Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1989 Visitations (a collection of poems) Jill M. McGrath Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Poetry Commons Recommended Citation McGrath, Jill M., "Visitations (a collection of poems)" (1989). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 280. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/280 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Visitations (a collection of poems) by Jill Marie McGrath A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department: English Major: English (Creative Writing) Signature redacted for privacy Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1989 Copyright@ Jill Marie McGrath, 1989. All rights reserved. Ill Dedicated to Erika Berglund Hamstrom my great-grandmother 1877 Born: Brvika, Sweden 1891 Brrived: Roseville, minnesota 1902 moved: Ballard, Washington 1917 Involuntarily Committed: Western State mental Hospital Steilacoom, Washington 1955 Died: Steilacoom, Washington ---------~ -~~-----~~~-- 1 Unwound 1937 "Did she put on his knowledge with his power Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?" Yeats I have learned the glassy eyes, the deadpan expression, the sluggish mouth. nobody home I neaten all the respective female parts: hair, body, leg ... We learn the comportment all too well ... was there ever anything but this world of little things? "Their madness is represented by untidy hair, their return to sanity by the wearing of matronly bonnet, a nice paisley shawl.