H. D., “Oread”
H. D., “Oread” Whirl up, sea –whirl your pointed pines,splash your great pineson our rocks,hurl your green over us,cover us … Continue Reading H. D., “Oread”
H. D., “Orchard”
H. D., “Orchard” I saw the first pearas it fell –the honey-seeking, golden-banded,the yellow swarmwas not more fleet than I,(spare … Continue Reading H. D., “Orchard”
Amy Lowell, “Thompson’s Lunch Room—Grand Central Station”
Amy Lowell, “Thompson’s Lunch Room—Grand Central Station” STUDY IN WHITES Wax-white—Floor, ceiling, walls.Ivory shadowsOver the pavementPolished to cream surfacesBy constant … Continue Reading Amy Lowell, “Thompson’s Lunch Room—Grand Central Station”
Amy Lowell, “The Pike”
Amy Lowell, “The Pike” In the brown water,Thick and silver-sheened in the sunshine,Liquid and cool in the shade of the … Continue Reading Amy Lowell, “The Pike”
Laurie Sheck, “Pompeii”
Laurie Sheck, “Pompeii” Covered with lapilli we crouch preserved as we were on that first day The last one of … Continue Reading Laurie Sheck, “Pompeii”
Eavan Boland, “The Mother Tongue”
Eavan Boland, “The Mother Tongue” The old pale ditch can still be seen less than half a mile from my … Continue Reading Eavan Boland, “The Mother Tongue”
Marge Piercy, “Girl in white”
Marge Piercy, “Girl in white” Don’t think because her petal thighs leap and her slight breasts flatten against your chest … Continue Reading Marge Piercy, “Girl in white”
Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Spring”
Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Spring” To what purpose, April, do you return again? Beauty is not enough. You can no … Continue Reading Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Spring”
H. D., “Sea Iris,” “Sea Violet”
Sea Iris I Weed, moss-weed, root tangled in sand, sea-iris, brittle flower, one petal like a shell is broken, and … Continue Reading H. D., “Sea Iris,” “Sea Violet”
Amy Lowell, “Lilacs”
Amy Lowell, “Lilacs” Lilacs, False blue, White, Purple, Color of lilac, Your great puffs of flowers Are everywhere in this … Continue Reading Amy Lowell, “Lilacs”
Edith Wharton, “Terminus”
Edith Wharton, “Terminus” Wonderful was the long secret night you gave me, my Lover, Palm to palm, breast to breast … Continue Reading Edith Wharton, “Terminus”
Adrienne Rich: 4 Love Poems
from 21 Love Poems: 1 Whenever in this city, screens flicker with pornography, with science-fiction vampires, victimized hirelings bending to … Continue Reading Adrienne Rich: 4 Love Poems
20th Century Poetry #14: Stevie Smith
How Alice Munro Chose to Write Short Stories
from the introduction to her Selected Stories: I did not “choose” to write short stories. I hoped to write … Continue Reading How Alice Munro Chose to Write Short Stories
Angela Merici & the Education of Women & Girls in the early 1500s
from Thomas Cahill: They were a group of well-born Lombardian ladies, led by Angela Merici, who came together to educate … Continue Reading Angela Merici & the Education of Women & Girls in the early 1500s
Vermeer’s Window on the Left, Vermeer’s Late Afternoon Light
As I’ve written elsewhere: “Except for his earliest work, there were no grand subjects in Vermeer, and very little else … Continue Reading Vermeer’s Window on the Left, Vermeer’s Late Afternoon Light
Voices from 1900-1914
Below are a few dozen voices from the early twentieth century, culled from Philipp Blom’s The Vertigo Years: Europe, 1900-1914. … Continue Reading Voices from 1900-1914
20th Century Poetry #9: Susan Miles
One way to understand where poetry is now is to see where it was a hundred years ago. Every Saturday … Continue Reading 20th Century Poetry #9: Susan Miles
The Hooded Lady of Brassempouy
from Randall White’s Prehistoric Art: The best known of the statuettes from Brassempouy is the 25,000 year-old “dame à la … Continue Reading The Hooded Lady of Brassempouy
Eleanor Roosevelt Finds Herself
From Geoffrey Ward’s biography of the Roosevelts comes this moving account of Eleanor Roosevelt’s Dickensian childhood, complete with neglectful mother … Continue Reading Eleanor Roosevelt Finds Herself
The Goddess Instructs the Gods (Kena Upanishad)
Here’s one of my favorite bits from the Hindu Upanishads, chapters three and four from the Kena Upanishad. The goddess … Continue Reading The Goddess Instructs the Gods (Kena Upanishad)
“The Making of an Irish Goddess,” by Eavan Boland
The Making of an Irish Goddess Ceres went to hell with no sense of time. When she looked back all … Continue Reading “The Making of an Irish Goddess,” by Eavan Boland
Images: Mother & Child
Mary Robinson’s Poem “A London Summer Morning”
After finishing To the House of the Sun, a poem mostly reliant on translations of ancient poetry (and in some … Continue Reading Mary Robinson’s Poem “A London Summer Morning”
