In eight extraordinary volumes spanning five decades, Ellen Bryant Voigt
has created a body of work distinguished by its formal precision,
rigorous intelligence, and meticulous observation of nature, history,
and domestic life. From the subtly evocative images of Claiming Kin
(1976) to the mosaic of sonnets and voices conjuring a prescient
narrative of the 1918 influenza pandemic in Kyrie (1995) to fierce
encounters with mortality in the National Book Award finalist Shadow of
Heaven (2002) and the propulsive inventions of Headwaters (2013), the
evolution of Voigt's astonishing creative and technical mastery is on
full display. This definitive collection showcases the brilliant career
of "a quintessential American elegist" (Katy Didden, Kenyon Review).
From "Apple Tree"
O my soul,
it is not a small thing,
to have made from three,
this one, this one life.