Poems
Nora May French
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Nora May French was a Californian poet and a member of the bohemian literary circles of the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club, which flourished after the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906. She gained minor recognition, but no financial stability, through local magazines. Published posthumously by friends in 1910, four years after French's suicide, Poems by Nora May French was the first and only compilation of her works until 2009.
Although many of her poems celebrate the serenity of coastal landscape, others are less sanguine. They offer glimpses into the mind of a young woman plagued by heartbreak and torn between pressure to submit to social roles and longing to live creatively. The most famous poem in the collection, The Spanish Girl, reflects on a failed engagement, the first of many. - Summary by Mary Kay (1 hr 21 min)
Chapters
| The Outer Gate | 1:22 | Read by Jeanie |
| Rain / Best-Loved | 1:51 | Read by Jeanie |
| The Rose | 1:30 | Read by Eric Metzler |
| Between Two Rains | 1:10 | Read by Mary Kay |
| The Message / By the Hospital / Oh, Dryad Thoughs | 2:54 | Read by Eric Metzler |
| Music in the Pavilion | 1:30 | Read by Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| Rebuke | 1:30 | Read by Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| In Camp | 1:05 | Read by Jennifer Duval |
| The Nymph | 4:12 | Read by Kristin G. |
| Vivisection / The Stranger | 1:51 | Read by Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| The Constant Ones / Instinct | 1:32 | Read by Jennifer Duval |
| San Francisco, New Year's, 1907 | 2:43 | Read by Little Tee |
| The Poppy Field | 1:18 | Read by Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| You | 1:00 | Read by Jennifer Duval |
| Just a Dog | 2:06 | Read by Ian King |
| Mirage / Dusk | 2:45 | Read by Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| The Spanish Girl, Part I | 7:04 | Read by Jennifer Duval |
| The Spanish Girl, Part II | 4:45 | Read by Kristin G. |
| The Spanish Girl, Part III | 5:40 | Read by Kristin G. |
| The Garden of Dolores | 1:05 | Read by KHand |
| Indifference / After-Knowledge | 2:09 | Read by Melanie Ward |
| Two Spendthrift Kings / Growth | 1:49 | Read by James Koss |
| Change / Wistaria | 2:02 | Read by Larry Wilson |
| My Nook | 2:13 | Read by Shiloh Fuscello |
| When Plaintively and Near the Cricket Sings / The Little Memories | 2:30 | Read by Larry Wilson |
| Pass By / In Empty Courts | 2:07 | Read by Ian King |
| Down the Trail | 1:18 | Read by Kristin G. |
| Bells from Over the Hills Sound Sweet | 2:15 | Read by Lanie Butler |
| In Town / Moods | 1:37 | Read by KHand |
| A Misty Morning / Two Songs | 2:44 | Read by Jesse Liwag |
| Noon / Your Beautiful Passing | 1:28 | Read by Alton Kane |
| By Moonlight / One Day | 2:00 | Read by DomBombadil |
| The Mission Graves / Along the Track | 2:05 | Read by Larry Wilson |
| A Place of Dreams / Think Not, O Lilias | 1:44 | Read by Ashley |
| To Rosy Buds | 1:16 | Read by Ashley |
| Yesterday | 1:28 | Read by Jordan Heron |
| The Mourner / Ava Atque Vale | 2:03 | Read by KHand |