Ballad of the Bones and Other Poems

by Byron Herbert Reece

Stated first edition bound in gray cloth with red blocking. A Very Good copy in a Poor dust jacket. Small bumps to the lower corners and rubs to the spine tips and upper corners. Mild soiling to the cloth. The dust jacket is heavily worn. It has several edge chips and one large, 2" chip to the bottom edge of the rear panel. The front panel is almost detached from the spine. Tanning to the panels. Introduction by Jesse Stuart.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1945

Reviews

[Greg Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of Byron Herbert Reece until I read about him in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this year. Reece was a mountain man in North Georgia, a farmer and also a poet. This is the first of his published books of poems. And I really like his work. His poems are mostly ballads that have a musical quality to them. If you enjoy poetry, I recommend that you check out some of Reece's work.

[C.J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's half ballads, and they're half decent; but they're novel for being ballads at all since the fashion isn't to ballad at all these days. More interesting were all the notes stuffed in the first edition book: newsprint clippings from reviews, blurbs, and scribbled addenda. Some Globe writer apparently sat down in the post office on receiving his copy and read right through the entire thing, entranced, until the postman tripped over him.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite being nominated for a Pulitzer, a sadly unknown poet. Herbert Reece specializes in ballads about grief and normal life in the mountains and farms of the mid-west; his descriptions are often lush and beautiful, like describing night coming down as mud. The only way to get hold of his work today is to buy used copies, as there are no ebooks yet.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended for anyone who's spent anytime in Appalachia. A favorite:

Invocation

O Song, hung as clear in the mind
As the tremor of beaten bells,
Come forth now, lovely and clear,
And undisturbed by the swells
Of the ocean of thought that beats
On the shores of a troubled year.
Let what the tongue repeats
Of evil and death be drowned
By a lovelier sound.

[Max Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite writers right now! His work is so honest and simple! I have read his lines and thought, "Wow! That is exactly how I would want to describe it and never had the words!" I have read this very powerful and yet very slim volume several times in the past year!

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains some of the most moving poetry I've ever read.

[Gracielou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Former Poet Laureate of Georgia. His words move me.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would have loved to meet Byron Herbert Reece, and to have been one of his students.