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Pendle Hill Pamphlets
Anthology with Comments
Elizabeth Janet Gray Vining (1902 – 1999), was an American professional librarian and author who tutored Emperor Akihito of Japan in English while he was crown prince. She was also a noted author whose children's book, Adam of the Road, received the Newbery Award in 1943.In this pamphlet the author offers excerpts from the writings of W. H. Davies, George Herbert, James Stephens, Francis of Assisi, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Thomas Ellwood and William Blake, among others, with her interpretations.
Paperback
Published January 1, 1951
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About the author
Elizabeth Gray Vining
59 books15 followersElizabeth Gray Vining began her distinguished writing career with children's books because she said "they enjoy their books so much, read and re-read them—which is satisfying to a hard-working author." Later she began to write for adults as well, and they, too, read and re-read her books. among the most popular of these books are Windows for the Crown Prince, The Virginia Exiles, Friend of Life, Take Heed of Loving Me, and Flora.
—From the back of "Return To Japan"
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Elizabeth Janet Gray, also known as Elizabeth Gray Vining, was a prominent Quaker, known for having gone to Japan after World War II to tutor Emperor Akihito of Japan in English while he was the Crown Prince. She was a graduate of Bryn Mawr College, and a noted author of children's and adult literature. She won the Newbery Award for Adam of the Road, published in 1942.
—From the back of "Return To Japan"
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Elizabeth Janet Gray, also known as Elizabeth Gray Vining, was a prominent Quaker, known for having gone to Japan after World War II to tutor Emperor Akihito of Japan in English while he was the Crown Prince. She was a graduate of Bryn Mawr College, and a noted author of children's and adult literature. She won the Newbery Award for Adam of the Road, published in 1942.
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January 24, 2021
Unlike all of the earlier pamphlets, this one is a collection of poems with notes by Ms. Gray during the first full year of U.S. entry into WWII, 1942. Vining was an active Philadelphia Quaker and an author of children's books (however the collection and pamphlet is written for an adult audience).
While I don't personally connect with many of the poems selected, I suspect most people wouldn't be particularly connected to anything I compiled.
It is interesting to me that this particular pamphlet was published in the Pendle Hill collection, given its unique content (at least to this point in the pamphlets, I'm reading them in order and this is only #18 of more than 460 published to date). Perhaps it was a diversion from so much attention to the negative news of the war. U.S. involvement did not go well in the first half of 1942, at least in the Pacific and news from Europe wasn't any better.
I saved in my notes on the pamphlet a few of her insights :
"Fragments of beauty and truth lie in every path; they need only the seeing eye and the receptive spirit to become the stuff of authentic minor ecstasies." (p. 10)
"Whether he writes of the dark night of the soul or of a more common alternation of mood, how wonderfully George Herbert expresses the refreshment of greenness after aridity, the budding of the shriveled heart, the smell of dew and rain, and how human and endearing is his renewed relish of versing." (p. 16)
"Sorrow cannot be fought and overcome; it cannot be evaded or escaped; it must be lived with. Whether it be sorrow for our own loss or sorrow for the world's pain, we must learn how to shoulder the burden of it, to carry it so that it does not break our stride or sap the strength of those about us through their pity for our woe." (p. 55)
While I don't personally connect with many of the poems selected, I suspect most people wouldn't be particularly connected to anything I compiled.
It is interesting to me that this particular pamphlet was published in the Pendle Hill collection, given its unique content (at least to this point in the pamphlets, I'm reading them in order and this is only #18 of more than 460 published to date). Perhaps it was a diversion from so much attention to the negative news of the war. U.S. involvement did not go well in the first half of 1942, at least in the Pacific and news from Europe wasn't any better.
I saved in my notes on the pamphlet a few of her insights :
"Fragments of beauty and truth lie in every path; they need only the seeing eye and the receptive spirit to become the stuff of authentic minor ecstasies." (p. 10)
"Whether he writes of the dark night of the soul or of a more common alternation of mood, how wonderfully George Herbert expresses the refreshment of greenness after aridity, the budding of the shriveled heart, the smell of dew and rain, and how human and endearing is his renewed relish of versing." (p. 16)
"Sorrow cannot be fought and overcome; it cannot be evaded or escaped; it must be lived with. Whether it be sorrow for our own loss or sorrow for the world's pain, we must learn how to shoulder the burden of it, to carry it so that it does not break our stride or sap the strength of those about us through their pity for our woe." (p. 55)
Displaying 1 of 1 review