Marianne Moore was an important American poet born in 1887. She passed away in 1972. Her poems express her interest in everyday encounters of people and places as well as art. Animals are one of the most central symbols of her work.
‘The Fish’ by Marianne Moore uses imagery and form to objectively describe nature and humanity’s ability to survive and mature in the face of death, destruction, and loss.
wade
through black jade.
Of the crow-blue mussel-shells, one keeps
adjusting the ash-heaps;
opening and shutting itself like
‘[A] Talisman’ unveils a mysterious jewel under a shipwreck, blending themes of the sea, discovery, and enchantment.
Under a splintered mast,
torn from ship and cast
near her hull,
‘Poetry’ by Moore finds genuine value in poetry despite initial disinterest, distilling her complex relationship with the art form.
I too, dislike it: there are things that are important beyond all this fiddle.
Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one discovers that there is in
it after all, a place for the genuine.
Hands that can grasp, eyes
Moore’s ‘The Mind Is an Enchanting Thing’ portrays the mind’s allure, likening it to nature’s wonders and the depths of music.
is an enchanted thing
like the glaze on a
katydid-wing
‘To a Snail’ critiques poetic fluff, advocating for succinctness and truth, mirrored in a snail’s modesty.
If “compression is the first grace of style,”
you have it. Contractility is a virtue
as modesty is a virtue.
‘What Are Years’ delves into courage, mortality, and the human condition, celebrating life’s depth when embracing our limits.
What is our innocence,
what is our guilt? All are
naked, none is safe. And whence
is courage: the unanswered question,
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