Swenson, May - Grace Schulman (essay date 1994)
Grace Schulman (essay date 1994)
SOURCE: "Life's Miracles: The Poetry of May Swenson," in The American Poetry Review, Vol. 23, No. 5, September-October 1994, pp. 9-13.
[An American educator, poet, and critic, Schulman has served as the poetry editor of the journal Nation. Here, she gives an overview of Swenson's poetry, including her posthumous collections.]
The voice of May Swenson combines the directness of intimate speech and the urgency of prayer:
Body my house
my horse my hound
what will I do
when you are fallen
Where will I sleep
How will I ride
What will I hunt
Where can I go
without my mount …
The magic of that lament, "Question," from Another Animal (1954), is in its contrasts: while the details are specific, the central situation is a mystery that terrifies with each new speculation. Here as elsewhere in her poems, Swenson dwells on the...
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