Muriel Rukeyser (December 15, 1913 – February 12, 1980) was an American poet and political activist, best known for her poems about equality, feminism, social justice, and Judaism. Kenneth Rexroth said that she was the greatest poet of her "exact generation".
One of her most powerful pieces was a group of poems entitled The Book of the Dead (1938), documenting the details of the Hawk's Nest incident, an industrial disaster in which hundreds of miners died of silicosis.
Her poem "To be a Jew in the Twentieth Century" (1944), on the theme of Judaism as a gift, was adopted by the American Reform and Reconstructionist movements for their prayer books, something Rukeyser said "astonished" her, as she had remained distant from Judaism throughout her early life.
Read more about Muriel Rukeyser: Early Life, Activism and Writing, In Other Media, Works
Famous quotes by muriel rukeyser:
“Exchange is creation.”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)
“Whatever can happen to anyone can happen to me.”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)
“it was my birthday, and a candle
burnt a sore spot on my finger, and I was told to be happy,”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)
“What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life?
The world would split open”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)
“He sits at the table, head down, the young clear neck exposed,
watching the drugstore sign from the tail of his eye;”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)