Synopses & Reviews
All of Jane Kenyon's published poems gathered in one definitive collection, now in paperbackYes, long shadows go out
from the bales; and yes, the soul
must part from the body:
what else could it do?
--from "Twilight: After Haying" Jane Kenyon is one of America's most prized contemporary poets. Her previous collection, Otherwise: New and Selected Poems, published just after her death in 1995, has been a favorite among readers, with more than 80,000 copies in print, and is a contemporary classic.
Collected Poems assembles all of Kenyon's published poetry in one book. Included here are the complete poems found in her four previous volumes--From Room to Room, The Boat of Quiet Hours, Let Evening Come, and Constance--as well as the poems that appear in her posthumous volumes Otherwise and A Hundred White Daffodils, four poems never before published in book form, and her translations in Twenty Poems of Anna Akhmatova.
Review
"In a just world, Otherwise--beautifully designed by Graywolf--would become a bestseller." --Michael Dirda, The Washington Post
Synopsis
All of Jane Kenyon’ s published poems gathered in one definitive collection, now in paperback
Yes, long shadows go out
from the bales; and yes, the soul
must part from the body:
what else could it do?
— from “ Twilight: After Haying” Jane Kenyon is one of America’ s most prized contemporary poets. Her previous collection, Otherwise: New and Selected Poems, published just after her death in 1995, has been a favorite among readers, with more than 80,000 copies in print, and is a contemporary classic.
Collected Poems assembles all of Kenyon’ s published poetry in one book. Included here are the complete poems found in her four previous volumes— From Room to Room, The Boat of Quiet Hours, Let Evening Come, and Constance— as well as the poems that appear in her posthumous volumes Otherwise and A Hundred White Daffodils, four poems never before published in book form, and her translations in Twenty Poems of Anna Akhmatova,
About the Author
Jane Kenyon is the author of Otherwise: New and Selected Poems and A Hundred White Daffodils. She lived with her husband, Donald Hall, in Wilmot, New Hampshire, until her death in 1995.
Table of Contents
From Room to Room (1978) 1: "Under a Blue Mountain"For the NightLeaving TownFrom Room to RoomHereTwo Days AloneThe ColdThis MorningThe ThimbleChangesFinding a Long Gray HairHanging Pictures in Nanny's RoomIn Several ColorsThe Clothes Pin 2: "Edges of the Map"The NeedleMy MotherCleaning the ClosetIroning Grandmother's TableclothThe Box of Beads 3: "Colors"At a Motel near O'Hare AirportThe First Eight Days of the BeardChanging LightThe SocksThe ShirtStarting TherapyColorsFrom the Back StepsCages 4: "Afternoon in the House"At the FeederThe Circle on the GrassFallingAfternoon in the HouseFull Moon in WinterAfter an Early FrostYear DayThe SuitorAmerican TriptychNow That We Live
The Boat of Quiet Hours (1986) I: "Walking Along in Late Winter"Evening at a Country InnAt the Town DumpKilling the PlantsThe PaintersBack from the CityDeer SeasonNovember CalfThe Beaver Pool in DecemberApple Dropping into Deep Early SnowDrink, Eat, SleepRain in JanuaryDepression in WinterBright Sun after Heavy Snow II: "Mud Season"The HermitThe Pond at DuskHigh Water Evening SunSummer 1890: Near the GulfPhotograph of a Child on a Vermont HillsideWhat Came to MeMain Street: Tilton, New HampshireTeacherFrost FlowersThe Sandy HoleDepressionSun and MoonWhirligigsFebruary: Thinking of FlowersPortrait of a Figure Near WaterMud Season III: "The Boat of Quiet Hours"Thinking of Madame BovaryApril WalkPhilosophy in Warm WeatherNo StepsWashInertiaCamp EvergreenThe AppointmentSick at Summer's EndAlong for a WeekThe BatSiesta: BarbadosTrouble with Math in a One-Room Country SchoolThe Little Boat IV: "Things"SongAt the Summer SolsticeComing Home at Twilight in Late SummerThe VisitParents' Weekend: Camp KenwoodReading Late of the Death of KeatsInpatientCampers Leaving: Summer 1981Travel: After a DeathYard SaleSiesta: Hotel FrattinaAfter TravelingTwilight: After HayingWhoBriefly It Enters, and Briefly SpeaksThings
Let Evening Come (1990) Three Songs at the End of SummerAfter the HurricaneAfter Working Long on One ThingWaking in January before DawnCatching FrogsIn the Grove: The Poet at TenThe PearChristmas Away from HomeTaking Down the TreeDark Morning: SnowSmall Early ValentineAfter the Dinner PartyLeaving BarbadosThe Blue BowlThe LetterWe Let the Boat DriftSpring ChangesInsomniaApril ChoresThe ClearingWorkPrivate BeachAt the Spanish Steps in RomeWaitingStaying at Grandma'sChurch FairA Boy Goes into the WorldThe Three SusansLearning in the First GradeAt the Public Market Museum: Charleston, South CarolinaLines for AkhmatovaHeavy Summer RainSeptember Garden PartyWhile We Were ArguingDry WinterOn the AisleAt the Winter SolsticeThe GuestFather and SonThree CrowsSpring SnowIce OutGoing AwayNow Where?Letter to AliceAfter an Illness, Walking the DogWash DayGeraniumCultural ExchangeHomesickSummer: 6:00 a.m.Walking Notes: Hamden, ConnecticutLast DaysLooking at StarsAt the Dime StoreLet Evening ComeWith the Dog at Sunrise
Constance (1993) I: "The Progress of a Beating Heart"August Rain, after HayingThe StrollerThe ArgumentBiscuitNot WritingWindfalls II: "Tell me how to bear myself . . . "Having It Out with MelancholyLitterChrysanthemumsClimbBackMoving the FrameFear of Death Awakens Me III: "Peonies at Dusk"Winter LambsNot HereCoatsIn Memory of JackInsomnia at the SolsticePeonies at DuskThe Secret IV: "Watch Ye, Watch Ye"Three Small OrangesA Portion of HistoryPotatoSleepers in JaipurGettysburg: July 1, 1863PharaohOtherwiseNotes from the Other Side Last Poems in
Otherwise (1996) and in
A Hundred White Daffodils (1999)HappinessMosaic of the Nativity: Serbia, Winter 1993Man EatingMan WakingMan SleepingCesareanSurpriseNoDrawing from the PastThe CallIn the Nursing HomeHow Like the SoundEating the CookiesSpring EveningPrognosisAfternoon at MacDowellFatThe Way Things Are in FranklinDutch InteriorsReading Aloud to My FatherWoman, Why Are You Weeping?The Sick Wife The Uncollected PoemsWhat It's LikeIndolence in Early WinterBreakfast at the Mount Washington HotelAt the IGA: Franklin, New Hampshire Translations:
Twenty Poems of Anna Akhmatova (1985) Index of Poem Titles and First Lines