(19th in a series of posts on H.D.)
Finding H.D.:
A Community Exploration of the Life and Work of Hilda Doolittle
Bethlehem-born writer Hilda Doolittle — H. D. — (1886-1961) is
the “Lehigh Valley’s most important literary figure.”
—–
rhododendron,
Rhodocleia,
we are unworthy of your beauty,
you are near beauty the sun,
you are that Lord become woman
rhododendron,
O strong tree
sway and bend
and speak to me;
utter words
that I may
take
wax
and cut upon my tablets
words to make men pause
and cry
Rhododendron,
O wild-wood,
let no serpent
with drawn hood,
enter,
know the world we know
rhododendron,
swear to me,
by his mountain,
by his stream,
none shall mar
the Pythian dream
Finding H.D.:
A Community Exploration of the Life and Work of Hilda Doolittle
photos by Jennie Gilrain