WA Secretary of State Blogs

Poetry, anyone?

poetryFrom the desk of Sean Lanksbury. PNW & Special Collections Librarian

Today being Valentine’s Day, your thoughts might float off on wings of poesy.  You might even wish you had a good line or two of local poetry to quote.  Well, the Pacific Northwest has long been renowned for its lyric lineage, from Ella Higginson (whose ‘The Opal Sea’ appears below) through celebrity poets, such as Theodore Roethke and Carolyn Kizer, to our current Washington State Poet Laureate, Kathleen Flenniken.

To help you in your quest, the Washington State Library collects a great amount of Pacific Northwest poetry to whet your bardic blade (okay, I promise to stop alliterating now), whether you wish to glean inspiration or just get lost in the play of words.  Perhaps you will even recite one aloud to your loved ones.

To browse away just begin searching in the Washington State Library Catalog by the Poet’s name (last, then first name) or by the subject “Poetry” within the Northwest Collection.  In the meantime, enjoy this classic by one of Washington State’s earliest poets.

 

‘The Opal Sea’

By Ella Higginson

An inland sea – blue as a sapphire – set
   Within a sparkling, emerald mountain chain
   Where day and night fir-needles sift like rain
Thro’ the voluptuous air. The soft winds fret
The waves, and beat them wantonly to foam.
   The golden distances across the sea
   Are shot with rose and purple. Languorously
The silver seabirds in wide circles roam.
The sun drops slowly down the flaming West
   And flings its rays across to set aglow
   The islands rocking on the cool waves’ crest
And the great glistening domes of snow on snow.
   And thro’ the mist the Olympics flash and float
   Like opals linked around a beating throat.

 



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