The Complete Poems
, by Sexton, AnneNote: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
- ISBN: 9780395957769 | 0395957761
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 4/28/1999
From the joy and anguish of her own experience, Sexton fashioned poems that told truths about the inner lives of men and women. This book comprises Sexton's ten volumes of verse, including the Pulitzer Prize-winner Live or Die, as well as seven poems form her last years.
Anne Sexton was born in 1928 and lived all her life in the Boston area. In 1967 she received the Pulitzer Prize. She committed suicide in 1974.
A Note on the Text | p. v |
How It Was: Maxine Kumin on Anne Sexton | p. xix |
To Bedlam and Part Way Back (1960) | |
You, Doctor Martin | p. 3 |
Kind Sir: These Woods | p. 4 |
Torn Down from Glory Daily | p. 5 |
Music Swims Back to Me | p. 6 |
The Bells | p. 7 |
Elizabeth Gone | p. 8 |
Some Foreign Letters | p. 9 |
The Kite | p. 11 |
Said the Poet to the Analyst | p. 12 |
Venus and the Ark | p. 13 |
Her Kind | p. 15 |
The Exorcists | p. 16 |
Where I Live in This Honorable House of the Laurel Tree | p. 17 |
Portrait of an Old Woman on the College Tavern Wall | p. 18 |
The Farmer's Wife | p. 19 |
Funnel | p. 20 |
The Expatriates | p. 21 |
For Johnny Pole on the Forgotten Beach | p. 22 |
Unknown Girl in the Maternity Ward | p. 24 |
What's That | p. 25 |
The Moss of His Skin | p. 26 |
Hutch | p. 27 |
Noon Walk on the Asylum Lawn | p. 27 |
Ringing the Bells | p. 28 |
Lullaby | p. 29 |
The Lost Ingredient | p. 30 |
The Road Back | p. 30 |
The Waiting Head | p. 31 |
Elegy in the Classroom | p. 32 |
A Story for Rose on the Midnight Flight to Boston | p. 32 |
For John, Who Begs Me Not to Enquire Further | p. 34 |
The Double Image | p. 35 |
The Division of Parts | p. 42 |
All My Pretty Ones (1962) | |
The Truth the Dead Know | p. 49 |
All My Pretty Ones | p. 49 |
Young | p. 51 |
Lament | p. 52 |
To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Triumph | p. 53 |
The Starry Night | p. 53 |
Old Dwarf Heart | p. 54 |
I Remember | p. 55 |
The Operation | p. 56 |
A Curse Against Elegies | p. 60 |
The Abortion | p. 61 |
With Mercy for the Greedy | p. 62 |
For God While Sleeping | p. 63 |
In the Deep Museum | p. 64 |
Ghosts | p. 65 |
The Fortress | p. 66 |
Old | p. 69 |
The Hangman | p. 69 |
Woman with Girdle | p. 70 |
The House | p. 71 |
Water | p. 75 |
Wallflower | p. 76 |
Housewife | p. 77 |
Doors, Doors, Doors | p. 78 |
Letter Written on a Ferry While Crossing Long Island Sound | p. 81 |
From the Garden | p. 84 |
Love Song for K. Owyne | p. 85 |
Flight | p. 86 |
For Eleanor Boylan Talking with God | p. 87 |
The Black Art | p. 88 |
Letter Written During a January Northeaster | p. 89 |
Live or Die (1966) | |
Author's Note | p. 94 |
And One for My Dame | p. 95 |
The Sun | p. 96 |
Flee on Your Donkey | p. 97 |
Three Green Windows | p. 105 |
Somewhere in Africa | p. 106 |
Imitations of Drowning | p. 107 |
Mother and Jack and the Rain | p. 109 |
Consorting with Angels | p. 111 |
The Legend of the One-eyed Man | p. 112 |
Love Song | p. 115 |
Man and Wife | p. 116 |
Those Times... | p. 118 |
Two Sons | p. 121 |
To Lose the Earth | p. 123 |
Sylvia's Death | p. 126 |
Protestant Easter | p. 128 |
For the Year of the Insane | p. 131 |
Crossing the Atlantic | p. 133 |
Walking in Paris | p. 135 |
Menstruation at Forty | p. 137 |
Christmas Eve | p. 139 |
KE 6-8018 | p. 140 |
Wanting to Die | p. 142 |
The Wedding Night | p. 144 |
Little Girl, My String Bean, My Lovely Woman | p. 145 |
A Little Uncomplicated Hymn | p. 148 |
Your Face on the Dog's Neck | p. 152 |
Self in 1958 | p. 155 |
Suicide Note | p. 156 |
In the Beach House | p. 159 |
Cripples and Other Stories | p. 160 |
Pain for a Daughter | p. 163 |
The Addict | p. 165 |
Live | p. 167 |
Love Poems (1969) | |
The Touch | p. 173 |
The Kiss | p. 174 |
The Breast | p. 175 |
The Interrogation of the Man of Many Hearts | p. 176 |
That Day | p. 180 |
In Celebration of My Uterus | p. 181 |
The Nude Swim | p. 183 |
Song for a Red Nightgown | p. 184 |
Loving the Killer | p. 185 |
For My Lover, Returning to His Wife | p. 188 |
The Break | p. 190 |
It Is a Spring Afternoon | p. 193 |
Just Once | p. 194 |
Again and Again and Again | p. 195 |
You All Know the Story of the Other Woman | p. 196 |
Moon Song, Woman Song | p. 196 |
The Ballad of the Lonely Masturbator | p. 198 |
Barefoot | p. 199 |
The Papa and Mama Dance | p. 200 |
Now | p. 201 |
Us | p. 202 |
Mr. Mine | p. 204 |
Song for a Lady | p. 204 |
Knee Song | p. 205 |
Eighteen Days Without You | p. 205 |
Transformations (1971) | |
The Gold Key | p. 223 |
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | p. 224 |
The White Snake | p. 229 |
Rumpelstiltskin | p. 233 |
The Little Peasant | p. 237 |
Godfather Death | p. 242 |
Rapunzel | p. 244 |
Iron Hans | p. 249 |
Cinderella | p. 255 |
One-Eye, Two-Eyes, Three-Eyes | p. 258 |
The Wonderful Musician | p. 264 |
Red Riding Hood | p. 267 |
The Maiden Without Hands | p. 273 |
The Twelve Dancing Princesses | p. 276 |
The Frog Prince | p. 281 |
Hansel and Gretel | p. 286 |
Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty) | p. 290 |
The Book of Folly (1972) | |
Thirty Poems | |
The Ambition Bird | p. 299 |
The Doctor of the Heart | p. 301 |
Oh | p. 302 |
Sweeney | p. 304 |
Mother and Daughter | p. 305 |
The Wifebeater | p. 307 |
The Firebombers | p. 308 |
The One-Legged Man | p. 308 |
The Assassin | p. 310 |
Going Gone | p. 311 |
Anna Who Was Mad | p. 312 |
The Hex | p. 313 |
Dreaming the Breasts | p. 314 |
The Red Shoes | p. 315 |
The Other | p. 317 |
The Silence | p. 318 |
The Hoarder | p. 319 |
Killing the Spring | p. 320 |
The Death of the Fathers | p. 322 |
Oysters | p. 322 |
How We Danced | p. 323 |
The Boat | p. 324 |
Santa | p. 325 |
Friends | p. 327 |
Begat | p. 329 |
Angels of the Love Affair | p. 332 |
Angel of Fire and Genitals | p. 332 |
Angel of Clean Sheets | p. 333 |
Angel of Flight and Sleigh Bells | p. 333 |
Angel of Hope and Calendars | p. 334 |
Angel of Blizzards and Blackouts | p. 335 |
Angel of Beach Houses and Picnics | p. 335 |
The Jesus Papers | |
Jesus Suckles | p. 337 |
Jesus Awake | p. 338 |
Jesus Asleep | p. 338 |
Jesus Raises Up the Harlot | p. 339 |
Jesus Cooks | p. 340 |
Jesus Summons Forth | p. 341 |
Jesus Dies | p. 342 |
Jesus Unborn | p. 343 |
The Author of the Jesus Papers Speaks | p. 344 |
The Death Notebooks (1974) | |
Gods | p. 349 |
Making a Living | p. 350 |
For Mr. Death Who Stands with His Door Open | p. 351 |
Faustus and I | p. 353 |
The Death Baby | p. 354 |
Dreams | p. 354 |
The Dy-dee Doll | p. 355 |
Seven Times | p. 356 |
Madonna | p. 356 |
Max | p. 357 |
Baby | p. 357 |
Rats Live on No Evil Star | p. 359 |
Grandfather, Your Wound | p. 361 |
Baby Picture | p. 362 |
The Furies | p. 363 |
The Fury of Beautiful Bones | p. 363 |
The Fury of Hating Eyes | p. 364 |
The Fury of Guitars and Sopranos | p. 365 |
The Fury of Earth | p. 366 |
The Fury of Jewels and Coal | p. 367 |
The Fury of Cooks | p. 367 |
The Fury of Cocks | p. 369 |
The Fury of Abandonment | p. 370 |
The Fury of Overshoes | p. 371 |
The Fury of Rain Storms | p. 372 |
The Fury of Flowers and Worms | p. 373 |
The Fury of God's Good-bye | p. 374 |
The Fury of Sundays | p. 375 |
The Fury of Sunsets | p. 376 |
The Fury of Sunrises | p. 377 |
Praying on a 707 | p. 378 |
Clothes | p. 380 |
Mary's Song | p. 381 |
God's Backside | p. 382 |
Jesus Walking | p. 383 |
Hurry Up Please It's Time | p. 384 |
O Ye Tongues | p. 396 |
First Psalm | p. 396 |
Second Psalm | p. 398 |
Third Psalm | p. 399 |
Fourth Psalm | p. 401 |
Fifth Psalm | p. 403 |
Sixth Psalm | p. 405 |
Seventh Psalm | p. 406 |
Eighth Psalm | p. 408 |
Ninth Psalm | p. 409 |
Tenth Psalm | p. 411 |
The Awful Rowing Toward God (1975) | |
Rowing | p. 417 |
The Civil War | p. 418 |
The Children | p. 419 |
Two Hands | p. 421 |
The Room of My Life | p. 422 |
The Witch's Life | p. 423 |
The Earth Falls Down | p. 424 |
Courage | p. 425 |
Riding the Elevator into the Sky | p. 426 |
When Man Enters Woman | p. 428 |
The Fish That Walked | p. 428 |
The Fallen Angels | p. 430 |
The Earth | p. 431 |
After Auschwitz | p. 432 |
The Poet of Ignorance | p. 433 |
The Sermon of the Twelve Acknowledgments | p. 435 |
The Evil Eye | p. 437 |
The Dead Heart | p. 439 |
The Play | p. 440 |
The Sickness Unto Death | p. 441 |
Locked Doors | p. 442 |
The Evil Seekers | p. 443 |
The Wall | p. 445 |
Is It True? | p. 446 |
Welcome Morning | p. 455 |
Jesus, the Actor, Plays the Holy Ghost | p. 456 |
The God-Monger | p. 457 |
What the Bird with the Human Head Knew | p. 458 |
The Fire Thief | p. 460 |
The Big Heart | p. 462 |
Words | p. 463 |
Mothers | p. 464 |
Doctors | p. 465 |
Frenzy | p. 466 |
Snow | p. 467 |
Small Wire | p. 468 |
The Saints Come Marching In | p. 469 |
Not So. Not So. | p. 472 |
The Rowing Endeth | p. 473 |
Posthumously Published Work | |
45 Mercy Street (1976) | |
Editor's Note | p. 479 |
Beginning the Hegira | |
45 Mercy Street | p. 481 |
Talking to Sheep | p. 484 |
The Falling Dolls | p. 486 |
The Money Swing | p. 487 |
Food | p. 488 |
The Child Bearers | p. 489 |
The Taker | p. 490 |
The Risk | p. 491 |
Praying to Big Jack | p. 491 |
Red Roses | p. 492 |
The Shout | p. 493 |
Keeping the City | p. 494 |
Bestiary U.S.A. | |
Bat | p. 497 |
Hog | p. 498 |
Porcupine | p. 498 |
Hornet | p. 499 |
Star-Nosed Mole | p. 500 |
Snail | p. 501 |
Lobster | p. 501 |
Snake | p. 502 |
Moose | p. 502 |
Sheep | p. 503 |
Cockroach | p. 503 |
Raccoon | p. 504 |
Seal | p. 505 |
Earthworm | p. 505 |
Whale | p. 506 |
Horse | p. 507 |
June Bug | p. 507 |
Gull | p. 508 |
The Divorce Papers | |
Where It Was At Back Then | p. 509 |
The Wedlock | p. 510 |
Landscape Winter | p. 511 |
Despair | p. 512 |
Divorce | p. 512 |
Waking Alone | p. 513 |
Bayonet | p. 515 |
The Wedding Ring Dance | p. 516 |
When the Glass of My Body Broke | p. 517 |
The Break Away | p. 518 |
The Stand-Ins | p. 526 |
The Love Plant | p. 527 |
Killing the Love | p. 529 |
The Red Dance | p. 530 |
The Inventory of Goodbye | p. 532 |
The Lost Lie | p. 533 |
End, Middle, Beginning | p. 534 |
Eating the Leftovers | |
Cigarettes and Whiskey and Wild, Wild Women | p. 537 |
The Passion of the Mad Rabbit | p. 538 |
The Angel Food Dogs | p. 539 |
Leaves That Talk | p. 540 |
"Daddy" Warbucks | p. 543 |
Divorce, Thy Name Is Woman | p. 545 |
The Fierceness of Female | p. 546 |
The Big Boots of Pain | p. 547 |
Demon | p. 549 |
The Sea Corpse | p. 551 |
There You Were | p. 552 |
The Consecrating Mother | p. 554 |
Words for Dr. Y. (1978) | |
Editor's Note | p. 559 |
Letters to Dr. Y. (1960-1970) | p. 561 |
Poems 1971-1973 | |
Buying the Whore | p. 581 |
To Like, To Love | p. 581 |
The Surgeon | p. 583 |
Speaking Bitterness | p. 584 |
Telephone | p. 585 |
Yellow | p. 586 |
The Death King | p. 587 |
The Errand | p. 588 |
The Twelve-Thousand-Day Honeymoon | p. 589 |
Scorpio, Bad Spider, Die: The Horoscope Poems | |
Madame Arrives in the Mail | p. 591 |
January 1st | p. 592 |
January 19th | p. 593 |
January 24th | p. 594 |
February 3rd | p. 595 |
February 4th | p. 596 |
February 11th | p. 597 |
February 17th | p. 598 |
February 20th | p. 599 |
February 21st | p. 600 |
March 4th | p. 601 |
March 7th | p. 601 |
May 30th | p. 602 |
August 8th | p. 602 |
August 17th | p. 603 |
Last Poems | |
Admonitions to a Special Person | p. 607 |
In Excelsis | p. 608 |
Uses | p. 610 |
As It Was Written | p. 611 |
Lessons in Hunger | p. 612 |
Love Letter Written in a Burning Building | p. 613 |
Index of Titles | p. 617 |
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved. |
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