Denise Levertov
Who is Denise Levertov
Priscilla Denise Levertov (24 October 1923 – 20 December 1997) was a British-born naturalised American poet. She was a recipient of the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry.
Early life and influences
Levertov was born and grew up in Ilford, Essex. Her mother, Beatrice Adelaide (née Spooner-Jones) Levertoff, came from a small mining village in North Wales. Her father, Paul Levertoff, had been a teacher at Leipzig University and as a Russian Hasidic Jew was held under house arrest during the First World War as an 'enemy alien' by virtue of his ethnicity. He emigrated to the UK and became an Anglican priest after converting to Christianity. In the mistaken belief that he would want to preach in a Jewish neighbourhood, he was housed in Ilford, within reach of a parish i...
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Denise Levertov Poems
- People At Night
A night that cuts between you and you
and you and you and you
and me : jostles us apart, a man elbowing
through a crowd. We won't
...
- Aware
When I found the door
I found the vine leaves
speaking among themselves in abundant
whispers.
...
- Matins
i
The authentic! Shadows of it
...
- Ikon: The Harrowing Of Hell
Down through the tomb's inward arch
He has shouldered out into Limbo
to gather them, dazed, from dreamless slumber:
the merciful dead, the prophets,
...
- Contraband
The tree of knowledge was the tree of reason.
That's why the taste of it
drove us from Eden. That fruit
was meant to be dried and milled to a fine powder
...
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Denise Levertov Quotes
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Comments about Denise Levertov
- Susanrichpoet: please don't shoot the messenger
- Sccenglish: a poetry advent calendar.
december 18th. 'annunciation' by denise levertov.
"we know the scene: the room, variously furnished,
almost always a lectern, a book; always
the tall lily."
- Godandchocolate: “annunciation” by denise levertov
she did not cry, ‘i cannot. i am not worthy,’
nor, ‘i have not the strength.’
she did not submit with gritted teeth,
raging, coerced.
- Kwmdw6: poem:
annunciation
denise levertov
we know the scene: the room, variously furnished,
almost always a lectern, a book; always
the tall lily.
arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,
the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,
whom she acknowledges, a guest.
2/
- Sacredartstudio: but we have only begun
to love the earth.
we have only begun
to imagine the fullness of life.
how could we tire of hope?
— so much is in bud.
-denise levertov
"the artist's prayer" blanket. spring sale. learn more & purchase here
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