The Contrary Muse

Poet (kneels stiffly):

I beg you, Muse, come down, come down and redeem me!

You used to arrive any time, you would come for no reason.

Now, though the sweat of death stood on my forehead,

No song would be shaken.

Muse:

I pay no heed to prayers or to reproaches.

I bless those who burn, but they must not burn only for me.

Turn your passion elsewhere. Then, when least you remember

My touch, I may touch you.

Credit

Copyright © 1994 by Naomi Replansky. “The Contrary Muse” originally appeared in The Dangerous World: New and Selected Poems, 1934-1994 (Another Chicago Press, 1994). Reprinted by permission of the author. All rights reserved.

Author

Naomi Replansky

Naomi Replansky was born in the Bronx on May 23, 1918. The daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants, she began writing poems at a young age. By her mid-teens, she was publishing poems in literary journals and anthologies. Replansky studied history at Hunter College but did not finish her degree, opting instead to go to work. During the 1940s and 1950s, she worked in a factory in New York City and as a translator in Los Angeles. In the latter decade, she earned a bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Date Published

01/19/2018