May Sarton: A Self Portrait

by May Sarton, Marita Simpson, Martha Wheelock

This book presents the distinguished poet talking about herself and her work and reading from her poems, with a section of poems accompanied by the poet's commentary on each. A transcript from the successful film, World of A Portrait of May Sarton , this book contains an additional section of Sarton's poems and her commentary on each. It celebrates love, solitude, creation, joy, and even pain. Photos and drawings.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Autobiography

82 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1986

About the author

May Sarton was born on May 3, 1912, in Wondelgem, Belgium, and grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her first volume of poetry, Encounters in April, was published in 1937 and her first novel, The Single Hound, in 1938. An accomplished memoirist, Sarton boldly came out as a lesbian in her 1965 book Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing. Her later memoir, Journal of a Solitude, was an account of her experiences as a female artist. Sarton died in York, Maine, on July 16, 1995.

Reviews

[Angela Blount · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant and thought-provoking collection of poetry and essays. I knew nothing about Sarton prior to reading this book, and I felt it was a good introduction to her.

[Kan · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I learn for myself we must be hard
To move among the tender with an open hand,
And to stay sensitive up to the end
Pay with some toughness for a gentle world.


[(Portrait of May Sarton by Polly Thayer Starr, 1937.)

Wow, A Self-Portrait was a beautiful read. Touching, thought-provoking, intimate and authentic.

"What often seems fairly meaningless, like weeding a patch in the garden, when I write it into the journal, it sort of becomes something else".

Thank you, May Sarton, for all your lovely words! 🌺

==
In Time Like Air

Consider the mysterious salt:
In water it must disappear.
It has no self. It knows no fault.
Not even sight may apprehend it.
No one may gather it or spend it.
It is dissolved and everywhere.

But, out of water into air,
It must resolve into a presence,
Precise and tangible and here.
Faultlessly pure, faultlessly white,
It crystallizes in our sight
And has defined itself to essence.

What element dissolves the soul
So it may be both found and lost,
In what suspended as a whole?
What is the element so blest
That there identity can rest
As salt in the clear water cast?

Love, in its early transformation,
And only love, may so design it
That the self flows in pure sensation,
Is all dissolved, and found at last
Without a future or a past,
And a whole life suspended in it.

The faultless crystal of detachment
Comes after, cannot be created
Without the first intense attachment.
Even the saints achieve this slowly;
For us, more human, less holy,
In time like air is essence stated.

(from In Time Like Air, 1958)


[May Sarton 🌷, uuworld.org.]
==

The war games are over,
The laurels are cut down.
We'll to the woods no more
With live ammunition
To murder our own children
Because they hated war.

==

Love opens the doors into everything, as far as I can see, including and perhaps most of all, the door into one's own secret and often terrible and frightening, real self.

[Nancy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been bingeing on May Sarton journals for a few years: The House by the Sea was the first and I've re-read it twice. This slim book is packed with HER words on herself and her writing, and includes numerous poems, for which she is famous. I don't always grasp the meaning of every poem, but the feeling is obvious. It gives me yet another layer of this fascinating woman and writer. N

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful authentic writing, as always. Gives insights into mid-century lit and a slightly different perspective on Ms Sarton’s life (both inner and in the world) and her relationship with her writing.

[Lily Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read and liked the collection of stories and poems. Some of my favorites were “We’ll to the Woods No More the Laurels are Cut Down” (so good), “Myself to Me”, “June Wind”, and “After the Storm”.

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I like the way she thinks.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief due to being the script from an autobiographical documentary. What was there I enjoyed but would have liked more personal info on May. I like her poetry but am more interested in her psyche and experience as a homosexual female ahead of her time (coming out despite the public/private consequences). Made me want to read more about her, not just her work.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A enjoyed the Prisoner at a desk the most. Many similar "ocean" like themes in the other poems.