Helga. |
Goodbye My Friend, Hello!
Dedicated to friend and mentor, Richard
Rockwell, who passed away
peacefully on May 4, 2004.
See his many contributions, graphic and written, on my web site and in my AD articles.
See his many contributions, graphic and written, on my web site and in my AD articles.
Fine philosopher friend I’ve never met,
so singular you are—so long. My best.
For you the silence means your final rest;
for me the sudden aching space… I fret.
Minds combined mutual care—I won’t forget.
My wise old owl’s wry musings welcome guest.
Your grace, gifts of one gifted, for my quest:
an art that lasts, a credit serves the debt.
Your brief reign ordained my rite: Poetry.
Why, oh why, did your lion heart give out,
tear out that part of me, too soon decline?
“Send him a message” someone said to me!
So the mail, service suspends, do you doubt?
But the song sung? “All’s fine up on Cloud Nine…”
© Helga Ross 2004, 2007
