Sara Teasdale
American · Early 20th century
American lyric poet known for her intensely personal, formally controlled verse about love, beauty, and loss, comparable to Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Connection to Taylor Swift
Her poetry treats the aftermath of love relationships with the same metaphorical frameworks Taylor uses, storms, weather, nature imagery, and explores the paradox of safety after emotional turbulence, a central concern of Taylor's catalogue.
Notable Works
- Afterwards, After Love, Love Songs, Flame and Shadow, Rivers to the Sea
Appears in the Archive
Context within the Archive
After Love
Uncle Jerry reads Sara Teasdale's 'After Love' in full and calls it one of his favorites. He draws a parallel to Clean's treatment of the aftermath of love, particularly the idea that being safe from the storm (or 'clean') doesn't mean the speaker is better off, connecting Teasdale's line 'there is no magic anymore' to the bittersweet, indeterminate quality of Clean's ending. Angela also connects 'there is no magic anymore' to Taylor's 'All Too Well' line about magic not being there anymore.
Afterwards
Uncle Jerry recommends Sara Teasdale's poem 'Afterwards' as a comparative work, noting that Teasdale uses some of the same metaphorical images, particularly the storm metaphor for a love relationship that has ended. He quotes the lines about love sweeping like a 'splendid storm' and passing, drawing a direct parallel to Clean's use of storm and weather imagery to describe the aftermath of a relationship.