May Swenson (1913-1989), much like Elizabeth Bishop and Marianne Moore, was known by her sense of detail. She was fascinated by alliteration, internal rhyme, and the way her poems appeared on the page.

She is perhaps best known for her typographical poems, like "Unconscious Came a Beauty." This poem never mentions the word 'butterfly,' but reveals the answer to the riddle with the shape of the words on the page.

Swenson's tone is one of emotional detachedment and optimistic. She approaches weighty topics with a confidence and playfulness. The fear of losing one's body to death in her poem "Question" ends, not with terror, but with a gently whimsical and self-conscious view of the disembodied soul. After saying that her soul will "lie in the sky/without roof or door/and with wind for an eye," she playfully wonders "how [she] will hide" when the clouds shift.

Swenson's comfortable view of potentially terrifying subjects can also be seen in her poem "Last Day." In this poem, the poet is seen sunbathing on the last day of the year. She lays in a rectangle of light that is "the length of a coffin." She describes the moment as having an"Uncomplicated Peace." Swenson lets the reader rest in an image of warm sublimity and contentment in the face of death.

Swenson was a manuscript reader and visiting professor. She won the MacArthur Fellowship and continued to write poetry until she died at the age of 76.

Swenson Reads "That the Soul May Wax Plump"
More Poems by Swenson
Visit the Utah State University May Swenson Website

Information: Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry, 3rd Edition

Photograph Courtesy of Washington University Library