Jane Kenyon's poem "Evening at a Country Inn" is narrated by a voice watching a loved one, distracted by the memory of a violent accident. The final lines are "I wish you would look at the hay--/ the beautiful sane and solid bales/ of hay." Much of Kenyon's extraordinary work is about walking that tightrope: between the natural heartaches that come with being alive, and the beauty, the serenity that can come with choosing to enjoy that life, even in the face of despair. Poet laureate of New Hampshire, Kenyon filled only four collections during her lifetime--cut short by leukemia in 1995--but even a brief work like "Biscuit" lingers for hours after.
Selected by her husband, Donald Hall, prior to his death in 2018, The Best Poems of Jane Kenyon offers a perfect introduction to the poet's work for new readers. Readers can feel her command of language in each poem; her vocabulary can be extremely concise, yet certain phrases linger in the mind for hours after. Longer poems such as "The Stroller" (written about her father) also demonstrate her understanding of form and the bittersweet quality of her voice. Poetry appeared to have been a crossroads for Kenyon, a place where she could reconcile her depression and her losses with the same spirit that called on her to write. To read this book, then, is to visit that place and to marvel at the wonders it holds. --C.M. Crockford, freelance reviewer