“For me, poetry is always a search for order.” – Elizabeth Jennings
Jennings was born in England on this date in 1926 and was lauded for
her lyric poetry and mastery of form. She
started writing in her mid-20s after graduating from Queen Anne’s College and
was published in such major journals as Oxford Poetry, New
English Weekly, The Spectator and Poetry Review before
her first book, Poems, – winner
of the Arts Council of Great Britain’s award for “Best First Book of Poetry” – came
out in 1953.
She followed it with A Way of Looking, winning
the Somerset Maugham Award given to leading writers under the age of 35. For
Saturday’s Poem, here is Jennings’,
Delay
The radiance of the star that leans on me
Was shining years ago. The light that now
Glitters up there my eyes may never see,
And so the time lag teases me with how
Love that loves now may not reach me until
Its first desire is spent. The star's impulse
Must wait for eyes to claim it beautiful
And love arrived may find us somewhere else.
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