Donald Hall Books

Set in the summer of 1910, this companion to Lucy's Christmas follows young Lucy Wells through a memorable season. The narrative is enriched by award-winning poet Hall's lyrical storytelling, while McCurdy's stunning scratchboard illustrations bring the historical setting to life with vibrant detail. Together, they capture the essence of a bygone era, offering readers a glimpse into Lucy's enchanting world. Full-color artwork enhances the experience, making it a visually captivating journey.

The narrative offers a poignant exploration of life on a New Hampshire farm, reflecting on the author's childhood summers spent with his grandparents. As he matures, he witnesses the decline of the farm and the aging of his loved ones, capturing the complexities of nostalgia and loss. Each story-essay reveals a deep affection for the land and its people, while also hinting at the inevitability of change and the passage of time. In the Epilogue, Hall's return to the farm after twenty-five years adds a layer of reflection on memory and legacy.

You might expect the fact of dying--the dying of a beloved wife and fellow poet--to make for a bleak and lonely tale. But Donald Hall's poignant and courageous poetry, facing that dread fact, involves us all: the magnificent, humorous, and gifted woman, Jane Kenyon, who suffered and died; the doctors and nurses who tried but failed to save her; the neighbors, friends, and relatives who grieved for her; the husband who sat by her while she lived and afterward sat in their house alone with his pain, self-pity, and fury; and those of us who till now had nothing to do with it. As Donald Hall writes, "Remembered happiness is agony; so is remembered agony." Without will touch every feeling reader, for everyone has suffered loss and requires the fellowship of elegy. In the earth's oldest poem, when Gilgamesh howls of the death of Enkidu, a grieving reader of our own time may feel a kinship, across the abyss of four thousand years, with a Sumerian king. In Without Donald Hall speaks to us all of grief, as a poet lamenting the death of a poet, as a husband mourning the loss of a wife. Without is Hall's greatest and most honorable achievement -- his give and testimony, his lament and his celebration of loss and of love.

Experience the warmth of a traditional New England Christmas as it captures the joy of handmade gifts and family togetherness. This nostalgic journey emphasizes the value of creativity and personal touch in holiday celebrations, inviting children to appreciate the charm of simpler times. The narrative celebrates the spirit of giving and the satisfaction derived from crafting presents, fostering a deeper connection to the holiday season.

Capturing the essence of life at Eagle Pond Farm, Donald Hall reflects on his deep connection to this New Hampshire landscape, where he spent cherished moments with his grandparents and later his wife, poet Jane Kenyon. The collection features previously published works alongside uncollected essays and a poem, offering a rich tapestry of experiences through the seasons. Hall's writing blends humor and nostalgia, celebrating a vanishing way of life while exploring themes of love, loss, and the passage of time in a changing world.

Aiming to represent what is best in American poetry, from Anne Bradstreet to Richard Wilbur, this book provides textual and biographical notes. The book includes works by Frenau, Longfellow, Whittaker, Whitman, William Carlos Williams, Crane and Pound.

A former poet laureate presents a new collection of essays delivering an unexpected view from the vantage point of very old age.

A collection of essays by contemporary American poets on the subject of their art

Within the pages of this anthology, now in its second edition, you ll find 39 American poets from across the twentieth century. In his introduction, editor and Guggenheim fellow Donald Hall, describes the face of American poetry as "subjective." The American poem reveals through images not particular pain, but general subjective life . . . The poet uses fantasy and distortion to express feeling. "