You are Happy

by Margaret Atwood

A collection of poems written by the author of the Handmaids Tale

Genres: Poetry, Canada, Canadian Literature

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College.

Throughout her writing career, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction and is perhaps best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman (1970), The Handmaid's Tale (1983), The Robber Bride (1994), Alias Grace (1996), and The Blind Assassin, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2000. Atwood's dystopic novel, Oryx and Crake, was published in 2003. The Tent (mini-fictions) and Moral Disorder (short stories) both appeared in 2006. Her most recent volume of poetry, The Door, was published in 2007. Her non-fiction book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth ­ in the Massey series, appeared in 2008, and her most recent novel, The Year of the Flood, in the autumn of 2009. Ms. Atwood's work has been published in more than forty languages, including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic and Estonian. In 2004 she co-invented the Long Pen TM.

Margaret Atwood currently lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.

Associations: Margaret Atwood was President of the Writers' Union of Canada from May 1981 to May 1982, and was President of International P.E.N., Canadian Centre (English Speaking) from 1984-1986. She and Graeme Gibson are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Society within BirdLife International. Ms. Atwood is also a current Vice-President of PEN International.

Reviews

[Sebastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I abandoned a baby with nothing but this book and instructions to return to society a poet, I would have created a genius.

Atwood's sense of motion and development of metaphor is astounding, magnificent, horrifying, the lucid and sparse descriptions, it's as if she said "I want to show you where I live" and at the end of the tour we went into her closet and ended up in my closet.

[Eirin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of poetry has become one of my favourites. From the start I instantly understood I would love Atwood's poetry. I haven't read any of her other fiction, but I surely will.

The poetry is both moving, sensual, sad, angry and at times even funny. I love how she covers such vast topics, yet manages to make the book feel whole and interconnected. Her Circe/Mud Poems were delicious to the literary feminist in me, and everything else appealed to everything else in me, simply. The language flows so easily, yet is complex and thought provoking. The way she plays with line breaks and the meanings of words made me all giddy. And then there is the tone of strength running through every one of the poems.

I loved several of the poems, and read them again and again. Still two sticks out very clearly in my mind after finishing the book: "Song of the Fox" and "Late August". The fox-poem was so harsh and sad, it really crept under my skin. It might be my personal favourite. "Late August" was both endearing, sweet, warm and moving, and at the same time there's this current of sadness running beneath it. Brilliance.

Marvellous poetry, no doubt about it.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even her titles grab me. "You are Happy" - I mean, that puzzles me. That's a poem I have to read right away. And "There is only One of Everything"? Someone liked the poems of this library copy I have enough to rip out the pages they liked, leaving me with a mystery - how am I happy? or who is happy? I had to look it up online. Oh, the other thing I like about Atwood, she uses Greek mythology a lot. An example:

Siren Song

This is the one song everyone
would like to learn: the song
that is irresistible:

the song that forces men
to leap overboard in squadrons
even though they see the beached skulls

the song nobody knows
because anyone who has heard it
is dead, and the others can't remember.

Shall I tell you the secret
and if I do, will you get me
out of this bird suit?

I don't enjoy it here
squatting on this island
looking picturesque and mythical

with these two feathery maniacs,
I don't enjoy singing
this trio, fatal and valuable.

I will tell the secret to you,
to you, only to you.
Come closer. This song

is a cry for help: Help me!
Only you, only you can,
you are unique

at last. Alas
it is a boring song
but it works every time.

Margaret Atwood

[Ian Hodges · Rating 4 out of 5]

Margaret Atwood, how dare you? How dare you write poetry that I can’t help but love?

I really don’t care for “contemporary poetry” or the style of poetry that often includes a lack of capitalization or punctuation, but Atwood is such a talented writer that I can’t help but fall in love with what she writes.

Also, let’s talk about that title “YOU ARE HAPPY”.
No, I’m not. Every poem in here made me feel like crying (in a good way).

An excerpt from the poem “Crow Song”;

You have too many leaders
you have too many wars,
all of them pompous and small,
you resist only when you feel
like dressing up,
you forget the sane corpses...

I know you would like a god
to come down and feed you
and punish you. That overcoat
on sticks is not alive
there are no angels
but the angels of hunger,
prehensile and soft as gullets
Watching you
my people, I become cynical,
you have defrauded me of hope
and left me alone with politics...

[Ezgi Neşe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've only had the chance to read Circe / Mud Poems but they are brilliant. The imagery, the word play, the style, formatting, I really enjoyed every aspect of it. The only problem is there isn't much scholarship that I could find, and I have so many questions about nearly all the poems...

[Keshav]

One thing about Margaret Atwood poetry is I'm certainly gonna have a new personality to download after reading it ! SIREN SONG trust you will be dealt with.

[Tori Thurmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially loved the Circe/Mud poems! My first but certainly not my last Atwood collection!

[Sophie Kimber · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5/5 stars* Having read ‘Dearly’, Atwood’s most recent poetry collection, I can definitely see the growth and variety that is demonstrated in that book and that lacks a little in her older work (ie. You Are Happy). The section ‘Circe/Mud Poems’ was my definite least favourite upon first read, but as I’ve explored the other reviews people seem to think that that is the genius of this collection? Like what? They were just first-person angry ramblings about sex, hypothetical gore, and depictions of violence, all in a way so contrived I had a hard time understanding them. They were addressed majoritarily to an unnamed ‘you’ which I had a hard time connecting with, because it seemed like the speaker was in an intimate conversation about something I should not be looking in on. It was a half out of context conversation with some form of poetical verse. Maybe I’m crazy, and they definitely deserve a re-read. I’ll update my review as needed. Regardless of these sentiments, I really enjoyed the section with the Animal Songs and I thought they were intriguing and beautiful in the cynical and descriptive nature. I love Atwood’s work and I’m excited to see her progress through her older work. I think a big reason why I’ve been so critical on this book is because I’ve just come off reading the Selected Poems of Sylvia Plath who is a master writer and who I’ve discovered recreates my sentiments and artistic side with her poetry and words. Finding a new favourite and masterful writer and putting her next to Atwood, who is more well known for her novels, is a bit unfair. This deserves a re-read, and I’m excited for the occasion!

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dad’s 60 year old friend Dan gave me this book and said “this is the best work of feminist poetry ever written” and i think Dan was right.

[M.W.P.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memory is not in the head
only. It's midnight,
you existed once, you exist

again, my entire skin
sensitive as an eye,

imprint of you
glowing against me,
burnt-out match in a dark room.

- Memory, pg. 11

* * *

The water turns
a long way down over the raw stone,
ice crusts around it

We walk separately
along the hill to the open
beach, unused
picnic tables, wind
shoving the brown waves, erosion, gravel
rasping on gravel.

In the ditch a deer
carcass, no head. Bird
running across the glaring
road against the low pink sun.

When you are this
cold you can think about
nothing but the cold, the images

hitting into your eyes
like needles, crystals, you are happy.

- You Are Happy, pg. 28

* * *

This is the one song everyone
would like to learn: the song
that is irresistible:

the song that forces me
to leap overboard in squadrons
even though they see the beached skulls

the song nobody knows
because anyone who has heard it
is dead, and the others can't remember.

Shall I tell you the secret
and if I do, will you get me
out of this bird suit?

I don't enjoy it here
squatting on this island
looking picturesque and mythical

with these two feathery maniacs,
I don't enjoy singing
this trio, fatal and valuable.

I will tell the secret to you,
to you, only to you.
Come closer. This song

is a cry for help: Help me!
Only you, only you can,
you are unique

at last. Alas
it is a boring song
but it works every time.

- Siren Song, pg. 38-39

* * *

My face, my other face
stretching over it like
rubber, like flowers opening
and closing, like rubber,
like liquid steel,
like steel. Face of steel.

Look at me and see your reflection.

- from Circle / Mud Poems, pg. 56

[Shannon Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"So much for the gods and their
static demands. our demands, former
demands, death patterns
obscure as fragments of an
archaeology, these frescoes
on a crumbling temple
wall we look at now and can scarcely
piece together

history
is over, we take place
in a season, an undivided
space, no necessities

hold us closed, distort
us. I lean behind you, mouth touching
your spine, my arms around
you, palm above the heart,
your blood insistent under
my hand, quick and mortal"
Pg 95

[Michelle]

The Circe poems are some of the most incredible things I've ever read. I come back to them every few years and read them obsessively, over and over, for a day or two. A wonderful commentary on ancient epics, the power of story, the role of women in heroic tales, and so much more.

[Paulyana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last year I abstained
this year I devour

without guilt
which is also an art

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

ummm I think perhaps I am NOT happy and you, Margaret Atwood, are doing also not so good


First and third sections are my favorites. (During the second section: “Cool that she’s got a whole section of animal metaphors” and then immediately afterwards, upon reading the title of the third section: “Ohhhh okay I see why she’s got a whole section of animal metaphors”)

Picked up this book because, after years of having the last two verses of “November” blasting at full volume in my brain at all times, I actually bothered to look up the source and discovered that of course it was Margaret Atwood, queen of making statements that blast at full volume in your brain. Duh. (“KILL WHAT YOU CAN’T SAVE! WHAT YOU CAN’T EAT THROW OUT! WHAT YOU CAN’T THROW OUT BURY! WHAT YOU CAN’T BURY GIVE AWAY! WHAT YOU CAN’T GIVE AWAY YOU MUST CARRY WITH YOU! IT IS ALWAYS HEAVIER THAN YOU THOUGHT!”)


Now, time for a Wound (and body) collage!

(18) little slivers of grief, each in its own neat wound, like a pocket.
(63) I close myself over, deaf as an eye, deaf as a wound, which listens to nothing but its own grief: Get out of here. Get out of here.
(23) I dream of reconciliations with those I have hurt unbearably, we move still touching the greening fields, the future wounds folded like seeds in our tender fingers
(73) In spite of it all [our bodies] forgive us again and again, they heal their own wounds and ours too, they walk upright for us when we ourselves are crippled,

(60) your body that includes everything you have done, you have had done to you and goes beyond it
(82) This is your trick or miracle, to be consumed and rise intact, over and over

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

a really intense and powerful collection... especially her reflections on love and recurrent mention of nature. the repetition of mirrors was also compelling. the mud woman was a commanding beckon to a feeling I would venture to say most women have felt in navigating relationships with men.

one of my favourites:
is/not

i
Love is not a profession
genteel or otherwise

sex is not dentistry
the slick filling of aches and cavities

you are not my doctor
you are not my cure,

nobody has that
power, you are merely a fellow/traveller.

give up this medical concern,
buttoned, attentive,

permit yourself anger
and permit me mine

which needs neither
your approval nor your surprise

which does not need to be made legal
which is not against a disease

but against you,
which does not need to be understood

or washed or cauterized,
which needs instead

to be said and said.
Permit me the present tense.

[SBC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable poems with a lot of historical background. I liked a lot of it - appealing and pleasant use of language. A lot of mirror metaphors and humans as trees. My favourite was The Circle Game, and I also really enjoyed the Orange poem and the mud and Circe poems.

Definitely a comment in there - like an epigram, partly a social comment but more a comment on relationships perhaps, on personal searching. Fascinating how can write so many poems on one topic like Circe. Great imagination and understanding and getting inside people's heads. In many cases it seems as if she’s a maternal figure. Yet at others life is so strange, cold, remote, and yet at the same time filled with mythology - like the underworld - calm, deep dark green flowing waters. Connection with the animals and earth, the elemental - but in a cold way. Interesting read!

[Amy Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel a little embarrassed to admit that I didn't know that Atwood wrote poetry, but I'm so glad that I now know--it's truly something to behold.  Her poetry is absolutely wonder and stunning and amazing, and written in her very own Margaret Atwood way.  I slowly took the time to read her poems instead of accidentally speeding through like I usually do.  They're just absolutely stunning.  I suggest reading these alongside any of Dworkin's works, reading these on the metro, while you're eating, about to go to work...actually, just read these doing absolutely anything.  These poems will linger with you long after you read them.

Review cross-listed here!

[Crystal]

I feel vaguely discomfited reading Atwood, considering.

Of this, I read the first half but some of the poems in the second half felt extremely familiar, especially within the Circle/Mud poems section, so I skimmed those.

[Dawn Hukai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful poetry!

[arden · Rating 4 out of 5]

i wish i could give 4.5 bc some of those animal poems were kinda wack but the circe/mud poems r legendary of course

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fav poem: tricks with mirrors

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Olivia LeClair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Circe/Mud poems, a particular favourite so much so that I wrote an entire chapter on it in my thesis!

[charlotte c-r. · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful!!!

[lauren ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am no poetry critic by any means, but i really enjoyed this collection. although enjoyed seems like the wrong word for poems that made me angry and sad and mournful.

[Alexander Middleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my absolute favorite poets, Atwood manages to be both sophisticated and succinct throughout her works.

[Leena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have re-read several of these poems multiple times and will continue to do so.

[Brooke Bowlin]

The brilliant Margaret Atwood 🤌 her wit! 🤩

Fem Lit Fall 4 👯‍♀️📖🍂

[Stefan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will revisit in a few years. Only a handful spoke to me personally.

[Roslynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

IS/NOT

FOUR EVASIONS

THERE IS ONLY ONE OF EVERYTHING

LATE AUGUST