Trilogy (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Hilda Doolittle
- First Published: 1944
- Type of Work: Poetry
- Genres: Poetry, Meditation
- Subjects: Language or languages, Memory, Mythology or myths, Gender roles, World War II, Religion, War, Christianity, Gods or goddesses, London, Egypt or Egyptians, Jesus Christ, Visions, epiphanies, or revelations, Archaeology or archaeologists, Angels, Alchemy, Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint, Femininity of God
The Walls Do Not Fall opens in confusion: “An incident here and there,/ and rails gone (for guns)/ from your (and my) old town square.” The setting is London. Bombing raids during World War II were called “incidents” by the government and press, and iron railings were taken as scrap to make weapons. Yet the setting is also Karnak, Egypt, in 1923, when the tomb of Tutankhamen is opened; hieroglyphs—“bee, chick and hare”—decorate the temple and perhaps contain a prophecy. H. D. finds that war-torn London and timeworn Luxor are part of the same pattern; the...
[The entire page is 2288 words long]
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