Breathing the Water
In her 15th collection, Levertov still stands in firm political opposition to the "powers and principalities of death" that "weigh down the world." She is wisely resigned to the fate of the human spirit stuck in the physical world as it awaits the final "unseen wall, the silence." While nature is oblivious and "the days/ are falling/ . . . abandoned," the poet grieves for "lost rivers,/ poisoned lakesall creatures, perhaps,/ to be fireblasted/off the/ whirling cinder we/loved. . . . " Although her poems are replete with abstractions, and images and ideas are often strung together with no connections save those that the reader must supply, Levertov remains the consummate wordsmith. A notable addition to an important body of work. Leonard Kniffel, Detroit P.L.Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.