Sunday, April 22, 2012

Passing Through: The Later Poems by Stanley Kunitz

Passing Through: The Later Poems, New and SelectedPassing Through: The Later Poems, New and Selected by Stanley Kunitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Part of the ongoing poetry binge of April 2012!

I was introduced to this volume by the National Book Award Poetry Blog, where this volume was reviewed last year during last year's past-winners retrospective. Passing Through: The Later Poems, New and Selected won the NBA for poetry in 1995.

The poet was 90 when these were published, and he went on to live to be 100 years old! Many of the poems look back- at childhood, at life, but my absolute favorite is The Layers, which ends with the line "I am not done with my changes.". You can listen to the poet read it; to me, hearing the words in such an aging voice makes it even more meaningful, as much as it resonates with me at 1/3 of his age at the time.

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