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영어

The early poetry of Denise Levertov was regarded as celebratory lyric which paid attention to the pleasures of the present. When she produced political poems at the outbreak of the Vietnam War, many critics such as Gilbert, Borroff and Nelson reacted hostilely to this development. However, some critics including Driscoll and Nielsen rebuked this hostile view of Levertov's poetry by pointing out Levertov's humanism and Hasidic Jewish influence. She demonstrates both its interiority and public concern and her poems combines politics with lyricism and mysticism. Using studies done by Driscoll and Nielson, I examined six poems written by Levertov from the 1960's to the 1990's to show how both personal and social elements were considered together in her poetry. This investigation is worthwhile in that this is an extensive study, viewing Levertov's poems throughout the wide span of her poetic career. In "Three Meditations", she takes into consideration evil, both internal and external of her, against refreshing nature. In "During Eichmann's Trial," Eichmann, the horrendous figure of the Nazis regime comes to represent every person. Everyone can be an evil figure because everyone has a dark nature. In "In the time of War, " Levertov contrasts man's capability for gentleness and goodness with the evil propensity which resulted in the violent scenes of Vietnam. "Advent 1966" gives readers an image of the baby Jesus overlapped with the burning babies of Vietnam. She laments the loss of her poetic vision due to the vivid images of violence in the Vietnam War. In "El Salvador" the way to hope and salvation is shown through the martyrdom of Archbishop Romero in this land of oppression and terror. In "California During the War" the bright moment of blooming flowers is contrasted with the evil of the Gulf War. Throughout her poetic career, we can see both political and personal elements in the mainstream of Levetov's poems. Through examination of these six poems, we can see how Levertov creates an osmosis of the personal and the public.