Discussion questions for the poems above along with “Gathered at the River,” "Overland to the Islands," and "Standoff."

1. In what ways does Levertov appeal to the senses as a route to the intellect?

2. What metaphors or similes do you find employed in these poems?

3. Despite the use of open form, what patterns or visual cues are repeated in these poems?

4. To what other poets might you compare Levertov, based on this limited sampling of poems?

Critical Sources

 Rodgers, Audrey T. Denise Levertov : the poetry of engagement. Rutherford, N.J. : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1993. In campus library.

 Spirit in the poetry of Denise Levertov. Renascence: essays on values in literature. v. 50, no. 1/2. In campus library.

Selected poems on-line:

(because some sites come and go the numbers may not be sequential)

"The Ache of Marriage" site 1 2 3 4 5 

“Adam’s Complaint” site 1 2 3 4 5 6

“The Altars in the Street” site 1

"Annunciation" site 1

"The Avowal" site 1 2 3 

“Aware” site 1 2 3 4 5 (scroll down)

“The Batterers” site 1

“Bearing the Light” site 1 2 3

“Beginners” site 1 2 3 

"The Breathing" site 1 2 

“Celebration” site 1 2 3 4 (scroll down) 5 6 

"Come into animal presence" site 1

"Contraband" site 1 2

“The Day the Audience Walked Out on Me, and Why” site 1

“The Dog of Art” site 1 2 3

“The Elves” site 1 2 3 4 

"An Embroidery" site 1 2 3

“Everything That Acts Is Actual” site 1 2 (scroll down) 3 

"February Evening in New York" site 1

"For the New Year, 1981" site 1

“The Fountain” site 1 2 3 4

“From the Roof” site 1 2 3 4

“The Garden Wall” site 1 (with German translation) 2 3

“Gray Sparrow Addresses the Mind’s Ear”   site 1 2 3

"The Great Black Heron" site 1 2 3 4 

“Hymn to Eros” site 1 2 3 4

"Ikon: The Harrowing of Hell" site 1 2 3 4 5 

"I learned that her name was Proverb" site 1

“Illustrious Ancestors” site 1 2 3

"In California During the Gulf War" site 1 2 3 4 

“In Mind” site 1 2 3 4 (scroll down) 5 6

"Intrusion" site 1 2 3 4 

“Living” site 1 2 3 4

“Living While It May” site 1

“Looking, Walking, Being” site 1 2 (click Levertov) 3 4

"Losing Track" site 1 2 3 4 5 

"The Love of Morning" site 1 (scroll to bottom)

"Making Peace" site 1

"Mass for the Day of St. Thomas Didymus" (Gloria excerpt) site 1 2 3

“Merritt Parkway” site 1 (scroll down)

"The Metier of Blossoming" site 1 2 3 4

“Midnight Gladness” site 1

"The Mutes" site 1 2 3 4 

"O Taste and See" site 1

"On a Theme by Thomas Merton" site 1 2 3 

"Only Once" site 1

"On the Mystery of the Incarnation" site 1 2 3

“The Open Sentence” site 1

"Opening Words" site 1

"Overland to the Islands" site 1

"People at Night" site 1 2 3

“Pleasures” site 1 2 3

“Psalm Concerning the Castle” site 1 2 3 

“The Quest” site 1 2 3 4

“The Rainwalkers” site 2 3 (scroll down or search) 4 5

"St. Peter and the Angel" site 1 2 3 4 

“The Sea's Wash In The Hollow Of The Heart...” site 1 2 3

"The Secret" site 1 2 3 4 5  

"Seeing for a Moment" site 1 2 3

“September 1961” site 1 2 3 (scroll down) 4 5

"Settling" site 1 2 3 4 video clip with commentary at this site

“Stepping Westward” site 1 2 3 

"Sojourns in a Parallel World" site 1 2 3 4 

“Talking to Grief” site 1 2 3 4 5 

"Talk in the Dark" site 1

"Tennebrae" audio from Norton  

"The Thread" site 1 2 3 

“To the Reader” site 1 2 3 4

“To the Snake” site 1 2 3 4

“A Tree Telling of Orpheus” site 1 (English version follows German version) 2 3 4

“Triple Feature” site 1 2 

"Untitled" (Scraps of Moon) site 1 2 3 4

“Variation and Reflection on a Theme by Rilke (The Book of Hours, Book 1, Poem 7)” site 1

"Variation on a Theme by Rilke" site 1 2 3 4 5 6  

"Wanting the Moon" site 1 2 3 

"Web" site 1 2 3

“Wedding Ring” site 1 2 3

“The Well” site 1 2 3 4

“What Were They Like?” site 1 2 3 

"A Woman Alone" site 1

"Zeroing In" site 1 2 3 4 5 6