Poetry Books

A Very Special Child invoked wonderful stories told to me of my adoption. It is a great read for adoptive parents and children alike. Debra has a way of making the reader feel the love she shines on her special boy and has you experience the gratitude of such a gift. She has reminded me of the fortune in people's lives who have experienced adoption.

This book should be amongst every adopted child's keepsakes, signed by Mommy and Daddy. There is deep passion and love for an adopted child painted by Debra's words. Read every page and be touched by a mother's love for her child.

To Whom it May Concern:
I just finished reading a wonderful children's book, titled "A Very Special Child." It explains adoption in a very loving and spiritual way; in a way that a child can understand.
In addition, this book not only tells the story of Christopher, the son she adopted, but tells the story from her heart. It brought tears not only to my face, but also to my heart.
Ms. Welch expresses, in her writing, all of the love, hopes, and courage, she has. She loves her child, her son, with all of her heart.
I am the mother to a special needs child. Mine is a man grown, but still a child in his mind. I
know the profoundness of the love that Ms. Welch feels for her child. Like Ms. Welch, I had always
wanted to be a mother from the age of 8 years old. Like Ms. Welch, my child came later in my life.
Mine is my birth child. Ms. Welch's is the child of adoption, but never the less, still a child borne of her heart. No other love exists as strong, as special, as deep as that of a mother towards her young.
I would strongly recommend this book for any parent, especially those that are thinking of adoption, or for any parents that have a natural child, but are contemplating adoption? This book will help both the natural child as well as the adopted child understand.

A Very Special Child by Debra Shiveley is a wonderful book written with child-like wonder. Debra removes the stigma of adoption by showing adopted children everywhere that they are indeed special, wanted and loved. Debra demonstrates how the birth mother served a significant role in preparing the gift of a baby to a very loving family in simple easy to read terms. She demonstrates through magic and wonderment how nothing is an accident; all is within God's divine plan.

Her essays and poems reveal the many aspects of parenting: the yearning for that perfect child, the joy of parenting, the everyday routine of mother and child relationship to the twinge of pain when a mother realizes her child has grown up. Debra crosses generations and demonstrates how this love continues from mother to grandmother and beyond. In all of this she maintains that there is no such thing as an imperfect child. Like the butterfly which cannot fly, a child with an imperfection is still and always will be perfect in the sight of God and always first and foremost a very special child.

Carol Roach, M.Ed, BA

[...]
Author of "Picking Up the Pieces" and

"Angels Watching Over Me"

In this heartwarming book by author Debra Shiveley Welch, we are privilaged to experience the depths of her love and thankfulness for her adoptive son
Christopher. The author takes you on a journey from her and her husbands head-bent prayers to their God asking for a child, receiving their blessing and the child's growing years. Very touching, very sensitive.


In her work, Ms. Welch tenderely tells of the Lord giving attributes to her yet unborn son while in the womb of the frightened young mother. God takes some sweetness from the Cherubs, sweet music from the birds, laughter from the dolphins, and wraps them in love from the mother placing it all carefully into the spirit of the unborn babe. A beautiful gift of life waiting to be unwrapped and cherished. Waiting to be placed in the arms of a loving mother and father.

This is a wonderful work that any adoptive parent, or any parent that truly knows how blessed they are, could give to their beloved child to show them how much they are loved and how special they are. It is filled with wonderful poetry and essays of experiences shared and life lived. A delightful, heartful work that I am proud to recommend.

Shirley Johnson
Senior Reviewer
MidWest Book Review

"Every day He wants the sun to shine and the roses to bloom in our lives. He wants all of us to enjoy His very best. I'm perfectly imperfect and often "mess up," but God loves me anyway, in spite of myself. Above all, He knows my heart. ~Pat Brannon

"You're Steppin' On My Heart" is a collection of poetry that shows the power of God's love and how we can draw on that power through our own decisions.

Pat Brannon explores a variety of topics through lyrical meditations. Her poems are at times stories, prayers or even letters. She also wrote poems during difficult times when she struggled with her own human frailty and at times she celebrates the gift of life itself.

Along life's rough and bumpy road, we sometimes crash and burn
Experiencing unexpected twists, there are lessons to be learned
Hindsight gives us knowledge that we didn't have before
Wisdom adds awareness to accumulate and store
~Pat Brannon

Throughout her poems, Pat Brannon maintains a similar style and focus and these poems are a reflection of Pat's inner journey and her love for God. Like all of us, her life is a daily struggle and she expresses feelings of love, contentment, trust, elation, anger, devastation, helplessness and confusion.

In "Letting Go," Pat writes a story of how a woman draws on her inner strength to carry on in life when she loses her baby. She takes a very sensitive issue and explores God's unconditional love in our lives. Then, in "A Heart's Tug Away," she tells a beautiful story of an aged man who is walking in the snow and feeling dejected and lonely. I thought this was her most beautiful poem and it shows how we can all make a difference in the life of a stranger who can then become a friend. "Imperfect World" reveals a world of broken vows and ruined lives.

Pat Brannon deals with so many daily issues that appear in our lives during times of stress and healing. She writes poems about Apathy, Making a Difference, Divine Intervention and Inspiration. Her poem "Cart Before the Horse" is a profound statement. It shows how we have to love first and provide basic care to those in need before they will accept a message of love. In this poem, Pat describes homelessness, hunger, financial issues and how God can love others through actions of heart-felt dedication. I found this book of poems to be spiritually healing.

~The Rebecca Review

People live in Pat Brannon's book. You can see them; you know them. Their lives unfold for the reader...not fairytale lives, but real lives with both the pain and the joy. A spirit pervades this collection, and you feel that regardless of their choices, the people in these poems are not in this alone. You cannot read these poems without being touched.

I know that I'm supposed to review the book, but first I want to say that Mrs. Pat Brannon is a sweet Christian lady. She has blessed my heart since I've come to know her. Pat's style of writing is straight from her soul. Her ability to share her personal experiences and great faith in her Lord is inspirational to all who know her and to all who read her poems. I pray that God will continue to bless her with great talent to share with others for many years to come. Thank you, Pat. Keep up the great work!

Lana Phelps
Publisher of The Good News Messenger

The poetry in Pat Brannon's book is so "real" and "every day" that anyone who reads it feels as though it is about some one they know or even, perhaps, themselves. It expresses the ups and downs, joys and traumas that people eveywhere experience daily. Meshed all throughout the works the reader will find that faith and the work of the Lord are what get us through life's experiences -- that when we stray we are weak and when we draw near to Him we are strengthened.

Each of the poems are a blessing to the reader and remind us that we can survive life's journey.

Pat has a special way of making the reader feel close to God and reminds us that we are not alone even at our lowest emotional point.

Thank you, Pat, for such beautiful words! I look forward to the next collection with eager anticipation.

Martha S. Tubb
Columbus, Georgia
USA

Relax in your favorite chair. Grab a box of tissue and let Pat Brannon take you to a world of pleasant memories and smiles of remembrance as she draws out people, places, and events of your life while sharing some of her own with you. She reaches down into those secret places in your heart and soul and shakes up your emotions. Everyone can relate to the experiences expressed here from the joy of birth to the crushing loss of death and all of life in between. Your heart will soften and you will be different after having laughed and cried through this book as you remember your own special times and quietly say, "Yeah, that's what I feel, too."

NEVERMIND THE BOOK. THIS DUDE WAS ON THE TV SHOW "CHIPS". THATS TOO COOL. 7 MARY 3 LEWIS, WHERES BARICZA?

I [have] had the "honor" of hearing Lewis recite ... It was "truly a blessing". I purchased the book and started reading it on the way home. I'm getting married ... to the most wonderful man. It's as though this book was written especially for us. My fiance' and I both were hurt in past relationships and marriages. I read some of the poems to him that night and he was very touched by them. For over 10 year he has been hurting. I knew there was pain in his life, but didn't know how much until I shared the Chapter III - Love's Goals & Promise, most especially "NOW"!!!!!!. I think it put closure to a lot of pain for both of us. We cried together on several...held each other...said nothing...just accepted each other's love forever. I know that "nothing just happens". God had planned for me to meet Lewis Saunders. Thank you Lord!!! God bless you, Lewis.

I thoroughly enjoyed the poetry contained in this book. I found the poetry to be insightful, emotional, thought-provoking, informative and enlightening. This should be required reading for every woman and man (in or out of a relationship). I was entralled by the poetry because it provided me with a better understanding of what men go through when embarking upon new relationships, ending relationships, etc. I appreciated the poetry because it demonstrated that it is okay for men to share their feelings. The author was masterful in his ability to convey the emotions of men.

I "HIGHLY" recommend that you read this wonderful collection of poetry in addition to sharing the book with family and friends.
Ladies, if you truly want to understand what men want, think and need-this is the book for you!!!!

The soul touching poetry of Lewis Saunders is a therapist's couch bound into a book. Lewis Saunders touches the core of your emotions that have been adversely impacted by the malice of words and actions of those we love or have loved or even worse, by the pain we have inflicted upon others. I walked away with a better understanding of the emotions men experience in the face of painful good-byes and separations.

I am writing this review not because I have to but in honor of my father, Lewis Saunders, the author of this book. My dad has put a lot of time and dedicated hard work into writing and gathering all of these feeling and insight from a males point of view, to give to everyone out there. He is a very dedicated man. To God, his children, and my son. If you miss out on this book, your missing out on a chance of a lifetime to really see the world thru our eyes(men). Give it a chance and I am positive you will love it!! Good reading to all!

I'm really glad I purchased the Wee Sing Nursery Rhymes. It even comes with sheet music! It seems that every song I learned in school is included, plus many more. Now I can pass this on to my son and daughter! Shipping was prompt, which is a bonus!

We were so glad to be able to buy this on CD. Our tapes were so old and really no equipment handy to play, especially in the cars. We played this over and over and over and sang and had a wonderful time going places. My granddaughters are 16 and 19 now and I loved the smiles on their faces when I gave them their very own CD. Thanks so much.

One thing I'd like to add to the other comments is that you might want to search inside the book to see the list of rhymes and lullabies as well as a sample of the notes for two of the songs which you can play on the piano if you like.

My three grown daughters remember all these songs from having the cassettes when they were little. Sometimes when we're all together, someone will break into spontaneous song from one of the tapes and we all join in. It brings back great memories from our many car trips. I still have the cassettes, but no cassette player, so it was time to upgrade for my 18 month old grandson. His mom has been singing these songs to him from Day 1. All these Wee Sing CDs will become a family treasure! You won't go wrong on any of them.

My Mom and I used to quote that every time we would go on a trip. This is easily one of the best Wee Sing tapes, now available on CD. My cousin recently had her 2nd baby and I bought it for him. And since my Mom had the NERVE to sell our original copy of this one in a garage sale, I just HAD to download it to my iPod before wrapping it.

The nursery rhyme part of it, is also set to a story of Georgie Peorgie, Jack and Jill, and Mary going to King Cole's Birthday party, and on the way meeting other Mother Goose Characters.

Here are some interesting facts and trivia on some of the nursery rhymes and lullabies.

THERE WAS A LITTLE GIRL. Originallly titled "JEMIMA," was written SURPRISE! SURPRISE! by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about his daughter about a time that she misbehaved. Everyone knows the first verse. But there are two other verses that are almost never anthologized.

One day she went upstairs while her parents unawares.
Sitting below were at their meals.
She stood upon her head on her little trundle bed,
and then began hurraying with her heals.

Her Mama heard the noise and thought it was the boys
A playing at a combat in the attic.
But when she climbed the stair and saw Jemima there
She took and she did Spank her most emphatic!

LUCY LOCKET If you own this product, you'll remember that the poem is sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle. What you may not know is that Lucy Lockett is the main tune and that the yankees got the melody for Yankee Doodle from Lucy Lockett.

GOOD NIGHT TO YOU ALL Isn't really a lullaby, but it was a round dating back to the 19th century often sung by quartets in hotels and such as a finale.

EARLY TO BED Was written, believe it or not by Benjamin Franklin. And was used as a way to get children to go to bed on time.

SWEETLY SLEEP Is a parody of a Czech Christmas carol called "ROCKING," which you will find on "Wee Sing for Christmas." Either song gets me in a Christmas mood no matter what time of the year it is.

All in all, this is a first rate recording and perfect for the young and the young at heart. So if you or anyone you know is about to have a baby, go ahead and buy it. You certainly won't go wrong.

To add to the ranks of the surprised ones... It was boringly browsing the other day through my landlady's bookshelves, and I found an intriguing volume of prose called "Seasons at Eagle Pond" by a name that rang a bell but didn't quite make it to my conscience... This was only a few weeks ago. I began an incessant search for Donald Hall's poems within my collection of anthologies, local libraries and the Internet. Then I purchased "White Apples and the Taste of Stone" and my embarrassment for not knowing Hall previously only yields now to the pleasure and comfort of having, at last, come across him. These are human poems; they speak to you and befriend you; later they may haunt you... Among them you will find pieces that are witty, fast, meditative, funny, horrific, mad and yes, very very sad. This collection exudes the world and vision of a keen observer of life. It will leave a reek of charged life around you! Simply great.

Donald Hall, past Poet Laureate of the United States, has had a long and fruitful career. This compilation is well done - hardcover, good paper, clean printing and attractive typeface, and includes Hall's best work. His poems can make you laugh, or sigh, or weep. This is a "must have" for anyone who loves and values poetry.

Having met Donald Hall and reading his poems, I am convinced he is a modern day Robert Frost. If you love poetry read this book. If you love New England read this book. If you truly love life as Mr.Hall does, read this book!

Even a baseball fan , such as myself will love this collection of Poems. I knew Donald Hall from his baseball writings and love of the game. Now as U.S. poet laureate, I had to see more of hime as evidenced by this book. Not a one night read, but a pleasure to pick up and dwell on and savor slowly.
Ernie Grassey

I feel somewhat embarrassed to say that Donald Hall was not a poet I was familiar with until just recently. And what a great thing I have been missing. I realized that Donald Hall was in a very old anthology I have from 1963 called "The Modern Poets." There is a jaunty photo of him smoking a cigar. The Bio does not mention his wife Jane Kenyon.

What a powerful effect these poems had on me. The come alive in a way I cannot accurately describe. They bring me closer to things I seem to remember, and with simplicity and depth, deliver the earth to my feet. Don't take my word for it. Take a look into this world for yourself.

Why the Ships are She? Because Terri Ford says so, and with the authority of a true artist. These poems are full of heart and wit and wisdom. They speak directly, intimately to the reader, and once they have your ear, they tell you things worth hearing, that you've never been told before! I love this book, and would give it six stars if I could.

Don't read this book if you're faint of heart. It will melt your teeth. It will save your soul. These poems stare back at you, as the poet writes about a snakey mating ritual, with "mouths/ full of needles, wide/ as bejesus, sleeping // in the hyacinth marsh." Terri Ford is the grand anaconda mama incarnate, with enough passion and humor and absolute delight in language to help us all through the darkest day.

Imaginative and truly original - as surprising and fun as the poet herself.

This book is heartbreaking and hilarious, much like life when you've got the right attitude. Ms. Ford certainly does. I reccommend this book to anyone in need of a kick in the pants. Ms. Ford treats words like tinker-toys and reminds us that poetry is indeed fun.

Terri Ford's _Why the Ships Are She_ is in a total delight--all glee, wit, charisma and surprise. She's one of those rare poets who understands that humor and seriousness can, and should--really, must!--co-exist. There's not a pretentious or a sentimental bone in her body, and that means she gets to real emotions in all their complexity over and over and over again. I love her jumpy, skippy, tricky syncopating rhythms. Terri Ford has a great ear, a great heart--and writes great poems. Buy this book right now! You'll recommend it to your friends. And you'll realize all over again that fun is a wonderful, serious, poetic business.

This is the most wonderful collection of fairytales, which I first encountered in the third grade and have reread countless times since. I'd rank it with the multicolored Fairy Book series by Andrew Lang as world class for this genre. A classic!

This book has been in my family for four generations, the 1912 edition having been given to my father by his grandmother in 1948.

The premise of the story is given in the introduction; the narrator happens upon a marvelous clock in Father Time's attic, which strikes the hour with songs and puppet dances. Twenty-four stories follow, one for each hour of the day. Each story begins with a verse that corresponds to the hour of the day: lighting the fire, preparing breakfast, sending the children to school, making the noonday meal, milking, tea, bedtime. The verses alone are fascinating, as they bring to life the househould routines of a very different era.

The stories are illustrated with Howard Pyle's remarkable drawings. Each tale has a frontispiece for the title, and the beginning of the text and each picture caption is heralded with a large ornmental letter like those in illuminated manuscripts. The illustrations are gorgeous. Pyle was fond of capturing scenes of nobility and royal splendour, pastoral life, and witchcraft. Some are stylized portraits of princesses in exquisite gowns and classic poses, while others demonstrate Pyle's gift for caricature and expression.

The stories themselves are wonderful, full of heroes and heroines, bravery, beauty, wits and trickery. Although there are allusions to mystic and Christian themes, and to folklore and fables, most of the stories will be unfamiliar and fresh to modern readers. The langauge is rich with metaphor, droll imagery, and dialogue that is made to be read aloud. As with Aesop's fables, the stories are meant to instruct, but the morals take a back seat to the storytelling, at least until the conclusion of each tale, and a great deal is left up to the reader to interpret.

This was my favorite book as a child, and I still turn to it on sleepless nights. But our beloved family heirloom is growing very delicate, so I am very glad that the book is still in print. I hope to share it with my own children someday.

My father heard these stories as a child. He read them to me. I read them to my kids and my grandkids. The vocabulary, the cadences, the varied plots and the sheer magic of these tales is timeless. The poems at the beginning of each chapter are related to the hours. Kids insist that you read them too. Pyle always sees to it that bullies, evil magicians, cheaters and older nasty siblings get their comeuppance. Little ones enjoy that aspect. Great archaic words are dusted off along with long disused similies and metaphores. It's the kind of book that comes to mind when you meet a bright eyed new child who has read everything else or seen everything else. At age 70 I still keep a copy in my bed's head board. Rap, tap, tap he knocked at the door.

The narrator of the twenty-four stories (plus an introduction) finds a special clock in Father Time's attic, which strikes on the hour with songs and puppet dances. "Four and twenty marvelous tales, one for each hour of the day" all start with a verse to coincide with that particular hour. Drawings are included to add further depth. Each ends with a morality lesson, which never interferes with the story, but helps wrap up that entry.

This nineteenth century collection is remarkable in different ways depending on the reader. The tales provide insight into daily household life and the morality of a bygone era. The contributions also furbish delightful fairy tales for the young at heart that are enhanced by superb figures of speech and tremendous illustrations with a finale moral lesson. This collection is a winner and will send many a reader searching for other works by Howard Pyle.

Harriet Klausner

I have been searching for this book for quite a while. The stories included are gloriously written and the illustrations are phenomenal. The reason I started looking for it again was because my Grandson will soon enjoy it. He is only 5 years old, but again, I started reading it (repeatedly) starting at age 7. I think I re-loaned it until my card was worn out! I will get him his very own copy and I know he will enjoy it as much as I.

Have been immensely enjoying some quiet moments by my backyard tomato patch after hectic days of paying the piper and find Jack's writings to be very touching; heartfelt; moving and not withholding of some good giggles. I look forward to discovering them all.

The day after I acquired the book of poems "Across My Silence" by Jack Cooper, I took the book with me to be my companion in my daily routine. There are always moments in our busy schedule that if not filled with reading would be completely wasted. So, while I was in the court room, waiting for my firm's case to be called, I was in the company of the beautiful mind of Jack Cooper. There was not a single poem that I read that did not either make me sad or sentimental, or evoked some of my own feelings, or made me smile. This book is a treasure. For instance, a short poem about the boys' house and passing trains! With just few words, Mr. Cooper left me breathless. That morning Cooper's poems offered me a world much more real than everything around me; the poems were telling me stories so existent that for a moment even the master of the court room, the judge in the black robe, seemed almost ethereal. Being a great admirer of E.E. Cummings, I was thrilled to read Cooper's title poem and find out that praise to his love was equal to the mastery of Cummings. The poem "Before Dawn" reaches the depth of reader's soul by the magic only poetry could make. What a beautiful way to be reminded that every dawn is bringing us a new beginning! Furthermore, who of us does not know someone whose favorite word is "absolutely?" Cooper brings to life a story of his uncle and his "absoluteness" in a way that will make a reader smile, while telling a poignant story of one's life. If you ever lost a loved one, you will be truly moved by many poems in this book. I could go on, and on, but I will conclude this comment by saying that in this era of mass production of everything, of almost too many choices, "Across My Silence" is a perfect choice for any reader."

Ok, he did it again & I walked blindly in....Jack Cooper takes you innocently to the outside edge of the flower petals, gets you to peer into their depths and all of a sudden (he does his literary jujitsu and) you find yourself totally inside the flower, feeling it's heart beat & pulsing with it..and you ask, "how did I get here????" But it doesn't matter how ...... you are just so glad to be here and feeling it!

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (2/07)

Jack Cooper shares his poetry with readers in "Across My Silence." He has a unique ability to paint pictures with words.
"the pink cheeks of the baby day
break through the clouds
on the prostrate hills,"

Through these words I could see the early dawn with the sun just peaking through the clouds.

In "Among the Creatures" Jack discusses his "soft spot" for animals. He protects spiders, has sympathy and love for his aging cat, and aches for trees falling victim to chainsaws. But he has no qualms when it comes to mosquitoes and houseflies. He doesn't mind sending them to their end. However, he takes no pride in their death. "Garden To Garden" takes the reader on the journey of a butterfly, trailing through garden after garden. Mr. Cooper shares his observations on crickets and lizards.

I believe my favorite poem in this book is:

"SOME PEOPLE
There are some people
You know you're going to like
Even before you meet them,
Men who cover their yawns,
Women who wear backpacks,
Little girls with mud on their faces,
Little boys who read,
Anyone who picks daisies
Or pets stray cats,
The glassman with a purple dinosaur
Glued to the tailgate of his truck,
The gardener with an old
"More Trees, Less Bushes" bumper sticker,
the waitress cleaning up
maple syrup all over the highchair
who smiles like it was her fault and says,
"someday I want to have kids."

Jack Cooper shares his observations in "Across My Silence." These poems radiate in a wide arch around him. From the first word I was hooked. Mr. Cooper has a way of catching the readers' attention and holding it. Through his words I could see the man at the door proudly holding the fly swatter. I could see the butterfly as it moved from garden to garden. I could see the sun peaking through the clouds and the lizard scurrying away. With simple words Jack Cooper paints a unique picture of this world that we too rarely take time to contemplate. I highly recommend "Across My Silence" to those that enjoy poetry and nature.

I am rediscovering poetry after approximately 12 years away from it. When my husband gave me this book, I didn't think I would enjoy it very much. However, after reading a few of the first few poems, I was hooked. The poetry is accessible and non-pretentious. That does not mean, however, that its content is simple. The delivery is deceptive: take everyday events and glimpses of life and make them meaningful to the reader. The diction is clever and effective. Mr. Cooper manages to bring a smile to my face, even though some of the content is sad or hard to think about. I smile because I'm happy that I'm enjoying poetry once again.

"Sometimes, like now, I have a great need
To live outside metaphor,
To know a dawn that's only dawn
And corn that's corn and nothing else."

In the many discussions of poetry that have been had, one question brought up by the novice is why do some poets write their stories in poems rather than fiction. The answer has always been to point to the classic epics or to the narrative poems of Frost, Robinson, and so on. I've recently found contemporary narratives that I can point to. Dave Mason's "The Country I Remember", the book-length narrative sequences by Marilyn Nelson, "The Homeplace", and Kim Addonizio, "Jimmy & Rita." And now I have another to point to, Hudgins' "After the Lost War."

It's a series of lyric poems, dramatic monologues, and shorter narrative poems that tell the story of poet/musician Sidney Lanier, who lived in the 19th century and fought in the Civil War. Hudgins tells the story through Lanier's point of view, in a voice Hudgins created for the narrator. The poems range from sad to loving to brutal. The poems come together to give us not only the story of Lanier, but a feel for the man and the times. It's a fine work of narrative poetry, one that I think will prove important to bringing the narrative poem back to the position it once held.

In the many discussions of poetry that have been had, one question brought up by the novice is why do some poets write their stories in poems rather than fiction. The answer has always been to point to the classic epics or to the narrative poems of Frost, Robinson, and so on. I've recently found contemporary narratives that I can point to. Dave Mason's "The Country I Remember", the book-length narrative sequences by Marilyn Nelson, "The Homeplace", and Kim Addonizio, "Jimmy & Rita." And now I have another to point to, Hudgins' "After the Lost War."

It's a series of lyric poems, dramatic monologues, and shorter narrative poems that tell the story of poet/musician Sidney Lanier, who lived in the 19th century and fought in the Civil War. Hudgins tells the story through Lanier's point of view, in a voice Hudgins created for the narrator. The poems range from sad to loving to brutal. The poems come together to give us not only the story of Lanier, but a feel for the man and the times. It's a fine work of narrative poetry, one that I think will prove important to bringing the narrative poem back to the position it once held.

When I was reading this volume, I drove to Sunday Mass early and sat for a few minutes in the car. I finished this book in the parking lot and never went to Mass. Normally, I would feel obliged to bring deliberating skipping Mass to confession. This time, I shall not. I immediately phoned my local bookseller and he obtained for me a signed first edition which I handed to my wife and told her it is all I want for my birthday in March. I then got on line and ordered five additional paperback copies to give to my friends. I read the book three times in 10 days. I'm not like this, normally. This is a brilliantly conceived, flawlessly executed and deeply moving book. It is now part of me.

Andrew Hudgins, After the Lost War: A Narrative (Houghton Mifflin, 1988)

I read Hudgins' collection The Never-Ending a few months back, and after I had finished praising it, a friend of mine told me that I had to read After the Lost War as soon as possible. Well, I just finished it.

Houghton Mifflin bought centuries off the time they will spend in purgatory for all those dry-as-dust textbooks with this collection. Hudgins based this series of poems loosely on the life of Civil War veteran, novelist, and flautist Sidney Lanier, but really, the subject matter could have been anything from primordial ooze to particle physics. The greatness of the work here is in the construction of the poetry itself. The entire book is in blank verse, but a sort of sprung blank verse (through not as loose as the sprung rhythms of Gerard Manley Hopkins) that rhymes every once in a while. Nonrhyming poetry that rhymes every once in a while is one of the great no-nos of poetry; it speaks to a lack of attention paid to the details of craft. Before free verse became so popular, it was also not advisable to write in, say, iambic tetrameter and then suddenly throw in a line of iambic pentameter. Hudgins does both of these things, seemingly at will, and even the most astute reader will likely skim right by them without even noticing there's been a rhyme, or a break in the rhythm.

Hudgins, in these poems, is so completely attuned to the beauty of the language he's using and the natural flow of the words that the anomalies within them take on, at best, minimal significance. Hudgins manages to do a number of things that, these days, seem nearly impossible: breaks the rules of both free-verse and metric poetry, complete an epic-length series (144 pages) of related poems and keep them readable, and manage the whole way not to drop a single syllable, not include a single throwaway word. I only have a thousand words for this review, and a thousand words is not nearly enough to describe the beautiful intricacies of the construction here, the many parallels that run through the book and the way the lengths of the poems expand and contract depending on what's going on in Hudgins' life; someone, someday soon, will use this book to write a critical thesis. It will be very long.

Upon the release of After the Lost War, one reviewer in the Denver Post called it "one of the best narrative poems to appear in this country in more than thirty years." Indeed. Easily one of the finest books, in any genre, I have read this year. **** ½

This is one of the finest volumes of narrative poetry there is buy it you won't be dissapointed. Hudgins captures the soul of Sidney Lanier puts it on the page. I read this book for the first time two years ago and is still one of the best I've read. Enough so that I felt obligated to log on here and post this. On a side note I met Hudgins today, the man is brilliant, hilarious, and just a really really great guy.

I recieved Aeschylus: Agamemnon right on time and it was crisp and new!

First in a trilogy about the return of the Greeks after the Trojan War. Powerful stuff. Such horrors and tragedy as only the Greeks can master. Agamemnon's father killed his brother's children and set their flesh before him to eat, unknowingly. Agamemnon himself killed his own daughter as a sacrifice to the gods for success in the Trojan War, and when he comes home after ten years (which is where the action begins), his wife, Clytemnestra, stabs him to death in a plot with Aegisthus who was the son of the father who ate his children, and in the next part, Orestes, Agamemnon's son will return and kill them both. Please don't think I'm giving away plot here. Plot is not the point, the writing of it is all. To see it staged by first-rate actors must be a real thrill indeed.

It would be good to have two years of college Greek behind you before starting on Denniston and Page's AGAMEMNON, a Greek text with modern commentary. As a single-volume edition for students, this one could not be bettered: everything is explained and difficult passages are translated in the notes -- about three lines a page are difficult enough to require this treatment. And I mean difficult for everyone, the world's greatest Greek scholars included. The difficulties are very thoroughly discussed. Another reviewer here has said Denniston and Page are dogmatic; not at all: they point out where passages are unclear, disagreed about by scholars, or outright lost. Most of the choruses contain passages so distorted scholars have to guess at what was written, and (assuming their guess is right) exactly what the passages mean. Aeschylus writes a little like Shakespeare in MACBETH: very poetically and not always clearly. In spite of all this, passages, sometimes quite long, of powerful poetry leap out of the page. The play has been compared to KING LEAR and called, along with LEAR, one of the two best tragedies of all time. What's more, it makes you feel, even with Denniston and Page's constant help, that you can really understand Greek if you can understand lines from this play.

I always liked Homer and Sophocles, but I still have a preference for Aeschylus. What makes "Agamemnon" such a great story is that not only is it a story in itself, but it is only part 1 of the trilogy. (Part 2 is "Libation Bearers" and Part 3 is "The Eumenides.") Now "Agamemnon" was of course written centuries before Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida." Nevertheless, the events of "Agamemnon" take place after Shakespeare's play. If you read that play by Shakespeare, you know that it deals with the last stages of the Trojan War. In Shakespeare's play, Agamemnon is pictured as a reasonable and competent king who is frustrated at the length of the war, is repulsed by the vanity of Achilles, and shows reasonable strength in diplomacy. Onto the material at hand. The chorus is basically a group of older men who can comment on the situations, but they can't really interfere. (Kind of like the narrator in a play.) The chorus tells us that Troy has fallen and Greece is triumphant. We then meet Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra. She blames Agamemnon for the death of her child Iphigenia. So, she naturally wants to kill Agamemnon. The chorus seems to admit it was strange that the war was fought over the abduction of Helen who was a willing prisoner. Nevertheless, the chorus sides with Agamemnon when he arrives. But an Isaac Asimov proverb seems to explain this nicely: "Such a keen sense of honor is often praised by those who are safe at home." But of course, it is a different story to those who are directly involved. But of course, almost any time romance is involved, the voice and sense of reason take a vacation. Moving on, Agamemnon seems to be a good king in showing his piety in the light of victory. But there is one flaw. He has kidnapped Hector's sister Cassandra. (She was a virgin priestess to Apollo, and that would be the equivalent of kidnapping a nun for the purposes of pleasure.) Cassandra has the gift of prophecy, but because she tried to run with Apollo's gift 'without paying for it' Apollo cursed her in that no one would believe her prophecies. Showing reason, she curses Paris for starting the war with the utterly stupid kidnapping, and she tries to tell that Clytemnestra is plotting against Agamemnon, but of course no one will listen. She also tells of how Orestes will avenge his father and kill Clytemnestra (in Part 2). But back to the main plot. Clytemnestra plays the devil and uses Agamemnon's vanity against him which leads to his destruction. (How disturbing that vanity was the downfall of many men centuries ago and often still is.) In comes Clytemnestra's Aegisthus. He talks of the crimes of Agamemnon's father against his father. What happened was Aegithus's father slept with Agamemnon's father's wife. In revenge, Agamemnon's father tricked Aegithus's father into eating the flesh of his own son. The theme of revenge is further emphasized. It is of course a never ending circle. Though I do find it interesting that Aegithus finds it fit that Agamemnon suffers for the crimes of his father. (YET IT WAS AEGITHUS'S FATHER WHO STARTED IT!) So Aegithus and Clytemnestra can be together now. But of course, we know in Part 2, they will get their comeuppance. Overall, it's a great story that emphasizes the evils and the seeming eternity of revenge.

[Note: This edition is a text in ANCIENT GREEK with notes in English. It has no text in English if you are looking for one. There are many to recommend. The best translation of the Oresteia, of which this work is the first part, is in Tony Harrison's Collected Works; the worst, in my opinion at least, was written by Ted Hughes. All the rest are good.]
This is a superb edition with one caveat. At the moment, educated consensus generally holds that a line of poetry seldom has one meaning. Denniston and Page's text plus commentary of Agamemnon apparently was written before this consensus formed. Denniston and Page are feisty, dogmatic, and insistent that they are right, and are largely reacting to Fraenkel's massive text plus commentary to the same play. They take issue with Fraenkel on a number of points while acknowledging his immense erudition. I have no reservations, however, recommending this edition. It was very useful and well-thought out. I give it a high rating.