from The Luthier

The Front: The Back

 

Swiss pine! – you saw it under the plane –
Like white silk, brilliant, and straight of grain –
Vibrated, its tone is low and cool;
This Back is Maple, and beautiful –
The fabled water an angel stirred
(Wood by all luthiers loved, preferred).
Silvery-cream, with a note that’s near
To Bird-song, echoing pure and clear:
Two singing woods; you shall hear them yet
One moonlit night in a gay duet.

from The Luthier: poems (Reed, 1966), © Ruth Gilbert 1966, used by permission of the author. Recording from the Waiata New Zealand Poetry Sound Archive 1974

In the 1950s and 60s Ruth Gilbert received more than her fair share of male condescension and negativity. Reviewing The Luthier (which ...

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