April Twilights: and Other Poems

by Willa Cather

Valuable not only as an early collection of thirty-seven poems, but for "Professor Slote's introduction, which considers events leading to the poems, critically analyzes them and then brilliantly relates them to Willa Cather's fictional themes and techniques."-Books Abroad

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Fiction

Unbound

First published January 1, 1903

About the author

Wilella Sibert Cather was born in Back Creek Valley (Gore), Virginia, in December 7, 1873.

She grew up in Virginia and Nebraska. She then attended the University of Nebraska, initially planning to become a physician, but after writing an article for the Nebraska State Journal, she became a regular contributor to this journal. Because of this, she changed her major and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English.

After graduation in 1894, she worked in Pittsburgh as writer for various publications and as a school teacher for approximately 13 years, thereafter moving to New York City for the remainder of her life.

Her novels on frontier life brought her to national recognition. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, 'One of Ours' (1922), set during World War I. She travelled widely and often spent summers in New Brunswick, Canada. In later life, she experienced much negative criticism for her conservative politics and became reclusive, burning some of her letters and personal papers, including her last manuscript.

She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1943. In 1944, Cather received the gold medal for fiction from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, an award given once a decade for an author's total accomplishments.

She died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 73 in New York City.

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not bad poetry, but its not a patch on her prose. My issue is that she seldom finds her own voice in the poems. I could feel the influence of AE Housman is so many (so was unsurprised to find in correspondence that she was blown away by A Shropshire Lad), and Shelley in others.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 1923 revised and reedited version of the 1903 collection this which includes: Grandmither, think not I forget; Fides, Spes; the Tavern; The Hawthorn Tree; The Poor Minstrel; Antinous; London Roses; Winter at Delphi; Paradox; In Media Vita; Evening Song; Lament for Marsyas; I Sought the Wood in Winter; Sleep, Minstrel, Sleep; In Rose-Time; Poppies on Ludlow Castle; Prairie Dawn; Aftermath; Thou Art the Pearl; Arcadian Winter; Provencal Legend; The Encore; Song; L'Envoi; The Palatine; The Gaul in the Capitol; A Likeness; The Swedish Mother; Spanish Johnny; Autumn Melody; Prairie Spring; Macon Prairie; Street in Packingtown; A Sliver Cup; Recognition; and Going Home. The last twelve poems which replace poems from the 1903 edition were stronger and have more of a personal feel compared to the earlier ones that have a more classical or romantic feel and show her development as a writer over the twenty years in between the editions.

[Veronica Zerrer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read poetry to capture how other writers use language, specifically diction, to convey meaning, emotion, and information in the story they are writing.

While I recognize a pattern to their poem's structure, it is the precision of their word choices that stand out to me.

Cather has an endearing ability to match the emotion she wants to convey by linking the most appropriate word to the line.

[Catherine Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy her prose a lot more, but I liked this, too. This edition, specifically, had an introduction that was enlightening and had context I appreciated.

Cather was very rooted in classical moments/literature, and her educational background and professional career gave her great insight into poetry of antiquity as well as contemporary times. It's safe to say she knew the field, which definitely informed her craft.

[Ray's Artshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ritratto d'ignoto; defying
Things unsubstantial as a dream -
An empire, long in ashes lying -
His face still set against the stream -
Yes, so he looked, that gifted brother
I loved, who passed and left no trace,
Not even - luckier than this other -
His sorrow in a marble face.

Lines from 'A Likeness' by Willa Cather.

[Lattisha Fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good, but generic poetry for the time period. Nothing really stood out as very bad or particularly great.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her prose is better.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like willa cather as an author. That's why this is four stars

[David Finger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second half of the book contains the really exceptional poems like “Macon Prairie”, “A Silver Cup” and “Going Home” although “The Tavern” was quite good as well.

[Katherine Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am sure this poetry is technically proficient, but perhaps I will enjoy her fiction better.

[Micaela *CLONAZINE* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mis poemas favoritos fueron los que tenían referencias a los griegos.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Her novels are so much better.

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting collection. I love this series and appreciate how beautiful the physical books are.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Willa Cather (December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was known for such novels as “One of Ours”, “O Pioneers!”, and short stories in collections like “The Troll Garden” and others. Thus it is somewhat surprising that her first book was not a novel or a collection of stories, but rather a book of poetry. Willa did not take herself seriously as a poet, but that feeling was not shared by others. “April Twilights” was originally published in 1903, and it consisted of 36 poems, and a “Dedicatory” which was also a poem. In 1923 she republished the book under the slightly different title “April Twilights, and Other Poems” in which she removed 12 of the poems and the “Dedicatory” and replaced them with 12 different poems.

Her poems are interesting, the themes ranging from love and nature, to history and mythology. Not too surprisingly, the poems vary quite a bit in terms of style, and she won’t measure up to the great poets of history, but at the same time there are some treasures contained within. “’Grandmither, Think Not I Forget’”, “Asphodel”, “Mills of Montmatre”, “Antinous”, “Winter at Delphi”, and “The Night Express” are among my favorites from the original collection. The 1923 collection includes “The Palatine”, which is a poem which Mark Twain praised and enjoyed. An example of one of her shorter poems is “Prairie Dawn”, in which she clearly draws on an image from her own life:

“A crimson fire that vanquishes the stars;
A pungent odor from the dusty sage;
A sudden stirring of the huddled herds;
A breaking of the distant table-lands
Through purple mists ascending, and the flare
Of water ditches silver in the light;
A swift, bright lance hurled low across the world;
A sudden sickness for the hills of home.”

Those who know and appreciate Cather’s novels will probably enjoy a look at her poems, many of which draw from the same sources.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slowly reading these poems, a mixture of sentimental imagery with a very real, lived experience. I get a sense of her as a person in a time and a place, the turn of the century in America's heartland. I imagine my grandmother, a very good writer herself, being born into Willa Cather's world. I'm looking forward to reading her letters included at the end of the book, and re-reading her novels.

Finished a couple of weeks ago - it ended with a selection of letters over her very long life - so much changed from when she wrote the early poems. Plan to read her big novels again, which I remember standing out for their imagery of the American west/frontier life... and not so full of European "poetic" imagery as her poems. So interesting how a young writer looked for inspiration then!

[Drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bernice Slote's intro to "April Twilights" (1903) is learned. Engrossingly so. But it's also grandiose for despite her assertions to the contrary, this early collection of Cather's verse does not hold up as a work of art or even an enlightening window into her splendid novels. The rhythmic beat has the insistence of a bass drum; the language ofttimes feels borrowed from the previous century. The opener, "Grandmither, Think Not I Forget," may be the best of the lot whereas the once-anthologized "The Namesake" has aged terribly, considering its Confederate sympathies.

[Neil Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this, her first collection, is a little stilted and mannered, but in many poems there is striking contact with the late Pre-Raphaelites, like Burne-Jones. As in the novels, everywhere there is marvellous attention to the physical details of the sensory world. There are some beautiful passages: "One thing of all dim things I know is true,/The heart within me knows, and tells it to you."

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to the foreword, Cather originally published a collection of poetry called April Twilights in 1903. She later revised and republished it. In this volume, you get the revised versions of those poems, and also a lot of unpublished poems and some early, uncollected poems she wrote before 1903. I actually liked more of those early poems than her later ones, as they were more playful and spontaneous. But I did like a great many of her poems -- I marked ten poems to re-read, altogether. They were "Shakespeare," "Bobby Shafto," "In the Garden," "Broncho Bill's Valedictory," "The Namesake," "Sonnet," "L'Envoi," "The Swedish Mother," "A Silver Cup," an "Remembering is Like a Crimson Rose."

Of those, I think "In the Garden" was my favorite. Certainly it was the most timely, as I read it only a day or two after Easter, and it concerns Mary Magdalene going to the tomb with spices to embalm Jesus' body, only to meet him alive there.

Cather wrote about a wide range of subjects: immigrants, cowboys, children, the elderly, romance, grief, and so many other things. I think her finest poems were the ones where she spoke about life on the prairie and in the wilderness. Some of the others come off as affected attempts at what poetry "ought" to be like, and I'm guessing those are some of the ones she liked less when she got older.

This volume also collected many of Cather's letters that discussed poetry and writing. I didn't find them nearly as interesting as her poetry, but a fan of hers probably would enjoy them. I've been trying to like Cather for a long time, and I'm happy to say she's slowly growing on me.