In this Book
- Spells: New and Selected Poems
- Book
- 2013
- Published by: Wesleyan University Press
- Series: Wesleyan Poetry Program
Annie Finch's Spells brings together her most memorable and striking poems written over forty years. Finch's uniquely mysterious voice moves through the book, revealing insights on the classic themes of love, spirituality, death, nature, and the patterns of time. A feminist and pagan, Finch writes poems as "spells" that bring readers to experience words not just in the mind, but in the body. Celebrated for her extraordinary love and knowledge of poetic craft, over the course of her career Finch has shaped her own innovative and radically traditional aesthetic. Her strange but familiar metrical language decenters the Self, creating a new, more open emotional relationship between ourselves, other people, and the world. Spells displays Finch's virtuosity in a broad range of genres and forms, from lyrics, chants, and narrative poems to performance pieces, poetic drama, and verse translation. The book also includes a number of new and previously unpublished poems, notably her 1980s-era "Lost Poems," experimental work in meter that prefigures postmodern reclamations of poetic form. This wonderfully talented poet gives voice to the female and earth-centered spirituality of our era. Her emotionally eloquent and rhetorically powerful work will echo in the reader's ear long after the book is closed. Check for the online reader's companion at http://spells.site.wesleyan.edu.
Table of Contents
- Blessing on the Poets
- pp. 3-16
- Abortion Spell
- pp. 5-18
- Stone and Cloth and Paper
- pp. 7-20
- The Naming
- pp. 8-9
- Frost’s Grave
- pp. 10-23
- Tarot: The Magician Card
- pp. 11-24
- Beach of Edges
- pp. 13-26
- Architecture
- pp. 16-29
- POEMS, 2000–1990
- pp. 17-31
- Watching the Whale
- pp. 19-32
- Paravaledellentine: A Paradelle
- pp. 20-33
- Wild Yeasts
- pp. 21-34
- Earth Goddess and Sky God
- pp. 22-35
- Conversation
- pp. 23-36
- Over Dark Arches
- pp. 27-40
- A Carol for Carolyn
- pp. 28-41
- Chain of Women
- pp. 29-42
- Ghazal for a Poetess
- pp. 30-43
- Butterfly Lullaby
- pp. 32-45
- Intimations of Pregnancy
- pp. 33-46
- Walk with Me
- pp. 34-47
- Two Bodies
- pp. 35-48
- Final Autumn
- pp. 36-49
- Elegy for My Father
- pp. 37-51
- Poems for the Wheel of the Year
- pp. 38-52
- Winter Solstice Chant
- pp. 40-53
- Imbolc Dance
- pp. 41-54
- A Seed for Spring Equinox
- pp. 42-55
- A Wreath for Beltane
- pp. 43-56
- Summer Solstice Chant
- pp. 44-57
- A Mabon Crown
- pp. 46-48
- Letter for Emily Dickinson
- pp. 49-62
- A Dance for the Inland Sea
- pp. 50-63
- Landing Under Water, I See Roots
- pp. 53-66
- Spider Woman
- pp. 55-68
- Running in Church
- pp. 63-76
- Blood Charm: From the Menstrual Hut
- pp. 64-77
- Gulf War and Child: A Curse
- pp. 66-79
- Being a Constellation
- pp. 67-80
- The Wish for Eyes
- pp. 69-82
- The Last Mermother
- pp. 70-71
- The Intellect of Woman
- pp. 73-86
- POEMS, 1989–1980
- pp. 75-89
- Zaraf’s Star
- pp. 78-79
- Interpenetrate
- pp. 82-95
- The Grim Garden
- pp. 85-98
- Inside the Violet
- pp. 86-99
- Blue Willow
- pp. 87-100
- Speak Softly
- pp. 88-101
- A Small Sound in the Dark Woods
- pp. 91-104
- From the Lost Poems
- pp. 92-105
- Such Husks
- pp. 93-106
- Now in November
- pp. 94-107
- Song of the Sorry Side
- pp. 95-108
- Awful Friend
- pp. 96-109
- Resolution
- pp. 98-111
- Another Pregnant Woman Remembers Incest
- pp. 99-112
- Tongue of Language
- pp. 100-113
- Lesson from a Rock
- pp. 102-115
- Reconciliation Bread
- pp. 103-116
- Night Rain
- pp. 104-117
- An Imaginary Companion
- pp. 106-119
- The Ages’ Years: A Dialogue
- pp. 107-120
- Harvest Seam
- pp. 108-121
- Shallow Sky
- pp. 110-123
- Wrist-Bracelet
- pp. 112-125
- Wine-Glass Woman
- pp. 113-126
- A Wreath of Time
- pp. 115-128
- From The Encyclopedia of Scotland
- pp. 117-120
- Invocation
- pp. 121-128
- One, from “Rockwood”
- pp. 129-132
- POEMS, 1979–1970
- pp. 134-145
- The August Porch
- pp. 133-146
- A Dusk Song
- pp. 135-148
- In Cities, Be Alert
- pp. 136-149
- Still Life
- pp. 138-151
- Coy Mistress
- pp. 139-152
- When Daphne Ran
- pp. 140-153
- Lucid Waking
- pp. 141-154
- Sapphics for Patience
- pp. 142-155
- Another Reluctance
- pp. 143-156
- A Way to See
- pp. 144-157
- First Poem
- pp. 145-158
- Caribou Kitchen
- pp. 146-159
- PERFORMANCE WORKS, 1983–2010
- pp. 147-161
- From The Mermaid Tragedy
- pp. 156-160
- From Marina Tsvetaeva: A Captive Spirit
- pp. 161-166
- From Wolf Song
- pp. 173-182
- TRANSLATIONS, 1978–2010
- pp. 183-197
- The Seafarer
- pp. 185-189
- Louise Labé
- pp. 190-198
- Anna Akhmatova
- pp. 199-201
- Andrée Chedid
- pp. 202-203
- A Fragment of Sappho
- pp. 204-217
- Acknowledgments
- pp. 205-208
- Index of Titles and First Lines
- pp. 209-214