A London Plane-Tree and Other Verse

Amy Levy

• Publisher: Mint Editions
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781513297347
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: European Poetry
• Index: Literature

A London Plane-Tree and Other Verse (1889) is a poetry collection by Amy Levy. Published in the year of her death at the age of 27, A London Plane-Tree and Other Verse is the work of a pioneering writer and feminist whose poetry and prose explores the concept of the New Woman while illuminating the realities of Jewish life in nineteenth century London. "Green is the plane-tree in the square, / The other trees are brown; / They droop and pine for country air; / The plane-tree loves the town." In these lyric poems exploring the sights and sounds of Victorian London, Amy Levy identifies herself with a modern, urban setting, refusing to rely on tradition in poetry or in life: "Others the country take for choice, / And hold the town in scorn; / But she has listened to the voice / On city breezes borne." Attuned to the urban bustle of work and play, Levy presages the malaise and discontent more often associated with Modernist writers of the early twentieth century: "Dead-tired, dog tired, as the vivid day / Fails and slackens and fades away.— / The sky that was so blue before / With sudden clouds is shrouded o'er." Having struggled with depression her whole life, Levy was keenly aware of poetry's ability to capture the depths of human emotion. "To Vernon Lee, " addressed to her lover, herself a famous writer, Levy provides a self-portrait in the throes of heartache, recalling with sorrow a love consigned to the past: "A snowy blackthorn flowered beyond my reach; / You broke a branch and gave it to me there; / […] / And of the gifts the gods had given to each— / Hope unto you, and unto me Despair." With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition Amy Levy's A London Plane-Tree and Other Verse is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.