LIFE HUNGERS TO ABOUND: Poems of the Family

by Helen Plotz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 16, 1979

Divided into sections on marriage, parents and children, brothers and sisters, and ancestors and descendants, this is another of Plotz' ecumenical collections, encompassing authors and approaches so varied that none can be cited as representative. Plotz draws, for example, from Genesis, William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Anne Bradstreet, Allen Ginsberg, and Adrienne Rich, with occasional little tricks such as following Shakespeare's ""Let me not to the marriage of true minds. . ."" with a June Jordan verse on marriage that ends with a weak play on Shakespeare's closing couplet. Ironically, the overall tone (if one can extract an overall tone) is far less positive than that of Plotz' patriotic collection The Gift Outright (1977); perhaps that only attests to the deeper honesty poets bring to personal concerns. The value of the collection hangs on the validity of the concept--where there is a place for a varied, stylistically conservative gathering of family poems, this will no doubt fill it.

Pub Date: Oct. 16, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Greenwillow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION