Collected Poems

by Ellen Bryant Voigt

A monumental celebration of “one of the most significant poets writing today” (David Baker, Los Angeles Review of Books ). In eight extraordinary volumes spanning five decades, Ellen Bryant Voigt has created a body of work distinguished by its formal precision, rigorous intelligence, and meticulous observation of nature, history, and domestic life. From the subtly evocative images of Claiming Kin (1976) to the mosaic of sonnets and voices conjuring a prescient narrative of the 1918 influenza pandemic in Kyrie (1995) to fierce encounters with mortality in the National Book Award finalist Shadow of Heaven (2002) and the propulsive inventions of Headwaters (2013), the evolution of Voigt’s astonishing creative and technical mastery is on full display. This definitive collection showcases the brilliant career of “a quintessential American elegist” (Katy Didden, Kenyon Review ). From “Apple Tree”

O my soul,
it is not a small thing,
to have made from three,
this one, this one life.

Genres: Poetry

496 pages, Hardcover

Published February 21, 2023

Reviews

[Nuha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellen Bryant Voigt's contribution to the American letters cannot be understated. This brilliant collection is an ode to her decade spanning leadership and poetic excellence.

[Sharman Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I haven't read read, as in every single poem. And I haven't reread read, which you need to do with poetry. But I am slowly going through this beautiful collection. She's controlled, precise, perfect. You are in the hands of someone who knows what she is doing. Lots of nature and a certain unsentimental bleakness about nature--and that rings true. The cats come out rather well in this, always catching whatever they want to catch.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a life is here. The farm, the animals, the work, the house, the beds, the animals again. And the waters nearby. It's remarkable that I don't know where in time (or place) I was, just that it felt like what I know of my grandparents' Iowa (1940s-60s).

Poems of a long marriage and parenting were stunning.
As were the ones of the flu.
I read this front to back! And every day looked forward to what I'd find. What a sure, clear voice these have. They are both still and so alive.

[Morgan Radley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love poetry like this. It's beautiful and full of so much imagery and memories... I wish more poets wrote like this these days. We seem to be very comfortable accepting table scraps and half-dreamed nightmares for poetry these days.

[Michael Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://criticalflame.org/rekindlings...

[Shay Monowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff