May Sarton
Biography of May Sarton
Full Name and Common Aliases
May Sarton, born Eleanore Marie Sarton, is often simply referred to as May Sarton. She is known for her profound contributions to literature and poetry, and her name is synonymous with introspective and candid writing.
Birth and Death Dates
May Sarton was born on May 3, 1912, and she passed away on July 16, 1995. Her life spanned much of the 20th century, a period of significant social and cultural change, which is reflected in her work.
Nationality and Profession(s)
May Sarton was an American writer and poet. Her career encompassed various forms of writing, including poetry, novels, and memoirs. She is celebrated for her ability to capture the complexities of human emotion and the intricacies of personal and social relationships.
Early Life and Background
May Sarton was born in Wondelgem, Belgium, to a family deeply rooted in the arts and sciences. Her father, George Sarton, was a noted historian of science, and her mother, Mabel Eleanor Elwes, was an artist. The family moved to the United States when May was a child, settling in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This move was prompted by the outbreak of World War I, which had a profound impact on her early life and worldview.
Sarton's upbringing in an intellectually stimulating environment fostered her love for literature and the arts. She attended Shady Hill School and later the Cambridge School of Weston, where she began to cultivate her writing skills. Her early exposure to the works of great poets and writers inspired her to pursue a career in literature.
Major Accomplishments
May Sarton's literary career is marked by a prolific output of poetry, novels, and memoirs. She published over fifty books, which include more than twenty volumes of poetry, nineteen novels, and numerous memoirs and journals. Her work is characterized by its introspective nature and its exploration of themes such as solitude, love, and the passage of time.
One of Sarton's major accomplishments was her ability to write candidly about her personal experiences, including her struggles with depression and her identity as a lesbian. At a time when such topics were often considered taboo, Sarton's openness helped pave the way for future generations of writers to explore similar themes.
Notable Works or Actions
Among May Sarton's most notable works are her memoirs, which include "Journal of a Solitude" and "The House by the Sea." These works offer an intimate glimpse into her life and thoughts, revealing her struggles and triumphs as a writer and a woman. Her novel "Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing" is another significant work, often cited for its exploration of a woman's creative life and her acceptance of her sexual identity.
Sarton's poetry is equally celebrated, with collections such as "A Private Mythology" and "Collected Poems, 1930-1993" showcasing her lyrical prowess and her ability to capture the beauty and complexity of the human experience.
Impact and Legacy
May Sarton's impact on literature is profound. She is remembered as a pioneer in writing about the inner life, particularly the experiences of women and the elderly. Her work has inspired countless readers and writers to embrace their own voices and to explore the depths of their emotions and experiences.
Sarton's legacy is also evident in the way she addressed issues of identity and self-acceptance. Her candid exploration of her own life challenges societal norms and encourages readers to reflect on their own lives with honesty and courage.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
May Sarton is widely quoted and remembered for her ability to articulate the complexities of the human condition with grace and insight. Her writing resonates with readers who seek to understand themselves and the world around them. Sarton's quotes often reflect her deep understanding of solitude, creativity, and the search for meaning, making them timeless and universally relevant.
Her work continues to be a source of inspiration for those who value introspection and authenticity. Sarton's legacy as a writer who dared to speak her truth endures, ensuring that her voice remains a guiding light for future generations.
Quotes by May Sarton
May Sarton's insights on:
The fierce tension in me, when it is properly channeled, creates the good tension for work. But when it becomes unbalanced I am destructive. How to isolate that good tension is my problem these days. Or, put in another way, how to turn the heat down fast enough so the soup won’t boil over!
I sometimes imagine that as one grows older one comes to live a role which as a young person one merely ’played.
The reasons for depression are not so interesting as the way one handles it, simply to stay alive.
What “they” never understood about her solitary life was that it was a solitude so inhabited by the past, that she was never alone in it, except sometimes in the rich disorder of her work room upstairs.
For any writer who wants to keep a journal, be alive to everything, not just to what you’re feeling, but also to your pets, to flowers, to what you’re reading.
All aspiring writers say these things: “I will not compromise and write a best seller!“ – as if they could! There may be a few totally faked-up books that sell, but on the whole I believe every writer writes as well as he can.
My anger, because I am old, is considered a sign of madness or senility. Is this not cruel? Are we to be deprived even of righteous anger? Is even irritability to be treated as a “symptom”? There.
I am here alone for the first time in weeks, to take up my “real” life again at last. That is what is strange – that friends, even passionate love, are not my real life unless there is time alone in which to explore and to discover what is happening or has happened. Without the interruptions, nourishing and maddening, this life would become arid. Yet I taste it fully only when I am alone here and “the house and I resume old conversations”.
Gardening is one of the rewards of middle age, when one is ready for an impersonal passion, a passion that demands patience, acute awareness of a world outside oneself, and the power to keep on growing through all the times of drought, through the cold snows, toward those moments of pure joy when all failures are forgotten and the plum tree flowers.