A Minor Poet and Other Verse 1884 is a poetry collection by Amy Levy. Published when the poet was only twentythree years old A Minor Poet and Other Verse is the work of a pioneering writer and feminist whose poetry and prose explores the concept of the New Woman while illuminating the realities of Jewish life in nineteenth century London. I am sad Here in this gracious city whose white walls Gleam snowlike in the sunlight whose fair shrines Are filled with wondrous images of gods Upon whose harbours bosom ride tall ships Blackmasted fraught with fragrant merchandise Whose straightlimbed people in fair stuffs arrayed Do throng from morn till eve the sunny streets. Brought to a foreign land by her lover Jason Medea becomes an exile in body and soul. Unable to assimilate within a culture dedicated to commerce and flowing with hatred and vanity she despairs and longs for release. In this monologue Levy perhaps projects some of her own feelings as a feminist and lesbian living in Victorian England. Othered already through her Jewish identity Levy struggled throughout her life with depression. In Xantippe a poem inspired by Socrates wife Levy imagines a monologue from a woman emerging from despair into hope who sees a rosy glimmer at the casement and cries O fling it wide ... and give me light With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript this edition Amy Levys A Minor Poet and Other Verse is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.