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White Apples and the Taste of Stone: Selected Poems 1946-2006
by
Donald Hall
Throughout his writing life Donald Hall has garnered numerous accolades and honors, culminating in 2006 with his appointment as poet laureate of the United States. White Apples and the Taste of Stone collects more than two hundred poems from across sixty years of Halls first selected volume in fifteen years, and the first to include poems from his seminal bestseller Withou...more
Paperback, 448 pages
Published
December 3rd 2007
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(first published April 3rd 2006)
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First decently warm night of spring, and I found myself on the back porch for a couple of hours, reading these poems, so many of which I'd read many years ago. I prefer, now, his earlier poems to the later ones, and I was thinking that, in my earlier years, I seemed to like him better. I wasn't feeling very moved, and then:
AFFIRMATION
To grow old is to lose everything.
Againg, everybody knows it.
Even when we are young,
we glimpse it sometimes, and nod our ...more
AFFIRMATION
To grow old is to lose everything.
Againg, everybody knows it.
Even when we are young,
we glimpse it sometimes, and nod our ...more
view all 11 comments
Who says that popular and accessible poetry cannot also be inspiring and challenging? This career retrospective (although not a "complete works") of the former poet laureate is consistently good, and it reads like most poetry that I enjoy does: an extended conversation with a friend who is telling you about his life and about the things he has seen and experienced that impressed him. Granted, that conversation may often employ symbolic word choices, and take one down some interesting b...more
Donald Hall is one of those poets whom poets know but non-poets have and will never hear of. Some of the things he has written can tear right through you--the poems about his family experiences, especially. But he often gets bogged down in the Academic shuffle--the guys who like to write long winded poems which mean little or anything beyond some arcane event the poet doesn't bother to explain.
Still, Hall is a craftsman, and a good one. If you are a poet, you need to read through ...more
Still, Hall is a craftsman, and a good one. If you are a poet, you need to read through ...more
An excellent set compilation of poems from our greatest living poet. The book comes with a CD of Donald Hall reading some of his poems, which is great. Affirmation, The Wish, and Dread are particular favorites.
Not having read Donald Hall before, I am unsure of how I feel about these selected poems.
So far I like best the poems that comment on the form ('Sestina') and those that are ironic or satirical ('Woolworth's' and 'Crewcuts', the latter with its dim view of the men who sport the hairstyle).
In this volume the poems are not dated or organized by collection. I found myself wanting to know the context in which they were written and to which the poet was responding/reacting.
So far I like best the poems that comment on the form ('Sestina') and those that are ironic or satirical ('Woolworth's' and 'Crewcuts', the latter with its dim view of the men who sport the hairstyle).
In this volume the poems are not dated or organized by collection. I found myself wanting to know the context in which they were written and to which the poet was responding/reacting.
Lingered over this one and listened to the CD of Donald Hall reading his poems. So much beauty here. "Names of Horses" and "Great Day in the Cow's House" are two of my all-time favorites -- remind me of why I write poems.
I like Donald Hall and this collection is pretty good, although I think it could have been given a more appealing design.
Currently reading bits and pieces during National Poetry Month 2009.
My thoughts so far:
1. Like his work a lot;
2. Find him incredibly depressing
# # # Update, 10/13/09:
I'm never going to "finish" this in the traditional sense. Who sits down and reads a poetry volume of this size from front to back without a break?
Good stuff. Will keep going back to it. I'm trying to read a poem a day...
My thoughts so far:
1. Like his work a lot;
2. Find him incredibly depressing
# # # Update, 10/13/09:
I'm never going to "finish" this in the traditional sense. Who sits down and reads a poetry volume of this size from front to back without a break?
Good stuff. Will keep going back to it. I'm trying to read a poem a day...
I was lucky enough to have this wonderful man come to my elementary school each year to read us classic poetry as well as some of his own wonderous pieces. Little did we know then how famous he would become.
He has the BEST reading voice. Listen to some of his readings if you EVER get a change.
I'll never forget him reading Casey at the Bat or The Raven. Gives me chills still.
He has the BEST reading voice. Listen to some of his readings if you EVER get a change.
I'll never forget him reading Casey at the Bat or The Raven. Gives me chills still.
Donald Hall is frequently called a poet in the tradition of Frost, and that's probably one of the reasons I appreciate his work so much. His writing is straightforward yet moving, and his voice is sincere and very American. I'm not a huge poetry reader, but I love this book.
What can I say? Donald Hall was a poet laureate of the US, for a reason. He's a keeper. Actually made me cry. There's a great podcast of a poetry reading by him as well, if you can get it.
A vast collection from an essential (American) poet. "The Ox-Cart Man" still stands as one of the most perfectly constructed, enjoyable poems in my mind, my old heart.
A beautiful, sad, tribute to an America lost, to life passing, to the inevitability of change. Donald Hall was U.S. Poet Lauriette (sp?) in .. 2007 I think.
Whimsical one moment and then devastating the next but enjoyable every single one. A must for poets.
The CD that comes with this is perfection.
Oh boy, do I love his poems!
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Donald Hall was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1928. He began writing as an adolescent and attended the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference at the age of sixteen—the same year he had his first work published. He earned a B.A. from Harvard in 1951 and a B. Litt. from Oxford in 1953.
Donald Hall has published numerous books of poetry, most recently White Apples and the Taste of Stone: Sele...more
More about Donald Hall...
Donald Hall has published numerous books of poetry, most recently White Apples and the Taste of Stone: Sele...more
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