In this soul-stirring collection of timeless verse, five legendary female poets address life's pains and sorrows as well as its joys and renewals. The poems appeal to the heart, providing companionship on the rugged path that all must tread. The roster features writers from ancient to modern times: Sappho, Emily Dickinson, Amy Lowell, Sara Teasdale, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. As instapoets continue to make poetry more accessible and popular, they build on the tradition of intimate, confessional works built by earlier generations. No one is more prominent at this heritage than the mysterious, evocative fragments of Sappho, which inspired an earlier generation of female poets to let loose their own talent. From idiosyncratic Dickinson to the passionate, Pulitzer Prize–winning Lowell, the romanticism of Teasdale, and the intense art of St. Vincent Millay - yet another Pulitzer winner - these writers were early trailblazers in speaking their emotional truth through their craft. This handsome volume features original illustrations by Claire Whitmore, a Foreword by Dr. Lisa Locascio, and brief biographies of all five poets. AUTHOR: Lisa Locascio's work appears in The Believer, Salon, n+1, Tin House Flash Fridays, Bookforum, Sou'wester, Santa Monica Review, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Faultline, and many other journals. Claire Whitmore is an illustrator and artist living and working in Madison, Wisconsin. She spends her days puttering at her day job, fussing her cat, watching 90s sci-fi, and, of course, drawing.