Mina Loy, Songs to Joannes

Songs to Joannes is a poem written by Mina Loy in the twentieth century. This poem focuses on themes such as the strain that war has on relationships; women taking over men’s work; and women changing routine in order to work. “Mina Loy, as the ideal modern woman at the turn of the twentieth century—having numerous love affairs, perpetually traveling internationally, and writing controversial poems—subverts these traditional tropes and expectations of love poems throughout her work” (Leahm). She writes about the resilience of women during this trying time in history. A time when many men as young as 18 were drafted for World War I and forced to leave their loved ones.

While this fatalism and pain certainly play a large role in the poem, “Songs to Joannes” does not wholly fit within this bleak modernist category; hints of beauty of potential optimism lurk beneath its surface. Through her refusal to adhere to the conventions of traditional love poetry but not quite writing the vehement modernist anti-love poem either, Loy offers a deconstruction and subsequent fresh reconstruction of love in the modern world—messy, unprecedented, and undoubtedly painful, but capable of new beauty and significance despite that (Leahm).

            During WWI, while men were being drafted and leaving to go fight in the war, women had to take on the nontraditional role of being the breadwinner and working for a living. Before this time, women represented privacy, domesticity, and were meant to be the child bearers. Men were represented in the public; they worked and brought home the money to support their family. Women were resented for entering the workforce as if they had gained a sense of freedom at expense of men’s lives. The reality of it was that society was not ready to except that the societal norms were changing. Loy writes in her poem, “evolution might fall foul of sexual equality”.

Leahm. “Love as a Broken Art: An Examination of Mina Loy’s ‘Songs to Joannes.’” Terrible Beauty F16, 7 Oct. 2016, courses.suzannechurchill.com/mopo-f16/2016/10/07/love-as-a-broken-art-an-examination-of-mina-loys-songs-to-joannes/.