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POEMS OF EARTH AND SPACE by Claudia Lewis

POEMS OF EARTH AND SPACE

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Pub Date: Sept. 15th, 1967
Publisher: Dutton

What distinguishes this collection of original poems is an attempt to bridge the gap between poetical and astronomical concepts of space, between poetical and geological concepts of earth, and by inference to Join the ""two cultures"" of literature and science. Whatever one may think of the purpose, the poems seldom transcend it; these are short-line rhymes going on for some length in a choppy meter that rapidly becomes monotonous. Only in a few of the random nature poems that conclude the book is there sufficient flow to let the sounds and sights merge and penetrate, and these are no better and no worse than a great deal of such verse. As illustrated in Symeon Shimin's characteristic soft wash, the book has an ethereal appeal for adults, but in toto it is unlikely to take off with kids.