"The Brontes had their moors, I have my marshes."
May 12, 2016 12:43 PM   Subscribe

It's spring in Wisconsin, and the rivers are running. Time to think of Lorine Niedecker, Wisconsin's austere laborer poet, who lived her whole life in modest circumstances on the shores of Lake Koshkonong, sometimes working as a janitor. From her small home came some of the greatest American poetry , as she lived her complex, but simple, "Life by Water."
posted by SandCounty (10 comments total) 25 users marked this as a favorite
 
Easter

A robin stood by my porch
and side-eyed
raised up
a worm



Get a load
of April's
fabulous

frog rattle—
lowland freight cars
in the night


I don't claim any expertise in poetry but her poems have an American quality reminiscent of Carl Sandburg. Short but highly evocative in many cases. Is that the earliest example of "side-eyed"? She deserves to be more widely known. Thanks for the post.
posted by TedW at 1:07 PM on May 12, 2016


Thank you for teaching me about this poet. These are delightful!
(Excerpt from Lake Superior)

I'm sorry to have missed
Sand Lake
My dear one tells me
we did not
We watched a gopher there

You know, I have had this conversation, too, just in the last few weeks. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 1:26 PM on May 12, 2016


What excellent work. "Condensery" is right! Thank you for sharing.
posted by town of cats at 1:39 PM on May 12, 2016


Why have I never heard of her? (thinks about all my teachers in grad school), Ah right.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:10 PM on May 12, 2016 [2 favorites]


I'm glad you're all enjoying her! I love her quiet, wry, voice -- the concreteness of her vision, its rueful kindness:

Remember my little granite pail?
The handle of it was blue.
Think what's got away in my life—
Was enough to carry me thru.

(And I'm happy, as a long time and appreciative lurker, and first time poster, to share, finally.)
posted by SandCounty at 2:40 PM on May 12, 2016 [1 favorite]


I am embarrassed, having grown up (and learned to love poetry) in Wisconsin, not to be aware of this person. Thanks for the excellent post.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 2:45 PM on May 12, 2016 [1 favorite]


The opening lines of "Paean to Place" is painted on the side of a building in Fort Atkinson. I invariably get stopped at the traffic light and consider the poem as I head to the canoe shop. Probably happens a couple of times a week, for the last year and half. I've come to like being stopped at that light.

Fish
    fowl
      flood
    Water lily mud
My life

Google street view
posted by farmerd at 2:59 PM on May 12, 2016 [4 favorites]


God, this one! So perfect.

In moonlight lies
the river passing—
it's not quiet
and it's not laughing.

I'm not young
and I'm not free
but I've a house of my own
by a willow tree.
posted by town of cats at 4:05 PM on May 12, 2016 [3 favorites]


Oh my heart, Wisconsin.

I see your username, SandCounty. I'm from those parts of the middle of nowhere. Thank you for this, I needed some home today.
posted by louche mustachio at 4:37 PM on May 12, 2016


Really lovely. Thank you for posting
posted by gt2 at 8:24 PM on May 12, 2016


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