Early Collected Poems 1965-1992 Hardcover by Gerald Stern

Product Details

• Publisher: WW Norton (2010-06-22)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 512 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780393076660
• Item Weight: 963.9 grams
• Dimensions: 24.23 x 16.18 x 4.47 cm

“Stern’s unadorned craftsmanship has few rivals in American letters.”—Philadelphia Inquirer

Early Collected Poems gathers the poems from the first six books of Gerald Stern’s body of work. A master poet, Stern has sought new language for the overlooked, neglected, and unseen facets of human experience. Whether writing about modern poets, Hebrew prophets, death, war, or love, “Stern’s literary songs are sharp, surprising, and unerring in their delivery” (Ploughshares, Editor’s Choice).

from “The Red Coal”
   The coal has taken over, the red coal

   is burning between us and we are at its mercy—
   as if a power is finally dominating
   the two of us; as if we’re huddled up

   watching the black smoke and the ashes;
   as if knowledge is what we needed and now
   we have that knowledge. Now we have that knowledge.

About the Author

Gerald Stern (1925—2022), the author of nineteen volumes of poetry, was awarded the National Book Award, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Wallace Stevens Award, among many other honors.