The Back Chamber

The first full-length volume of poems in a decade by the former poet laureate of the United States

In The Back Chamber, Donald Hall illuminates the evocative, iconic objects of deep memory€"a cowbell, a white stone perfectly round, a three-legged milking stool€"that serve to foreground the rich meditations on time and mortality that run through his remarkable new collection. While Hall€s devoted readers will recognize many of his long-standing preoccupations€"baseball, the family farm, love, sex, and friendship€"what will strike them as new is the fierce, pitiless poignancy he reveals as his own life€s end comes into view. The Back Chamber is far from being death-haunted, but rather is lively, irreverent, erotic, hilarious, ironic, and sly€"full of the life-affirming energy that has made Donald Hall one of America€s most popular and enduring poets.