commented on this interpretation; but it is
entirely possible to read the poem quite differ-
ently. If at the time she wrote it Levertov was
perceived as an antiwar poet, she would soon
become principally a religious poet seeking mean-
ing particularly within the Christian mystical
tradition. ‘‘A Tree Telling of Orpheus’’ can be
viewed as the substantial origin of this later
trend in Levertov’s work.
The initial impression upon reading ‘‘A Tree
Telling of Orpheus’’ is of a straightforward
retelling of a Greek myth. The story involves
Orpheus enchanting trees to make them walk.
It is very closely based on classical models such
as the myth’s best-known surviving version
in the tenth book of the Roman poet Ovid’s
Metamorphoses. The element of the trees
forming themselves into a grove or circle, for
instance, comes from this source, although
Levertov reinterprets the scene as involving
the trees dancing around Orpheus before taking
up their new positions. Her chief innovation,
however, is to tell the story from the viewpoint
of one of the trees. This kind of anthropomor-
phism, making an inanimate object speak in a
human fashion, is rare in ancient literature.
Levertov uses her new perspective on the
myth—the tree’s perspective—to go far beyond
a simple retelling of the traditional story. Lever-
tov was deeply exposed to a variety of religious
influences from her childhood through the
1960s, and many of them began to take form in
her verse in ‘‘A Tree Telling of Orpheus,’’ which
is filled with the language and symbols of reli-
gious mysticism. Levertov’s father was a country
parson in the Church of England, but he had a
unique background. He was descended from
Shneur Zalman, founder of the Chabad sect of
Hasidic Judaism in nineteenth-century Russia.
Despite his conversion and ordination as an
Anglican priest, Levertov’s father remained
steeped in Hasidic tradition and told his young
daughter many of the miraculous tales of the
great rabbis that are such an important part of
Hasidic culture. Undoubtedly, this influenced
Levertov to accept stories of miracles such as
Orpheus’s as a normal part of literary art. She
later studied the Hasidic tales more systemati-
cally in the collections and translations of Mar-
tin Buber. After moving to America, Levertov
read the transcendental philosophy of Ralph
Waldo Emerson. She also steeped herself in the
works of many medieval Christian mystics. SinceLEVERTOV WAS DEEPLY EXPOSED
TO A VARIETY OF RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES FROM
HER CHILDHOOD THROUGH THE 1960S, AND
MANY OF THEM BEGAN TO TAKE FORM IN HER
VERSE IN ‘A TREE TELLING OF ORPHEUS,’ WHICH IS
FILLED WITH THE LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLS OF
RELIGIOUS MYSTICISM.’’WHAT
DO I READ
NEXT? Levertov’s poem ‘‘The Lyre-Tree,’’ originally
published in theAmerican Poetry Reviewon
January 1, 1993, and reprinted in her 1996
collectionThe Sands of the Well,revisits
much of the material treated in ‘‘A Tree Tell-
ing of Orpheus’’ but in a much more pessi-
mistic vein.
Ritual Texts for the Afterlife: Orpheus and
the Bacchic Gold Tablets(2007), by Fritz
Graf and Sarah Iles Johnston, describes in
detail the ancient Greek body of poetry
devoted to personal salvation that circulated
in antiquity under the name of Orpheus.
Hearts and Minds: Bodies, Poetry, and Resist-
ance in the Vietnam Era(1996), by Michael
Bibby, begins to assess the role of Levertov as
a poet in the popular movement opposed to
the Vietnam War.
Although Levertov kept some distance from
the popular culture of the 1960s, despite her
involvement with the antiwar movement, an
understanding of the background of her times,
such as is provided in Scott MacFarlane’sThe
Hippie Narrative: A Literary Perspective on the
Counterculture(2007), is helpful.A Tree Telling of Orpheus