Hungry Spring and Ordinary Song: Collected Poems (an autobiography of sorts)

by Phyllis Tickle

“I think that Phyllis was a poet first and foremost, before anything else. Here she has attentively gathered all of the poems she wished to preserve from the last half century. A handful of them were written in the last few years. This book should surprise a lot of people. It honestly leaves me breathless.”
—Jon M. Sweeney, editor of  Phyllis Essential Spiritual Writings  (Orbis), and author of the biography,  Phyllis Tickle  (forthcoming)

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 2015

About the author

Phyllis Natalie Tickle was an American author and lecturer whose work focuses on spirituality and religion issues. After serving as a teacher, professor, and academic dean, Tickle entered the publishing industry, serving as the founding editor of the religion department at Publishers Weekly, before then becoming a popular writer. She is well known as a leading voice in the emergence church movement. She is perhaps best known for The Divine Hours series of books, published by Doubleday Press, and her book The Great Emergence- How Christianity Is Changing and Why. Tickle was a member of the Episcopal Church, where she was licensed as both a lector and a lay eucharistic minister. She has been widely quoted by many media outlets, including Newsweek, Time, Life, The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, C-SPAN, PBS, The History Channel, the BBC and VOA. It has been said that "Over the past generation, no one has written more deeply and spoken more widely about the contours of American faith and spirituality than Phyllis Tickle." A biography of Tickle, written by Jon M. Sweeney, was published in February 2018. Phyllis Tickle: A Life (Church Publishing, Inc), has been widely reviewed.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew of the late Phyllis Tickle as a theologian from the emergent church movement. What I didn’t know was that she was also a longtime poet and editorial board member of Paraclete Press, who have named a religious poetry award after her. Her poetry reminded me most of Wendell Berry’s in terms of how rooted it is in a landscape (here, the mountains of Tennessee) and how it reflects on the simple joys of marriage and parenthood. Some of the most poignant poems are about the loss of her young son. I was surprised at the sometimes forthright or even erotic language she uses to discuss gender in others. I also appreciated her writing on ageing and the crone stereotype. She compiled this final collection as a sort of autobiography while dying of cancer.

My favorites are these two quite short ones:

“Of Theologians”

Say not to me

That learned men,

Grown sere and brown,
Add aught to music
By dissecting it to sound.


“Wisdom”

Everyone assumes
That the perfumes
Of August

Are the works of springtime’s buds
Aging into blooms.

But the fading rose,
In her dying, knows,
It is the joy of ceasing
That distills perfume.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite section was The Places of Our Lives. This is the first book by her I have read and also the first time I had even heard of her. I think her poems about people and places, especially were far stronger than the others. Overall, a good book especially as an introduction to the poet as I think every section is meant to be snippets of her and her work. Some of the poems are absolutely beautiful and I really like the added background information she includes for some of them because then the poem takes on a meaning I may not have considered before or it just creates a richer backdrop for it. Overall, not bad and I think I'd read her work again.

[Erin O'Riordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not exactly the right audience for this; it's more religious than what I usually read. There are some gems.

I bought this with my own funds from an online bookstore and was not obligated in any way to review it. Now it's going into the Little Free Library to find a new home.

"Date started" is approximate.

[Sue Whitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems showed me more about Phyllis Tickle as a person, a wife, a mother, a survivor of losses, a lover of nature and neighbors, and someone who is aging.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved some of these poems, others I found obscure. But Phyllis Tickle surely knew how to use words beautifully.

[Michelle Kidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hungry Spring and Ordinary Song Collected Poems (an autobiography of sorts)by Phyllis Tickle

Paraclete Press

Poetry

Pub Date Dec 28, 2015

I was given a copy of Hungry Spring and Ordinary Song Collected Poems (an autobiography of sorts) in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:

This book may be small but it speaks of many aspects of the life of the author. These poems speak of the joys and tragedies in life and everything in between.

If you enjoy poetry then I recommend Hungry Spring and Ordinary Song.

Five out of five Stars

Happy Reading

[Up-in · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book may be small but it's packed with a life time of experiences all explained through poetry.

Must read if you enjoy poetry.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book in-exchange for my honest opinion/review.