September 1961 (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Denise Levertov
- First Published: 1964
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry, Threnody
- Subjects: Poetry or poets, Creative process, Bereavement or grief, Transcendentalism
Bordering upon a threnody, or song of mourning, “September 1961” finds Levertov's poetic persona crying out in lament for many of her high modernist mentors: Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, and H. D. Indeed, when the poem was published in 1964, only Pound was still living, and, as noted in the poem, he was operating within his “quiet years,” having spent copious time in an Italian prison and American sanatorium.
The poem's voice finds itself, presumably the voice of Levertov (though among others), alone on a road bereft of her poetic masters, anticipating their...
[The entire page is 514 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
See Also
