"Books that Have Had an Impact on Me" III

Marina Tsvetaeva’s ‘Selected Poems,’ translated by Elaine Feinstein, moved me to tears the first time I read it. I wept over Tsvetaeva’s struggle and her anguish, which in many ways and in different forms is the struggle and anguish of all of us. I still weep reading Tsvetaeva’s work. I weep reading the passion in her words. Passion is so easily dulled. And Tsvetaeva’s passion was never dulled. Neither was her joy. Or her anger. Or her tenderness. Her intelligence and her understanding of life are all there in every one of her words. Tsvetaeva’s intensity is on every page. Her writing makes me feel that everything matters. And it does.

From “Books that have had an impact on me,” The Age (Australia) 2008