Pulitzer Prize Poetry Winner

Love Songs

by Sara Teasdale

Summary

These compressed lyrics turn over the textures of love, longing, and the consolations of the natural world with a quiet, sometimes mournful precision. Teasdale works in short stanzas of plain diction and traditional meter, finding emotional pressure in restraint rather than ornament. Her clear-eyed romanticism helped define a popular American lyric register in the early twentieth century.

Historical Context & Significance

A special citation before the poetry prize was official. Teasdale was the first woman to be honored by the Pulitzer committee for her verse.