By his third volume of poems, From the Devotions (2002), Phillips was already recognized as a strong force in American poetry. This volume focuses on the correlation between body and spirit, which was then becoming a major theme in Phllips's work. Particularly representative of his work at the time is the title poem from this collection.

Phillips explores theories about poetry, nature, and writing in a more linear fashion than he does in his poems with the essay collection Coin of the Realm: Essays on the Art and Life of Poetry (2004), published by Graywolf Press.

The poetry of Brigit Pegeen Kelly has been compared to Phillips's in the way that it combines myth and observation to bring to life a rich spiritual world. Kelly's The Orchard (2004) is narrated from the perspective of an observer, describing human emotion and suffering rather than...