Jane Kenyon was born in 1947 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She was brought in the Midwest of the United States. She completed her B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1970 and later earned an M.A. degree from the same university in 1972.Her poetic inspiration is partly attributed to her meeting with the poet Donald Hall in the University of Michigan. Despite the fact that he was some twenty years her senior, she agreed to marry him in 1972.After the marriage , the couple moved to Eagle Pond Farm, which was ancestral home in Wilmot, New Hampshire of Hall. Kenyon was declared New Hampshire's poet laureate at the time of her death in April of 1995. She died from leukemia. Four collections of Jane Kenyon's poems were published before her death. The collections were Constance (1993), Let Evening Come (1990), The Boat of Quiet Hours (1986) and From Room to Room (1978).

The poem “Otherwise” is written in very easy-to-understand language. While reading the poem one feels as if it pertains to the life of the reader itself. In my view, Jane Kenyon's poem is accessible, self contained, and in all probability her most famous. For an ordinary reader it does not take more than fifteen or twenty minutes to sit with her poem and feel satisfied. I have gone through the poem many times and each time I have got some kind of a deep perception about the life in general. Although, everything was going around her in a normal way, but she was cognizant of the fact that time will change one day. I like the last line of the poem “But one day, I know, it will be otherwise”. From a deeper perspective, the man goes about living the life on the earth as if it will remain unchanged for a long time to come. The people, especially the young ones, think that the days of the youth will never be over. However, the fact of the matter is that time destroys everything. As the time passes with the days, months and years passing in the blink of eye, we become old. The poem revolves around the life of an ordinary person. The beauty of the poem lies in the fact that anyone can relate to it. All what we do today is to do a little bit of work and enjoy our lives with our mates. Most of the time the thoughts like what will happen after we become old or something like rarely cross our mind. But as it is said “change is the only permanent thing in the world”.

A literal perspective on the poem reveals the poem‘s down-to-earth quality. The poet gives a clear description of several tangible things in her life .We come to know what she valued and found meaning in (for example., "two strong legs"). Unlike most of other poets of her time, she doesn't mention abstract things. In addition she does not over-rationalize her appreciation. The language, instead, is deliberately simple, direct and last but not the least clear. If we seek for any particular perspective, in my opinion, it can be found in the recurrent phrase, "It might have been otherwise." The single word "otherwise," probably the only word in the poem made up of more than one or two syllables is strong enough in the connotation to contrast with the concrete vocabulary found in the other lines of the poem. From a personal point of view, I liked the spiritual perception that runs around the fabric of the whole poem. Many times I have felt like a prayer of thanksgiving.

The poet has a deep understanding of the instability of this worldly life. She is determined not to take anything in her life for granted and be content with it. But this does not mean that one gives up on life and starts wailing about it. Instead she pays attention to everything around here and acknowledges it. Her outlook is no doubt positive.

The things which are mentioned in the poem are the good things in her life and for that matter the good things in most people's lives. These may be mentioned as health, survival, nature, work, love, relationships, welfare and rest. This surely sums it up. Life is short and that suffering is universal. This realization is the context out of which her words take form. The repetition of "it might have been otherwise," adds a rhetorical pattern, which has a classical feel to it.

Poem "Otherwise"

I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
otherwise. I ate
cereal, sweet
milk, ripe, flawless
peach. It might
have been otherwise.
I took the dog uphill
to the birch wood.
All morning I did
the work I love.

At noon I lay down
with my mate. It might
have been otherwise.
We ate dinner together
at a table with silver
candlesticks. It might
have been otherwise.
I slept in a bed
in a room with paintings
on the walls, and
planned another day
just like this day.
But one day, I know,
it will be otherwise.

Referances:

• Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship. Simon & Schuster.
• Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. "After Ten Years." Letters and Papers from Prison. Enlarged Edition, Eberhard Bethge, ed. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1971.

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