The Faber Book of 20th Century Women's Poetry

352 Pages·1987·25.219 MB·English

by  Fleur Adcock (editor)

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Thisanthologyofwomen'spoetryisdestined
toestablishacanonbywhichother,more $B
partialanthologieswilleventuallybejudged.
Itisatoncehistoricallyrepresentative,catholic
initstaste,andrigorouslyselective-
demonstratingtherichnessandvarietyof
women'scontributionstotwentieth-century
literature.
Inmakingherselection,FleurAdcockhas
pursuednoparticulardogmaticline,unlessit
bethatofexcellence.Theacknowledged
presidinggeniuses-MarianneMoore,
ElizabethBishop,SylviaPlath,StevieSmith-
aremoregenerouslyrepresentedthanis
usual,whilemanyBritish,American,
Australian,NewZealandandCanadianpoets
areepitomizedbytheirbestwork. TheFaber
BookofTwentieth-CenturyWomen'sPoetryisa
workofscholarship,profoundresearchand
finediscrimination.
FleurAdcockisahighlyrespectedpoetinher
ownright.HervolumeofSelectedPoems
waspublishedbyOxfordUniversityPress
'in1983.
A
BOSTON
PUBLIC
LIBRARY
The Faber Book of
Twentieth-Century Women's Poetry
Vie Faber Book of
20th
CENTURY
WOMEN'S
POETRY
Edited by
FleurAdcock
faberandfaber
LONDON BOSTON
rBRIGHTON
t>\
Firstpublished in 1987by
• Faberand Faber Limited
3 Queen Square London WC1N3AU
Photosetby WilmasetBirkenhead Wirral
Printed in Great Britainby
Richard ClayLtd BungaySuffolk
All rights reserved
©
FleurAdcock 1987
Theacknowledgements on pp. 325-30constitute an
extension ofthiscopyrightnotice.
British LibraryCataloguing in Publication Data
TheFaberbook oftwentieth-centurywomen's
poetry.
1. English poetry - Womenauthors
2. English poetry - 20th century
I. Adcock, Fleur
821'.912'0809287 PR1177
isbn0-571-13692-3
isbn 0-571-13693-1 Pbk
Contents
Introduction page 1
CHARLOTTE MEW 1869-1928
The Farmer's Bride 17
In Nunhead Cemetery 18
On the Road to the Sea 22
MARY URSULA BETHELL 1874-1945
Response 25
Time 25
Warning of Winter 26
ANNA WICKHAM
1884-1947
The Fired Pot 28
Nervous Prostration 28
ELINOR WYLIE 1885-1928
Wild Peaches 30
Prophecy 32
6 FRANCES CORNFORD 1886-1960
To a Fat Lady Seen from the Train 33
A
Recollection 33
Childhood 34
Parting in Wartime 34
H. D. (HILDA DOOLITTLE) 1886-1961
Helen 35
Lethe 35
from Winter Love 36
from Sigil 38
[vii]
CONTENTS
ELIZABETH DARYUSH 1887-1977
Still-Life 39
MARIANNE MOORE
1887-1972
I May, I might, I must 40
The Steeple-Jack 40
The Jerboa 43
The Fish 48
Poetry 50
Critics and Connoisseurs 51
England 53
A Grave 54
To a Snail 56
Silence 56
Spenser's Ireland 57
The Pangolin 59
The Paper Nautilus 63
EDITH SITWELL 1887-1964
Sir Beelzebub 65
EDNA ST VINCENT MILLAY 1892-1950
Childhood Is the Kingdom Where Nobody Dies 66
First Fig 67
Passer Mortuus Est 68
The Strawberry Shrub 68
Sonnet xxix 69
SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER 1893-1978
'Now in this long-deferred spring .' 70
. .
King Duffus 70
Gloriana Dying 71
[viii]
CONTENTS
LOUISE BOGAN 1897-1970
The Frightened Man 74
The Crows 74
Last Hill in a Vista 75
Evening in the Sanitarium 75
RUTH PITTER 1897-
The Sparrow's Skull 77
Morning Glory 78
FRANCES BELLERBY 1899-1975
A Clear Shell 79
Bereaved Child's First Night 79
STEVIE SMITH 1902-1971
Infelice 80
The Murderer 81
In My Dreams 81
Goodnight 81
Autumn 82
Lady 'Rogue' Singleton 82
The River God 83
The Deserter 84
Drugs Made Pauline Vague 84
Not Waving but Drowning 85
The Jungle Husband 85
I Remember 86
A House of Mercy 86
'The Persian' 87
Scorpion 88
LORINE NIEDECKER 1903-1970
Lake Superior 89
[ix]
CONTENTS
ROBIN HYDE 1906-1939
from The Beaches 94
E. J. SCOVELL 1907-
The Swan's Feet 95
The Boy Fishing 95
from The First Year 96
ELIZABETH BISHOP 1911-1979
The Imaginary Iceberg 97
Casabianca 98
Seascape 99
The Fish 100
Cootchie 102
Songs for a Colored Singer (I) 103
The Bight 104
At the Fishhouses 105
The Shampoo 107
Arrival at Santos 108
Brazil, January 1, 1502 110
Manuelzinho 112
First Death in Nova Scotia 117
In the Waiting Room 119
The Moose I22
JOSEPHINE MILES 1911-1985
Dolor 128
The Day the Winds 128
Summer 129
Belief 13°
Ride 130
Bibliographer 131
Conception 131
Family 132
[x]