Combining the poet's four previous collections with new, unpublished poems, this sweeping anthology of a great American poet moves from Manhattan to the quietude of rural Vermont, exploring themes of friendship and social injustice with verve and good humor. Reprint. A longtime teacher, activist, feminist, and masterful writer of short fiction and essays, Paley is also an accomplished poet. Combining her two previous collections with unpublished work, Begin Again traces the career of a direct, attentive, and always unpredictable poet. Whether describing the vicissitudes of life in New York City or the hard beauty of rural Vermont, whether celebrating the blessings of friendship or protesting against social injustice, her poems brim with compassion and tough good humor. I A woman invented fire 3(1) Stanzas: Old Age and the Conventions of Retirement Have Driven My Friends from the Work They Love 4(2) One day when I was a child 6(1) Drowning (I) 7(1) Drowning (II) 8(1) Life 9(1) Right Now 10(1) A Poem about Storytelling 11(2) A Warning 13(1) Alive 14(1) At the Battery 15(1) An Arboreal Mystery 16(1) 20th Street Spring 17(1) Note to grandparents 18(1) psalm 19(1) Mulberry Street 20(1) War 21(1) For Danny 22(1) The Nature of This City 23(1) On the Fourth Floor 24(1) Winter Afternoon 25(1) Middle-Age Poem 26(1) Bob Visits Friends 27(1) On Mother's Day 28(2) Housing 30(1) Having Arrived by Bike at Battery Park 31(4) II Whistlers 35(1) For George (I) 36(1) For George (II) 37(1) Certain Days 38(1) One Day 39(1) The Five-Day Week 40(1) Some Days 41(1) Vengeance 42(1) Family 43(1) Letter 44(1) My Mother: 33 Years Later 45(2) On the Bank Street Pier 47(1) Gift 48(1) No Love 49(1) Words 50(1) Quarrel 51(1) Question 52(1) Old Age Porch 53(1) Fund Appeal 54(1) For My Friend Who Planted a Tree for His Daughter Jane 55(1) Responsibility 56(3) III / Thetford Poems Fear 59(1) Families 60(1) Goldenrod 61(1) What is this whiteness on the field? 62(1) When the wild strawberry leaves turn 63(1) Then 64(1) In Deepest Summer 65(1) Saint-John's-wort! 66(1) A bee! 67(1) An ant! 68(1) False strawberry is 69(1) September 70(1) The Choir Singing 71(1) Leaves Apples 72(1) Connections: Vermont Vietnam (I) 73(1) Connections: Vermont Vietnam (II) 74(5) IV Song Stanzas of Private Luck 79(3) Some Nearly Songs 82(3) The Old Dog's Song 82(1) 34th Street Song 83(1) The Sad Children's Song 84(1) Traveler 85(1) Speaker and Speaker 86(1) Quarrel 87(1) Autumn 88(2) South Window 90(1) My Father at 85 91(1) My Father at 89 92(1) One Day I Decided 93(1) In Aix 94(1) On the Ramblas A Tree A Girl 95(1) Oh 96(1) In France 97(1) I Gave Away That Kid 98(2) Subway Station 100(1) Bridges 101(1) In Hanoi 1969 102(1) Two Villages 103(1) That Country 104(1) Street Corner Dialogue 105(1) Illegal Aliens 106(1) In San Salvador (I) 107(1) In San Salvador (II) 108(1) For Mike and Jeannie: Resisters Fifteen Years Later 109(1) Learning from Barbara Deming 110(1) Happiness 111(1) Definition 112(1) Age 113(1) Love 114(1) Time 115(1) The Women's Prison: El Salvador The Ballad of Visiting Day 116(4) The Dance in Jinotega 120(3) People in My Family 123(1) In the Bus 124(3) V House: Some Instructions 127(6) VI / Begin Again The Immigrant Story 133(1) Translation 134(1) Signs 135(1) The Woman Says 136(1) Faces 137(1) It's True 138(1) Tenth Grade 139(1) The Boy His Mother 140(1) Suppertime 141(1) How to Tell a Story (My Method) (Most of the Time) 142(1) The Word Thrum 143(1) My Father Said 144(1) He Wanders 145(1) Four Short Pieces 146(1) The Poet's Occasional Alternative 147(1) One of the Softer Sorrows of Age 148(1) When this old body 149(1) When I Was Asked How I Could Leave Vermont in the Middle of October 150(1) Weather 151(1) In Montpelier, Vermont 152(1) Beef 153(1) NOW 154(2) Is There a Difference Between Men and Women 156(2) Reading the Newspapers at the Village Store 158(2) The Desert Wasn't Loved Enough said Reich 160(1) What If (This Week) 161(1) This Life 162(1) Sometimes 163(3) Leaflet 166(1) I See My Friend Everywhere 167(1) A Letter 168(1) For Jan 169(2) Luck 171(1) On the Deck 172(1) For My Daughter 173(1) Therefore 174(1) In This Dream 175(1) Hand-Me-Downs 176(1) Here 177(1) Walking in the Woods 178