Our theme for the library this year is What a Wonderful World, and to that end, we’re focusing on seeing the wonder in our world. Usually, every month at the desk, we have an article available for patrons to read and discuss with Julie, our library director, but this year, we’re handing out poems instead. Our trusty library goose is also helping us pen a monthly column that focuses on some of the gems in our poetry collection.
For October, our poem is Sophie Jewett’s “In Harvest.” Born in the first year of the Civil War, Jewett came from a well-to-do family in rural New York State. Her childhood, however, was dominated by a series of devastating losses–first her parents and then her relatives who had taken her and her siblings in after they were orphaned. Eventually, Jewett found her way to the home of a minister and his family. Her friendship with the family provided her with support for her budding poetry career, as well as the means to travel to Europe. Jewett eventually worked as an English professor at Wellesley College, and by her mid-thirties, she was publishing her poetry and translations as well.
Continue reading “Penelope’s Poetry Parlor: October”
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