Thom Gunn (1929–2004)

Smart and raw, these poems are about desire in all its' forms, both admirable and frightening. Gunn was one of only a few contemporary poets who are comfortable writing in form, and that versatility shows here. Unlike much contemporary form poetry, though, these poems aren't burdened by restraint--instead, they seem to celebrate life, and love. While some of the poems require some knowledge of biblical lore or classical mythology for a full appreciation of the content, many of them are far more accessible in nature, focusing on scene and character instead of building from other stories. Throughout the poems, however, Gunn's quick rhythms and perfectly formed descriptions are worth reading and re-reading, particularly when his poems are focused in on single short scenes and the results and questions of desire, as is so often the case in this collection.… (mer)

A very worthwhile book of critical essays on individuals poets ranging in time from Fulke Greville and Ben Jonson to Gary Snyder and Robert Duncan. The book is rounded out with several charming short autobiographical pieces or reminiscences. Gunn's critical procedure is to discuss some feature of a poet that he thinks makes him worth reading, and then to illustrate this with close readings of short poems or excerpts. He is particularly sensitive to how the movement of the verse affects communication of meaning, a sensitivity he attributes to his training under Leavis and Yvor Winters. He chooses to write about poets that he feels a strong affinity for and the love comes through. Although Gunn is perhaps best known these days as a "gay poet", the only extended treatment of gay themes here is in his essay on Robert Duncan.… (mer)

Gunn has some lovely work here--the most notable poems are those focused on love, illness, or the contradictions of body working against spirit, or vice versa. While the illness poems are focused on AIDS, they're far more universal in meaning, and the book as a whole is both challenging and accessible. Language and imagery strengthens nearly every piece, making the narrative works especially as clear as short films and more powerful than you'd expect for a single page of verse.

My main complaint about the book, and the reason I gave it a lower rating than might be expected from what's typed above, is that the varying tones in the book make it a jarring read. This may well be on purpose, but so many of the poems are serious and meditative, while others are playful and joking (though still making meaning), that it's sometimes hard to transition from one poem to the next.

The characters and meanings are clear, but when you're wrapped up in story of love and social struggles, and suddenly a poem shows up which seems nearly wholly separate, the journey of the book as a whole is difficult to follow. As such, I think that some of the poems here would have been better included elsewhere, or at least in a single section, to make the more powerful book. On some level, I can see them useful as breaking the relatively heavy nature of the book, but I'm just not sure the effort really came through as positively as it could have.

Thus, I recommend the poems in the book, though I admit some disappointment with the construction of the volume as a whole. Still, separately, these are powerful beautiful poems, worth reading.… (mer)