Hilda Doolittle

1. Hilda Doolittle By: Jennifer & Carly Poulin

2. Early Life • Hilda Doolittle was born on September 10, 1886 in Bethlehem, PA. • Her parents were Professor Charles Doolittle and Helen Wolle. • Hilda moved to Philadelphia, PA when she was 9 years old • Much of her child hood she suffered from insecurity and sibling rivalry.

3. H.D. attended Bryn Mawr College in 1904 While attending she became good friends with Ezra Pound & Marianne Moore. She failed English in college, but began to take Greek more serious. In 1906, her sophomore year, H.D. dropped out of college due to poor health. College Life

4. After College • For the next 5 years H.D. began to study Greek and Latin literature. • She attempted translation and wrote some poems. • H.D. traveled to Europe for a vacation, but later stayed permanently in Switzerland and England. • With the help of Ezra Pound ( to whom she was briefly engaged to.. twice), she was introduced to London’s Literary Circles and there met Richard Aldington.

5. Life in Europe • Hilda Doolittle married Aldington on October 18, 1913 in Kensington. • Later in 1916, however, Aldington left for World War One. She replaced him as the editor of the Egoist. • During Aldington’s absence, H.D. became very ill due to her father’s death in 1919 and the stresses of the war. (her brother died fighting in France) H.D. was also pregnant during this time.

6. Europe con’t… • She ended up separating from Aldington in 1919 • On March 31st, 1919 she gave birth to her daughter Frances Perdita, or just Perdita. The father was Cecil Gray, a friend of D.H. Lawrence, (whom she also had intense relations with)

7. Later On • Met Winifred Ellerman (also known as Bryher.) The two became “good friends” and were together throughout each other’s many relationships (and Winifred’s marriages). People often criticized H.D. for her bisexuality. • H.D. lived during WW2 • Hilda Doolittle suffered a mental breakdown and returned back to Switzerland. • In 1961, Hilda Doolittle died in Switzerland after a stroke and coma.

8. Imagist Writing • H.D. was one of greatest imagist writers in history. • Imagist writing: based on common speech, free moving, a musical phrase rather than a distinct structure. (H.D. had lyric art written about intense feelings by using free structure)

9. Her Life In Literature • Began writing after dropping out of college. She attempted translating Latin and wrote a few poems. • Her love for Greek and Latin art and literature is focused on in her writing.

10. Helen by H.D. •  All Greece hatesthe still eyes in the white face,the lustre as of oliveswhere she stands,and the white hands.All Greece revilesthe wan face when she smiles,hating it deeper still when it grows wan and white,remembering past enchantmentsand past ills.Greece sees, unmoved, God's daughter, born of love,the beauty of cool feetand slenderest knees,could love indeed the maid,only if she were laid,white ash amid funereal cypresses.

11. Relationships • Her relationship with Ezra Pound was the reason she used H.D. as her writing name. • After many failed relationships, her writing also shows the struggle she had to become a successful writer. • Her novel “Bid Me To Live” written in 1960, tells of her marital breakup with Richard Aldington.

12. More Works • Palimpsest in 1926 was written about women artists struggling to become famous in a male dominated society • The Hedgehog in 1936 was a book of choruses translated from Greek plays. • Helen in Egypt in 1961, the year of her death, was written to illustrate the love that becomes death.

13. In all of Doolittle’s poetry her use of colors, rhythms, and emotions put together a solid, clear idea

14. Works Cited • The Academy of American Poets. Hilda Doolittle. 2008. Retrieved on 5/1/08 from http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/234 • American Poems. Hilda Doolittle. 2008. Retrieved on 5/1/08 from http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/hd • Encyclopedia of World Biography. Hilda Doolittle. 2008. Retrieved on 5/1/08 from http://www.bookrags.com/biography/hilda-doolittle/