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Elizabeth Jennings

English poet Elizabeth Jennings was born in Boston, Lincolnshire on July 18, 1926, the youngest of two girls. Her father, Henry Cecil Jennings, was the county’s medical officer. Jennings’ family moved to Oxford when

Answers

by Elizabeth Jennings (1926–2001)

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9      <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1926</date>
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15

I keep my answers small and keep them near;

Big questions bruised my mind but still I let

Small answers be a bulwark to my fear.

The huge abstractions I keep from the light;

Small things I handled and caressed and loved.

I let the stars assume the whole of night.

But the big answers clamoured to be moved
Into my life. Their great audacity
Shouted to be acknowledged and believed.

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Poets Book of Days

July 18

Anne Bradstreet's "Verses upon the Burning of our House, July 18th, 1666"

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Poetry Trivia

Question:

What twentieth century American poet is famous for walking home two miles from work everyday, drawing inspiration for his poems from the walk?

Answer

Wallace Stevens. He never learned to drive.

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