Denise Levertov (b. 1923) The Mutes, Protesters LINKS Denise Levertov http://www.geocities.com/~beatgeneration/levertov.htm This site contains a brief biographical sketch of Levertov which traces some of the literary and personal influences in her poetry. BIOGRAPHY Denise Levertov (b. 1923) Born in Ilford, England, Levertov was raised in a literary household (her father was an Anglican priest) and educated privately. She was a nurse at a British hospital in Paris during World War II; after the war, she worked in an antique store and bookstore in London. Married to an American writer, she came to the United States in 1948, became a naturalized citizen in 1956, and taught at several universities, including M.I.T. and Tufts. Levertov began as what she called a "British romantic with almost Victorian background" and has become more politically active and feminist with time. She protested U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and has also been involved in the antinuclear movement. Regarding angst-filled confessional poetry, Levertov once said, "I do not believe that a violent imitation of the horrors of our times is the concern of poetry.... I long for poems of an inner harmony in utter contrast to the chaos in which they exist." Her works include The Double Image (1946), Relearning the Alphabet (1970), A Door in the Hive (1989), and Sands of the Well (1996).