Poetry Sunday: Late Spring by Judith Wright

I met a new poet this week. Her name was Judith Wright. She is no longer with us, having died almost two years ago, but her poetry lives on. She was an Australian and a devoted environmentalist and social activist who campaigned for Aboriginal land rights.

Her poems that I read were replete with references to the environment, revealing her familiarity and concern for issues affecting it. I particularly liked the following poem which gives us images of a pear tree that had fallen in a storm but still sends out its blossoms as "obstinate tokens" of life in spring. I hope you like it, too.   

Late Spring

by Judith Wright

The moon drained white by day
lifts from the hill
where the old pear-tree fallen in storm
springs up in blossom still.
Women believe in the moon:
this branch I hold
is not more white and still than she
whose flower is ages old,
and so I carry home
flowers from the pear
that makes such obstinate tokens still
for fruit it cannot bear.

Comments

  1. Perhaps in some respects we are all fallen pear trees, Dorothy, carrying on as best we can, determined not to give up.

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  2. I love this one. I'd never heard of Judith Wright until now but I want to look more into her work.

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    1. I had not heard of her either before last week, but I'm glad I finally met her.

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  3. What an accomplished woman, and I had never heard of her. Nominated for a Nobel Prize twice. There are so many accomplished women we have never heard of, but, thanks to you, I've heard of her now. This poem resonated with he. On a walk today I saw a tree that had partially been brought down by our late April snowstorm and the partially broken branch was blooming! It carries on, as people do after a crisis such as war.

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    1. Exactly. We always carry on because to do otherwise would be to give in to the whims of fate and unexpected storms.

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  4. Replies
    1. I'm glad you enjoyed it. As soon as I read it last week I knew I wanted to feature it here.

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  5. Never heard of Judith Wright, but as I told you before I'm not really into poetry.

    I do love this poem, Dorothy! Another great choice :)

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    1. I'm not really a great reader of poetry, but I think we all need a little poetry in our lives. That's why I do this feature every week.

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  6. Beautiful imagery!
    Have a wonderful week!

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  7. I'm a huge poetry reader, but I'm not familiar with Judith Wright at all. This is the sort of poetry I like best...

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    1. This one spoke to me. I think it was the bit about "obstinate tokens." Maybe we all send out our obstinate tokens that are not always noticed or appreciated by the world.

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