THE BROOK

by Alfred Tennyson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1994

It's unfair -- and too easy -- to criticize an artist for failing Tennyson, but the fact remains that ALA Notable author/illustrator Micucci (The Life and Times of the Apple, 1992, etc.) doesn't seem even to try to rise to the occasion. Tennyson's brook is a living thing, hurrying down 30 hills, bickering across valleys, stealing by lawns and grassy plots, and making ""netted sunbeam dance against...sandy shallows."" It is as rambunctious as the ""lusty trout"" it carries. But in this version, Tennyson's brook is so quaint and butterfly-ridden that we can barely even see it, let alone celebrate it. A bawdy and capricious flirt of a river, the one the poet claimed would ""go on forever"" while men came and went, has been tamed by a Hallmark Card hand.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1994

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Orchard

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1994

Categories: POETRY