Gwendolyn B. Bennett - Nocturne & Other Verses

Gwendolyn B. Bennett - Nocturne & Other Verses
Public Domain Poets #16 | Publicdomainpoets.com

Containing all of Gwendolyn B. Bennett's poetry, originally published between 1923-1927 in various journals and anthologies, with illustrations by Bennett. New edition designed and edited by Dick Whyte.

This cool night is strange
Among midsummer days . . .
Far frosts are caught
In the moon's pale light,
And sounds are distant laughter
Chilled to tears.

Gwendolyn B. Bennett (1902-1981) was born in Giddings, Texas, and spent her early childhood on the Paiute Reservation in Nevada where her parents were teachers, before relocating to Washington, Pennsylvania, and then New York. Bennett attended Brooklyn Girls' High School, and would go on to study fine arts and teaching at both Columbia University and the Pratt Institute.

Night wears a garment
All velvet soft, all violet blue . . .
And over her face she draws a veil
As shimmering fine as floating dew . . .
And here and there
In the black of her hair
The subtle hands of night
Move slowly with their gem-starred light.

Bennett published her first poem - written in the compressed, 'free verse' style - in 'The Crisis' in 1923, later worked as an assistant editor at 'The Opportunity', wrote short-stories and magazine articles, and illustrated numerous covers for both 'The Opportunity' and 'The Crisis', as well as co-founding the short-lived poetry magazine 'Fire!' (with Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Aaron Douglas, et al.). Alongside her teaching, poetry, and illustration work, Bennett was committed to advancing African American and women's rights through the arts, and was later an administrator on the New York City Works Progress Administration Federal Arts Project.

Moon tonight,
Beloved . . .
When twilight
Has gathered together
The ends
Of her soft robe
And the last bird-call
Has died.
Moon tonight-
Cool as a forgotten dream,
Dearer than lost twilights
Among trees where birds sing
No more.

Public Domain Press produces new editions of out-of-print poetry, with a focus on compressed & fragmented 'free verse' from the late-1800s & early-1900s, & the early history of English-language tanka & haiku. Verses are carefully selected & spaciously laid-out, adorned with illustrations & ornaments from the books & magazines they originally appeared in. These are not simply "reprints" of previously existing books, but newly crafted collections, lovingly edited from public domain material, for the serious poetry lover.