EDITH WHARTON, POET

One of the many inspiring views at The Mount

I've long loved the work of Edith Wharton. Imagine my delight when I discovered while at her home The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts, that Edith also authored some poems!

As you might expect (if you are familiar with either her life or her works), the poems revolve around themes of "desire and regret, landscape and myth, the pleasures of art and the horrors of war." (taken from the back cover of the volume of selected poems edited by Louis Auchincloss as part of American Poets Project)

Since I am currently focusing on short pieces, I particularly enjoyed her "Lyrical Epigrams."

Here's the start:

I
My little old dog:
A heart-beat
At my feet.

Truly, she was a dog-lover and kept treats at the dining table for her canine friends.

But my favorite poem in the volume (today) is this one:

Treasure

by Edith Wharton

When unregarding Death shall come,
Pick me up and take me home--
The long long way--
Compose my eye-lids, hush the noise,
And put away the broken toys
at close of day;

If underneath my cleansed lid
One secret vision may be hid,
Let it be
A purple shallow over-leant
By emerald pines the wind has bent,
And, when the evening sky grows pale,
A single umber-coloured sail
At sea.


And now I'm thinking about my secret vision... do you have a secret vision, too? Let's write our own "Treasure" poems! And don't forget to partake of other poetic offerings with Rena at On the Way to Somewhere for Poetry Friday roundup.