Anthracite Country: Poems

by Jay Parani

Paperback: 68 pages Publisher: Random House; First Edition edition (February 1982) ISBN-10: 0394704541 ISBN-13: 978-0394704548 Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.5 inches Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces

Genres: Poetry

68 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthracite Country:Poems by Jay Parini was a lovely book of various poems that reveal the author's love of nature, in its many forms. He expresses a special fondness for his local flora and fauna, along with the woman who captures his affections. I have found a new author to enjoy.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I pride myself on knowing the poetry of Pennsylvania -- that is the poets who take on the landscape and people of my homestate. So I was a bit embarrassed when I found Anthracite Country by Jay Parini, a gem of a poetry book resting on the bookshelves of my local library. I had read Parini's criticism, but not his poetry, and I really enjoyed this collection. In this slim volume of poems, Parini tackles class issues, labor history, and even religion. And of course, as the title of the book suggests, every poem is set in the Anthracite coal region of Eastern Pennsylvania. In essence, Parini's book is about the importance of memory, and the way that memory can play an important part in the literature of witness.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was drawn to this poetry collection because, like Jay Parini, I am from the anthracite coal country of Northeastern Pennsylvania. I appreciated the poetry of miners and mining--especially the very moving "The Miner's Wake."

"But their widowed mother, at thirty-four,
had mastered every pose of mourning,
plodding the sadness like an ox through mud.

Her mind ran well ahead of her heart,
making calculations of the years without him
that stretched before her like a humid summer."

There are also some very fine nature poems written by a poet with a keen eye and a love of landscape. A very fine collection.

[Bill Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only a poet could think back with such longing on Scranton, PA.

[Bradthad Codgeroger · Rating 5 out of 5]

From a boyhood along the Lackawanna to an adulthood in Scotland. Parini's poems in sequence are moving.