Unpretentious as it is, this is a charmingly pleasant book of verse. Its author, whose Cape Horn And Other Poems appeared a few years ago, has a keen eye and felicitous pen. In a sense this is journalistic verse. It notes concrete objects; a statue of General Sherman, a Snow Owl, a picture by Vermeer, and then makes vivid and often illuminating comment on them. The author is also a patriot; he loves things American, but there is nothing strained or overdrawn in his verse. They are frankly simple, straightforward, but interesting poems on a number of local subjects and many have appeared in The New Yorker The Virginia Quarterly Poetry and other little magazines.