Denise Levertov
Denise Levertov
Denise Levertovwas a British-born American poet...
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth24 October 1923
inspirational fullness-of-life earth
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.
lying air knowing
The AvowalAs swimmers dareto lie face to the skyand water bears them,as hawks rest upon airand air sustains them;so would I learn to attain freefall, and floatinto Creator Spirit's deep embrace,knowing no effort earnsthat all-surrounding grace.
dream flesh arms
my pleasure was in the strength of my back, in my noble shoulders, the cool smooth flesh cylinders of my arms.
walking knows
But for us the road unfurls itself, we don't stop walking, we know there is far to go.
grief fall night
Grief is a hole you walk around in the daytime and at night you fall into it.
self singing heard
What I heard was my whole self saying and singing what it knew: I can.
mean social function
Insofar as poetry has a social function it is to awaken sleepers by other means than shock.
writing world language
One of the obligations of the writer is to say or sing all that he or she can, to deal with as much of the world as becomes possible to him or her in language.
turns marvelous guise
Marvelous Truth, confront us at every turn, in every guise.
prayer writing way
In certain ways writing is a form of prayer.
sweet women salt
There is no savor more sweet, more salt than to be glad to be what, woman, and who, myself, I am...
utopian quickness
Nothing we do has the quickness, the sureness, the deep intelligence living at peace would have.
believe space broken
I believe every space and comma is a living part of the poem and has its function, just as every muscle and pore of the body has its function. And the way the lines are broken is a functioning part essential to the life of the poem.
writing order stopping
A poet articulating the dreads and horrors of our time is necessary in order to make readers understand what is happening, really understand it, not just know about it but feel it: and should be accompanied by a willingness on the part of those who write it to take additional action towards stopping the great miseries which they record.