Jane Kenyon epitomizes many poets of the 1970s and 1980s: a feminist of sorts; an academic brought up through the ranks of little-magazine publication, followed by contracts with the independent press...
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In the following review, Oktenberg expresses her approval of the simple, straightforward poems in Kenyon's From Room to Room.
Jane Kenyon is apparently translated to New England from Michiga...
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In the following review, Cookson purports that the genius of the simple poems in Otherwise: New and Selected Poems is Kenyon's spark of imagination and her ability to convey the inspiration of ...
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In the following excerpt, Breslin details the evolution of Kenyon's poems from From Room to Room to Otherwise: New and Selected Poems. Breslin sadly notes the irony that Kenyon was just beginni...
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In the following essay, McNair explores Kenyon's relationship with her husband, Donald Hall, and underscores the overt and the subconscious influences they had on each other's work.
T...
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In the following excerpt, Merritt analyzes the poems collected in Otherwise: New and Selected Poems and notes Kenyon's preoccupation with death and dying. However, Merritt asserts, this morbidi...
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In the following essay, Breslin explores Kenyon's poem “Having It Out with Melancholy” and investigates the levels and different definitions of the melancholia depicted in the poe...
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In the following essay, Harris lauds the serenity in the face of an inevitable death, and the calm assurances of solace in Kenyon's poem, “Let Evening Come.”
Let the light of l...
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In the following essay, Davis and Womack center on the often-repeated theme of mortality in Kenyon's poems. The critics contend that while Kenyon does face mortality with trepidation, her poems...
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In the following essay, Hostetler studies the many references to food and hunger in Kenyon's work. Hostetler notes that Kenyon often uses food imagery to symbolize sustenance—actual food...
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In the following essay, Spirko examines the techniques Kenyon uses to express and control emotion in her poetry.
… I dream of lost vocabularies that might express some of what we no longer c...
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In the following essay, Timmerman observes the poignancy of the poems in Otherwise: New and Selected Poems and analyzes works from her earlier volumes and previously uncollected writings that were not...
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In the following review, Gregerson commends Kenyon's form and control in the poems contained in The Boat of Quiet Hours.
The beauty of repose is a beauty most of us may only fitfully emulate...
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In the following excerpt, Unterecker notes the difference between Kenyon's first collection, From Room to Room, and her second, The Boat of Quiet Hours, concerning her feelings of belonging in ...
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In the following excerpt, Baker laments that, aside from a handful of quality poems, most of the verse in Let Evening Come is terse and redundant—which he finds disappointing, considering the q...
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In the following interview, which was conducted in March, 1993, Kenyon discusses art and politics, the necessity of the arts in the schools, poetry translations, and the importance of poetry and the p...
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In the following review, Barber contends that some of the poems in Constance: Poems feel as if Kenyon is experimenting with, and not quite perfecting, poetry with a larger scope than that of her previ...
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In the following excerpt, Gordon comments on the various tones and subjects in Otherwise: New and Selected Poems.
For Jane Kenyon violence is, as in nature, inevitable, necessary, even welcome. Ken...
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In the following essay, Richman explains that Kenyon's poems are difficult to categorize because her poetry contains unexpected elements. Richman also compares Kenyon's poetry writing wi...
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In the following review, Oktenberg contemplates the beauty, simplicity, and expertise of Kenyon's poetry and discusses the recurring themes in Otherwise: New and Selected Poems.
Jane Kenyon&...
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The Best Day the Worst Day: Life with Jane Kenyon, by Donald Hall. Houghton Mifflin, 258 pages, $23.Jane Kenyon died in the morning 10 years ago, at three minutes before the 8 o'clock news, with he...
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Of the two major milestones for
Donald
Hall
in 2006, only one was planned by him: the publication of
Hall
's readings of his own work—featured poetry written between 1946 and 2006. The une...
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Jane Kenyon
Critical Review by Adrian Oktenberg
Living and Dying a Poet: A Celebration of Joy and Pain
