She Walks in Beauty Read online

  Nikki Giovanni, “A Poem of Friendship” from Love Poems. Copyright © 1968-1997 by Nikki Giovanni. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

  Louise Glück, “August” and “Summer at the Beach” from The Seven Ages. Copyright © 2001 by Louise Glück. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. Used in audiobooks and the UK with permission of The Wylie Agency LLC.

  Oliver St. John Gogarty, “To Death” Reprinted by permission of Colin Smythe Ltd, on behalf of V. J. O’Mara.

  Thomas Gunn, “Jamesian” from Collected Poems. Copyright © 1994 by Thomas Gunn. Reprinted by permission of Farrar Straus & Giroux, LLC. and Faber & Faber Ltd.

  Ellen Hagan, “PS Education” and “Puberty—With Capital Letters.” Reprinted with the permission of the author.

  Seamus Heaney, “When all the others were away at Mass . . .” from “Clearances” from Opened Ground: Selected Poems, 1966-1996. Copyright © 1998 by Seamus Heaney. Reprinted with the permission of Farrar Straus & Giroux, LLC. and Faber & Faber Ltd.

  Joy Harjo, “Eagle Poem” from In Mad Love and War © 1990 by Joy Harjo. Reprinted with permission of Wesleyan University Press.

  Nazim Hikmet, “24th September 1945” from Nazim Hikmet: Beyond the Walls, Selected Poems, translated by Ruth Christie, Richard McKane, and Talat Sait Halman. Published by Anvil Press Poetry in 2002.

  Nazim Hikmet, “Letter From My Wife” from Poems of Nazim Hikmet, translated by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk. Translation copyright © 1994, 2002 by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk. Reprinted by permission of Persea Books, Inc., New York.

  Linda Hull, “Night Waitress” from Collected Poems. Copyright © 1986 by Lynda Hull. Reprinted with the permission of Graywolf Press. Minneapolis, Minnesota, www.graywolfpress.org.

  Langston Hughes, “Madam and Her Madam” from The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, edited by Arnold Rampersad with David Roessel, Associate Editor, copyright © 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes. Used by Permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. and Harold Ober Associates Incorporated.

  Elizabeth Jennings, “Old Woman” from Collected Poems. Reprinted by permission of the author and Faber and Faber Publishing Co.

  Parneshia Jones, “Bra Shopping.” Used by permission of the author.

  Galway Kinnell, “After Making Love We Hear Footsteps” from Mortal Acts, Mortal Words. Copyright © 1980, and renewed 2008 by Galway Kinnell. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

  Galway Kinnell, “When One Has Lived a Long Time Alone” from When One Has Lived A Long Time Alone, copyright © 1990 by Galway Kinnell. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

  Patricia Kirkpatrick, “At the Café” from Century’s Road. Copyright © 2004 by Patricia Kirkpatrick. Reprinted with the permission of Holy Cow! Press, www.holycowpress.org.

  Steve Kowit, “When He Pressed His Lips” and “Cosmetics Do No Good.” Copyright © 2003 Steve Kowit. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  Maxine Kumin, “Death, Etc.” from Still to Mow. Copyright © 2007 by Maxine Kumin. Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. and The Anderson Literary Agency.

  Lao Tzu, “All Things Pass” adapted by Timothy Leary from Psychedelic Prayers and Other Meditations by Timothy Leary. Copyright © 1966, by Timothy Leary, PhD., 1997 by Futique Trust. Reprinted by permission of Ronin Publishing, Berkeley, CA. www.ronipub.com.

  David Lehman, “May 2.” Copyright © 2000 by David Lehman. Reprinted by permission from The Daily Mirror by David Lehman (Scribner, 2000).

  Denise Levertov, “Living” from Poems 1960-1967, copyright © 1966 Denise Levertov. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.

  Li Po, “Zazen on Ching-t’ing Mountain,” translated by Sam Hamill, from Crossing the Yellow River: Three Hundred Poems from the Chinese (Rochester: BOA Editions, 2000). Copyright © 2000 by Sam Hamill. Reprinted with the permission of the translator.

  Amy Lowell, “The Weather-Cock Points South,” “Patterns,” and “September, 1918” from The Complete Political Works of Amy Lowell. Copyright © 1955 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Copyright © renewed 1983 by Houghton Mifflin Company, Britton P. Roberts, and G. D’Andelot Belin, Esquire. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

  Robert Lowell, “To Speak of Woe That Is in Marriage” from Collected Poems. Copyright © 2003 by by Harriett Lowell and Sheridan Lowell. Reprinted by permission of Farrar Straus & Giroux, LLC.

  Antonio Machado, excerpt from “Proverbs and Song Verse” from Poem 40 and “Don’t try to rush things” from Poem 41 from Antonio Machado: Selected Poems, translated by Alan S. Trueblood, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1982 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  Osip Mandelstam, “Youth.” W. S. Merwin’s English-language translation of “Youth” by Osip Mandelstam. Copyright © W. S. Merwin, used with permission of The Wylie Agency LLC.

  Leo Marks, “Code Poem for the French Resistance” from Between Silk And Cyanide: A Codemaker’s War 1941-1945. Copyright © 1998 by Leo Marks. Reprinted with the permission of Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. and The History Press. All rights reserved.

  Bernadette Mayer, “On Gifts for Grace” from Scarlet Tanager. Copyright © 2005 by Bernadette Mayer. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.

  Jo McDougall, “Companion.” Reprinted by permission of 2Rivers (www.2rivers.org).

  Roger McGOUGH, “Survivor” from Holiday on Death Row (© Roger McGOUGH 1979) is used with permission of United Agents (www.unitedagents.co.uk) on behalf of Roger McGOUGH.

  Roger McGOUGH, extract from Summer with Monika (© Roger McGOUGH 1967) is used with permission of United Agents (www.unitedagents.co.uk) and PFD on behalf of Roger McGOUGH.

  W. S. Merwin, “To Paula in Late Spring” from The Shadow of Sirius. Copyright © 2009 by W. S. Merwin. Reprinted with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, www.coppercanyonpress.org, and Bloodaxe Books. Used in audiobooks and ebooks outside the US with permission of The Wylie Agency LLC.

  Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Well, I have lost you; and I lost you fairly” © 1931, 1958 and “What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why” © 1923, 1951 by Edna St. Vincent Millay and Norma Millay Ellis. “The Philosopher” © 1922, 1950 by Edna St. Vincent Millay. “Grown Up” © 1922, 1950 by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Reprinted by permission of Elizabeth Barnett, Literary Executor, The Millay Society.

  Marianne Moore, “Roses Only,” and “We All Know It” from The Poems of Marianne Moore, edited by Grace Schulman. Copyright © 2003 by Marianne Craig Moore, Executor of the Estate of Marianne Moore. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. and Faber & Faber Ltd.

  Pablo Neruda, from 100 Love Sonnets: Cien Sonetos De Amor by Pablo Neruda, translated by Stephen Tapscott. Copyright © Pablo Neruda 1959 and Fundación Pablo Neruda, Copyright © 1986 by the University of Texas Press. By permission of the University of Texas Press.

  Ogden Nash, “A Word to Husbands” from Candy Is Dandy: The Best of Ogden Nash. Copyright © 1962 by Ogden Nash. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown Ltd. and Carlton Publishing Group.

  Naomi Shihab Nye, “My Friend’s Divorce.” By permission of Naomi Shihab Nye, 2010.

  Frank O’Hara, “Having a Coke with You” from The Collected Poems of Frank O’Hara by Frank O’Hara, edited by Donald Allen. Copyright © 1971 by Maureen Granville-Smith, Administratrix of the Estate of Frank O’Hara, copyright renewed 1999 by Maureen O’Hara Granville-Smith and Donald Allen. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

  Sharon Olds, “Socks” and “High School Senior” from Wellspring by Sharon Olds. Copyright © 1996 by Sharon Olds. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. and Jonathan Cape, The Random House Group Ltd.

  Ma
ry Oliver, “The Summer Day” from House of Light. Copyright © 1990 Mary Oliver. Reprinted by permission of Beacon Press, Boston.

  Mary Oliver, “The Journey” from Dream Work. Copyright © 1986 by Mary Oliver. Used by permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. and the Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency, Inc.

  Tillie Olsen, “I Want You Women Up North to Know.” Copyright © 1934 Tillie Olsen, originally published in Partisan Magazine, reprinted by permission of The Frances Goldin Literary Agency.

  Dorothy Parker, “Symptom Recital.” Copyright 1926, renewed © 1954 by Dorothy Parker, “Unfortunate Coincidence.” Copyright 1926, renewed © 1954 by Dorothy Parker, from The Portable Dorothy Parker, edited by Marion Meade. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. and Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd.

  Linda Pastan, “Notes from the Delivery Room” from Carnival Evening: New and Selected Poems 1968-1998. Copyright © 1971 by Linda Pastan. Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company. Electronic rights granted by permission of the author, in care of Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, Inc.

  Marge Piercy, “Sign, “To be of use,” and “What’s That Smell in the Kitchen?” from Circles on the Water. Copyright © 1982 by Marge Piercy. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. and the Wallace Literary Agency.

  Sylvia Plath, “Face Lift” from The Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath, edited by Ted Hughes. Copyright © 1960, 65, 71, 81 by the Estate of Sylvia Plath. Editorial material copyright © 1981 by Ted Hughes. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers and Faber & Faber Ltd.

  Barbara Ras, “Secret Lives” and “You Can’t Have It All” from One Hidden Stuff. Copyright © 2006 by Barbara Ras. Used by permission of Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. and the author.

  Adrienne Rich, “From a Survivor” from The Fact of a Doorframe: Selected Poems 1950-2001 by Adrienne Rich. Copyright © 1973 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Used by permission of the author and W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

  Rainer Maria Rilke, “Sense of Something Coming” from Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, A Translation from the German and Commentary by Robert Bly. Copyright © 1981 by Robert Bly. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

  Michèle Roberts, “Magnificat,” from The Mirror of the Mother: Selected Poems 1975-1985. © Michèle Roberts. Reprinted with permission from Aitken Alexander Associates Limited.

  Theodore Roethke, “The Waking.” Copyright 1945 by Theodore Roethke, from Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke. Used by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc. and Faber & Faber Ltd.

  Matthew Rohrer, “The Emperor.” Copyright © 2010 by Matthew Rohrer. Used with permission of the author.

  Alane Rollings, “The Age of Great Vocations” from In Her Own Sweet Time. © 1989 by Alane Rollings. Reprinted with permission of Wesleyan University Press.

  Rumi, “Come to the Orchard in Spring” and “Out beyond ideas . . .” from A Year With Rumi: Daily Readings By Coleman Barks. Copyright © 2006 by Coleman Barks. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

  George Santayana, “To WP,” 1984 from The Collected Poems, forthcoming, The MIT Press.

  Sappho, “To Aphrodite of the Flowers, at Knossos” from Sappho and Alcaeus: An Introduction to the Study of Ancient Lesbian Poetry by Denys Page (1969). Reprinted with the permission of Oxford University Press.

  Maxine Scates, “Mother’s Closet” by Maxine Scates from Black Loam © 2005, Cherry Grove Collections, Cincinnati, Ohio.

  Delmore Schwartz, “The First Morning of the Second World” from Selected Poems: Summer Knowledge. Copyright © 1959 by Delmore Schwartz. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.

  Vikram Seth, “Protocols” from All You Who Sleep Tonight. Copyright © 1987, 1990 by Vikram Seth. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. and Irene Skolnick Literary Agency.

  Anne Sexton, “Courage” from The Awful Rowing Toward God. Copyright © 1975 by Loring Conant, Jr., Executor of the Estate of Anne Sexton. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and SLL/Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

  Gertrude Stein, “A Very Valentine,” Reprinted with the permission of Stanford G. Gann, Jr., Literary Executor of the Gertrude Stein Estate.

  Wallace Stevens, “Final Soliloquy of the Interior Paramour” and “The Poems of Our Climate” from The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens by Wallace Stevens. Copyright 1954 by Wallace Stevens and renewed 1982 by Holly Stevens. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. and Faber & Faber Ltd.

  Ruth Stone, “In an Iridescent Time.” Reprinted by permission of Ruth Stone.

  Mark Strand, “Keeping Things Whole” from Reasons For Moving; Darker; The Sargentville Notebook by Mark Strand. Copyright © 1973 by Mark Strand. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

  Joyce Sutphen, “Older, Younger, Both.” Copyright © 2000 Joyce Sutphen. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  Anna Swir, “The Greatest Love,” translated by Czeslaw Milosz and Leonard Nathan, from Talking to My Body. English translation copyright © 1996 by Czeslaw Milosz and Leonard Nathan. Reprinted with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, www.coppercanyonpress.org.

  Wislawa Szymborska, “Vietnam” from Poems, New and Collected: 1957-1997 by Wislawa Szymborska, English translation by Stanislaw Barnczak and Clare Cavanagh copyright © 1998 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and Faber & Faber Ltd. This material may not be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Arthur Symons, “White Heliotrope,” reprinted with the permission of The Literary Estate of Arthur Symons.

  Natasha Trethewey, “Letters from Storyville: December 1910” from Bellocq’s Ophelia. Copyright © 2002 by Natasha Trethewey. Reprinted with the permission of Graywolf Press. Minneapolis, Minnesota, www.graywolfpress.org.

  Margaret Walker, “Lineage” from This is My Century: New and Collected Poems by Margaret Walker. Copyright © 1989 by Margaret Walker. Reprinted by permission from The University of Georgia Press.

  Ellen Watson, “Girlfriends.” Used by permission of the author.

  Richard Wilbur, “June Light” from The Beautiful Changes and Other Poems. Copyright 1947 and renewed 1975 by Richard Wilbur, reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and Faber & Faber Ltd. This material may not be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher.

  Richard Wilbur, “The Catch” from New and Collected Poems. Copyright ©1987 by Richard Wilbur, reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and Faber & Faber Ltd. This material may not be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher.

  William Carlos Williams, “The Widow’s Lament in Springtime” from Collected Poems Volume I: 1909-1939 (Carcanet Press, 1987). Reprinted by permission of Carcanet Press Limited.

  Adam Zagajewski, “Try to Praise the Mutilated World” from Without End: New and Selected Poems by Adam Zagajewski, translated by several translators. Copyright © 2002 by Adam Zagajewski. Translation copyright © 2002 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC. Reprinted with the permission of Farrar Straus & Giroux, LLC. and Faber & Faber Ltd.

  About the Author

  CAROLINE KENNEDY is the author and editor of seven bestselling books on constitutional law, American history, politics, and poetry.

  ALSO BY

  Caroline Kennedy

  A Family Christmas

  A Family of Poems

  A Patriot’s Handbook:

  Songs, Poems, Stories, and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love

  Profiles in Courage for Our Time

  The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

  In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action
>
  The Right to Privacy

  Copyright

  The credits section of this ebook constitutes a continuation of this copyright page.

  Electronic rights were not secured for the following poems that appear in the print edition of She Walks in Beauty: Julia Alvarez, “Woman’s Work,” “Hairwashing,” and “Woman Friend”; Sandra Cisneros, “Little Clown, My Heart”; Georgia Douglas Johnson, “The Heart of a Woman”; Sappho, “We know this much”

  Copyright © 2011 Caroline Kennedy

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information address Hyperion, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011.

  The Library of Congress has catalogued the original print edition of this book as follows:

  She walks in beauty : a woman’s journey through poems / selected and introduced by Caroline Kennedy. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  ISBN 978-1-4013-4145-9

  1. Poetry—Collections. I. Kennedy, Caroline

  PN6101.S475 2011

  808.81—dc22

  2011002177

  eBook Edition ISBN: 978-1-4013-2595-4