Only Sing: 152 Uncollected Dream Songs

A major posthumous collection expanding John Berryman’s landmark Dream Songs sequence.

Edited by Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Kevin Young.

Publishes 152 previously uncollected poems, offering new insight into Berryman’s most influential work.

Only Sing gathers 152 previously uncollected poems from John Berryman’s celebrated Dream Songs, revealing new facets of one of the most distinctive voices in twentieth-century American poetry. Written in Berryman’s trademark style — restless, musical, anguished, and darkly comic — these poems continue the psychological and emotional journey of Henry, the sequence’s recurring figure.

Edited and introduced by Kevin Young, the collection sheds fresh light on Berryman’s creative process, themes of identity, addiction, faith, and despair, and the evolution of a poetic form that reshaped modern poetry. Together, these poems deepen and complicate the legacy of the Dream Songs, offering readers a fuller picture of Berryman’s art.

“A vital and illuminating addition to the Dream Songs, deepening our understanding of Berryman’s genius.” — The New York Times Book Review

“Essential reading for anyone interested in modern American poetry.” — Publishers Weekly