Blackbird and Wolf

Poems

Henri Cole

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Paperbacks

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I don’t want words to sever me from reality.
I don’t want to need them. I want nothing
to reveal feeling but feeling—as in freedom,
or the knowledge of peace in a realm beyond,
or the sound of water poured in a bowl.

—from “Gravity and Center”

In his sixth collection of verse, Henri Cole deepens his excavations and examinations of autobiography and memory. These poems—often hovering within the realm of the sonnet—combine a delight in the senses with the rueful, the elegiac, the harrowing. Central here is the human need for love, the highest function of our species. Whether writing about solitude or unsanctioned desire, animals or flowers, the dissolution of his mother’s body or war, Cole maintains a style that is neither confessional nor abstract, and he is always opposing disappointment and difficult truths with innocence and wonder.

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Henri Cole reads his poem "Twilight"

"Listen to the poet Henri Cole read his poem ""Twilight,"" from his poetry collection Blackbird and Wolf. These poems combine a delight in the senses with the rueful, the elegiac, the harrowing. Central here is the human need for love, the highest function of our species. Listen to this poetry reading and then learn more about the book Blackbird and Wolf at http://us.macmillan.com/blackbirdandwolf/HenriCole Read about poet Henri Cole at http://us.macmillan.com/author/henricole"

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Praise for Blackbird and Wolf

“[Cole writes] in a voice that buzzes with emotion . . . His best book to date.” —Publishers Weekly

Reviews from Goodreads

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Emily  rated it  
Mar 16, 2011
This is a collection of jewel-like poems spun close to nature, visceral in their animal longing. Blackbird and Wolf winds biological and emotional inwardness into art, with stark honesty--its landscapes being as vivid as the pain of illusory freedom, of loss. "Dune" is stunning. ...more
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Josh  rated it  
Jul 29, 2009
straight poetry here, mildly evolutionary, lots of love and oddness, a book that wins hero status ...more
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Adam  rated it  
May 25, 2009
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMI... ...more
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About the Author

Henri Cole

Henri Cole was born in Fukuoka, Japan, and was raised in Virginia. The recipient of many awards, he is the author, most recently, of Middle Earth (FSG, 2003), a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and The Visible Man (FSG, 1998).

Henri Cole

Susan Unterberg
Henri Cole

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Available Formats and Book Details

Blackbird and Wolf
Poems
Henri Cole

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux Paperbacks
March 2008
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780374531126
ISBN10: 0374531129
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 80 pages
$13.00
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Hardcover

Learn more about this edition
Hardcover
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
March 2007
Hardcover
ISBN: 9780374113797
ISBN10: 0374113793
5 1/2 X x 8 1/4 inches, 80 pages
$23.00
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