THE LAND OF SILENCE

A selection of poems which have appeared in Harper's, The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, and elsewhere by a writer who is more known for her novel- A Shower of Summer Days than her previous collection of verse, The Lion and the Rose. Sensuous, sensitive and perceptive, these also reveal a deeper dimension, touching as they do on the metaphysical. This element of the eternal essence of things that lurks in a landscape, a bird, a summer's day, a dream, is what gives this miscellany more than a passing interest. What a pity, then, that Miss Sarton's mastery of form is not quite equal to her intensity and purity of feeling. And while the volume as a whole has many beautiful lines and deeply glimpsed insights, it does not quite live up to the promise of a marriage of form and content. Too many words, too many poems, lines that are not quite inevitable, a falling short of that perfection she knows so well and strives for so nobly. Such criticism is perhaps churlish. For poetry lovers wherever they are will thank Miss Sarton for an enjoyable and often uplifting hour.