The Birthday of Anne Sexton (1928-1974)

 American poet Anne Sexton was born Anne Gray Harvey in Newton, Massachusetts, on November 9, 1928. (To read more about her, click on her two-word name in the preceding sentence.)

Emily Dickinson: A Recluse, Yes?

 

From the story "The Letting Down of the Hair"

in The Book of Folly (1972) by Anne Sexton

From the Introduction by Joyce Carol Oates

to The Essential Emily Dickinson (1996),

poems selected by Joyce Carol Oates

A Quotation from Anne Sexton

Here is a line from the poem "Anna Who Was Mad" in The Book of Folly (1972) by American poet Anne Sexton, who was born in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1928 and lived all of her life in or near Boston. Her first book of poems, To Bedlam and Part Way Back, was published in 1960; her last, Words for Dr. Y., was published after her death, by her own hand, in 1974. She won the Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 1967 for Live or Die. To read more about Anne Sexton, click here.

Special Knowledge about Daisies

The first paragraph in a letter that American poet Anne Sexton wrote to American poet Stanley Kunitz on February 17, 1971, reads: "I have special knowledge about daisies. They last and last as both you and I will. They are my favorite flower. There is something innocent and vulnerable about them as if they thanked you for admiring them."

Photo credit: Monty Gilmer

Copyright 2019 Monty Gilmer. All rights reserved.

Here is a short poem, a quatrain, about daisies from English poet Christina Rossetti's Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book (1872).

     Where innocent bright-eyed daisies are,
        With blades of grass between,
     Each daisy stands up like a star
        Out of a sky of green.

Below is a video of American singer and songwriter Jud Strunk singing "Daisy a Day," a love song for which he wrote both the lyrics and the music.

"The Final Say: Saint Paul"

THE FINAL SAY: SAINT PAUL

by Monty Gilmer

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

     SAINT PAUL

     to the Galatians (in the Bible: Galatians 3:28-29, King James Version)

He knew that each fish

was given paradise

in its slimy skin,

in its little gasping kiss of the sea.

     ANNE SEXTON

     From "The Saints Come Marching In"

     in The Awful Rowing Toward God (1975)

"Cinquain on Love: Touch" by Monty Gilmer | Best Poems

In the lyrics of his song "Love" John Lennon wrote, "Love is touch, touch is love." Read this found poem of mine on love and touch: Cinquain on Love: Touch, poem - Monty Gilmer poems | Best Poems

This found poem of mine was first published under the title "Cinquain on Love" in the January 1999 issue of The Sow's Ear Poetry Review (sowsearpoetry.org).

Two Quotations on Broccoli

BROCCOLI

I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little boy and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli!

     GEORGE BUSH

     on menus aboard Air Force One

     (Quoted in The New York Times on March 25, 1990)

Rejoice with broccoli for it is a good bush-of-a-face and goes nicely in the mouth.

     ANNE SEXTON

     in her book of poems The Death Notebooks (1974)

Broccoli

(Photo by Steven Lilley, 2011)

"Old" by Anne Sexton : Poem Hunter

Read the poem "Old" by American poet Anne Sexton (1928-1974).

Anne Sexton

photographed by Elsa Dorfman

"The Final Say: Giving Way" by Monty Gilmer

THE FINAL SAY
by Monty Gilmer

(Quotations I have paired up for comparison)

GIVING WAY
(The quotation from Tennessee Williams is
a found poem of mine.)

Anne Sexton wrote,
"From the Tamil, I read,
'The rock that resists the crowbar
gives way to the roots of the tender plant.'"

Tennessee Williams wrote,
"The violets in
the mountains
have broken the rocks."

The Final Say

"How It Is" by Maxine W. Kumin : The Poetry Foundation

Read this poem that Maxine Kumin wrote shortly after the death of her closest friend Anne Sexton, and listen to an audio recording of her reading this poem: How It Is: "Shall I say how it is in your clothes? [ . . . ]"

Maxine W. Kumin

The Final Say: Cocoa

THE FINAL SAY: COCOA
by Monty Gilmer

Tea, although an Oriental,
Is a gentleman at least;
Cocoa is a cad and coward,
Cocoa is a vulgar beast.
     -- G. K. Chesterton

The business of words keeps me awake.
I am drinking cocoa,
that warm brown mama.
     -- Anne Sexton

The Final Say

Quotations I have paired up for comparison

"The Operation" by Anne Sexton : The Poetry Foundation

Read the poem The Operation by Anne Sexton : The Poetry Foundation: "1. / After the sweet promise, / the summer’s mild retreat" . . .

Also listen to a recording of Anne Sexton reading her poem "The Operation."

Anne Sexton

(Source of photo: The Poetry Foundation)

Anne Sexton: Essential American Poets / Essential American Poets : The Poetry Foundation

Archival recordings of poet Anne Sexton (who was born on this day in 1928), with an introduction to her life and work: Anne Sexton: Essential American Poets / Essential American Poets : The Poetry Foundation

Anne Sexton (1928-1974)

American poet

(Source of photo: The Poetry Foundation)

"Her Kind" by Anne Sexton (1928-1974) : The Poetry Foundation

Read this poem: Her Kind by Anne Sexton : The Poetry Foundation

American poet Anne Sexton 

was born on this day in 1928.

(Source of photo: The Poetry Foundation)

"The Revisionist Dream" by Maxine Kumin : The Poetry Archive

     American poet Maxine Kumin said that her poem "The Revisionist Dream" is about the suicide of American poet Anne Sexton in 1974 and that it is a villanelle. Read "The Revisionist Dream" by Maxine Kumin and listen to a recording of her introducing and reading that poem of hers.

Maxine Kumin (1925-2014)
Poet and author

"The Truth the Dead Know" by Anne Sexton (1928-1974) : The Poetry Foundation

Read this poem: The Truth the Dead Know by Anne Sexton : The Poetry Foundation

American poet Anne Sexton

died, by her own hand,

on this day in 1974.

(Source of photo: The Poetry Foundation)

"The Double Image" by Anne Sexton / Poem of the Day : The Poetry Foundation

Listen to a recording of American poet Anne Sexton reading her poem "The Double Image":
The Double Image / Poem of the Day : The Poetry Foundation

Anne Sexton

(Source of photo: The Poetry Foundation)

"The Expatriates" by Anne Sexton / Poem of the Day : The Poetry Foundation

Listen to a recording of American poet Anne Sexton reading her love poem "The Expatriates":
The Expatriates / Poem of the Day : The Poetry Foundation

Anne Sexton (1928-1974)

(Source of photo: The Poetry Foundation)

Poem for Holy Saturday: "In the Deep Museum" by Anne Sexton | Best Poems

Today is Holy Saturday, the Day of Silence, the Saturday before Easter. Read this poem by American poet Anne Sexton (1928-1974), a poem that recounts what Christ could have felt if he were still alive in the tomb: In The Deep Museum | Best Poems

You can also read "In the Deep Museum" (a poem its author divided into three stanzas of twelve lines each) in The Complete Poems (1981) by Anne Sexton (who is in the photo below).

"With Mercy for the Greedy" by Anne Sexton : The Poetry Foundation

Read this poem: With Mercy for the Greedy by Anne Sexton : The Poetry Foundation

Anne Sexton 

is one of my favorite poets.

(Source of photo: The Poetry Foundation)