The myth of water : poems from the life of Helen Keller / Jeanie Thompson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thompson, Jeanie, author.

Standardized Title:

Poems. Selections

Language:

English

Physical Description:

xxv, 72 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Tuscaloosa, Alabama : The University of Alabama Press, [2016]

Summary:

"The Myth of Water is a cycle of thirty-four poems by award-winning Alabama poet and writer Jeanie Thompson in the voice of world-renowned Alabamian Helen Keller. In their sweep, the poems trace Keller's metamorphosis from a native of a bucolic Alabama town to her emergence as a beloved, international figure who championed the rights of the deaf-blind worldwide. Thompson's artfully concatenated vignettes form a mosaic that maps the insightful mind behind the elegant and enigmatic persona Keller projected. Thompson takes readers on the journey of Keller's life, from some of the thirty-seven countries she visited, including the British Isles, Europe, and Japan to the wellsprings of her emotional awakening and insight. The poems are paired with fascinating biographical anecdotes from Keller's life and samplings from her writing, which infuse the work with richly-rewarding biographical detail. The poems in The Myth of Water reveal the discerning subtlety, resiliency, and complexity of the person Thompson perceives Helen Keller to have been. Through a combination of natural intuition, manual signs, Braille alphabets, and lip reading, Keller came to grasp the revolving tapestry of the seasons and the infinite colors of human relationships. Not a biography or a fictional retelling, The Myth of Water attempts to unlock what moved Keller to her life of service and self-examination. This is a deeply personal story of coming through--not overcoming--a double disability to a fully realized life in which a woman gives her heart to the world."-- Provided by publisher.

"A collection of personal poems in the voice of Helen Keller. The poems included in this collection struggle with the humanity behind the name Helen Keller and serve to dramatically portray the person Thompson perceives Helen Keller to be. The poetry takes on many approaches, and as such these poems are based in documented fact filtered through distillations of reading and impressions. Some are fantasies of how Helen might have felt or thought, or how she responded as a woman in a particular circumstance. Thompson hopes, with these poems, to give a sense of Helen's simple humanity and great heart and that they will bring more people to appreciate Helen Keller, a woman who sought justice above all else"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

I You are Helen: 1880-1917

Memory of Ivy Green 9

First Dream of the Tennessee 11

At Wrentham 12

This Day 13

Silence 14

Teacher's Letter from Puerto Rico 16

Soliloquy: Palm Sunday 1917 18

Imaginary Letter to John Hitz 19

Encounter in Montgomery 20

The Little Boy Next Door 21

II Bridge: Helen Keller's Journal, 1936-1957

First Entry, after Midnight 27

The Not-You 28

Another Country 29

Dream of the Manse Children Talking 30

The Exquisite Instrument chat Makes an Ear 31

Fragment of an afternoon at Musee Rodin, Paris, with Gutzon Borelum 32

Enrico Caruso Remembers Helen Keller 34

Returnings 35

Imaginary Farewell from Russell Cone to Helen Keller 36

River, Bridge, and Sky 38

I Promised 40

III Your Light: 1943-1948

From a Japanese Child along the Parade Route 45

Reproach 46

Late Elegy for FDR 47

First Light at the Shinto Shrine for A.S.M. 48

IV Coming Through Fire: Circa 1955

Hunger 53

Teacher 54

One Word 55

Our Hands 56

V Tell the World: 1950-Present Day

Jo Davidson's Letter from Florence, Italy 61

Helen's Meditation in the Marble Quarry, Carrara, Italy 62

With the Martha Graham Dance Company 64

In Which Helen Puts to Rest the Mirror 65

What Helen Saw / What Helen Said 66

The Myth of W-a-t-e-r 68.

ISBN:

9780817358570

0817358579

OCLC:

930257162