av Gwendolyn Bennett
156,-
Gwendolyn B. Bennett - Nocturne & Other VersesPublic Domain Poets #16 | Publicdomainpoets.comContaining all of Gwendolyn B. Bennett's poetry, originally published between 1923-1927 in various journals and anthologies, with illustrations by Bennett. New edition designed and edited by Dick Whyte.This cool night is strangeAmong midsummer days . . .Far frosts are caughtIn the moon's pale light,And sounds are distant laughterChilled to tears.Gwendolyn B. Bennett (1902-1981) was born in Giddings, Texas, and spent her early childhood on the Paiute Reservation in Nevada where her parents were teachers, before relocating to Washington, Pennsylvania, and then New York. Bennett attended Brooklyn Girls' High School, and would go on to study fine arts and teaching at both Columbia University and the Pratt Institute.Night wears a garmentAll velvet soft, all violet blue . . .And over her face she draws a veilAs shimmering fine as floating dew . . .And here and thereIn the black of her hairThe subtle hands of nightMove slowly with their gem-starred light.Bennett published her first poem - written in the compressed, 'free verse' style - in 'The Crisis' in 1923, later worked as an assistant editor at 'The Opportunity', wrote short-stories and magazine articles, and illustrated numerous covers for both 'The Opportunity' and 'The Crisis', as well as co-founding the short-lived poetry magazine 'Fire!' (with Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Aaron Douglas, et al.). Alongside her teaching, poetry, and illustration work, Bennett was committed to advancing African American and women's rights through the arts, and was later an administrator on the New York City Works Progress Administration Federal Arts Project.Moon tonight,Beloved . . .When twilightHas gathered togetherThe endsOf her soft robeAnd the last bird-callHas died.Moon tonight-Cool as a forgotten dream,Dearer than lost twilightsAmong trees where birds singNo more.Public Domain Press produces new editions of out-of-print poetry, with a focus on compressed & fragmented 'free verse' from the late-1800s & early-1900s, & the early history of English-language tanka & haiku. Verses are carefully selected & spaciously laid-out, adorned with illustrations & ornaments from the books & magazines they originally appeared in. These are not simply "reprints" of previously existing books, but newly crafted collections, lovingly edited from public domain material, for the serious poetry lover.