Born Hilda Doolittle, in 1886 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the pen name H.D. was given to Doolittle by Ezra Pound. H.D. attended Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia where she first befriended Marianne Moore.

She later attended the University of Pennsylvania where she met Pound and fellow poet, William Carlos Williams. Initially engaged to Pound, Doolittle was greatly influenced by her fiancé even after the two split up. Pound was also essentially responsible for H.D.'s first success, helping her see her first three poems appear in Harriet Monroe's Poetry magazine.

Doolittle's father was of strong intellect serving as an astronomer for the University of Pennsylvania. H.D. was raised in the Moravian traditions of her mother, a key factor in the poet's development of poetic imagery.

H.D. traveled to Europe in 1911 for what was expected to be the summer only. However, she remained abroad for the remainder of her life.

In 1913, she married the English poet, Richard Aldington. Their marriage would end in 1919, a year in which H.D. experienced the death of a brother killed in war, the death of her father, and the death of her friendships with Ezra Pound and D.H. Lawrence. In addition, that year, H.D. gave birth to a daughter Arlington insisted was not his child.

H.D.'s poems reveal her personal and historical experiences and her attraction to the image of the Greek goddess, Helen. In essence, H.D. saw Helen as an image of herself. She also took exception to the fact that the story of the Trojan War was told entirely from the male perspective.

H.D. did not receive a great deal of attention or fame during her lifetime. She was generally regarded as writing from a feminist perspective and thus was far ahead of her time.

Since her death, however, she has become known as one of the most gifted female poets ever. H.D. died in 1961 of the flu.

Sea Rose

Rose, harsh rose,
marred and with stint of petals,
meagre flower, thin,
sparse of leaf,
more precious
than a wet rose
single on a stem--
you are caught in the drift.
Stunted, with small leaf,
you are flung on the sand,
you are lifted
in the crisp sand
that drives in the wind.
can the spice rose
drip such acrid fragrance
hardened in a leaf?