WONDERS AND SURPRISES

by Phyllis--Ed. McGinley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 7, 1968

The names are known, and some of the lines as well, but each of the eleven sections has a relatively strong range of and texture. ""Love and Kisses"" is probably the biggest surprise; not at all a simpy, whimpering series of forget-me-nots but a round of rousing love poems. John Frederick Nims, for example, addresses ""My clumsiest dear,"" another plays with a tennis game on its own terms of course, and Christopher Marlowe's ""Passionate Shepherd"" is followed not by Raleigh's reply but by a gNashing parody, ""Love under the Republicans (or Democrats)."" The selections have an unexpected lure although almost all of the poets, and many of the poems, are in other anthologies. One section is devoted to curses (one wonders why no Swift or Pope); ""Trumpet Sounds"" calls up war poems. ""Far-Off Places"" and ""The Changing Year"" are less exciting (although in the latter, ""the world is taking off her clothes"") and the ""Bouquet of Ballads"" might have had a sprig of a protest song, now that they are established as almost respectable. My Kind of Verse, for instance (p. 992, J-364), has more surprises but this will have a larger, if less selective, audience.

Pub Date: Oct. 7, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lippincott

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION