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Adrienne Rich

Adrienne Rich, an inspiring cultural force and one of the country's best-known public intellectuals, was born on May 16, 1929 in Baltimore, Maryland, the elder of two girls. Her father, Arnold Rice Rich, was a doctor

Sleeping, turning in turn like planets

by Adrienne Rich (1929–2012)

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15

 Sleeping, turning in turn like planets 
 rotating in their midnight meadow: 
 a touch is enough to let us know 
 we're not alone in the universe, even in sleep: 
 the dream-ghosts of two worlds 
 walking their ghost-towns, almost address each other. 
 I've wakened to your muttered words 
 spoken light- or dark-years away 
 as if my own voice had spoken. 

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Poetry Trivia

Question:

In his early poem "Sleep and Poetry" John Keats asked for ". . . ten years, that I may overwhelm / Myself in poesy." How many years did Keats actually have to write?

Answer

Only seven, over the course of which he wrote 148 poems, 45 of which were published in his lifetime.

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