Product Description
Since the death of Robert Frost, American poetry has seen few major poets create important work in their seventh decade and beyond. Yet today Donald Hall (77), Richard Wilbur (85), Maxine Kumin (81), and, until last year, Stanley Kunitz (100) continue to move from strength to strength. Each has published a new book in the past year and collected further accolades, including the Harvard Arts Medal (awarded to Kumin) and the Ruth Lilly Prize (awarded to Wilbur).

These are poets who bear, in individual and collective ways, the imprint of Frost's legacy: a clear commitment to form; a belief that, "like a piece of ice on a hot stove, a poem must ride on its own melting"; a willingness, even an eagerness, to assume the role of poet-as-witness. Perhaps most appealingly, their poems capture a corner of New England imbued with a spirit that is both of the place and of the poet. Against the backdrop of a dark world, all four create poems that are illumined from within, holding a vision of human possibility steady in the light.

Each poet-profile in The Light Within the Light is based on intimate personal interviews and explores the landscapes, lives, and artistic achievements of the poet. Several poems are woven into each essay, allowing the reader to experience the poet's world in his or her own words. Since the paths of the four poets cross frequently, the essays "converse" with one another, layering the narrative. Detailed informational endnotes and a list of selected readings cite primary and secondary sources of interest for each poet, making the book useful to the lay reader and literary specialist alike.

The book design is by Barry Moser, one of New England's favorite artists and a wood engraver sensitive to poets and their works. He provides a full-page portrait of each of the four poets as well as spot illustrations of great beauty and charm. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An Exquisite Volume
This is such a beautifully written little volume, so sensitive, insightful,and inspirational. Ms. Braham's choice of language to describe these poets and their poetry is exquisite!I would highly recommend it to any who enjoy a terrific read!

the light that warms
When I finished this lovely little book I sat there under my reading light for several minutes filled with the that rare satisfaction that some pieces of art lend you. These four poets are among my favorites but I learned so much about them in so little space and their poems came alive to me in an extraordinary way. I went back to my dusty shelves and resurrected them. The book rides on the shoulders of the poet who wrote it for she provides the quiet, direct intimacy that binds you to all of them. She does for each of them something that no award, and they all have many, could ever do and that is she brings them into your hearts. Moser's art adds additional beauty to it. Buy it, give it to people you care deeply about. Share with them the light. ... Read more

Product Description
Full-color watercolor paintings highlight an insightful story about neighborhood boys and baseball, first published in The New Yorker, by the 1987 Poet Laureate of the United States. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not Very Interesting
This book really needs improvment. I mean, the story has absolutely NO action! It is about three kids, Monk, Scho,and Glennie playing a game of catch,and then Scho all of a sudden, starts acting silly and stupid and said that he controled Monk and Glennie and made them do whatever he wanted them to do. So they that made Monk came up the branches to where Scho was, and pushed him off the apple tree.

I can't really recommend this book to anyone because adults will think that this book is boring and kids won't understand the GIANT, BIG long words that are in this book. So what I am basically saying is, don't buy this book!

Thank you very much. Your time is appreciated!

The ambiguity and paradox of adolescent relationships
A brilliant short story of the ambiguity and paradox of adolescent relationships.Although ostensibly describing a situation as mundane as two boys consumed in a mindless game of catch when a third, gloveless boy appears, the depth of character of all three boys is richly and adeptly developed . Charater motivation is as complex and confusing to each of the three boys portrayed as it is for the reader. This brief story displays powerful insight into human behavior in breathtakingly few words ... Read more

Product Description
Poems from the award-winning poet's Opposites and More Opposites are accompanied by fabulous collage art, in an engaging collaboration. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Strange Poems=Great Fun!!
"Runaway Opposites" is a book of poems written by Richard Wilbur and is humorously illustrated by the talented Henrik Drescher.

This book is about various poems that discuss the opposites of various objects and people.Richard Wilbur's poems are as strange as they are silly and prove to be extremely educating for kids who need to learn about conventional thinking.

Henrik Drescher's illustrations are the true highlights of this book as there are various creatures, such as people with painted beaks and multi-colored people, that dominant each page.My favorite poem is about the opposite of standing still is all types of motion and it has the picture of a blue man with many legs sticking out of his body running around the page along with a woman in red who looks likes she is falling in a swirl of words describing motion surrounding her.

"Runaway Opposites" is both a bizarre and funny book as Richard Wilbur makes his poems strange and Henrik Drescher's illustrations are both humorous and surreal at the same time.

runaway opposites
My children love this book.Richard Wilbur and Henrik Drescher filled a gap missing in childrens books, reaching out to the artsy, far-out, a bit wacky child who need humor and a bit of strangeness to succeed in enjoyingbooks and especially poetry.Great for rhyming words and increasing ayoung ones vocabulary in a not so normal way.Thank you! ... Read more

Product Description
Retired fisherman Ernest Wentworth and historian Richard Wilbur combine their experience to unravel the story of the Bay of Fundy weir fishery in Silver Harvest. Drawing upon conversations with fishermen who have memories of a lifetime on the Bay, and photographs and engravings illustrating the last century of the industry, Wentworth and Wilbur have put together an enlightening book about the history and traditions of a quickly disappearing way of life. ... Read more