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    Traversing Regression: A Collection of Poetry
    Traversing Regression: A Collection of Poetry
    Traversing Regression: A Collection of Poetry
    Ebook87 pages37 minutes

    Traversing Regression: A Collection of Poetry

    By Elizabeth Donahey

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    About this ebook

    Elizabeth Donaheys Traversing Regression is a collection of poems written during the 1990s. Th e anthology is absolutely fascinating. The poems are generally brief, free-form and thematic. The language and the imagery are beautiful, powerful, and impressionistic such as the poem Provence, France. Nature inspires much of the imagery, from rose blossoms to blue heavens, moonlight, trembling trees

    Donahey writes in the Romantic tradition of Wordsworth and Byron (to whom the longest poem in the book, Breath for Byron, is an ode), but I cant help being reminded of the Poetes Maudits as well as Beaudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud,
    and Mallarm. The love motif is present in a majority of the pieces, abstractly in "Peasant Girl," and "Disturb the Universe," and more specifically, in the later poems, where she expresses love or admiration for a specifi c individual.

    There is also a great deal of pain and sorrow. Dark themes - death, abandonment
    - abound ("Can I Walk," "Drifting Ugly through Algebraic Language," "Blue Finger Baby Frozen Ashes," Winter Whines," and they are sometimes self-referential "Against my Constant Mirrors Refl ection."

    Consequently, the poetrys most exciting feature is the juxtaposition of contrasts, for example love and death in Kissing Death on the Lips. We even find sophisticated sociological themes such as race relations, as in "You Are Your Own Victims" and "The Black One." The collection is more or less chronological, and it seems to refl ect Elizabeths spiritual growth.

    The later poems seem sunnier, expressing more uncomplicated love,
    as in "Elevated" and "Love song." This series of poems exudes authenticity
    and existential truth. It is the revelation of a persons inner quest.
    It is gripping and strongly evocative. It is a glimpse into Elizabeths soul.
    Reading her poems, we learn to know her, and to love her.

    Dr. Tom Kando, PhD, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateApr 15, 2011
    ISBN9781456752835
    Traversing Regression: A Collection of Poetry
    Author

    Elizabeth Donahey

    Elizabeth Kate Donahey is a Northern California poet. Elizabeth began writing poetry at the young age of fifteen on the topics of society, personal growth, love, and family with an undeniable influence from the great poets of the Romantic period, such as Byron, Wordsworth and Keats. Elizabeth is the eighth adopted child of a highly diverse family. Much of her poetry provided healing and perspective, having been a survivor of separation from her birth parents and twin sister. Her passion about sharing her personal journey with others is clear throughout her work. When Elizabeth began her journey as a young writer at the unusually young age of nine, her third grade teacher accused her of plagiarism, and called her mother to discuss the matter in the classroom. To her teacher's surprise, Elizabeth had written an outstanding story that was not typical of third grader. Later on in her education, Elizabeth’s English teacher, Mr. Gordon Langford, at Healdsburg High School in California, also recognized her gift for writing and knew that it far exceeded her age, and often commented that she possessed an old soul, centuries older than her time. In review of her book, he wrote, “Some Voyages are meant to cross oceans, while others explore the contents of the soul. Traversing Regression led me into fantastic elements of truth and consciousness just beyond the eyes.” Elizabeth has her Bachelor's and Master's of Arts degrees in Sociology, with a French minior. She lives with her husband and two children in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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      Book preview

      Traversing Regression - Elizabeth Donahey

      © 2011 Elizabeth Donahey. All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

      First published by AuthorHouse 4/13/2011

      ISBN: 978-1-4567-5283-5 (e)

      ISBN: 978-1-4567-5284-2 (sc)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2011904822

      Printed in the United States of America

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

      and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      "Something whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,

      And the round ocean, and the living air,

      And the blue sky, and in the mind of man;-

      A motion and a spirit, which impels

      All thinking things, all objects of all thought,

      And rolls through all things."

      - William Wordsworth

      Praise for Traversing Regression

      "Elizabeth Donahey’s Traversing Regression is a collection of poems written during the 1990s. The anthology is absolutely fascinating. The poems are generally brief, free-form and thematic. The language and the imagery are beautiful, powerful, and impressionistic such as the poem Provence, France. Nature inspires much of the imagery, from rose blossoms to blue heavens, moonlight, trembling trees…

      Donahey writes in the Romantic tradition of Wordsworth and Byron (to whom the longest poem in the book, Breath for Byron, is an ode), but I can’t help being reminded of the Poetes Maudits as well as Beaudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud, and Mallarmé.

      The love motif is present in a majority of the pieces, abstractly in Peasant Girl, and Disturb the Universe, and more specifically, in the later poems, where she expresses love or admiration for a specific individual. There is also a great deal of pain and sorrow. Dark themes - death, abandonment - abound (Can I Walk, Drifting Ugly through Algebraic Language, Blue Finger Baby Frozen Ashes, Winter Whines, and they are sometimes self-referential (Against my Constant Mirror’s Reflection).

      Consequently, the poetry’s most exciting feature is the juxtaposition of contrasts, for example love and death in Kissing Death on the Lips.

      We even find sophisticated sociological themes such as race relations, as in You Are Your Own Victims and The Black One. The collection is more or less chronological, and it seems to reflect Elizabeth’s spiritual growth. The later poems seem sunnier, expressing more uncomplicated love, as in Elevated and Love song. This series of poems exudes authenticity and existential truth. It is the revelation of a person’s inner quest. It is gripping and strongly evocative. It is a glimpse into Elizabeth’s soul. Reading her poems, we learn to know her, and to love her."

      — Dr. Tom Kando, PhD, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus

      "Some Voyages are meant to cross oceans, while others explore

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