The Shipping On The Styx

Barbara A. Holland (1925-1988) was called "the Sybil of Greenwich Village," for her sometimes eerie presence and her incantatory readings. By 1970, she had published her work in over 700 magazines, and had read her work everywhere a poet could read. After seeing several small chapbooks published, Holland decided it was time to tackle the big New York publishers. The Shipping on the Styx, recently rediscovered in the poet's papers, was rejected by all the publishing houses by the end of 1972. What would have been her "breakthrough" book is finally presented here. Its three parts include a solitary observer's impressions of bustling New York harbor; a medley of her Manhattan-based poems that she read in coffeehouses; and her blistering and unforgettable Gothic poem, "Black Sabbath."Rounding out this volume is Songs of Light and Darkness, a manuscript that probably dates to 1951, the end-point of Holland's graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania. These poems show the poet embarking on her career as a devotee of the work of T. S. Eliot and, perhaps, of Thomas Hardy. Pre-dating her "New York style," this never-before-seen glimpse at the early Holland is a revelation. This is the 259th publication of The Poet's Press.