She Walks in Beauty: A Woman's Journey Through Poems by Caroline KennedyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a wonderful book for those who enjoy poetry, especially women. This is the answer to "What do you want for your birthday/anniversary/Mother's Day?" or just to read next, although I recommend owning a copy so you can savor the book over time. (Thanks, Caiti!) Caroline Kennedy has compiled a variety of thought-provoking, excellent poems that evoke the stages and feelings of life. Each section (e.g., Falling in Love; Breaking Up; Beauty, Clothes, and Things of This World; Friendship; How to Live) is preceded by a brief and insightful essay into the editor's choice of poems and their significance to her and to us. Read it with a pen to mark favorite passages and a pack of sticky notes so you can record your favorites in your "commonplace book" or collection of favorite quotes.
Kennedy chooses poetry from sources as early as the Bible and Euripedes, through familiar poets like Donne, Keats, Sappho, Millay, cummings, and the Brownings, to poets you may not be familiar with and poems from traditional folk sources. Some of my favorites: Margaret Atwood's "Variations on the Word Sleep"; W. S. Merwin's "To Paula in Late Spring"; Rumi's "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing"; Barbara Ras's "You Can't Have It All"; St. Theresa of Avila's "May today there be peace within"; and Euripedes' "The Bacchae Chorus." This book is a treasure. Highly recommended.
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