Early Collected Poems

gathers the poems from the first six books of Gerald Stern's body of work. A master poet, Stern has sought new language for the overlooked, neglected, and unseen facets of human experience. Whether writing about modern poets, Hebrew prophets, death, war, or love, "Stern's literary songs are sharp, surprising, and unerring in their delivery" (, Editor's Choice). from "The Red Coal"    

"Stern's unadorned craftsmanship has few rivals in American letters."--

Gerald Stern is the author of the National Book Award-winning This Time, the Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize-winning Early Selected Poems, and other books. He has also been awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Wallace Stevens Award, among many other honors. He lives in Lambertville, New Jersey.