NATURE POEMS TO SEE BY

A union of poems from different eras, reinterpreted through artist Peters’ comics.

The 26 entries in this graphic anthology, which is divided by seasons—summer, autumn, winter, and spring—offer a stunning ode to nature poetry. Following each graphic narrative, the full text of the poem appears, allowing readers to meet it in its original form. Peters employs a wide variety of artistic styles and media, reflecting varied themes of connectedness to nature, including celebration, grief, and love. The sense of apprehension in Gwendolyn Brooks’ “Truth” is recast as climate anxiety, with images of natural disasters, pollution, and a calving glacier. The text within the panels in Joy Harjo’s “The Land Is a Poem” is laid out in a way that encourages readers to take time to dwell on each phrase. One section gathers moon-themed haikus by Matsuo Bashō, Masaoka Shiki, and Ueda Chōshū, translated by R.H. Blyth, offering a pause and allowing for quiet reflection. The collection includes names that will be widely familiar—like Langston Hughes, William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Robert Burns, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Christina Rossetti, and William Wordsworth—but readers also encounter Dominican exile Rhina P. Espaillat, Tang Dynasty Chinese poet Li Po, and contemporary Texan Mary Karr. While the work would have been enhanced by more contributions from the Global South, the thoughtful execution infuses the verses with new meaning and lends itself to rich discussion.

A creative and beautiful celebration of nature through poetry and art.