Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton

There is no other word for May Sarton's journals than "lovely." They are deep, examining, and honest. She certainly lived up to Socrates' desire by examining her life. My copy of Journal of a Solitude is well worn and much underlined. There is much that speaks to me here, and much that pushes me to examine my own life.

She examines her own depression and rages, her desire for solitude to get work done, her need for some socializing for intelligent conversations, the joys of gardening, and a dying love affair (albeit only indirectly). It is a fascinating look into a year of the poet and novelist's life.

Some of my favorite quotes:

- I have written novels to find out what I thought about something, and poems to find out what I felt about something.

- For poetry lives in places where people work in their gardens or let them go wild and do not leave it to impersonal firms of gardeners to plant and trim.

- My own belief is that one regards oneself, if one is a serious writer, as an instrument for experiencing. Life--all of it--flows through this instrument and is distilled through it into works of art.

Now I'm in the mood to read one of her other journals.