The Father of American Psychiatry

[cidermaid]

Hi ray, this was an interesting read but I am afraid that untill I had gone off and done my homework from a search on the title I was a little lost with reguard to what the poem was actually trying to convey.
Having done a little background reading I then thought that this was a solid read, but i question if this in fact means that it is also not so acessable to the average reader.   Perhaps i should have offered my crit before i looked up the title as these might have actually been more informative for you...but here I am now.
I won't make the comment about the size of the text beyond to assume that this was not what you intended and lots of people seem to be having the same problem...self included.

Madness nestles in vessels of blood   I like the opening line, initially I did question the use of nestles as this gave me a cozied up,warm / fluffy type image and i was not convinced from the rest of the read if this was deliberate or intended.
and you don’t fault a fellow for a fever
or blame a wagon for its broken wheel. the tone and the word use in these last two lines are spot on to place the reader into the age / setting of the voice.   However, I do struggle to work out at various points in the read if these un-italiced lines are the voice of "Father" or the voice of the reporter.  (I get two different voices in my read and I'm thinking the italics is the observational voice but at times it seems a bit blured).
 
Drinking, dicing, his first-born disappoints him,   I did not get the dicing on the initial reads and even after my homework I'm still a bit lost.  At first i thought it was a referance to gambling habits but now i'm not so sure what it refers to.  Either way it does not add anything to my read and i think it could be cut.
reading oppressive melancholia
on the Moral and Physical Thermometer.   I am wondering if that should be the or his in this line.  Overall this stanza is nicely done.
 
Sanity breeds in regular habits -
bleeding, purging, mercury, emetics;  Like the use of emetics in this contex, reinforces the medical overlay and science.
the aptitude to judge like other men. this line falls a bit flat in meaning after the set up from the proceeding lines.  I felt the change from phisician to moralist weakened the image.
 
Escorted home, cobwebbed, uncombed,
no tongue or eye for kith and kin;
as familiar as The King of Babylon.  This whole stanza goes over my head, I get the feeling that my research was not deep enough to uncover this gem... so for my read this is not working.   (Initially thought it might be in referance to his son but then the stanza below is clearly about this, so felt this is just making me work too hard and the rewards were not inticing enough)
 
Heresy, buggery, blasphemy and theft   like the historical tones to this line and the "B" words.  felt that given the rich vein of info on this man some referance to his thoughts on skin colour or alcoholism might have had more weight than referancing theft, but before i looked this up I was okay with this.
are bodily diseases oozing out   great image and historically in keeping with the topic on the table.
of each incautious orifice.  Overall like this stanza gives a good insight into the mind and outworking of this life.
 
Father, doctor, shrink and gaoler   Like the starkness of this statement and again with the period word goaler.
confined him in his own asylum
to wear deep gutters in the basement stone.
 
A hospital bed is not a prison cell.
The Gyrator and the Tranquiliser
are kinder than the stake or the noose.   whilst i liked this stanza on my original reads this again was where I was lost until I had done my homework.  it carries plenty of simple enough images and is straightforward in the presentation of these, but the use of the specific term gyrator threw me.

 

He came home once and returned much worsened;   this line feels overly long, think you could loose the and.  Also don't like the use of worsened, not in keeping with the rest of the poem / period word useage.   (next I'll be readed it was his bestest pair of pants!)
father’s footsteps too long, too certain.
Madness nestles in vessels of blood.   Undecided if I like the use of repeating this line.  I get the reinforcment of the thought as a concluding comment but not sure if it works as a full repeat or if you could drop the use of nestles here.

 

I liked this poem, even before I looked up the referance, it was intriging to read and peice together a story / picture.  Post referance i think you have done a great job of laying out a biography of this life...it makes for an intereting read and is a good subject choice.
all the best AJ.