Muriel Rukeyser Poems

Muriel Rukeyser was a poet and playwright. She also worked as a children’s book author over her five-decade career in literature. She’s considered to be one of the most important feminist poet of the 1960s and 70s. Her name is often mentioned alongside Anne Sexton’s and Adrien Rich’s.

Effort at Speech Between Two People

by Muriel Rukeyser

‘Effort at Speech Between Two People’ by Muriel Rukeyser explores communication. The seven stanzas feature a conversation between two people struggling to get to know one another.

The Poem as Mask

by Muriel Rukeyser

‘The Poem as Mask’ by Muriel Rukeyser is a powerful, feminist poem that speaks to the poet’s experiences in life and with her poetry.

Then I Saw What the Calling Was

by Muriel Rukeyser

‘Then I Saw What the Calling Was’ by Muriel Rukeyser is a beautiful and complicated poem that speaks about life and experience.

Who in One Lifetime

by Muriel Rukeyser

‘Who in One Lifetime’ by Muriel Rukeyser is a poem about resistance in the face of war and suffering. The speaker asserts that a woman referred to only as “she” is standing strong despite what she’s seen.

Muriel Rukeyser Poems

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