What do you think?
Rate this book
In Springtime
Lost in the woods with a horse, a mouse, and the ghost of a dead bird, you will discover if you're meant to live
In Sarah Blake's epic poem of survival, we follow a nameless main character lost in the woods. There, they discover the world anew, negotiating their place among the trees and the rain and the animals. Something brought them to the woods that nearly killed them, and they're not sure they want to live through this experience either. But the world surprises them again and again with beauty and intrigue. They come to meet a pregnant horse, a curious mouse, and a dead bird, who is set on haunting them all. Blake examines what makes us human when removed from the human world, what identity means where it is a useless thing, and how loss shapes us. In a stunning setting and with ominous dreams, In Springtime will take you into a magical world without using any magic at all--just the strangeness of the woods.
7.
If only the night held one dream instead of many.
In the next dream you dig up the bird.
In the next dream you dig in the same place and find a gun. You've shot someone. You weren't supposed to return to this place where you hid the gun.
You're an idiot in your dream.
In the next dream the horse returns. The horse startles you awake. But you are still asleep. Dreams are some wicked things.
In the next dream you are in a desert. That's different.
You forget what grass is. What it smells like. What the shadows of trees look like across your legs.
You laugh your head off at the sight of a cactus.
In the next dream you can see the spirit of the bird that will haunt you for weeks. Her tongue makes you think all of her words will come out garbled.
Then you remember all she does is sing.
In Sarah Blake's epic poem of survival, we follow a nameless main character lost in the woods. There, they discover the world anew, negotiating their place among the trees and the rain and the animals. Something brought them to the woods that nearly killed them, and they're not sure they want to live through this experience either. But the world surprises them again and again with beauty and intrigue. They come to meet a pregnant horse, a curious mouse, and a dead bird, who is set on haunting them all. Blake examines what makes us human when removed from the human world, what identity means where it is a useless thing, and how loss shapes us. In a stunning setting and with ominous dreams, In Springtime will take you into a magical world without using any magic at all--just the strangeness of the woods.
7.
If only the night held one dream instead of many.
In the next dream you dig up the bird.
In the next dream you dig in the same place and find a gun. You've shot someone. You weren't supposed to return to this place where you hid the gun.
You're an idiot in your dream.
In the next dream the horse returns. The horse startles you awake. But you are still asleep. Dreams are some wicked things.
In the next dream you are in a desert. That's different.
You forget what grass is. What it smells like. What the shadows of trees look like across your legs.
You laugh your head off at the sight of a cactus.
In the next dream you can see the spirit of the bird that will haunt you for weeks. Her tongue makes you think all of her words will come out garbled.
Then you remember all she does is sing.
- GenresPoetry
96 pages, Hardcover
Published March 7, 2023
44 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Blake
8 books147 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads' database with this name.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 11, 2022
I am providing this review in exchange for an e-arc of Sarah Blake’s new work In Springtime, from the author. I highly recommend In Springtime, and I am sure I received the better part of this exchange with Blake.
In Springtime author, Sarah Blake, places the reader convincingly at the center of her poem over four transformative days. Outside, sometimes naked, mostly alone except as a caregiver to a bird, mouse and a mare, you are called upon to ponder sorrow as near death, bartered death, potential death, and life after death. Blake’s writing oscillates between feelings of isolation and belonging as you tend to burial and birth. She depicts the intertwined closeness of caregiving, fear, loss, and isolation with her stark and smart words. In Springtime is birth and new life but as Blake reminds us, living and joyfulness is not without cost. How do we care for living things? How does fear impact our decisions? What happens when we move into joy and acceptance? How do we protect each other?
Nicky Arscott’s illustrations, presented as solitary figures without their environment, reinforce the characters’ roles and feelings. The bird’s ghost, the mare in her wild eye fear, the similarities between the curled up mouse, the curled up figure and the foal in the womb, all add to the experience of Blake’s words. Each creature is presented alone and mostly diminutive except for the final illustration of the mare and her foal as they move swiftly away and out of the story.
My late mother kept horses and these ties between caregiving, motherhood, isolation, loss, love, and release resonate strongly for me.
I was first introduced to Blake through her book Clean Air, which I also highly recommend.
In Springtime author, Sarah Blake, places the reader convincingly at the center of her poem over four transformative days. Outside, sometimes naked, mostly alone except as a caregiver to a bird, mouse and a mare, you are called upon to ponder sorrow as near death, bartered death, potential death, and life after death. Blake’s writing oscillates between feelings of isolation and belonging as you tend to burial and birth. She depicts the intertwined closeness of caregiving, fear, loss, and isolation with her stark and smart words. In Springtime is birth and new life but as Blake reminds us, living and joyfulness is not without cost. How do we care for living things? How does fear impact our decisions? What happens when we move into joy and acceptance? How do we protect each other?
Nicky Arscott’s illustrations, presented as solitary figures without their environment, reinforce the characters’ roles and feelings. The bird’s ghost, the mare in her wild eye fear, the similarities between the curled up mouse, the curled up figure and the foal in the womb, all add to the experience of Blake’s words. Each creature is presented alone and mostly diminutive except for the final illustration of the mare and her foal as they move swiftly away and out of the story.
My late mother kept horses and these ties between caregiving, motherhood, isolation, loss, love, and release resonate strongly for me.
I was first introduced to Blake through her book Clean Air, which I also highly recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2024
This is a surreal dreamscape that readers should return to over and over in order to fully grasp the magnitude of the metaphors presented here. This is phenomenal allegorical work.
March 4, 2023
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
In Springtime is a narrative book of poems that meditates on caregiving, identity, grief, and nature. It’s a quick but moving read, and I enjoyed it very much.
For you if: You like poetry, or you’re looking for an accessible entry into poetry.
FULL REVIEW:
I loved Sarah Blake’s novels, Naamah and Clean Air, so I was delighted to receive an early copy of her new narrative book of poems, In Springtime. I love the was Blake’s mind works, and she’s a word artist. This was a quick but moving read, and I really enjoyed it.
In Springtime is about an unnamed narrator lost in the woods with a dead bird (and its ghost), a small mouse, and a pregnant horse. Over the course of four days, we get a meditation on caregiving, identity, grief, nature, and more. It’s really quite beautiful. There are a lot of layers here to ruminate on, and I’m sure I only barely scratched the surface of them myself. I’m going to have to reread for sure.
One of the best parts of this book, in my opinion, is that it has plenty for people who love poetry and read a lot of it, but also for people who have very little experience with poetry. The narrative, plot-like structure draws you in and really lets you settle into the rhythm of it all.
If you like poetry — or you’re looking for an accessible entry into reading more poetry — pick this one up!
CONTENT AND TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Animal death; Pregnancy and childbirth
TL;DR REVIEW:
In Springtime is a narrative book of poems that meditates on caregiving, identity, grief, and nature. It’s a quick but moving read, and I enjoyed it very much.
For you if: You like poetry, or you’re looking for an accessible entry into poetry.
FULL REVIEW:
I loved Sarah Blake’s novels, Naamah and Clean Air, so I was delighted to receive an early copy of her new narrative book of poems, In Springtime. I love the was Blake’s mind works, and she’s a word artist. This was a quick but moving read, and I really enjoyed it.
In Springtime is about an unnamed narrator lost in the woods with a dead bird (and its ghost), a small mouse, and a pregnant horse. Over the course of four days, we get a meditation on caregiving, identity, grief, nature, and more. It’s really quite beautiful. There are a lot of layers here to ruminate on, and I’m sure I only barely scratched the surface of them myself. I’m going to have to reread for sure.
One of the best parts of this book, in my opinion, is that it has plenty for people who love poetry and read a lot of it, but also for people who have very little experience with poetry. The narrative, plot-like structure draws you in and really lets you settle into the rhythm of it all.
If you like poetry — or you’re looking for an accessible entry into reading more poetry — pick this one up!
CONTENT AND TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Animal death; Pregnancy and childbirth
June 1, 2024
I really appreciate this format - narrative poetry. It felt accessible and powerfully immersive, even if some of the metaphor might be lost on me the first read through.
I love the expression of human as also animal. Removed from modern society, another animal in the forest. I have never felt so compelled to run naked through the woods, counting the raindrops hitting my skin. To acknowledge the wildness that we spend so much time trying to ignore.
The art that accompanies the poetry is so enriching to the story as well.
I wish there were more reviews to read, to unpack everything. I wish the author could sit down and explain it all, but magicians don’t reveal their secrets do they? That’s what keeps it magic.
I love the expression of human as also animal. Removed from modern society, another animal in the forest. I have never felt so compelled to run naked through the woods, counting the raindrops hitting my skin. To acknowledge the wildness that we spend so much time trying to ignore.
The art that accompanies the poetry is so enriching to the story as well.
I wish there were more reviews to read, to unpack everything. I wish the author could sit down and explain it all, but magicians don’t reveal their secrets do they? That’s what keeps it magic.
June 25, 2023
Brilliant amazing. Heartbreaking gorgeous. Painful beautiful.
May 26, 2025
Weirdly moving and strange.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews