Description
'Great poems,' David Whyte has said, 'are not about experience, but are the experience itself, felt in the body.' Essentials is a collection of his own best poems, each in their way about capturing the experience itself, whether that is in the daily shifts, the ever-turning seasons or the bigger cycle of gain and grief that are part of our journey through life. Each poem is accompanied by a short context on where and when it was written. Together they form an elegant testament to David Whyte's most closely-held understanding - that human life cannot be apportioned out as one thing or another; rather, it is best seen as a living conversation, a way between and beyond, made beautiful by darkness as well as light, at its essence both deeply solitary and profoundly communal.
This updated edition includes poems from his 2021 collection, Still Possible.
About the Author
Internationally acclaimed poet David Whyte makes his home in the Pacific Northwest, where rain and changeable skies remind him of the other, more distant homes from which he comes: Yorkshire, Wales and Ireland. He holds a degree in Marine Zoology and honorary degrees from Neumann University in Pennsylvania and Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia. He is the author of nine volumes of poetry and four books of prose, as well as a collection of audio recordings.
@poetdavidwhyte | davidwhyte.com
Reviews
PRAISE FOR DAVID WHYTE:
Keep this book by your bedside forever. I know I will
Consolations, it bears repeating, is an absolutely magnificent read - the kind that reorients your world and remains a compass for a lifetime -- MARIA POPOVA
We think we know what we are talking about, the meaning of things, the basic rules of language, until we read David Whyte's Consolations where we are forced to reassess everything and begin again. Such an essential and beautiful book -- NICK CAVE
A word can know you better than you know yourself and I did not fully understand this until I read Consolations. It is an immensely powerful book. It is an extraordinary book . . . You will want to keep it forever -- LEMN SISSAY
David Whyte makes the reading of poetry a matter of life and death. His poetry has moved me and changed me -- PAT CONROY
Sometimes a book you had never heard of resonates so profoundly that it leaves you wondering how you hadn't come across it. This is such a book, one that shakes you to the core and speaks to you in an intimate aside, a considered whisper that echoes through your days long after you turned the last page . . . Fully aware and observant * * The Lady * *
Book Information
ISBN 9781838858124
Author David Whyte
Format Hardback
Page Count 144
Imprint Canongate Books
Publisher Canongate Books
Weight(grams) 287g
Dimensions(mm) 220mm * 144mm * 18mm
