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A review by rand_muayed
Wild Nights: Heart Wisdom from Five Women Poets by Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sappho, Emily Dickinson
3.0
This poetry collection contains selected works of 5 female poets. It starts with sappho, I’ve always wanted to read something by her. I’m not sure if they picked the best writings but it was nice nonetheless. She’s so dramatically passionate and you feel like she’s sincerely in love with all her 253 boyfriends and girlfriends.
“Ah, love is bitter and sweet,
but which is more sweet?
the sweetness
or the bitterness?
none has spoken it.”
Next is Emily Dickinson whose poetry I enjoy but I also found this certain collection to be lacking something, maybe because I don’t necessarily love her love poems lol.
Then there’s Amy Lowell, Sara Teasdale and Edna st. Vincent Millay. The thing these 3 have in common is that they are less well known that the first two, but they all share the quality of being strong poetesses whose poetry was considered controversial for their time (albeit it was controversial to even go to uni lmao). They were fearless and wrote with great fervor. What I didn’t like was how this book’s main focus was on their love poems, for example Emily Dickinson wrote hundreds of great poems and their choices was just - okay? I guess..
Overall it was a decent poetry book, quite enjoyable but it’s my fault for having higher expectations.
I leave you with Edna’s “Spring”:
Ps: it’s making me want to highlight the parts I love and study all the poems like a true Dark Academic *Sigh*
“Ah, love is bitter and sweet,
but which is more sweet?
the sweetness
or the bitterness?
none has spoken it.”
Next is Emily Dickinson whose poetry I enjoy but I also found this certain collection to be lacking something, maybe because I don’t necessarily love her love poems lol.
Then there’s Amy Lowell, Sara Teasdale and Edna st. Vincent Millay. The thing these 3 have in common is that they are less well known that the first two, but they all share the quality of being strong poetesses whose poetry was considered controversial for their time (albeit it was controversial to even go to uni lmao). They were fearless and wrote with great fervor. What I didn’t like was how this book’s main focus was on their love poems, for example Emily Dickinson wrote hundreds of great poems and their choices was just - okay? I guess..
Overall it was a decent poetry book, quite enjoyable but it’s my fault for having higher expectations.
I leave you with Edna’s “Spring”:
To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.
Ps: it’s making me want to highlight the parts I love and study all the poems like a true Dark Academic *Sigh*