Poems by Jane Hirshfield
The Weighing by Jane Hirshfield
December 12, 2025
“The world asks of us / only the strength we have and we give it. / Then it asks more, and we give it.” — Jane Hirshfield
For What Binds Us by Jane Hirshfield
September 17, 2025
“as all flesh / is proud of its wounds, wears them / as honors given out after battle, / small triumphs pinned to the chest—” — Jane Hirshfield
I Know You Think I’ve Forgotten by Jane Hirshfield
July 4, 2024
"without coat without hat" — Jane Hirshfield
My Life Was the Size of My Life by Jane Hirshfield
April 28, 2024
“I was hungry, then, and my life, / my life, too, was hungry” — Jane Hirshfield
When Your Life Looks Back by Jane Hirshfield
April 8, 2021
"Whatever direction you turned toward was face to face. / No back of the world existed, / No unseen corner, no test. No other earth to prepare for." — Jane Hirshfield
Meeting the Light Completely by Jane Hirshfield
December 26, 2012
“Each time, / the found world surprises— / that is its nature.” — Jane Hirshfield
The Promise by Jane Hirshfield
July 18, 2012
“Stay, I said to my body. / It sat as a dog does, / obedient for a moment, / soon starting to tremble.” — Jane Hirshfield
The Falling by Jane Hirshfield
October 24, 2011
"When feeling finally comes it is / that falling, matter breaking away / from air" — Jane Hirshfield
Three Times My Life Has Opened by Jane Hirshfield
August 22, 2011
“There is a door. It opens. Then it is closed. But a slip of / light stays…” — Jane Hirshfield
Da Capo by Jane Hirshfield
August 1, 2011
"Soon there is nothing left. / Soon the last ripple exhausts itself / in the weeds." - Jane Hirshfield
Poems translated by Jane Hirshfield
"Why did you vanish..." by Izumi Shikibu
November 6, 2005
“Even the fragile snow, / when it falls, / falls in this world.” — Izumi Shikibu