‘To yield is a power:’ Christina Pugh and the poetics of ‘Revelation’

Introduction to Christina Pugh's Poetics

Apocalyptic writing has always wrestled with the same question that drives poetry: what can language reveal when the world seems on the verge of collapse?

In her collection "The Right Hand," Christina Pugh transforms that ancient tension into an inquiry, both of spirit and of body, with poems that inherit the intensity of "The Book of Revelation" yet move through the material world.

To yield is a power

Her poetry becomes an opening, rather than an ending, with a calm and visionary tone, breathing the ache of revelation into ordinary matter, such as needles, basil leaves, marble, skin.

French philosopher Gaston Bachelard's idea that "to read poetry is essentially to daydream" is reflected in Pugh's work, where the daydream joins reality and imagination into one deep current.

Author's Summary

Christina Pugh's poetry transforms apocalyptic tension into a spiritual and bodily inquiry.

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The Daily Lobo The Daily Lobo — 2025-10-20

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