Otherwise

“The Sick Wife” by Jane Kenyon (1995)

This was the last poem Kenyon wrote, collected in Otherwise: New and Selected Poems (1996). Although this poem does not take place at Eagle Pond Farm, but on a shopping trip, it contains similar emotions regarding loss as “Otherwise.”

“Let Evening Come” by Jane Kenyon (1990)

This is a pastoral poem Kenyon wrote when facing Hall’s possible death from colon cancer. Like “Otherwise,” there is no mention of the specifics of disease. Comfort is available through descriptions of daily endings, which echoes the last stanza of “Otherwise.” The poem also uses the title phrase as a refrain.

“Afternoon at MacDowell” by Jane Kenyon (1995)

This is another poem by Kenyon detailing an afternoon after Hall’s cancer battle. The poem shows the closeness of the couple and the speaker’s fear of losing her husband. Hall had lines from the poem—"but what prodigy will keep you safe beside me”—engraved on Kenyon’s tombstone.

“With Jane and Without: An Interview with Donald Hall” by Jeffrey S. Cramer (1998).

Cramer’s interview with Hall details Jane Kenyon’s daily routine, which aligns with her description in the poem “Otherwise,” including the walking of the dog and their naps.