Twenty

Stella Benson

Description

Twenty (1918) is a poetry collection by Stella Benson. Largely recognized for her work as an activist in the women’s suffrage movement and for her popular novels, Benson was also an accomplished poet. Twenty, her debut volume, is a collection indebted to symbolism in which Benson reflects on her experiences as a young woman in a rapidly changing world. In “The Secret Day,” Benson muses on the impossibility of peace in a time that refuses to slow: “My yesterday has gone, has gone and left me tired, / And now to-morrow comes and beats upon the door / […] / So I have built To-day, more precious than a dream; / And I have painted peace upon the sky above.” Responding to the horrors of a decade torn by war, Benson does what she can to maintain her own personal calm, to build a safe space apart from the world. In “Redneck’s Song,” she laments the years of her life spent obeying “the laws of men / Who worshipped law,” declaring instead that “Those laws are dust / To-day…” In these poems shaped by her experience as an activist and pioneering feminist, the personal is inseparable from the political. Benson’s identity, her present and her future, depend on this revolutionary thrust—no longer will she “shut [her] eyes” and “hold [her] tongue.” It may be “their path,” but she will make her own “groove,” her own way through life. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Stella Benson’s Twenty is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

Sujets

• Inglaterra
• World War I
• English poetry
• 20th century
• Irish
• English
• Poetry
• European
• Welsh
• Scottish
• England
• Première Guerre mondiale

Informations

• Publié par: Mint Editions
• Date de parution: 21 juin 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781513294032
• Langue: English

Extrait

Twenty
Stella Benson
 
Twenty was first published in 1918.
This edition published by Mint Editions 2021.
ISBN 9781513291185 | E-ISBN 9781513294032
Published by Mint Editions®
minteditionbooks.com
Publishing Director: Jennifer Newens
Design & Production: Rachel Lopez Metzger
Project Manager: Micaela Clark
Typesetting: Westchester Publishing Services
 
C ONTENTS P REFACE C HRISTMAS , 1917 T HE S ECRET D AY S ONG T HE O RCHARD T HANKS TO M Y W ORLD FOR THE L OAN OF A F AIR D AY S ONG W ORDS R EDNECK ’ S S ONG T O THE U NBORN T HE N EWER Z ION T WO W OMEN S ING T HE W OMAN A LONE T HE I NEVITABLE T HE D OG T UPMAN S AINT B RIDE T HE S LAVE OF G OD T RUE P ROMISES T HE C ORNISHMAN F IVE S MOOTH S TONES N EW Y EAR , 1918
 
P REFACE
Almost all the verses in this book have appeared before, the majority of them included in two books, I Pose and This is the End . Messrs. Macmillan, who published these, have been kind in raising no objection to re-publication. I have also to thank the Editors of the Athenaeum, Everyman , and the Pall Mall Gazette for allowing me to reprint verses.
The title of the book has no reference to the writer’s age.
S.B.
 
C HRISTMAS , 1917
A key no thief can steal, no time can rust;
A faery door, adventurous and golden;
A palace, perfect to our eyes—Ah must
Our eyes be holden?
Has the past died before this present sin?
Has this most cruel age already ston è d
To martyrdom that magic Day, within
Those halls, enthron è d?
No. Through the dancing of the young spring rain,
Through the faint summer, and the autumn’s burning,
Our still immortal Day has heard again
Our steps returning.