Denise Levertov

Denise Levertov was a British-born American poet. While being educated at home, Levertov showed an enthusiasm for writing from an early age, even claiming later in life that, when she was five years old, she had declared she would be a writer. At the age of 12, she sent some of her poems to T. S. Eliot, who replied with a two-page letter of encouragement. In 1940, when she was 17, Levertov published her first poem. During the Blitz, Levertov served in London as a civilian nurse.