Stevie and Marriage: Preface Florence “Stevie” Smith grew up in unstable family conditions. Her family was falling apart, and she observed every moment with hushed censure. These repressed feelings can be seen in her poetry. Her unfortunate childhood experiences attribute to a mistrustful, cynical tone in her poem “Marriage I Think.”For sources I have consulted three separate levels of libraries. At the high school library I found a series called Critical Survey Of Poetry that has been most helpful in providing background information on Smith, as well as critical reviews of some of her poems. The Shippensburg Public Library as well as the Bosler Library has provided a collection of Smith’s later poems (of which I chose my focus poem) called Me Again, as well as The Norton Anthology Of Literature By Women that has helped with finding out about Smith’s childhood and other biographical information. The Dickinson College Library has been most helpful. There I checked out Stevie Smith, In Search of Stevie Smith, and Stevie, all of which contain vast amounts of research into her childhood and younger years as related to her later poems, thus providing a wealth of both criticism and biographical information. I have also consulted numerous websites to look for her poems and other information, but with very little success.I have two main sections to my paper, excluding my introduction and conclusion. The first section contains information about Smith’s view of the institution of marriage. This section provides evidence from the focus poem, Smith’s friends, as well as her own life. The second section of my paper contains information regarding the way in which she saw men or interacted with them as a result of her childhood. It has evidence from her further literary works, her own life, as well as interviews with friends. Stevie and MarriageFlorence “Stevie” Smith grew up ...
