Subtotal: $
Checkout
Years after her death, a poet’s life and work speak across the generations, inspiring new music and more intentional living.
Silver Medal, 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards
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.
This book is a slow, engaging stroll through the life of a woman who faced WWII, pacifism, and Christian faith with poise and vulnerability. It’s a great introduction to metered poems for readers who are more familiar with free verse – there are many sonnets, and many poems that seem to be inspired by Emily Dickinson (and still wholly Clement’s voice). I was also reminded of Edna St. Vincent Millay, whose own sense of meter and lyrical voice can be heard in Clement’s work. Becca Stevens’s own experiences are a great companion piece for those who teach poetry, because her reflections show how an artist, and a person in everyday life, engages on a personal and craft level with another artist’s work. This is a wonderful introduction for anyone who is looking to be introduced to a writer whose prose and life are gentle, rich surprises.
This is poetry that grabs your soul… it’s almost other worldly. I had never heard of Jane Tyson Clement before, but now she feels like an old friend. Here’s a good chance to read unique poetry about a unique life. She found her heart’s necessities.
This collection reminds us of the need for reflection in artists and those who experience their art. It also illuminates how the voices and gifts of artists across time can speak to young artists’ own creativity as they continue to expand our individual and communal vision in new ways.
Jane Tyson Clement was a lively teacher and a loving wife and mother, who always had poems singing through her head and heart. Her poetry was wound up in Nature and in the intricacies of her daily life.
Becca Stevens is a songwriter who has been influenced by Jane’s poems and wants to share these quiet and beautiful gems with the world…
Like many other offerings from Plough Publishing, this book would make a wonderful gift for a poetry lover or songwriter, or for anyone longing for a glimpse at how the ordinary life is transformed through poetry.
A wonderful book filled with stunning poetry, prose, and photography. I've long been a fan of Jane Tyson Clement and so this book with her poetry interwoven with her life's story (by singer songwriter Becca Stevens) and photographs by Clement's son Tim was a joy to my heart. I read it straight through the day I received it and keep it on my desk for inspiration and motivation.
I found Jane Tyson Clement’s poetry universal in its relevancy. She captures both human emotions and descriptions of nature in ways that ring true and clear. This book is one I think readers will want to gift to others and also keep as a part of their permanent home library.
Becca Stevens’s collection of Jane Clement’s poetry with the addition of lovely photographs taken by Clement’s son would be delightful in and of itself. Stevens added to this her own stories and reflections on Clement’s poems as well as biographical information. Knowing more about Clement’s life only deepened the meaning of the poetry I already loved.
Being a native Jersey Girl who spent summer vacations at the Jersey Shore, it’s no wonder that I immediately fell in love with Clement’s poetry. Now, in a collection that includes snapshots of the beaches I wandered as a child with the words I’ve come to cherish as an adult, Stevens has captured all I loved about Clement in an endearing love letter for us all to treasure.
A beautifully-realized volume of words and images celebrating the life and works of poet Jane Tyson Clement. Interspersed among Clement’s poems and life story are photographs – some vintage and sepia-toned – others are richly-hued and from present day. Clement’s voice is not the only one heard here… singer-songwriter Becca Stevens has blended the poet’s work with her own, adapting poems into song lyrics and setting them to music. The Heart’s Necessities is a lovely collaboration of two gifted women from different generations and equal talents.
