The evolution of the poet who is one of feminism's greatest living voices Robin Morgan has always been one of the most original, technically skilled, and impassioned writers in American poetry, and Upstairs in the Garden shows the development of her distinctive voice. This book of selections from her previous volumes of poetry, plus new additions, summarizes the verse of two decades of iconoclastic work, and is an ideal starting place for a reader who wants to understand the nature of Morgan's oevre. Her intensity is infectious and stimulating, but ultimately her lyricism and empathy are what keep readers coming back to this volume again and again. There are blistering invectives that were quoted on feminist posters, buttons, and bumper stickers; poems so controversial they were banned in certain countries; and works so personal and vulnerable they lodge in the heart.
"Morgan fulfills the three requirements for good poetry . . . to teach, to delight, and to arouse passion. An accomplished and original poet, she commands a wealth of technical resources, so evident in the formal poems, yet spilling over into her free verse. Each of her lines has an integrity of its own, a shape indistinguishable from the material embedded within it."
Poetry
"The development of Morgan's artistry is everywhere evident. Work from her early feminist days is filled with rage at the powerlessness of women. . . . But as the pages turn, a new universality of concern and sureness of voice take hold . . . Lyricism and fresh technical discoveries proclaim new accomplishment in a 'lavish larkspur song . . . with a passion for daily use.'"
