Dom,
Adrienne Rich published two "uncommitted" books in 1951 & 1955
respectively, the first of which won the Yale Younger Poets Prize
(judged by Auden). Her poetry began to change as she became involved
in the anti-war movement in the mid-sixties. _Necessities of Life_
(1966) is usually thought of as her breakthrough book stylistically.
She published _Leaflets_ in 1969, definitely an overtly political
book; _The Will to Change_ was published in 1971 and _Diving into
the Wreck_ in 1973, the same year as the Stand anthology. Even in
the US Rich was not widely acclaimed (or notorious) until the 1973
volume. To what extent, then, would she have been on Silkin's
"radar"?
By the way, it has become fashionable in this country to dismiss
Rich as an angry lesbian whose poetry was ruined by her politics.
Any fair reading of _Your Native Land, Your Life_ or _Atlas of the
Difficult World_ give this notion the lie.
jd
======================
Joseph Duemer
School of Liberal Arts, box 5750
Clarkson University
Potsdam NY 13699
315.268.3967
[log in to unmask]
http://web.northnet.org/duemer
http://www.grammarbitch.com/ppp/index.html
======================
Through the loop
of the rusted padlock
a blade of green
. . .
In the bed
of a rusted war truck
the farmer begins his rice
[John Brandi, from Stone Garland, 1999]
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