Asphodel

"DESTROY," H.D. had pencilled across the title page of this autobiographical novel. Although the manuscript survived, it has remained unpublished since its completion in the 1920s. Regarded by many as one of the major poets of the modernist period, H.D. created in Asphodel a remarkable and readable experimental prose text, which in its manipulation of technique and voice can stand with the works of Joyce, Woolf, and Stein; in its frank exploration of lesbian desire, pregnancy and motherhood, artistic independence for women, and female experience during wartime, H.D.'s novel stands alone. A sequel to the author's HERmione, Asphodel takes the reader into the bohemian drawing rooms of pre-World War I London and Paris, a milieu populated by such thinly disguised versions of Ezra Pound, Richard Aldington, May Sinclair, Brigit Patmore, and Margaret Cravens; on the other side of what H.D. calls "the chasm," the novel documents the war's devastating effect on the men and women who considered themselves guardians of beauty. Against this riven backdrop, Asphodel plays out the story of Hermione Gart, a young American newly arrived in Europe and testing for the first time the limits of her sexual and artistic identities. Following Hermione through the frustrations of a literary world dominated by men, the failures of an attempted lesbian relationship and a marriage riddled with infidelity, the birth of an illegitimate child, and, finally, happiness with a female companion, Asphodel describes with moving lyricism and striking candor the emergence of a young and gifted woman from her self-exile. Editor Robert Spoo's introduction carefully places Asphodel in the context of H.D.'s life and work. In an appendix featuring capsule biographies of the real figures behind the novel's fictional characters, Spoo provides keys to this roman à clef.

A collection of essays by the author of "The White Goddess," linked together by some common assumptions regarding the nature of poetry. The title of the book, according to the writer, "is shorthand for saying that the popular view of what poetry is, or ought to be, has for centuries been based on sentimental misapprehensions."

A dozen poems on love by a New Jersey obstetrician (1883-1963) who often wrote them on office prescription pads. In the title poem, first published when he was 72, he wrote: "What power has love but forgiveness? / In other words / by its intervention / what has been done / can be undone."

This second edition of the first book, “The Best of Halfway To Asphodel: 2015-2017”, includes the author's work from 2018 to 2020. Certain changes in titles of chapters are done, as ‘Letters to Silence’ is now reverted to their original name, “Letters to Celisen”, Celisen being an anagram for silence. It consists of five sections – Contemplative Philosophy, Personal, Romance, Letters To Celisen, and Poetry. Contemplative Philosophy consists of articles that choose one topic and discuss it philosophically, in a way that is contemplated by the author's mind. Personal articles have a touch of intimacy and relation. Romance contains essays about the author's idea of love, it’s associated despair and other feelings. Letters To Celisen are letters addressed to silence. As mentioned above, initially posted as Letters To Celisen, readers had to guess who Celisen was. The Poetry section is the author's attempt at poems, which are often of the rhyming variety.

This book contains the major and best works of Vishvaraj Chauhan under the umbrella of his blog, 'Halfway To Asphodel' (www.halfwaytoasphodel.com). It consists of five sections – Contemplative Philosophy, Personal, Romance, Letters To Silence, and Poetry. Contemplative Philosophy consists of articles that choose one topic and discuss it philosophically, in a way that is contemplated by the author's mind. Personal articles have a touch of intimacy and relation, which are extremely easy to relate to. Romance contains essays about Chauhan's idea of love, it’s associated despair and other feelings. Letters To Silence are Chauhan's letters addressed to silence, which make you consider Silence like never before. The Poetry section are amateur poems, which are often of the rhyming variety.