I do hope to see your version of ‘To America’ in the future. It helps to bear in mind that we get there through poems like ‘Letter from America to a Faraway Friend’ thirty years earlier, and the poems about his son going to war in the forties — America is always, and always has been, a place which can swallow you whole.
And you can see the process of a truce eventually being made. And that’s maybe the best we get.
Leivick’s concept of a sanctifying sacrifice, though an absolute cornerstone of what he writes, is almost entirely predicated on it being a willing one. Not helpless victim and children.
This is really well said. Thanks for the reminder - to be honest, I had filed this one away and then forgotten about it. A helpful spur to come back to it! It's a fascinating poem, and raises fascinating questions, like what you point to here.
So beautiful and heartbreaking and true. Thank you, Danny
I do hope to see your version of ‘To America’ in the future. It helps to bear in mind that we get there through poems like ‘Letter from America to a Faraway Friend’ thirty years earlier, and the poems about his son going to war in the forties — America is always, and always has been, a place which can swallow you whole.
And you can see the process of a truce eventually being made. And that’s maybe the best we get.
Leivick’s concept of a sanctifying sacrifice, though an absolute cornerstone of what he writes, is almost entirely predicated on it being a willing one. Not helpless victim and children.
This is really well said. Thanks for the reminder - to be honest, I had filed this one away and then forgotten about it. A helpful spur to come back to it! It's a fascinating poem, and raises fascinating questions, like what you point to here.
Beautiful essay. The frustration at others words feels especially relevant.