Welcome to Litsy!

This biography took me months to wade through.It is a dense,encompassing view of the poet Denise Levertov‘s artistic & writing life, & her relationships with family,friends,students,poets,artists,writers,& social activists.An extraordinarily complex & dynamic woman, she was a passionate social activist,whose poetry reflected both her temporal & spiritual worlds.My brother was fortunate to be a writing student of hers at Tufts University.

Denise‘s life and poetry intersected with so many poets, artists & writers over her lifetime. She & the poet Muriel Rukeyser met in the early sixties. Not only did they share their poetry, but shared calls to political action. In 1972 they went to Hanoi together. They remained close until Rukeyser‘s death in 1980z
For more on Rukeyser:
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/05/30/muriel-rukeyser-mother-of-everyon...

“…pride in her Hasidic heritage, which she expressed in a “‘a wild solitary dance among the fireflies in a New England garden‘” one night while her father lay dying. This impassioned “‘dance of love and mourning‘” was akin to the Hasidic dance of praise her father danced shortly before his death…‘”
The heritage of dance connecting father and daughter across the wide expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. 💚💙❤️

This passage reminds me of the lost, gaiety & outrageous behavior of the “Bright Young Things” post WWI, as exemplified in The Glittering Hour.

Denise was descended from mystics,adventurers & victims of persecution.Her mom,Beatrice Spooner-Jones, lost her mother to childbirth& her doctor father at the age of 12.That is when this “7 devils” of a girl went to live with elder relatives.As an adult, Beatrice attended a religious revival & converted to a Christianity, whose ideals of worshipping & obeying the spirit gave her life purpose.🔽

#poetry
My older brother(18 months apart;we were in each others pockets)had the privilege of participating in a poetry seminar hosted by Denise Levertov at Tufts University. She taught there from 1973 to 1979 & lived in Somerville as he did.I visited him often, an easy bus ride from Worcester Ma,where I was attending college.He spoke of his admiration for her often,especially in the context of political activism.I am excited about this biography!