The first full-length volume of poems in a decade by the former poet laureate of the United States In The Back Chamber, Donald Hall illuminates the evocative, iconic objects of deep memorya cowbell, a white stone perfectly round, a three-legged milking stoolthat serve to foreground the rich meditations on time and mortality that run through his remarkable new collection. While Halls devoted readers will recognize many of his long-standing preoccupationsbaseball, the family farm, love, sex, and friendshipwhat will strike them as new is the fierce, pitiless poignancy he reveals as his own lifes end comes into view. The Back Chamber is far from being death-haunted, but rather is lively, irreverent, erotic, hilarious, ironic, and slyfull of the life-affirming energy that has made Donald Hall one of Americas most popular and enduring poets.