Afterglow : $b Later poems

Description

Afterglow by Julia C. R. Dorr is a collection of lyric and narrative poems written in the early 20th century. The book meditates on love, loss, faith, memory, nature, and art, often touching historical and biblical figures with a reflective, devotional tone. The poems move from intimate elegies and twilight prayers to dramatic monologues and historical vignettes. Early pieces weigh grief against gratitude and argue for the dignity of long life; others entrust unfinished songs to the living and wonder whether the dead still count time. Faith-focused lyrics include hymns of supplication, Marian reflections after the Magnificat, and meditations on ritual and prayer. History and legend appear in a moving deathbed portrait of Queen Berengaria and a ballad of Hubert de Burgh’s rescue, while domestic and temporal themes surface in keepsakes that outlast a life and in paired portraits of “Jacques and Suzette.” Nature is both balm and voice—from mountain afterglow to an ancient hemlock’s proud “death-song.” The closing poems bless a newborn, invite the Divine into the heart’s “secret chamber,” ask whether the departed would return, and contemplate the works we make for unknown hands “after many days.” (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Subjects

• American poetry -- 19th century
• PS