In Mind

There's in my mind a woman
of innocence, unadorned but



fair-featured and smelling of
apples or grass. She wears



a utopian smock or shift, her hair
is light brown and smooth, and she



is kind and very clean without
ostentation-



but she has
no imagination



And there's a
turbulent moon-ridden girl



or old woman, or both,
dressed in opals and rags, feathers



and torn taffeta,
who knows strange songs



but she is not kind.

-Denise Levertov

Denise Levertov was born in Britain, in Ilford Essex England on October 24, 1923. Levertov was home schooled and was very passionate about writing at an early age. She published her first book of poetry “The Double Image” in 1946. Levertov married Mitchell Goodman, an American writer in 1947. She moved to the United States in 1948 and lived in New York City. Her first American book, “Here and now” was published in 1956. Later in 1959 she published another book called “With Eyes at the Back of Our Heads”. She began to publish many prize-winning books of poetry. Levertov became involved in anti-war movements. From 1982 to 1993 Levertov taught at Stanford University. Denise Levertov died on December 27, 1997 at the age of 74 from lymphoma.

“In Mind” I think, is about someone’s perspective on another person. “There’s in my mind a woman of innocence.” There are two sides to everyone, a good side and a not so good side. In the beginning of the poem she is speaking of an innocent woman who is kind and then in the end of the poem she refers to the woman as “turbulent moon-ridden girl” with “no imagination” and “is not kind”. Denise Levertov is very creative in her writing and manages to her point across without actually saying it. Since Levertov starting writing at such a young age, she is very experienced in writing.
As you read, a white bear leisurely

To the Reader
As you read, a white bear leisurely
pees, dyeing the snow
saffron,

and as you read, many gods
lie among lianas: eyes of obsidian
are watching the generations of leaves,

and as you read
the sea is turning its dark pages,
turning
its dark pages.
-Denise Levertov

For the third part of my English assignment I had to pick another poem by Denise Levertov. I read a few pomes but “To the Reader” really stood out to me. It was so creative. She uses personification in the last stanza: “the sea is turning its dark pages”. While reading this poem I pictured each stanza in my head with detail. Levertov used imagery throughout the whole poem. I really enjoyed reading this poem; it was very different, and original.

Denise Levertov wrote a lot of different poems and I didn’t read all of them, but I did read a few. The two I focused on in my assignment were “In mind” and “To the Reader”. Both of these poems are original and creative. Denise Levertov was born in Britain, but if I didn’t read her biography I would not have known that based on the poems I read. Her poems are, like I said original, but they have no reference to Britain in any way. I only read a few but they sound American.