Customer Reviews

Collected Poems

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In his American Poetry Review profile of Jane Kenyon, Liam Rector identifies two attributes of the poet that I found particularly striking and that stayed with me while reading this wonderful collection. He writes that "Jane was one of those women who became ferociously beautiful in middle age" and that she, in comparison to others in their literary circles, was "silence itself."

To read Jane Kenyon in this collected and chronological format is such a joy, as her work is intensely personal. Coming to the end, the reader feels as if a life has been shared, one that is simple yet so rich, gratefully and gracefully lived, always acutely aware. She writes about her marriage, her illness, her husband's cancer, her friends, her home, her depression, her travels, her world. There is an element of domesticity and femininity in Jane Kenyon's verse - she can make hanging out a line of laundry seem like an act of worship - but the overriding motivation is quiet observation, giving pause and space for those lovely transient moments, whispered failings, private joys, intimate discoveries.

This is a lovely book and will be a treasured collection for years.

Jane Kenyon has become a posthumous icon of a poet. Much of her public awareness is due to the incredible devotion to her and her gifts as a writer by her husband, fellow poet and writer Donald Hall. Their 23-year marriage will doubtless go down in literary history as one of the more mutually inspiring relationships in poetry. Their life in New England didn't end with Jane Kenyon's death from leukemia in 1995 at age 47: Donald Hall has memorialized her rare gifts in posthumous publication s of her works. In his words 'With rare exceptions, we remained aware of each other's feelings. It took me half my life, more than half, to discover with Jane's guidance that two people could live together and remain kind.'

Jane Kenyon's poems celebrate the plain things our eyes edit if we diminish our sensitivity. She makes us aware of the common parcels of beauty that fill the world, that elevate the spirit. Her own episodes of depression, fought valiantly through periods of failed bone marrow transplant, in response to her husband's encounter with colon cancer - all can be traced to certain passages, but ever with the ability to see light from the coming horizon. She examines the plain, avoids trite emotion, and reveals the sanctity of each atom our minds can embrace if we remain always receptive.

This is a magnificent book of fine poetry. It is exquisitely written: it is inspirational. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, September 05

Many families have a book or two that have an exalted place in the home - the Bible, the OED, an old scrapbook or a favourite Little Golden Book. Jane Kenyon's Collected Poems will be the volume that will be in my home, to be read, cherished and passed on to my children. It sits with me while I watch Red Sox games or drink a glass of Eberle cabernet. There are few books greater than this one.

Collected Poems gathers all of contemporary poet Jane Kenyon's published poems into a single hardcover volume, including all the poetry in her previous volumes: "From Room to Room", "The Boat of Quiet Hours", "Let Evening Come" and Constance" as well as the posthumously published "Otherwise" and "A Hundred White Daffodils", four poems never previously published in book form, and her translations in "Twenty Poems of Anna Akhmatova". A twentieth-century's lifetime of exploration, growth, development, contemplation and insight are remembered amid the gentle pages of this impressive life's work. On the Road: Though this land is not my own / I will never forget it, / or the waters of its ocean, / fresh and delicately icy. // Sand on the bottom is whiter than chalk, / and the air drunk, like wine. / Late sun lays bare / the rosy limbs of the pine trees. // And the sun goes down in waves of ether / in such a way that I can't tell / if the day is ending, or the world, / or if the secret of secrets is within me again.

This is a book I read three times in a row because I could not stand parting with it, and by parting I simply mean putting back on my shelves.

Jane Kenyon's style reminds me of Billy Collins's (especially "The Trouble With Poetry"): the poems are accessible and yet carefully crafted, they tell a clear story in mesmerizing language. It is obvious that Kenyon would have become a poet as well-known as Collins and her husband Donald Hall, had she not died prematurely; one feels blessed to have this collection at last, a decade after her death.

Kenyon displays enormous talent. She writes timeless poems about her life in Maine, her bouts of depression, Hall and his illness (he was sick before she was), and the disease that will ultimately kill her. Her love for Hall permeates her work - the quiet strength of it is truly inspiring. Any reader will find in this collection many poems that speak to him (or her). People who enjoy reflecting in nature and paying attention to life's little details will particularly cherish this book.

For everyone who thinks poetry is not for them, who fears that poetry is only for the literary critic - that unapproachable allegory and hidden meaning are the only pathways to "true poetry" - please meet Jane Kenyon. The beauty of Jane Kenyon's work lies in its intense honesty, its profound simplicity, and its accessibility. Through her poetry, she opens her door to us and invites us into her life and her home as an intimate friend. And she speaks to us as a close friend would - taking on subjects from the very ordinary and mundane ("The Socks") to the profound and heart-breaking ("Fear of Death Awakens Me"). No matter what the topic, Kenyon peels it open with keen insight and exquisite eloquence.

If you have been introduced to Kenyon by "Otherwise" or by poem-a-day projects such as Poetry 180 and you wonder if the totality of her work can be that good, the answer is yes! Collected Poems is filled with outstanding gems that you will cherish for years to come.

I love my Wife more than my next breath. I read this book before, after and during Donald Halls, "Without: Poems." It was the most dramatic, heart wrenching writing I have ever read. Both of them, together. That is how you should read it. Even though you can't allow Kenyon's work to be tinged by her early death, you need to read these together. Kenyon opens her soul to the changes in her life, her husband, his family, how his family home becomes the fabric of her art, and the beauty she finds hidden in the shadows of the land during her dark nights.

I am also a person of that twilight horizon. The edge is always near to me, but like Kenyon my love draws me back to the morning light.

There is the notice of Life in this book.

This book is a fine tribute to the short life of Jane Kenyon, whose beautiful and memorable poetry has taught me much, enriched my life, and is such a comfort. It is the right book to have near at hand when only a poem will do--and Jane Kenyon never fails to have just the right words.

I came across the poem "Otherwise" a few years back and stuck it on my refrigerator. Recently I went searching for more of Kenyon's poems. This volume is superb; Kenyon's words speak to my soul. This book, a cup of tea, soft music, and an easy chair equals heaven on earth.

An excellent collection of all of Jane Kenyon's published works, presented in chronological order, which I found useful in following the course of her life. While many of her poems are spiritual, they are not overtly religious. In spite of the melancholy nature of much of her work, I find her poems uplifting. Easy to commit portions to memory. I especially like to recall the last part of "Briefly It Enters, Briefly Speaks": "... I am the one whose love/ overcomes you, already with you/ when you think to call my name. . . ." Her poems are a glimpse into a lovely life lived in appreciation of nature, people, relationships. A beautiful poet.