Elegies

"Not all things are blest, but the seeds of all things are blest." — Muriel Rukeyser, “Elegy in Joy”

First published by New Directions in 1949, Muriel Rukeyser’s Elegies were written over a seven years period the end of the Spanish Civil War, World War II, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the beginnings of the Cold War. Both and homage to Rilke’s Duino Elegies and a spiritual reckoning that is particularly resonant today, these poems present no angelic orders, only the difficulties of living in the modern world, the depths of shipwreck, and “Love that gives us ourselves, in the world known to all.”

An elegant relaunch of Muriel Rukeyser’s Elegies, previously available only in a limited edition, celebrates the centennial of her birth

Muriel Rukeyser (1913-1980), described by The New York Times as “a brilliant mind fiercely at work,” was the author of several collections of poetry, plays, fiction, three books of biography, children’s stories, a libretto for a musical about Houdini, a book-length manifesto on poetry, and the translator of a wide range of poets, including Octavio Paz and Gunnar Ekelöf.Jan Heller Levi's work has appeared in Ploughshares, the Antioch Review, Poetry East, and the Beloit Poetry Journal, among other publications. She was Muriel Rukeyser's personal assistant from 1978 to 1980 and is co-author of a forthcoming biography of the poet.Christoph Keller is co-author of a forthcoming biography on Muriel Rukeyser.