The Poetry of Katherine Mansfield

Katherine was born on the 14th October 1888 into a prominent family in Wellington, New Zealand, the middle child of five.A gifted celloist, at one point she thought she might take it up professionally but writing gradually began to move to the forefront of her interests. Her first writings were published at an early age in school magazines.At 19 Katherine left for England where she met and befriended the modernist writers D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf amongst others. She then travelled to Europe before returning to New Zealand. There she began to write the short stories that she would later become so famous for. Her stories often focus on moments of disruption and frequently open rather abruptly. There was another less-heralded side to Katherine's writings; that of poetry. Her verse certainly reflects much of the themes of her life and interests. Many poems are beautiful, thoughtful, tender and observant works on the human condition. Some though seem out of kilter for so great a talent, almost child-like in form and content. But taken as yet another facet of her work they accomplish much in helping us to understand her.By 1908 she had returned to London and to a rather more bohemian lifestyle. Life was to be lived and enjoyed. A passionate affair resulted in her becoming pregnant and in her being married off to an older man. But she left him the same evening with the marriage unconsummated. She was then to miscarry and be cut out of her mother's will (allegedly because of her lesbianism).In 1911 she was to start a relationship with John Middleton Murry, a magazine editor, and although it was volatile he supported her work and she wrote some of her best stories.During the First World War Mansfield contracted extrapulmonary tuberculosis, which rendered any return or visit to New Zealand impossible and led to her death at the tender age of 34 on 9th January 1923 in Fontainebleau, France.1 - The Poetry of Katherine Mansfield - An Introduction2 - A Fine Day by Katherine Mansfield3 - Very Early Spring by Katherine Mansfield4 - Out in the Garden by Katherine Mansfield5 - Spring Wind In London by Katherine Mansfield6 - Now I Am A Plant, A Weed by Katherine Mansfield7 - When I Was A Bird by Katherine Mansfield8 - The Wounded Bird by Katherine Mansfield9 - Across the Red Sky by Katherine Mansfield10 - Voices of the Air by Katherine Mansfield11 - Autumn Song by Katherine Mansfield12 - Winter Song by Katherine Mansfield13 - There is a Solemn Wind Tonight by Katherine Mansfield14 - The Storm by Katherine Mansfield15 - Night Scented Stock by Katherine Mansfield16 - Evening Song of the Thoughtful Child by Katherine Mansfield17 - The Town Between the Hills by Katherine Mansfield18 - The Candle by Katherine Mansfield19 - Little Girl's Prayer by Katherine Mansfield20 - A Little Boy's Dream by Katherine Mansfield21 - To LHB by Katherine Mansfield22 - A Day in Bed by Katherine Mansfield23 - A Few Rules For Beginners by Katherine Mansfield24 - Fairy Tale by Katherine Mansfield25 - Camomile Tea by Katherine Mansfield26 - The Earth Child in the Grass by Katherine Mansfield27 - There Was a Child Once by Katherine Mansfield28 - Sanary by Katherine Mansfield29 - The Sea Child by Katherine Mansfield30 - Sea Song by Katherine Mansfield31 - Sea by Katherine Mansfield32 - The Awakening River by Katherine Mansfield33 - Waves by Katherine Mansfield34 - The Opal Dream Cave by Katherine Mansfield35 - In the Rangitaki Valley by Katherine Mansfield36 - Villa Pauline by Katherine Mansfield37 - Butterfly Laughter by Katherine Mansfield38 - The Gulf by Katherine Mansfield39 - Deaf House Agent by Katherine Mansfield40 - Opposites by Katherine Mansfield41 - Country Women by Katherine Mansfield42 - The Arabian Shawl by Katherine Mansfield43 - Covering Wings by Katherine Mansfield44 - Sorrowing Love by Katherine Mansfield45 - The Meeting by Katherine Mansfield46 - The Quarrel by Katherine Mansfield47 - A Joyful Song of Five by Katherine Mansfield48 - Sleeping Together by Katherine Mansfield49 - Loneliness by Katherine Mansfield50 - A New Hymn by Katherine Mansfield51 - Stars by Katharine Mansfield52 - To God the Father by Katherine Mansfield