POEMS TO HEAR AND SEE

by Ian Hamilton Finlay ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 7, 1971

Poems? Well, more or less -- mostly less, at least in the conventional sense. And, no, not to hear, just to see: these are ideograms, Rorschachs of the word, doodles of the mind, game-exercises. Among the twenty-some-odd, there are patterns that defy both cerebral apprehension and description -- except in terms of the visual impact of the pristine earth-toned pages and creative typography. Sometimes the fillip comes from the title as in ""Tug at Bay"" (rendered vertically): ""roar/rora/oaro/ atro/roat/taor/rota/toro/orot/otro/toto/otot/toot."" Or from simple commingling (diagonally): ""you/ me/you/me/you/me/you/me/you/me/you/me/us/us/us/us/us/you/me/you/me/you/me/you/me/you."" Other layouts make no such sense, lack even this much integrity between meaning and design; of the two that challenge -- fleetingly -- only one can be reproduced. ""ONE (ORANGE) ARM OF THE WORLD'S OLDEST WINDMILL/ autumn."" Poster fodder?

Pub Date: March 7, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1971

Categories: NONFICTION