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O Taste and See
Poems about spiritual natures, vision and journey.
- GenresPoetry
83 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
About the author
Denise Levertov
200 books170 followersAmerican poet Denise Levertov was born in Ilford, Essex, England. Her mother, Beatrice Spooner-Jones Levertoff, was Welsh. Her father, Paul Levertoff, from Germany migrated to England as a Russian Hassidic Jew, who, after converting to Christianity, became an Anglican parson. At the age of 12, she sent some of her poems to T. S. Eliot, who replied with a two-page letter of encouragement. In 1940, when she was 17, Levertov published her first poem.
During the Blitz, Levertov served in London as a civilian nurse. Her first book, The Double Image, was published six years later. In 1947 she married American writer Mitchell Goodman and moved with him to the United States in the following year. Although Levertov and Goodman would eventually divorce, they had a son, Nickolai, and lived mainly in New York City, summering in Maine. In 1955, she became a naturalized American citizen.
During the 1960s and 70s, Levertov became much more politically active in her life and work. As poetry editor for The Nation, she was able to support and publish the work of feminist and other leftist activist poets. The Vietnam War was an especially important focus of her poetry, which often tried to weave together the personal and political, as in her poem "The Sorrow Dance," which speaks of her sister's death. Also in response to the Vietnam War, Levertov joined the War Resister’s League.
Much of the latter part of Levertov’s life was spent in education. After moving to Massachusetts, Levertov taught at Brandeis University, MIT and Tufts University. On the West Coast, she had a part-time teaching stint at the University of Washington and for 11 years (1982-1993) held a full professorship at Stanford University. In 1984 she received a Litt. D. from Bates College. After retiring from teaching, she traveled for a year doing poetry readings in the U.S. and England.
In 1997, Denise Levertov died at the age of 74 from complications due to lymphoma. She was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.
Levertov wrote and published 20 books of poetry, criticism, translations. She also edited several anthologies. Among her many awards and honors, she received the Shelley Memorial Award, the Robert Frost Medal, the Lenore Marshall Prize, the Lannan Award, a grant from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
During the Blitz, Levertov served in London as a civilian nurse. Her first book, The Double Image, was published six years later. In 1947 she married American writer Mitchell Goodman and moved with him to the United States in the following year. Although Levertov and Goodman would eventually divorce, they had a son, Nickolai, and lived mainly in New York City, summering in Maine. In 1955, she became a naturalized American citizen.
During the 1960s and 70s, Levertov became much more politically active in her life and work. As poetry editor for The Nation, she was able to support and publish the work of feminist and other leftist activist poets. The Vietnam War was an especially important focus of her poetry, which often tried to weave together the personal and political, as in her poem "The Sorrow Dance," which speaks of her sister's death. Also in response to the Vietnam War, Levertov joined the War Resister’s League.
Much of the latter part of Levertov’s life was spent in education. After moving to Massachusetts, Levertov taught at Brandeis University, MIT and Tufts University. On the West Coast, she had a part-time teaching stint at the University of Washington and for 11 years (1982-1993) held a full professorship at Stanford University. In 1984 she received a Litt. D. from Bates College. After retiring from teaching, she traveled for a year doing poetry readings in the U.S. and England.
In 1997, Denise Levertov died at the age of 74 from complications due to lymphoma. She was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.
Levertov wrote and published 20 books of poetry, criticism, translations. She also edited several anthologies. Among her many awards and honors, she received the Shelley Memorial Award, the Robert Frost Medal, the Lenore Marshall Prize, the Lannan Award, a grant from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 15, 2017
All which, because it was
flame and song and granted us
joy, we thought we’d do, be, revisit,
turns out to have been what it was
that once, only;
flame and song and granted us
joy, we thought we’d do, be, revisit,
turns out to have been what it was
that once, only;
August 26, 2009
I lent this book to a friend who was in dire need of a last-minute love poem to read at a wedding. Then she decided to read a Sanskrit love poem instead. Then she lost my book.
November 4, 2014
I love her poetry. She is a strong poet, daring and contemplative, with a humanizing focus on sacred depths:
I cringe when I see in a movie an implausibly rushed establishment of intimacy. I cringe too when I hear of flippant commercial and political human disassociation, a kind of popular removal from common ground, a policing of speech codes, a politically correct violence to human communion. Now, here is a sage capture of the dynamics of human intimacy and it's prerequisites, written by a strong poet. (If you make the public square religion-free and fill it with a violence of white noise, an inhuman, political cacophony, a null silence, what does that tell you about your religionless existence?)
In Abeyance
No skilled hands
caress a stranger's flesh with lucid oil before
a word is spoken
no feasting
before a tale is told, before
the stranger tells his name.
The ships come and go
along the river and
in and out of the Narrows
and few among us know it
we are so many
and many within themselves
travel to far islands but no one
asks for their story
nor is there an exchange of gifts, stranger
to stranger
nor libation
nor sacrifice to the gods
and no house has its herm.
- Denise Levertov
I cringe when I see in a movie an implausibly rushed establishment of intimacy. I cringe too when I hear of flippant commercial and political human disassociation, a kind of popular removal from common ground, a policing of speech codes, a politically correct violence to human communion. Now, here is a sage capture of the dynamics of human intimacy and it's prerequisites, written by a strong poet. (If you make the public square religion-free and fill it with a violence of white noise, an inhuman, political cacophony, a null silence, what does that tell you about your religionless existence?)
In Abeyance
No skilled hands
caress a stranger's flesh with lucid oil before
a word is spoken
no feasting
before a tale is told, before
the stranger tells his name.
The ships come and go
along the river and
in and out of the Narrows
and few among us know it
we are so many
and many within themselves
travel to far islands but no one
asks for their story
nor is there an exchange of gifts, stranger
to stranger
nor libation
nor sacrifice to the gods
and no house has its herm.
- Denise Levertov
May 20, 2022
Denise Levertov wrote these poems in the early 1960s. Here poetic style and topics appealed to me. I came across this book as part of my late mother's collection of poetry. I feel really fortunate because if it hadn't been for her collecting these books throughout her life I would never have been exposed to the work of these poets. I wouldn't have even had Denise Levertov on my radar. It is not fair to say she was an obscure poet - as I've come to the realization that, except for people who seek out poets, most poets are obscure. It is also not fair to say she was an average poet, because she had her work published before the era of self-publishing gave all poets and avenue to be published. She was unique and her book of free verse was like the scoop of ice cream that goes with a piece of warm pie.
Particular poems from this collection that stood out to me were:
The Elves
O Taste and See
The Novices
The Garden Wall
(excerpt:
"archetype
of the world always a step
beyond the world,
that can be looked for, only
as the eye wanders,
found."
and
Earth Psalm
I could really relate to the stanza excerpted above as it is an apt description of how I see my own writing. (See link)
https://www.amazon.com/Alive-Until-Yo...
I highly recommend you get a chance to read Denise Levertov's work. Fascinating and enjoyable.
Particular poems from this collection that stood out to me were:
The Elves
O Taste and See
The Novices
The Garden Wall
(excerpt:
"archetype
of the world always a step
beyond the world,
that can be looked for, only
as the eye wanders,
found."
and
Earth Psalm
I could really relate to the stanza excerpted above as it is an apt description of how I see my own writing. (See link)
https://www.amazon.com/Alive-Until-Yo...
I highly recommend you get a chance to read Denise Levertov's work. Fascinating and enjoyable.
January 13, 2026
No me encantó, creo que fue porque no estoy acostumbrada a la poesía en inglés (o en general en cualquier idioma ajeno al español), sin embargo, isn’t that bad. Algo que me gusta de la poesía en inglés es que es mucho más variada que la poesía en español, la mayoría de poesía latinoamericana por ejemplo, habla de amor o política. Este poemario es un gran ejemplo de la variación de la poesía angloparlante.
January 14, 2025
If there was nothing else of value here than the title poem, this volume would be a great achievement. As it is, there are many other fine poems here. "The Crack" and especially "The Old Adam" are excellent. I also enjoyed "The Ground Mist," "Another Spring," "The Breathing," "The Ache of Marriage," and "Into the Interior."
March 17, 2026
The moon is a sow
and grunts in my throat
Her great shining shines through me
so the mud of my hollow gleams
and breaks in silver bubbles
She is a sow
and I a pig and a poet
When she opens her white
lips to devour me I bite back
and laughter rocks the moon
In the black of desire
we rock and grunt, grunt and
shine
and grunts in my throat
Her great shining shines through me
so the mud of my hollow gleams
and breaks in silver bubbles
She is a sow
and I a pig and a poet
When she opens her white
lips to devour me I bite back
and laughter rocks the moon
In the black of desire
we rock and grunt, grunt and
shine
September 14, 2019
Re-reading this many years after my initial encounter with Levertov's poetry, I was not as swept away by these poems (although there are some quite memorable ones) as I was by those in her earlier volume, Jacob's Ladder.
April 2, 2025
from "The Novel"
"Something sundered begins to knit.
By scene, by sentence, something is rendered
back into life, back to the gods."
"Something sundered begins to knit.
By scene, by sentence, something is rendered
back into life, back to the gods."
February 12, 2013
Of the three books of Levertov's I've read, I definitely enjoyed "O Taste and See" the best. Although I can't get generally into most of her poetry, I really enjoyed certain sections of this collection.
Read
December 22, 2009"The Secret" might be one of my favorite poems.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews