Summary

Physician and poet Rafael Campo sometimes gives poems to his patients, tucking them in with educational materials and prescriptions. He knows that poetry can be therapeutic for both patient and caregiver, and in this beautifully organized and executed book he tells readers why and how poetry can enhance healing.

The chapters (in which Campo ponders questions such as: Is poetry necessary for survival? How does poetry locate us inside the experience of illness? Why is poetry therapeutic?) follow the arc of illness itself. In Chapter 4, "Inklings," Campo discusses how not-yet-diagnosed symptoms of sickness may be revealed in poetry, the patient "divining" signs of illness "from the clues discernible in a sentient relationship to the world around us" (p. 52).

In following chapters ("Diagnosis," "Treatment," "Side Effects," and "End of Life"), he expertly unfolds, through brilliant poem analysis, how "At every station of the disease experience, poetry has suggested an ulterior discourse that, as it accumulates, forms a composite picture of a humane idea of wellness" (p. 127). In other chapters ("Daniel," "Clara," "Sunny," "Eduardo," and "Mrs. Twomey") he discusses how poetry has changed and informed his clinical and personal interactions with patients.

Fully aware that poetry is not a "cure" for illness and that relationships between patients and caregivers are not always ideally sympathetic, Campo demonstrates how, nonetheless, poetry can be a valid healing modality. In the "Afterword," he urges readers to imagine poetry "as a metaphor itself for the process of healing" and "to experience it through the stories and voices of real people who have themselves called upon it as they faced illness" (p. 188), and he states his wish to see "non-poet physicians use this book with their own patients and medical trainees" (p. 190). An excellent "Further Reading" appendix provides wide-ranging selections for further study.

Commentary

This book might be read for pleasure or instruction. It also could be readily adapted as a course guide or a manual to using poetry in clinical practice. Whatever use the reader finds for "The Healing Art," it is an essential text: it tells the story of how language and healing have intertwined throughout history; it addresses the practical uses of poetry in caregiving and, at the same time, delves into the mystery of how poetry works its magic; and it provides outstanding close analysis of many poems, chosen for their excellent craft and their particular "window" into the illness experience.

It is perhaps in his discussion of individual poems and in his personal revelations that Campo most excels in his quest to show how poetry--the natural intersection of heart and mind, health and illness--might help the spirit transcend the flesh.

Publisher

W. W. Norton

Place Published

New York

Edition

2003

Page Count

209