SOURCE: "Life's Miracles: The Poetry of May Swenson," in The American Poetry Review, Vol. 23, No. 5, September-October 1994, pp. 9-13.

An American educator, poet, and critic, Schulman has served as the poetry editor of the journal Nation. Here, she gives an overview of Swenson's poetry, including her posthumous collections.

The voice of May Swenson combines the directness of intimate speech and the urgency of prayer:

 Body my house
my horse my hound
what will I do
when you are fallen

Where will I sleep
How will I ride
What will I hunt

Where can I go
without my mount … 

The magic of that lament, "Question," from Another Animal (1954), is in its contrasts: while the details are specific, the central situation is a mystery that terrifies with each new speculation. Here as elsewhere in her poems, Swenson dwells on the living body with an immediacy that heightens the dread of its...