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kristy_k's review
3.0
3.5 Stars
"Darkness swept the earth in my dream,
Cold crowded streets with its wings,
Cold talons pursued each river and stream
Into the mountains, found out their springs
And drilled the dark world with ice."
This is the kind of poetry I love. Verses aren't just sentences broken into parts; instead they have meaning that's not always glaringly obvious but at the same time I don't have to create a research project to decipher them. His words spoke to me, some more than others, but his emotions were present in them all.
"I sat here as a boy
On these winter rocks, watching
The moon-shapes toil through the nights
I thought then the moon
Only wears her mortality."
I hadn't heard of Kinnell before this, but what better way to be introduced to a great poet than by reading his collected poems? I loved starting and ending my day by reading a handful of his poems.
This book is thick (over 600 pages), and I'll admit I didn't enjoy every poem, but on a whole I would recommend this collection to any poetry lover.
"We wander slowly homeward, lost
in the history of every step."
"Darkness swept the earth in my dream,
Cold crowded streets with its wings,
Cold talons pursued each river and stream
Into the mountains, found out their springs
And drilled the dark world with ice."
This is the kind of poetry I love. Verses aren't just sentences broken into parts; instead they have meaning that's not always glaringly obvious but at the same time I don't have to create a research project to decipher them. His words spoke to me, some more than others, but his emotions were present in them all.
"I sat here as a boy
On these winter rocks, watching
The moon-shapes toil through the nights
I thought then the moon
Only wears her mortality."
I hadn't heard of Kinnell before this, but what better way to be introduced to a great poet than by reading his collected poems? I loved starting and ending my day by reading a handful of his poems.
This book is thick (over 600 pages), and I'll admit I didn't enjoy every poem, but on a whole I would recommend this collection to any poetry lover.
"We wander slowly homeward, lost
in the history of every step."
messbauer's review against another edition
1.0
A collection of poetry that feels extremely dated and inconsequential. Kinnell’s work consists largely of transcendentalist-influenced meditations on nature and slice-of-life vignettes, most of which are not very compelling. The two strongest books, “The Book of Nightmares” and “Mortal Acts, Mortal Words,” deal with death and mortality, and thus feel more substantive than the rest of the collection, but even here I think his poems contain a lot of chaff and should have been edited down further.
dkevanstoronto's review
4.0
You can't read Galway Kinnell without a sense of the spiritual in everyday life. His collected works are a real treat.
Kinnell produced poems so deceptively simple they appear to take a sideways look at the universe from ordinary life and thoughts. Everyday speculations appear to be a universe outside of the everyday.
As with all poetry, it may not be a style for everyone but Kinnell was a brilliant poetical voice that gave beautiful poems throughout his career.
I would definitely recommend this book for people who love poetry as well as for those who shy away from the esoteric. This book brings out the rich spiritual nature one can find in life at any age.
Kinnell produced poems so deceptively simple they appear to take a sideways look at the universe from ordinary life and thoughts. Everyday speculations appear to be a universe outside of the everyday.
As with all poetry, it may not be a style for everyone but Kinnell was a brilliant poetical voice that gave beautiful poems throughout his career.
I would definitely recommend this book for people who love poetry as well as for those who shy away from the esoteric. This book brings out the rich spiritual nature one can find in life at any age.
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