Poetry

Grief gives way to a pledge of service to humanity in the opening poem of this collection. Voltairine de Cleyre imagines an old heart laid to rest and a new one taking its place, using seeds, stars and buried diamonds to describe renewal. Other verses remember the dead, honor liberty and explore religious faith through the language of light, darkness, suffering and consolation.

The poems also set belief beside doubt. An introductory note presents two religious poems as opposing arguments that once occupied the writer's mind, while the note to a hymn distinguishes its hoped-for peace from her own convictions. In “You and I,” companionship persists through storms and the prospect of death; “The Toast of Despair” questions the promises of love, friendship and hope. Readers interested in poetry about personal loss, loyalty and the struggle to find meaning can follow these changing voices and their recurring images of weather and illumination.