David Young is the author of nine previous books of poetry, including At the White Window (2000) and The Planet on the Desk- Selected and New Poems (1991). He is a well-known translator of the Chinese poets, and more recently of the poems of Petrarch and Eugenio Montale. A past winner of Guggenheim and NEA fellowships as well as a Pushcart Prize, Young is the Longman Professor Emeritus of English and Creative Writing at Oberlin College and an editor of the prestigious Field Poetry Series at Oberlin College Press.
In his tenth volume, Ohio poet Young (English, Oberlin Coll.) works in a variety of forms and styles, each of them well crafted, though the less traditional ones aren't as accessible and will likely not appeal to casual readers. Young's strength lies in his meditative lyrics; his voice is personal, gentle, unassuming, and experienced. The influence of the ancient Chinese masters on his outlook and writing is present but not overpowering, especially in lines like "We're never going to get God right. But we/ learn to love all our failures on the way." The title poem is especially delightful, with its central image of Young walking with his black labrador, "rapt/ to see his coat so constellated, starred, re-starred,/ making a coming cosmos I can love." Throughout, controlled emotion helps avoid sentimentality, as in these lines on his father's death: "and if the myths have got it right for once,/ he turns to find a welcome somewhere else,/ to touch my mother's face and make her smile." Recommended for large poetry collections and for all collections of Midwest poetry.-Michael Kriesel, Aniwa, WI Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
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