Jane Kenyon (May 23, 1947 – April 22, 1995) was an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

. Her work is often characterized as simple, spare, and emotionally resonant. Kenyon was the second wife of poet, editor, and critic

Donald Hall Donald Andrew Hall Jr. (September 20, 1928 – June 23, 2018) was an American poet, writer, editor, and literary critic. He was the author of more than 50 books across several genres from children's literature, biography, memoir, essays, and inc ...

who made her the subject of many of his poems.

Early life and education

Kenyon was born in 1947 in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

, to Ruele and Pauline, she grew up in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. She earned a B.A. from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1970 and an M.A. in 1972. She won a

Hopwood Award The Hopwood Awards are a major scholarship program at the University of Michigan, founded by Avery Hopwood. Under the terms of the will of Avery Hopwood, a prominent American dramatist and member of the class of 1905 of the University of Michigan ...

at Michigan.

Career

Four collections of Kenyon's poems were published during her lifetime: ''From Room to Room'' (1978), ''The Boat of Quiet Hours'' (1986), ''Let Evening Come'' (1990) and ''Constance'' (1993); apart from the former being published through

Alice James Books Alice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in New Gloucester, Maine. History and mission "Alice James Books was founded as a co-operative press in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, MA in 1973 by five women and two men: ...

, all of her writing was released through

Graywolf Press Graywolf Press is an independent, non-profit publisher located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Graywolf Press collaborates with organizations such as the College of Saint Benedict, the Mel ...

. She spent some years translating the poems of

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...

from

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

into English, and she championed

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

as an important art that every poet should try. Kenyon's poems are filled with rural images: light streaming through a hayloft, shorn winter fields. Kenyon wrote frequently about wrestling with depression, which plagued her throughout her adult life. Kenyon's poem ''"Having it out with Melancholy"'' describes this struggle and the brief moments of happiness she felt when taking an

MAOI Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are a drug class, class of drugs that inhibit the activity of one or both monoamine oxidase enzymes: monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) and monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B). They are best known as effective antidepressa ...

, Nardil. ''Often I go to bed as soon after dinner'' ''as seems adult'' ''(I mean I try to wait for dark)'' ''in order to push away'' ''from the massive pain in sleep's'' ''frail wicker coracle.'' Two visits to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in the early 1990s led to Kenyon having a crisis of faith, as Hall (in introductions to her books and in his own memoirs), Alice Mattison, and her biographer John Timmerman have described. Kenyon was also a contributor to '' Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art''. Prior to her death, she was editing the collection ''Otherwise: New and Selected Poems''. Kenyon's papers, including manuscripts, personal journals, and notebooks are held at the University of New Hampshire Library Special Collections and Archives.

Personal life

As a university student Kenyon met poet

; though he was some nineteen years her senior, she married him in 1972, and they moved to his ancestral home in Wilmot,

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. Kenyon struggled with depression for most of her life. Kenyon died on April 22, 1995, from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

Recognition

In 1994 Kenyon was awarded the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry. Kenyon was New Hampshire's poet laureate at the time of her death.

In popular culture

"Let Evening Come" was featured in the 2005 film '' In Her Shoes'', in a scene where the character played by

Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. Prolific in both comedy and drama, Cameron Diaz filmography, her films have grossed over $3 billion in the U.S. box-office. Her output of romantic comedies in the late 1990s a ...

reads the poem (as well as "One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop) to a blind nursing home resident. "Having it out with Melancholy" has been read by Amanda Palmer o
Brain Pickings

Bibliography

* ''From Room to Room'' (November 1, 1978) * ''The Boat of Quiet Hours'' (October 24, 1986) * ''Let Evening Come'' (April 30, 1990) * ''Constance'' (July 12, 1993) * ''Otherwise: New & Selected Poems'' (March 2, 1996; posthumous release) * ''Collected Poems'' (September 1, 2005; posthumous anthology release)

References

Notes

* * *

External links

* ttp://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/361 Biography from the Academy of American Poets
Three poems by Jane Kenyon

"The Grandmother Poem", a reminiscence by Donald Hall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenyon, Jane 1947 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American poets Writers from Ann Arbor, Michigan People from Wilmot, New Hampshire English–Russian translators Russian–English translators University of Michigan alumni Poets from Michigan Poets from New Hampshire Poets laureate of New Hampshire Deaths from leukemia in the United States Deaths from cancer in New Hampshire American women poets 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American translators Hopwood Award winners