May Sarton Poetry: A Reflection of the Human Spirit
May Sarton was an American poet, novelist, and memoirist who wrote more than thirty books, including “The World Within,” “Life Is a Solitary Journey,” and “Acts of Hope: Creating Authority in Literature, Art, and Politics.” Her work explored the power of emotion, the importance of self-expression, and the universal quest for belonging and intimacy. Through her poetry, she expresses the common struggles and joys inherent in the human experience.
Her early works focused more on the subjective experience, shying away from direct political commentaries and social criticism. Her later works incorporated broader themes, exploring the possibilities of and limitations on human potential and imagination. She was a poet of nuance, conveying the complexities and richness of life in the seemingly simplest of language. Her poetry is intensely personal, but nonetheless speaks to the broader human experience.
Sarton’s writing style is characterized by lyrical and poetic line breaks, often using poetic forms like the sonnet and sestina. Her poems offer glimpses of love and longing, nostalgia, depression, and hope. She uses metaphors, imagery, and symbols to explore the depths of emotion and create evocative portrayals of her inner experience. Her lines read not like a simple recitation of facts, but of raw, visceral emotion, with the power to evoke deep feeling in the reader.
In her work, Sarton pushes readers to consider their relationships to self, community, and nature. She speaks of the need to discover one’s inner potential and strive “to live in one’s innermost being,” to create a space of lasting joy and peace. Her focus on the feeling of being deeply embedded in the world and in one’s own life encourages an appreciation for one’s existence and its many beauty, something of which we all can learn from.
Going Beyond Ourselves
Sarton’s poetry speaks to the life-affirming power of freedom, growth, and community. She explores the need to look beyond ourselves, finding that sense of belonging and satisfaction in the life outside of us. In her poem “Self in the Sea,” she wrote: “Out of my desperate self I see/ Beyond me wider seas,/ Tempestuous or calm in accord/ With one’s need for finding a chord/ That will bind together peace and storm”. For Sarton, the experience of life was not a solitary one, but rather one of connectedness, of the knowledge that the world was far bigger than us, marked by infinite possibilities and connections.
Her “connectedness poems,” as they are often called, explore the need for purpose, understanding the great responsibility we have in connecting not just to ourselves, but also to those around us. In her poem “Invitation to Joy,” she wrote: “Take each day as it comes,/ Accept what joy offers you,/Let joy begin in you.” Sarton urges readers to stay open to life, not to turn away from joy but rather to acknowledge and embrace it. The knowledge that our innermost being can bring us joy is essential to her larger vision of connectedness and hope.
May Sarton and the Search for Meaning
At the heart of May Sarton’s poetry is the need to find meaning in life. Through the exploration of different emotions and experiences, Sarton encourages readers to seek out meaning in the world and to strive for a deeper understanding of themselves and those around them. In her poem “Four Windows,” she wrote: “Open one window to truth/Another to love/Another to beauty/And nothing at all/To ambivalence”. In this poem, Sarton speaks to the power of joy and of facing life with an open heart and an unbridled optimism.
Sarton’s work invites readers to see truth, understanding, and beauty in their lives, in the lives of others, and in the world at large, and to discover the life-affirming joy that comes from this pursuit of greater understanding. In her poem “The Rising Light,” she wrote: “Rise and surrender to the light/Life is more than mere sight/Love is more than what we share/Joy is more than what we spare”. This celebration of life, of joy, and of understanding is the essence of Sarton’s work, and her poems offer readers a timely reminder of the power of emotion and of the importance of seeking out that which has deeper meaning in life.
The Search for Identity
In her poetry, May Sarton often explores the universal experience of self-discovery and the search for identity. Sarton wrote that “To discover one’s identity means to find the relatedness, the capacity to connect, to feel one with the whole universe”. In her poems, she dramatically juxtaposes moments of earthly desires with moments of epiphany and enlightenment, underscoring the importance of recognizing and striving for our own truth and understanding.
Sarton’s work pushes readers to recognize their individuality and the power of their own inner lives. In her poem “Any Human to Another,” she wrote: “We all long to be heard and known/To have music from deep within us understood/To tell our stories and to reverence our pain”. Here, Sarton speaks to the power of vulnerability, of facing our deepest fears and insecurities with courage, and of uncovering our truest selves in the process. This understanding of our own connectedness, and our own individual strength, is at the heart of Sarton’s work. She speaks to the power of recognizing and honoring our own complexities, of asserting our identity and understanding that we are not alone in our struggles.
The Power of Authenticity
At the core of May Sarton’s poetry is the idea of being true to one’s own self. Sarton speaks to the courage and strength that comes from embracing one’s own truth and from living in accordance with it: “Be an island unto yourself/But also part of the main/For passioate purpose is/The most determining” (from “Be an Island”). She speaks to the importance of refusing the societal expectations that have been placed upon us, and the courage required to go deeper into the unknown, embracing our truth and our power within.
Sarton emphasizes the importance of being authentic and of following one’s own truth and passions. Her words reverberate with an importance and an urgency, as she speaks to the life-affirming power of purpose, of recognizing and honoring our own unique paths. She encourages her readers to embrace the beauty of being alive and to realize the thrilling potential and universality of the human experience.
The Role of Reflection
May Sarton’s poetry encourages a reflective attitude towards life. In her poem “Perhaps Now,” she wrote: “Perhaps now, look up and see/Where I am and what I be/Out of this freedom love shall grow/The truth is here for me to know”. Sarton speaks to the power of self-reflection and of embracing the moments of uncertainty and doubt, understanding that life is full of joys and sorrows and that there is valuable insight to be gleaned from both. Her poetry acknowledges the inevitable struggles of life but holds onto a belief in the power of hope and of looking within as a means of finding strength and understanding.
May Sarton’s poetry is a reminder of the considerable power of the human spirit, and of our ability to draw strength and understanding from our own innermost being. Through her lyrical and evocative words, she encourages her readers to embrace the unknown, to dig deep for truth, and to search for the connections which bring us closer to ourselves, to others, and to the world at large.
The World Around Us
May Sarton’s poetry is filled with an appreciation for the beauty of the world around us. In her poem “Seeing,” she wrote: “The deep joy of finding in the meadow/The dawn orchids and seeing in the morning/The woodbine peeking through the small wood”. Through the use of imagery, she encourages readers to recognize the often-unseen beauty of life, and to appreciate its many intricacies, its joys, and its pains.
Her exploration of nature in her poetry is an invitation to delve into the mysterious unknown, to discover and embrace our own connection to the infinite universe. In recognizing the beauty of the world, we are reminded of our own place in it. Sarton reminds her readers that our lives are not solitary ones but ones marked by infinite connection and potential, and that our greatest joys will come from embracing this knowledge with an open heart.
A Celebration of Life
May Sarton’s poetry is a celebration of life, of the strength and power of the human experience and the courage and determination that mark it. She speaks to the need for greater understanding, for embracing the beauty of being alive and for embracing who we are, energy and all. In her poem “Now I Become Myself,” she wrote: “Now I become myself. It’s taken time,/ Letting go of blame, and reverencing change,/ With the courage to make a different shape”. Sarton’s poetry celebrates the notion that while life will invariably present us with its struggles, it is still ours to live, ours to define, ours to discover.
May Sarton’s poetry speaks to the power and the possibility inherent in life, inviting her readers to embrace each moment as it comes and to strive for a richer understanding and appreciation of all that life offers. Her work acknowledges not just our strength, but also our limitations, reminding us that the journey to contentment is marked by highs and lows, ebbs and flows, feelings of joy and feelings of sorrow, and that we must learn how to embrace them all and how to discover our own underlying potential.
