LIDIA VIANU

The Desperado Age

British Literature at the Start of the Third Millennium

ANNE STEVENSON (b. 1933) writes about parenthood, love and death in the most natural tone of voice imaginable. She rewrites love into the Biblical myth of man and woman:

Adam: Lady,

            I've not had a moment's love

            since I was expelled. Let me in.

Eve:   Lord,

            I've not had a moment's rest

            since I was a rib.

            Put me back. (After the Fall)

She is haunted by the need to be whole again, avidly adding to herself children, old loves, ages. Motherhood is one favourite theme. Intensity relies on emotion rather than thought, while the poem shuffles across the universe in search of a better mood.

by VIC (Cristina Ioana Vianu)