Poems, 1972-1982

by Denise Levertov

Three of Levertov's classic volumes are now available in a single edition. Included here are: "The Freeing of the Dust; Life in the Forest; " and "Candles in Babylon".

Genres: Poetry

288 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

American poet Denise Levertov was born in Ilford, Essex, England. Her mother, Beatrice Spooner-Jones Levertoff, was Welsh. Her father, Paul Levertoff, from Germany migrated to England as a Russian Hassidic Jew, who, after converting to Christianity, became an Anglican parson. At the age of 12, she sent some of her poems to T. S. Eliot, who replied with a two-page letter of encouragement. In 1940, when she was 17, Levertov published her first poem.

During the Blitz, Levertov served in London as a civilian nurse. Her first book, The Double Image, was published six years later. In 1947 she married American writer Mitchell Goodman and moved with him to the United States in the following year. Although Levertov and Goodman would eventually divorce, they had a son, Nickolai, and lived mainly in New York City, summering in Maine. In 1955, she became a naturalized American citizen.

During the 1960s and 70s, Levertov became much more politically active in her life and work. As poetry editor for The Nation, she was able to support and publish the work of feminist and other leftist activist poets. The Vietnam War was an especially important focus of her poetry, which often tried to weave together the personal and political, as in her poem "The Sorrow Dance," which speaks of her sister's death. Also in response to the Vietnam War, Levertov joined the War Resister’s League.

Much of the latter part of Levertov’s life was spent in education. After moving to Massachusetts, Levertov taught at Brandeis University, MIT and Tufts University. On the West Coast, she had a part-time teaching stint at the University of Washington and for 11 years (1982-1993) held a full professorship at Stanford University. In 1984 she received a Litt. D. from Bates College. After retiring from teaching, she traveled for a year doing poetry readings in the U.S. and England.

In 1997, Denise Levertov died at the age of 74 from complications due to lymphoma. She was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.

Levertov wrote and published 20 books of poetry, criticism, translations. She also edited several anthologies. Among her many awards and honors, she received the Shelley Memorial Award, the Robert Frost Medal, the Lenore Marshall Prize, the Lannan Award, a grant from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way sorrow enters the bone
is the way fish sink through dense lakes
raising smoke from the depth
and flashing sideways in bevelled
syncopations.
It's the way the snow
drains the light from day but then,
covering boundaries of road and sidewalk,
widens wondering streets
and stains the sky yellow
to glow at midnight.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's difficult (impossible?) to jot down a few summarizing sentences on such a wide-ranging collection of poems, spanning the personal to the political, from spirituality to sex, from nature to secret interior landscapes. But whatever the subject matter--even with the overtly, adamantly political--they're just all so damn beautiful.

"I wanted to learn you by heart.
There was only time
for the opening measures--a minor key,
major chords, arpeggios of desire that ripple
swifter than I can hum them--
and through it all
a lucid, dreaming tune
that gleaners sing
alone in the fields."

-from "From Afar"

[Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

One big heartbreaker

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book looks at war, grief, the environment, and personal relationships. So many themes are as important and pertinent today, as they were about half a century ago.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable collection by a favorite poet. I’d read about 1/3 of the poems previously. The war topic poems were harsh (as you’d expect).

[Ian]

All three collections, Poems 1968-1972, Poems 1972-1982, Collected Earlier Poems, 1940-1960 should be read and studied several times over. Levertov’s ability with imagery and structure are breathtaking. Her writing is filled with subtle movements, but also stark scenes which can mesmerize the reader. In Levertov’s writing, she creates mood and meditation not only through her metaphors and words but the structures of her poems.

[Isla McKetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book showed me how ridiculous all the rules of poetry I'd created in my brain are and made me stop judging myself as a poet. I loved her language and the way she wrote about politics. I'll be glad to read more of her poems.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not her best ten years.