Salvador Dali: Influences

Idealistic Politics

"Few poets of our time have devoted more intellectual energy to exploring the nature of poetic form (Wagner- Martin 188)," than Denise Levertov. Who spent decades of her life fighting for the cause, and fighting for the truth. Levertov, an English immigrant, brought her assertive poetry to the United States following World War II. Having seen the turmoil's that war can bring through out the 1960's and 70's Levertov used her poetry to speak out against the Vietnam War and the mistreatment of protestors. Through such activism Levertov changes America's view of intellectual poetry forever. Denise Levertov's radical and idealistic views are signified through her political voice in the poems "A Note to Olga", "Life at War", and "What Were They Like?"

The first of these political tirades is "A Note to Olga". This poem, written in 1966, displays Denise Levertov's political reality through her ideals and visions (Altieri 241). Her ideals speak of a peaceful world, and her visions appear to be that of safety. In Levertov's poems she does not intend to demonstrate an offense against the government of the United States views, she merely wishes to win over the reader's soul