The Task (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Denise Levertov
- First Published: 1982
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Religion, God, Creative process, Gods or goddesses, Clothing or dress, Weaving or weavers
The Poem
“The Task” is a twenty-five-line poem composed of two stanzas written in free verse, which Denise Levertov herself would describe as “organic poetry.” The poem discusses the character and—as the title implies—the work of God. The opening six-line stanza presents a false image of God as an uncouth and somewhat threatening old man “always upstairs, sitting about/ in sleeveless undershirt,” his arms folded over his rumbling stomach. He is asleep and probably snoring since she concludes the stanza with the lines “his breath from open mouth/ strident,...
[The entire page is 1327 words long]
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