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The Myth of Water: Poems from the Life of Helen Keller
The Myth of Water is a cycle of thirty-four poems by award-winning Alabama poet and writer Jeanie Thompson in the voice of world-renowned Alabamian Helen Keller. In their sweep, the poems trace Keller’s metamorphosis from a native of a bucolic Alabama town to her emergence as a beloved, international figure who championed the rights of the deaf-blind worldwide.
Thompson’s artfully concatenated vignettes form a mosaic that maps the insightful mind behind the elegant and enigmatic persona Keller projected. Thompson takes readers on the journey of Keller’s life, from some of the thirty-seven countries she visited, including the British Isles, Europe, and Japan to the wellsprings of her emotional awakening and insight. The poems are paired with fascinating biographical anecdotes from Keller’s life and samplings from her writing, which infuse the work with richly-rewarding biographical detail.
The poems in The Myth of Water reveal the discerning subtlety, resiliency, and complexity of the person Thompson perceives Helen Keller to have been. Through a combination of natural intuition, manual signs, Braille alphabets, and lip reading, Keller came to grasp the revolving tapestry of the seasons and the infinite colors of human relationships.
Not a biography or a fictional retelling, The Myth of Water attempts to unlock what moved Keller to her life of service and self-examination. This is a deeply personal story of coming through—not overcoming—a double disability to a fully realized life in which a woman gives her heart to the world.
Thompson’s artfully concatenated vignettes form a mosaic that maps the insightful mind behind the elegant and enigmatic persona Keller projected. Thompson takes readers on the journey of Keller’s life, from some of the thirty-seven countries she visited, including the British Isles, Europe, and Japan to the wellsprings of her emotional awakening and insight. The poems are paired with fascinating biographical anecdotes from Keller’s life and samplings from her writing, which infuse the work with richly-rewarding biographical detail.
The poems in The Myth of Water reveal the discerning subtlety, resiliency, and complexity of the person Thompson perceives Helen Keller to have been. Through a combination of natural intuition, manual signs, Braille alphabets, and lip reading, Keller came to grasp the revolving tapestry of the seasons and the infinite colors of human relationships.
Not a biography or a fictional retelling, The Myth of Water attempts to unlock what moved Keller to her life of service and self-examination. This is a deeply personal story of coming through—not overcoming—a double disability to a fully realized life in which a woman gives her heart to the world.
- GenresPoetry
101 pages, Paperback
Published July 15, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 18, 2019
A worthy undertaking and a beautiful job of reimagining Helen Keller’s life. I was disappointed in the glaring error in the title poem. Does anyone edit anymore? “Lead” is a heavy metal. “Led” is the past-tense verb. But overall, a terrific poetry book.
November 19, 2017
The best part of this is the history footnoted after each poem. The poetry did nothing for me.
November 28, 2017
The Goodreads review states that this is not a fictional retelling. While the very informative footnotes and actual quotes that accompany the poems are not fictional, the poems do seem to be fictional-fiction based on fact...?
March 17, 2017
I had the pleasure of reading this wonderful book of poetry, and I had the greater pleasure of meeting the author. Jeanie Thompson paints a wonderful portrait of Helen Keller's life combining research with imagination. I learned about Helen Keller falling in love, and I mourned the loss of love with her. I mourned the loss of Anne Sullivan with her. I felt as if I had met Helen Keller and understood her mission and her passion, and I felt as if I understood the challenges and triumphs she faced. Truly moving.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews