Denise Levertov 
Oblique Prayers: Poetry [EPUB ebook] 

Over the years, Denise Levertov’s poetry has moved ever more deeply into the realm of meditation, while yet speaking with the familiar voice of ‘the poet in the world.’

Oblique Prayers is arranged in four thematic sections that, taken together, work toward a mature philosophy in equal harmony with public activism and private reflection. A personal mood links the poems of “Decipherings.” In “Prisoners, ‘ the poet addresses the continuing horrors of our dark time: genocide, imperialism, impending nuclear holocaust––human degradation in brutal political guise. Levertov is an accomplished translator. With ‘Fourteen Poems by Jean Joubert, ‘ she introduces English-speaking readers to a contemporary French poet whose work is remarkably akin to her own. ‘Of God and of the Gods, ‘ the final section of the book, is informed by a transcendent lyricism that can equate in a breath ‘a day of spring, a needle’s eye.’

About the author

Denise Levertov (1923-1997) was a British born American poet. She wrote and published 20 books of poetry, criticism, translations. She also edited several anthologies. Among her many awards and honors, she received the Shelley Memorial Award, the Robert Frost Medal, the Lenore Marshall Prize, the Lannan Award, a grant from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.