Her experiments tended to be on the side of
plenitude rather than restriction, of inclusiveness
rather than exclusiveness. For she had much to
clarify, much to keep alive. In her body and in her
mind, in her life and in her art, she fought against
numbness.
Muriel had a peculiar habit. She never said
goodbye. You would call her up, an animated
conversation would ensue, reach a conclusion
and then suddenly she would be gone. Now
she’s hung up for good, leaving her poems, as
she hoped they would, to speak from her silence
to ours. One of the best ones, ‘‘St. Roach,’’ seems
to me pure Muriel.
Source:Ted Solotaroff, ‘‘Rukeyser: Poet of Plenitude,’’ in
Nation, March 8, 1980, pp. 277–78.
Sources
Orr, David, Review ofMuriel Rukeyser: Selected Poems,
edited by Adrienne Rich, inPoetry, Vol. 187, No. 3,
December 2005, pp. 242–43.
Rosenthal, M. L., Review ofA Muriel Rukeyser Reader,
inPloughshares, Vol. 21, No. 1, Spring 1995, pp. 198–200.
Rukeyser, Muriel, ‘‘St. Roach,’’ inThe Collected Poems of
Muriel Rukeyser, McGraw-Hill, 1982, p. 593.
Further Reading
Gordon, David G.,The Compleat Cockroach: A Compre-
hensive Guide to the Most Despised (and Least Understood)
Creature on Earth, Ten Speed Press, 1996.
Gordon’s book provides all of the facts that a
reader could want regarding the history and
physical abilities of the cockroach. This book
follows the spirit of Rukeyser’s poem in taking
an unflinching look at the feared and reviled
insects.
Kertesz, Louise,The Poetic Vision of Muriel Rukeyser,
Louisiana State University Press, 1980.
This overview of Rukeyser’s life and career is
broken down by decades. Thusly, readers can
see the historical context in which Rukeyser
was writing.
Rukeyser, Muriel, ‘‘The Education of a Poet,’’ inThe
Writer on Her Work, edited by Janet Sternburg, Norton,
1980, pp. 217–30.
This essay is an adaptation of a talk that
Rukeyser gave for the American Academy of
Poets in 1976, the same year ‘‘St. Roach’’ was
published. In the essay, Rukeyser addresses
how she came to take up poetry as a profession.
Ware, Michele S., ‘‘OpeningThe Gates: Muriel Rukeyser
and the Poetry of Witness,’’ inWomen’s Studies, Vol. 22,
No. 3, June 1993, pp. 297–309.
Ware gives a detailed examination ofThe Gates,
focusing on the social context of Rukeyser’s
work.St. Roach