Silence Fell

by Josephine Dickinson, Galway Kinnell (Introduction)

A serious illness at the age of six left Josephine Dickinson deaf overnight. She nonetheless built an astounding career as a musician, composer, and teacher while also writing poetry filled with sound and rhythm. During a reading tour in England, Galway Kinnell was given two of Dickinson's books. Her poems made such an impression on him that he passed the books on to his publisher. Silence Fell, Dickinson's American debut, draws from her previous collections. The poems are set on a sheep farm in the northern mountains of England and tell the story -- in the form of a modern shepherd's calendar -- of her marriage to a Cumbrian sheep farmer, a man more than twice her age, and their life together, until his death in 2004. As the poet Michael Donaghy wrote, "Hers is a vision edged with mystery and rendered with arresting, occasionally breathtaking craft. She bears, with no small authority, an air of independence reminiscent of Emily Dickinson."

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Hardcover

First published March 12, 2007

Reviews

[Beth Bonini · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read poetry as often as I'd like, so I was delighted to be given this collection of poems as a Christmas gift. Poetry seems so suitable for the tired, sometimes trance-like period of early January. I've read through these poems a number of times, sometimes in the bath and sometimes in bed, sometimes very quickly and sometimes more slowly and contemplatively -- and like all good poetry they have slowly revealed themselves. Sometimes Dickinson's descriptions are quite literal, and even graphically so (The Lambs Were Still Running with the Ewes); at other times, her choice of words and images is very elusive. She has a really subtle and pleasing way with internal rhyme and I liked her careful wordplay (for instance, in the title of the collection).

You can't avoid the biographical in these poems, and Dickinson doesn't even try to -- indeed, quite the opposite. The cycle of poems (arranged in an annual way, and frequently touching on the weather or seasonal chores that make up a sheep farmer's life) are also a compression of the six years she spends with her husband: from their first meeting and sexual relationship, to familiarity and routine, to his decline and death. She was in her early 40s, deaf, a native Londoner educated in Oxford; he was in his late 80s, a native Cumbrian, a widower, a farmer. Their marriage of opposites has a shock value, and she does touch on that -- both as they deal with their differences, and also as friends and neighbours perceive them. How mysterious is love! These are not really love poems for the most part, and yet this unusual and surprising marriage inspires every poem in this collection.

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw Josephine read at Smith College and was entranced by her very cool poems, so I bought her book on the spot and had her sign it. I was not dissapointed, great stuff.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dickinson lives in the north of England on a sheep farm. Deaf from childhood, she married a much older man and these poems are beautiful crafted lyrics of their life together on the farm. Galway Kinnell met Josephine and discovered her work when he was in England and became her mentor. I heard her read a couple of years ago in Vermont and was entranced by both her work and her reading. I brought the book home with me and have re-read many times..these are poems of love and it's difficulties and rewards...and of what endures beyond death. I recommend it highly.

[Tim Mayo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mastery of these poems is only matched by the richness of the collection’s title. The word “fell” means (besides the
past tense of “to fall”) a “stretch of high moorland especially in northern England,” and in that corner of Dickinson’s
world, places carry such names as Black Fell, Fiend’s Fell, Cross Fell, as well as Alston Moor which the fictitious “Silence Fell” represents. But why rename the place you live in when fiction is not your purpose? More than likely because silence
first fell and stayed when Dickinson became deaf at the age of six, then again when her husband died.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this one up randomly from a Half Price Books clearance shelf. Once I started reading it, I had to finish it in one sitting. Josephine Dickinson has a rare talent. I will never forget some of her poetic lines, such as "Do I sleep with you or you with me?" Other people's reactions to her marriage to a much older man were predictable and crass, but her love for her now-deceased husband as well as a donkey on their farm were beautifully depicted. Another book to add to my permanent collection!

[JB Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartwarming/breaking story told through verse about the year the author spent with her husband on their farm before he passed away. I especially liked the verses dealing with things like the rain and when the telephone would read because the author happens to be deaf. If you're a fan of Emily Dickinson or Barbara Kingsolver (especially her book "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral") I think you would enjoy this quick read.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

the ones about others' reactions toward her May-Dec marriage were the best.