Burying the Wren

by Deryn Rees-Jones

Alive to the world and the transformative qualities of love, the poems in this collection concern emotions and relationships. Utilizing a clear and mature vision, the poet lyrically expresses experiences concerning love and family. Skillfully pitting the ordinary yet mysterious “small things” of the universe, such as flowers, against loss, these poems also elegize the poet’s late husband, poet and critic Michael Murphy.

Genres: Poetry

63 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2012

About the author

Rees-Jones is an Anglo-Welsh poet and professor of poetry at the University of Liverpool. She has a PhD from Birkbeck where she studied women poets. She has published four volumes of poetry. 'Burying the Wren' was a TLS Book of the Year and a Poetry Book Society Recommendation.

Reviews

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heady and gorgeous... I loved every line

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, rounded down.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of poems, some (Dog-Woman) powerful, others delicate. Small objects and big issues handled with equal competence and some haunting phrases. Slugs even...their trails described as Isadora Duncan's scarves.

[Helen Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely, sad, beautiful. Small natural objects like a feather or egg or fossil or truffle. Death of a lover. The body. The black hole of daughters.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hate to give a writer a low rating for something that's not actually bad - it's just that none of these poems grabbed me. Sorry.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really wonderful collection that I've now read several times. I'm so glad I discovered it.