SKU: 8825184212

How Lovely the Ruins: Inspirational Poems and Words for Difficult Times

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Description

How Lovely the Ruins: Inspirational Poems and Words for Difficult TimesThis wide ranging collection of inspirational poetry and prose offers readers solace, perspective, and the courage to persevere. In times of personal hardship or collective anxiety, words have the power to provide comfort, meaning, and hope. The past year has seen a resurgence of poetry and inspiring quotes posted on social media, appearing on bestseller lists, shared from friend to friend. Honoring this communal spirit, How Lovely the Ruins is a

This wide-ranging collection of inspirational poetry and prose offers readers solace, perspective, and the courage to persevere.

In times of personal hardship or collective anxiety, words have the power to provide comfort, meaning, and hope. The past year has seen a resurgence of poetry and inspiring quotes--posted on social media, appearing on bestseller lists, shared from friend to friend. Honoring this communal spirit, How Lovely the Ruins is a timeless collection of both classic and contemporary poetry and short prose that can be of help in difficult times--selections that offer wisdom and purpose, and that allow us to step out of our current moment to gain a new perspective on the world around us as well as the world within.

The poets and writers featured in this book represent the diversity of our country as well as voices beyond our borders, including Maya Angelou, W. H. Auden, Danez Smith, Rumi, Emily Dickinson, Naomi Shihab Nye, Alice Walker, Adam Zagajewski, Langston Hughes, Wendell Berry, Anna Akhmatova, Yehuda Amichai, and Robert Frost. And the book opens with a stunning foreword by Elizabeth Alexander, whose poem "Praise Song for the Day," delivered at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, ushered in an era of optimism. In works celebrating our capacity for compassion, our patriotism, our right to protest, and our ability to persevere, How Lovely the Ruins is a beacon that illuminates our shared humanity, allowing us connection in a fractured world.

Includes poetry, prose, and quotations from:
Elizabeth Alexander - Marcus Aurelius - Karen Armstrong - Matthew Arnold - Ellen Bass - Brian Bilston - Gwendolyn Brooks - Elizabeth Barrett Browning - Octavia E. Butler - Regie Cabico - Dinos Christianopoulos - Lucille Clifton - Ta-Nehisi Coates - Leonard Cohen - Wendy Cope - E. E. Cummings - Charles Dickens - Mark Doty - Thomas Edison - Albert Einstein - Ralph Ellison - Kenneth Fearing - Annie Finch - Rebecca Foust - Nikki Giovanni - Stephanie Gray - John Green - Hazel Hall - Thich Nhat Hanh - Joy Harjo - V clav Havel - Terrance Hayes - William Ernest Henley - Juan Felipe Herrera - Jane Hirshfield - John Holmes - A. E. Housman - Bohumil Hrabal - Robinson Jeffers - Georgia Douglas Johnson - James Weldon Johnson - Paul Kalanithi - Robert F. Kennedy - Omar Khayyam - Emma Lazarus - Li-Young Lee - Denise Levertov - Ada Lim n - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Nelson Mandela - Masahide - Khaled Mattawa - Jamaal May - Claude McKay - Edna St. Vincent Millay - Pablo Neruda - Ana s Nin - Olga Orozco - Ovid - Pier Paolo Pasolini - Edgar Allan Poe - Claudia Rankine - Adrienne Rich - Rainer Maria Rilke - Alberto R os - Edwin Arlington Robinson - Eleanor Roosevelt - Christina Rossetti - Muriel Rukeyser - Sadhguru - Carl Sandburg - Vikram Seth - Charles Simic - Safiya Sinclair - Effie Waller Smith - Maggie Smith - Tracy K. Smith - Leonora Speyer - Gloria Steinem - Clark Strand - Wislawa Szymborska - Rabindranath Tagore - Sara Teasdale - Alfred, Lord Tennyson - Vincent van Gogh - Ocean Vuong - Florence Brooks Whitehouse - Walt Whitman - Ella Wheeler Wilcox - William Carlos Williams - Virginia Woolf - W. B. Yeats - Saadi Youssef - Javier Zamora - Howard Zinn

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Published: 10/31/2017
ISBN: 9780399592836
Pages: 224
Weight: 0.79lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 1.10d
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SKU: 8825184212

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Danica Mandic
Dallas, US
★★★★★ 5
Soft comfortable very good pillow
Size: King (Pack of 1), Color: White
I really love my new pillow it's great and comfortable. Yes, it has a little smell, but if you wash the pillowcase and put the pillow on the window for a day you won't notice anything anymore.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2026
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Zachery Jeffries
Chelsea, US
★★★★★ 5
Best place for head
Size: Queen (Pack of 1), Color: White
Do you love not getting sleep and sweating all over your pillow at night when you are asleep? If so then don't buy this pillow! If you want a good nights sleep and cool pillow like me this is the one. Ive always been ehh towards spending so much on a pillow but its 100% worth it, I sleep so much better and it forms to my head and keeps me cool at night. Great support even for my big head and comes with a bag of extra stuffing if you want to have a little more firmer pillow. Highly recommend
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Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2026
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Loves_2_read
Battle Creek, US
★★★★★ 3
Oversized
Size: Queen (Pack of 2), Color: White
I have chronic neck pain. I am forever buying new pillows. Sometimes I think I found the perfect pillow but then three months later they’re losing their loft. I thought I would give these pillows to try since the stuffing is removable. Now these pillows are really oversized. To the point where I thought that they had sent me king-size pillows but I double checked the packaging and they were Queen. I ended up having to buy king-size pillowcases for them because they just barely fit in the queen size and the pillowcases would always end up pulling back from the edge. So that’s a negative one star there. Now I’ve been sleeping on these pillows for a while and they have held up well. I did end up removing some of the stuffing because it was just too much. I’m a side sleeper and when I use this pillow, it does a good job of keeping my neck in alignment. However, the pillow tends to migrate up as I sleep. Or I tend to slip down off the pillow, either or. So that’s why I’ve removed a second star. Maybe if I removed more stuffing that wouldn’t happen, but then I feel like the loft would be too little. I will say that these provide great support when sitting up in bed reading or watching TV. So would I buy them again? Probably not. Am I going to keep using them? Yes
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Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2025
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Nick
Dallas, US
★★★★★ 5
Amazing - Stop Scrolling and Buy This Pillow
Size: Queen (Pack of 1), Color: White
I have been an Amazon customer ever since the very beginning, and this is my first review. Not because I haven’t purchased tons of amazing things (and a few bad ones), just never felt the need. However, I researched pillows for longer than I care to admit, and decided on this one. I’ve had it for about six months and absolutely love it. No lie, I genuinely look forward lying my big head on it after a long day. I am a side sleeper, but flip flop all around through the night and it’s great in every position. Pros: Stays nice and cool, which is soothing regardless of the time of year. Has a sort of quilted textured pattern on the zip up cover, gives it a luxury feel, that breaths nicely even when a pillow case is added. The fill is fully adjustable to your preference. I knew it came with extra filling but was worried it would not be enough. Wrong. It was very full and I ended up taking some out until it was perfect. It comes vacuum sealed and suggests it may take some time to fully take shape. However, I found it to be about 90% almost instantly and was sleeping on it a couple hours later. There was no unpleasant scent sometimes associated with memory foam items. The foam itself is very nice, a mix of what appears to be shredded and cotton candy cloud like. Very brilliant idea, as it is somehow supportive, soft and firm all at once. The affordability of this pillow compared to some of the others in this category can’t be overstated. Oh, and the packaging was very thoughtfully and securely done. If you are like me, an over thinker, I would suggest just taking this for a spin. It’s amazing. I’m not a bot, or working for the company. I’m just truly satisfied, love this pillow, and have been sleeping great.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2026
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k25
Port Orchard, US
★★★★★ 5
It's the perfect pillow!
Size: Queen (Pack of 1), Color: White
I purchased this pillow specifically for its customizable fill feature, which allows you to add or remove stuffing to suit your personal comfort needs. Due to the unique curvature of my cervical spine—forward at the neck rather than backward—I require a soft, semi-flat pillow rather than one that is thick or firm. Additionally, I often experience ear discomfort by morning, so a gentler surface is essential. Upon adjusting the fill, I was pleasantly surprised by the generous amount of stuffing included. There was enough to fill an additional pillowcase, and I estimate it could easily create four to five more pillows. The ability to modify the pillow’s firmness at any time is an outstanding feature that makes it adaptable for a wide range of preferences and sleep styles. This pillow has exceeded my expectations in both comfort and versatility. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a personalized sleep experience.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2026

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