The poems in this thesis manuscript, The Dirty Lover's Mausoleum, are intended to alternately confuse and enlighten the reader. They span a spectrum of emotions, from sadness to anger, and from depression to hope, never dwelling for too long in just one facet. Even the title is open-ended: Who is the dirty lover? Is it the speaker? Is it the beloved from Part I? Ultimately readers should find answers in the stories of the speaker—everyone is a dirty lover, even the kindest of the speaker's subjects. These poems are studies in relationships, both lost and found, both kept and disintegrating. They examine how loved ones can become family, and how family can become the people you know the least, but fascinate nonetheless. Lastly they are a study of the self and how the self deals with loss, pain, and joy. In "Study in Remembrance," the writer quotes Robert Olen Butler in an epigraph to the poem, and it is this epigraph that holds true for the speaker throughout the manuscript: "I have to remember how the world has changed" ("Jealous Husband Returns in the Form of a Parrot"). The speaker is constantly struggling to remind herself that life goes on, no matter how adamantly she holds on to the present and the past. That life should go on. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts. / Summer Semester, 2010. / April 21, 2010. / Daughter, Sea, Cigarette / Includes bibliographical references. / Erin Belieu, Professor Directing Thesis; David Kirby, Committee Member; Andrew Epstein, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_182703 |
| Contributors | Johnson, Olivia (authoraut), Belieu, Erin (professor directing thesis), Kirby, David (committee member), Epstein, Andrew (committee member), Department of English (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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