SOURCE: Hunting, Constance. “The Risk Is Very Great: The Poetry of May Sarton.” In May Sarton: Woman and Poet, pp. 201-09. Orono, ME: National Poetry Foundation, Inc., 1982.

In the following essay, Hunting argues against critics who consider Sarton's works to be simplistic and overly genteel.

In his Preface to A History of Science, George Sarton, the pre-eminent scholar in his field, writes:

Nature is full of wonderful things—shells, flowers, birds, stars—that one never tires of observing, but the most wonderful things of all to my mind are the words of men, not the vain multiplicity of words that flow out of a garrulous mouth, but the skilful and loving choice of them that falls from wise and sensitive lips. … The words and phrases used by men and women throughout the ages are the loveliest flowers of humanity.¹

This passage is remarkable not only for its tone...