Date of Award

5-5-1990

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

English

Abstract

This dissertation is a collection of poems which explores prairie lives, both past and present.The collection draws on four generations of the author's family's experience on the plains, illustrating ways in which human relationships make visible the fears, failings, and visions of a people who inhabit a region with its own myth and ambience.The poems are divided into four sections: "The Threshers" deals with the strength of the prairie settlers and the tragedies they faced; "Shadows" acknowledges childhood innocence and initiation as seen through the poet's experience; "Prairie Shapes" presents the adult poet on the prairie; and "The Lotus Seeds" offers particular prairie experiences as metaphorical lotus seeds, historical germinations that remain viable for centuries to come.

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