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A collection of haunting lyricism that evokes the beauty and hardship of rural life, by a revered American master of letters the award-winning, bestselling author of Serena, Something Rich and Strange, and Above the WaterfallIn this incandescent, profound, and accessible collection, beloved and award-winning poet, novelist, and short- story writer Ron Rash channels the rhythms of life in Appalachia, deftly capturing the panoply of individuals who are its heart. In language that is accessible, sometimes colloquial, but imbued with a subtle craft derived from the intra-line harmonies (cynghanedd) of medieval Welsh poetics, Rash evokes the splendor of the natural landscape and poignantly renders the lives of those dependent on its bounty in cotton mills and tobacco fields, farmlands and forests. The haunting memories and shared histories of these people their rituals and traditions animate this land, and are celebrated in Rash s crystalline, intensely imagined verse.With an eye for the surprising and vibrant detail, Ron Rash powerfully captures the sorrows and exaltations of this wondrous world he knows intimately. As B.H. Fairchild has noted, There is nothing else quite like this work in American poetry at the present time, and we desperately need it. Illuminating and indelible, Poems demonstrates his rich talents and confirms his legacy as a standard-bearer for the literature of the American South.Praise for the poetry of Ron Rash With its steady gaze through the prism of catastrophe, this quietly marvelous book evokes all the truth and bare distinctiveness of a way of life. Les Murray on Raising the Dead My admiration for [Rash s] achievement is without limit, and in my view this book deserves the enthusiastic notice of anyone interested in American poetry. Anthony Hecht on Among the Believers The lyric encapsulation of story [is] precisely and lovingly rendered....Wise and beautiful. Claudia Emerson on Waking" (less)

A collection of haunting lyricism that evokes the beauty and hardship of rural life, by a revered American master of letters the award-winning, bestselling author of Serena, Something Rich and Strange, and Above the WaterfallIn this (…more)