Orphan Hours
“Combines stateliness, formal beauty and emotional urgency in rich and musical tapestries of language. . . . Every poem . . . is masterful.”—Washington Post

Orphan Hours is a book of reconciliation, of coming to terms with time in its most personal and memorable manifestations, and of learning the wisdom of what cannot be changed. The urgency of the elegy has been absorbed by an acceptance of the detail, texture, and small moments that constitute and enrich mortality.

from “Lapsed Meadow"

I remember, in Ohio, fields of wastes of nature,
lost pasture, fallow clearings, buckwheat
and fireweed and broken sparrow nests,
especially in the summer, in the fading hilltop sun,
when you could lose yourself by simply lying down.
Who will find you, who will call you home now, at dusk,
with the dry tips of the goldenrod confused
with a little wind, filling in what’s left of the light.

"1146156689"
Orphan Hours
“Combines stateliness, formal beauty and emotional urgency in rich and musical tapestries of language. . . . Every poem . . . is masterful.”—Washington Post

Orphan Hours is a book of reconciliation, of coming to terms with time in its most personal and memorable manifestations, and of learning the wisdom of what cannot be changed. The urgency of the elegy has been absorbed by an acceptance of the detail, texture, and small moments that constitute and enrich mortality.

from “Lapsed Meadow"

I remember, in Ohio, fields of wastes of nature,
lost pasture, fallow clearings, buckwheat
and fireweed and broken sparrow nests,
especially in the summer, in the fading hilltop sun,
when you could lose yourself by simply lying down.
Who will find you, who will call you home now, at dusk,
with the dry tips of the goldenrod confused
with a little wind, filling in what’s left of the light.

17.95 In Stock
Orphan Hours

Orphan Hours

by @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Orphan Hours

Orphan Hours

by @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Paperback(Reprint)

$17.95 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

“Combines stateliness, formal beauty and emotional urgency in rich and musical tapestries of language. . . . Every poem . . . is masterful.”—Washington Post

Orphan Hours is a book of reconciliation, of coming to terms with time in its most personal and memorable manifestations, and of learning the wisdom of what cannot be changed. The urgency of the elegy has been absorbed by an acceptance of the detail, texture, and small moments that constitute and enrich mortality.

from “Lapsed Meadow"

I remember, in Ohio, fields of wastes of nature,
lost pasture, fallow clearings, buckwheat
and fireweed and broken sparrow nests,
especially in the summer, in the fading hilltop sun,
when you could lose yourself by simply lying down.
Who will find you, who will call you home now, at dusk,
with the dry tips of the goldenrod confused
with a little wind, filling in what’s left of the light.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780393346626
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 10/07/2013
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 112
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Stanley Plumly (1939–2019) authored eleven books of poetry, including the National Book Award finalist Old Heart, and four books of nonfiction. His honors include the Paterson Poetry Prize and Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism, among others. Plumly was a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland as well Maryland’s poet laureate from 2009 to 2018.

Table of Contents

Lapsed Meadows 17

The Crows at 3 a.m. 18

The Jay 21

My Lawrence 23

Cancer 26

Lost Key 28

On Deciding Not to Be Buried but Burned 35

Four Hundred Mourners 37

Look for Me 39

Verisimilitude 41

Glenn Gould 42

Cello 43

Umberto D. 45

The Best Years of Our Lives 47

Vesper Sparrow 50

Afterward 52

Wistman's Wood 54

On Dartmoor 56

Arbitrarily 59

Perspective 61

Blind 63

Ground Birds in Open Country 66

Amidon Christmas Tree Farm Cardinal 68

I Love You 70

Sitting Alone in the Middle of the Night 71

John 20 72

Dayton 75

Nature 80

Nurture 82

As Reported 84

The Day of the Failure in Saigon, Thousands in the Streets, Hundreds Killed, A Lucky Few Hanging On the Runners of Evacuating Copters 86

Black Walnuts 88

From the Window of the Quiet Car 90

The Sand 92

Canto XVIII 94

Imaginary Prisons 99

Human Excrement 100

Caravaggio's Conversion 101

At Seventy-one 102

Orphan Hours 103

Dusk Coming On Outside ___, New York 106

The Lost Wine 107

On the Beach at Duck 108

On the Lawn at the Forians 109

Leavings 110

Dedications 111

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews