Dissertation Defenses

Doctoral Dissertation Announcement

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Candidate: Elizabeth Kerlikowske

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: English

Title: The Laying on of Maples

Committee:
Dr. Nancy Eimers, Chair
Dr. Daneen Wardrop
Dr. Allen Webb
Dr. Peter Northhouse

Date: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Emeriti Lounge, Walwood Hall

Abstract:
The Laying on of Maples reflects the ultimately redemptive power of communion with one’s nature, the nature within and without. This collection of poems is firmly set in the urban woodlands of Michigan. The locale is neither fully tamed nor fully wild like the folk who inhabit it. Human relationships are explored in terms of nature, sometimes mimicked, as the biological and astronomical environment itself determines the direction of human relationships. Grouped seasonally, the sequence begins with the brisk, white promise of snow. Through the movement of the seasons, a marital relationship is exfoliated in terms of the seasons. The poems take advantage of the freedom of free verse, but also employ traditional forms such as the sonnet; many of the poems adapt a more “organic” form on the page, moving with the breath as well as with the material subjects in a meter-making argument.