Wilbur, Richard - Peter Davison (essay date 1994)

Peter Davison (essay date 1994)

SOURCE: Davison, Peter. “Speak of the World's Own Change: Richard Wilbur, 1955-1957.” In The Fading Smile: Poets in Boston, 1955-1960, from Robert Frost to Robert Lowell to Sylvia Plath, pp. 58-79. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.

[This biographical essay explores the influence of several Boston poets on Wilbur's poetry, including John Ciardi, Archibald MacLeish, and Sylvia Plath.]

“LOVE CALLS US TO THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD”

          The eyes open to a cry of pulleys,
And spirited from sleep, the astounded soul
Hangs for a moment bodiless and simple
As false dawn.
                                                            Outside the open window
The morning air is all awash with angels.

          Some are in bed-sheets, some are in blouses,
Some are in smocks: but truly there they are.
Now...

[The entire page is 7475 words long]

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