Flower & Hand: Poems, 1977-1983
As a counterpart to The Second Four Books (Copper Canyon, 1993), the publisher collects here the poetry of supremely accomplished poet, memoirist, and translator Merwin over six years, gathering three smaller volumes. These poems of what probably ought to be understood as the poet's middle period show the reactions of an outstanding creative mind to the recurrent concerns of poetry?death, travel, love, and change. Their music lies not so much in the sounds of words as in the images themselves: the "long jagged broken string of bird song" made by unsorted keys in "The Apple"; or, in "Kore," "the candles [that] flutter on the stairs of your voice." These quiet, unpunctuated poems often feel like translations, not so much from another language as from another condition. An excellent opportunity for libraries to begin or complete their collection of the works of one of our most important poets; highly recommended.?Graham Christian, Andover-Harvard Theological Lib., Cambridge, Mass.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.