H.D. (1886-1961)

A selective list of literary criticism for the American modernist poet H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), favoring signed articles by recognized scholars and articles published in peer-reviewed sources

introduction

Excerpts from reputable critical articles on various aspects of H.D.'s poetry and life, from the Modern American Poetry site at U of Illinois.

Introduction to H.D.'s career, includes list of works and a secondary reading list, from the Poetry Foundation.

A guide for teaching H.D's poetry from educational publisher Heath. Editor Susan Stanford Friedman notes that it is fruitful to teach H.D. as a modernist woman poet in connection with other modernist woman writers such as Marianne Moore, Virginia Woolf, Gertrude Stein, Mina Loy, and Djuna Barnes.

Some details about the Bryn Mawr collection of H.D. materials, includes a photo of Bryn Mawr students in 1905 with H.D. and Marianne Moore included.

A Yale Library exhibition documents the influence of Oriental aesthetics on American Modernists including H.D. and others.

Imagists: Richard Aldington and H.D. (Hilda Doolittle). The section for the H.D. International Society is an actively maintained web site for information about H.D. Reprints critical articles, articles from The H.D. Newsletter (some indexed here) and links to H.D.'s texts.

literary criticism

Augustine, Jane, ed. A review of H.D. The Gift: the Complete Text Jane Augustine, ed. (UP of Florida 1988.) Reviewed by Charlotte Mandel. English Literature in Transition 1880-1920, 42 (1999).

Burnett, Gary. "H.D. and Lawrence: Two Allusions." On H.D.'s romantic relationship with D.H. Lawrence and the relationship of her poetry toward him. The H.D. Newsletter, 1, 1.

DuPlessis, Rachel Blau. "Romantic Thralldom in H. D." On H.D.'s treatment in her poetry of the thralldom of women to males in romantic and spiritual love. First page of article only. Contemporary Literature, 20, 2 (Spring 1979).

Friedman, Susan Stanford. Penelope's Web: Gender, Modernity, H. D.'s Fiction (Cambridge UP 1990). [Criticism and interpretation; women and literature; sex role in literature]. At Google Books.

Gregory, Eileen. A review of Gregory's H.D. and Hellenism: Classic Lines (Cambridge UP 1997). Says the reviewer, "H.D. and Hellenism is groundbreaking as a study of the transmission and influence of classical literature in American poetry." Reviewed by Robert G. Babcock, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 3/23/00.

Gregory, Eileen. On H.D.'s use of classical sources, on her use of Ovid in 'Thetis.' Gregory points out that "H.D's use of classical sources in her early poetry is not so pyrotechnic as that of contemporaries like Eliot or Auden or Pound." H.D. Newsletter 1, 1.

Gregory, Eileen. "H.D.'s Volume of Dickinson's Poems" short article on H.D.'s connection with Dickinson, in the H.D. Newsletter 3, 1.

Hammer, Langdon. "Lecture 8 - Imagism." "The Imagist school is defined, in part through the prose of Ezra Pound. Representative examples of Imagist poetry are examined, particularly Hilda Doolittle's 'Garden,' 'Sea Rose,' and 'Oread.' Pound's early poem, 'In a Station of the Metro,' and Pound's comment on the poem's composition are studied as Imagist statements. His work with foreign languages, particularly Chinese, is considered in relation to Imagism in the poems 'Jewel Stairs' Grievance' and 'River Merchant's Wife: A Letter.'" [1 lecture]. Audio, video, and transcript from Professor Hammer's class at Yale, ENGL 310: Modern Poetry, Spring, 2007.

Mandel, Charlotte. "H.D.'s "Projector II" and Chang, a Film of the Jungle," The H.D. Newsletter, 1, 2.

Mandel, Charlotte. "Beautiful Dreamers: Helen in Egypt and The Sleeping Beauty," Clockwatch Review 9, 1-2 (1994-1995).

Mandel, Charlotte. "Garbo/Helen: The Self-projection of Beauty by H.D." Women's Studies 7 (1980).

Mandel, Charlotte. "Letters Across the Atlantic: H.D., Bryher, May Sarton, During World War II." From A Celebration for May Sarton, 1994.

Mandel, Charlotte. "The Redirected Image: Cinematic Dynamics in the Style of H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)." Literature/Film Quarterly 11, 1 (1983).

Martz, Louis L. Publisher's web site for Martz's Many Gods and Many Voices: The Role of the Prophet in English and American Modernism (Univ. of Missouri Press, 1997). Covers Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, H. D., and D. H. Lawrence.

Ostriker, Alicia. "The Poet as Heroine: Learning to Read H. D." in Writing Like a Woman: Poets on Poetry. At Google Books.

Ponsot, Marie. "Shot Through with Brightness: The Poems of H. D." American Poet, 2006.

Scott, Jill. A review of Electra after Freud (Cornell UP 2005). Scott's book focuses on the importance of the Electra myth in the 20th century and its use by Richard Strauss, Robert Musil, H.D., Sylvia Plath, and others. Reviewed by Elke Steinmeyer in Scholia Reviews 15 (2006).

Silverstein, Louis. "The H.D. Papers at Yale University," The H.D. Newsletter, 1, 1.

Silverstein, Louis. "Nicknames and Acronyms used by H.D. and her Circle," a list of the nicknames and who they refer to. The H.D. Newsletter, 1, 2.

Silverstein, Louis. Selections from the H.D. chronology The H.D. Newsletter, 2, 2.

Sisson, C.H. "H. D. is one of the most elusive writers of the century, and she has in fact eluded many readers who might find pleasure in her work." Poetry Nation 4 (1975).

Smyers, Virginia. "H.D.'s Books in the Bryher Library," The H.D. Newsletter, 1, 2.

Spoo, Robert. "H.D.'s Dating of Asphodel: A Reassessment," The H.D. Newsletter, 4, 2.

Spoo, Robert. "'Authentic Sisters' H.D. and Margaret Cravens," The H.D. Newsletter, 3, 1.

Sword, Helen. "Orpheus and Eurydice in the Twentieth Century: Lawrence, H. D., and the Poetics of the Turn" [D.H. Lawrence]. On the potent archetype of the Orpheus myth. First page of article only. Twentieth Century Literature, 35, 4 (Winter, 1989).

Zilboorg, Caroline. "H.D. and R.A.: Early Love and the Exclusion of Ezra Pound." Short article on H.D.'s romance with Richard Aldington and Pound's sometimes awkward presence. The H.D. Newsletter, 3, 1.

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