In quoting from the journals the writer has split the pnose sentences into free verse forms and it really is remarkable how well these yas-sages stand the test of the new poetry. Now and then, the writer explains, he has changed @ tense Or filled out. or abbreviated a cadence. Here are two examples which show the imagist nature of Dorothy Wordsworth Alfoxden, Feb. 18, i798.
Evening.
Sharp and cold The crescent moon A silvery line A thready bow Attended by Jupiter and Venus Im their palest hues The black sea Made a loud noise as we came through the wood Loud as if disturbed—And the wind was silent Alfoxden, Feb. 17, 1978.
The sun shone clear in the wood. Enchanted with snow.
Holly branches.
Pendent with their white burden, Still showing their berries Bright red.
And their glossy green leaves. The bare branches of the oaks Thickened by the snow.
Deep stillness, Disturbed Of snow from the holly cee, By the occasional dr
No other sound But that of water, And the slender notes of the redbreast Singing at intervals On the outskirts of the wood.
Whether or not Dorothy Wordsworth was an imagist, she assuredly was a sensitive observer of nature, and it is to be - wondered why her journals are not more popular.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.