SHADES OF GREEN

A big anthology of nature poetry with 190 selections—mostly British and from the 20th-century—interesting because of the high quality of the poetry and because it includes a number of lesser- known poets and, along with the usual lyrical pieces, two groups (``So They Are Felled'' and ``Goodbye to Hedges'') of elegiac and satirical verses lamenting the encroachments of Progress. Younger Americans, however, may find it hard to appreciate poems celebrating species unknown here; in other poems, objects may be familiar, but their British names are not—''To a Conker'' is nearly unintelligible until learning that ``conkers'' are not only horse-chestnuts but also a game, while words like ``hoardings'' and ``roundabouts'' make Betjeman's ``Inexpensive Progress'' hard going. Pen-and-ink drawings are scattered among the poems; each of the ten sections also features a lovely, cool, green-washed illustration that unfortunately depicts children too young for this excellent but demanding collection. Heavy, creamy paper and clean page layout make for a handsome volume, but it'll need some introduction and interpretation. Indexes of poets, titles, and first lines. Acknowledgments are large enough to read and arranged by author: other publishers, please emulate! (Poetry. 10+)