The Heart's Necessities: Life in Poetry
What are the heart’s necessities?
It’s a question Jane Tyson Clement (1917–2000) asked herself over and over, both in her poetry and in the way she lived. Her observation of the seasons of the soul and of the natural world have made her poems beloved to many readers, most recently singer-songwriter Becca Stevens, who has given Clement’s poetry new life – and a new audience – as lyrics in her songs. This book interweaves Clement’s best poems with the story of her life, and with commentary by Stevens describing how specific poems speak to her own life, passions, and creative process.
Like many great poets, from Emily Dickinson to Gerard Manley Hopkins, Jane Tyson Clement (1917–2000) has found more readers since her death than in her lifetime. A new generation that prizes honesty and authenticity is finding in Clement – a restless, questing soul with a life as compelling as her art – a voice that expresses their own deepest feelings, values, and desires.
In this attractive coffee table collection of new and selected poems, editor Veery Huleatt complements Clement’s poetry with narrative sketches and scrapbook visuals to weave a biography of this remarkable woman who took the road less traveled, choosing justice over comfort, conviction over career, and love over fame.
MY REVIEW: "The Heart's Necessities" is a beautifully-realized volume of words and images celebrating the life and works of poet Jane Tyson Clement (1917–2000). Interspersed among Ms. Clements poems and life story are photographs--some vintage and sepia-toned--others are richly-hued and from present day. Ms.Clement's voice is not the only one heard here through words which resonate with the reader. Singer-songwriter Becca Stevens has blended the poet's work with her own, adapting poems into song lyrics and setting them to music. Some of my favorite titles here include: "Summer Night Storm"; "Now That My Love Has Come"; "Autumn Sketch"; and "January Song". "The Heart's Necessities" is a lovely collaboration of two gifted women from different generations and equal talents.
Book Copy Gratis Plough Publicity
Reviews
This beautiful homage to Jane Tyson Clement and
her poetry, which will continue to resonate with readers and, through
Becca Stevens' compositions, music lovers, also celebrates the kind of
artistic collaboration that spans time and opens us to our own “heart’s
necessities.”--Booklist
Through hard-won religious commitment, Jane Tyson Clement's poems rose from feminine eloquence, in the manner of Edna St. Vincent Millay and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, to something closer to universal.--Sarah Ruden, author of The Face of Water
The poetry is brilliant, and it’s inspired Becca to write stunning music.--David Crosby
Through hard-won religious commitment, Jane Tyson Clement's poems rose from feminine eloquence, in the manner of Edna St. Vincent Millay and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, to something closer to universal.--Sarah Ruden, author of The Face of Water
The poetry is brilliant, and it’s inspired Becca to write stunning music.--David Crosby
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