Overview

Enter the wondrous world of the Selkie. According to Celtic legend, a selkie is a seal underwater and a woman on land. Sometimes she emerges from the ocean, shedding her white selkie-coat to dance on the sand in moonlight. In the liminal space of the shore, she is vulnerable to capture by a man, and she may become a man's wife and the mother of children. In Song of the Selkie, the Selkie voices her experience of being caught between two worlds: one of the sea, of freedom, and the other of marriage and motherhood. Other voices join in: a Lighthouse-Keeper, the spirit of Ruth, and even a baby. Through these poems, readers can enjoy the extraordinary magic of selkie stories, and--through their retelling--gain insight into experiences of love and loss, the fears and choices experienced by women, and of finding hope in the future.

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9781951547004

Table of Contents

Reviews

The poems in Song of the Selkie take us deep into dream space. They explore archetypes that arise from the surging ocean of psyche and soul. Drawn from Nordic tales and the biblical story of Ruth, the woman who speaks in these pages speaks with pathos, desire, and knowing that come from the mystery, the deep, deep Ocean inside. She summons readers to their own interior spaces where Spirit may speak in words familiar, rich, and strange. Readers, having traveled the paths they opened, will return to explore again. -- Marilyn McEntyre, Author of When Poets Pray I read Song of the Selkie with great pleasure. Jane Beal is a poet I admire, and these poems are wonderfully appealing: sensuous, deeply lyrical, joyous, filled with the spirit. I would recommend these poems to anyone. --Jay Parini, Professor at Middlebury College, author of New and Collected Poems, 1975-2015 and Why Poetry Matters

"The poems in Song of the Selkie take us deep into dream space. They explore archetypes that arise from the surging ocean of psyche and soul. Drawn from Nordic tales and the biblical story of Ruth, the woman who speaks in these pages speaks with pathos, desire, and knowing that come from the mystery, the ""deep, deep Ocean"" inside. She summons readers to their own interior spaces where Spirit may speak in words familiar, rich, and strange. Readers, having traveled the paths they opened, will return to explore again. -- Marilyn McEntyre, Author of When Poets Pray I read Song of the Selkie with great pleasure. Jane Beal is a poet I admire, and these poems are wonderfully appealing: sensuous, deeply lyrical, joyous, filled with the spirit. I would recommend these poems to anyone. --Jay Parini, Professor at Middlebury College, author of New and Collected Poems, 1975-2015 and Why Poetry Matters"

The poems in Song of the Selkie take us deep into dream space. They explore archetypes that arise from the surging ocean of psyche and soul. Drawn from Nordic tales and the biblical story of Ruth, the woman who speaks in these pages speaks with pathos, desire, and knowing that come from the mystery, the ""deep, deep Ocean"" inside. She summons readers to their own interior spaces where Spirit may speak in words familiar, rich, and strange. Readers, having traveled the paths they opened, will return to explore again. -- Marilyn McEntyre, Author of When Poets Pray I read Song of the Selkie with great pleasure. Jane Beal is a poet I admire, and these poems are wonderfully appealing: sensuous, deeply lyrical, joyous, filled with the spirit. I would recommend these poems to anyone. --Jay Parini, Professor at Middlebury College, author of New and Collected Poems, 1975-2015 and Why Poetry Matters

Author Information

DR. JANE BEAL is a poet and academic. Jane was born, raised, and educated in northern California, where she received her PhD from UC Davis in English literature. She now teaches at the University of La Verne in southern California. Along with poetry, Jane writes fiction, creative nonfiction, literary criticism, and music. She is also a certified midwife. In addition to Song of the Selkie, Jane is the author of many other poetry collections, including Sanctuary, Rising: Poems for America, and Transfiguration: A Midwife's Birth Poems. She has also done several recording projects, Songs from the Secret Life, Love-Song, and, with her brother Andrew Beal, The Jazz Bird. Visit Jane at janebeal.wordpress.com.

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