Poetry Kaleidoscope: Guide to Poetry
Martian poetry is a distinctly
Surrealism in poetry, of the
1970s and early
1980s. Poets most
closely associated with it are
Christopher Reid. It was first popularized by Raine's collection
A Martian Sends a Postcard Home (1979). Through the heavy use of
curious, exotic and humorous metaphors, Martian Poetry aimed to break
the grip of 'the familiar' in English poetry, by describing ordinary
things (such as a book) as if through the eyes of a Martian.
Martianism has also been applied more widely to fiction as well as to
poetry. It has been noted that martianism is an anagram of one of its
For instance, books and their effects upon readers are described by Raine
- mechanical birds with many wings
- perch on the hand
- cause the eyes to melt
- or the body to shriek without pain
Unsurprisingly, Martian poetry became a popular method in the teaching of
poetry composition to school children.
It arose in the context of the
experimental poetry of the late
1960s; but also owes a debt
to a variety of English traditions including
Edward Lear). Dr
descriptions of the metaphysical poets' approach where 'the most
heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together' could aptly describe
much Martian poetry; in this context what was distinctive about Martian Poetry
was its focus on visual experience.
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