Lacking this knowledge, I sat with my dictionary trying to decipher what the flora in question looked like and figuring out the flora's possible other meaning, such as roses are associated with love and lilies are associated with mourning. Without this agreement between reader and poet, the poems lose an important sense of spiritual connectivity. Her writing's emotional and rhetorical intensity are beyond dispute. The eternal nature of life is reaffirmed. The Wild Iris by Pulitzer Prize winner Louise Glück combines images of flowers and gardening with emotions of spiritual longing, despair, and frustration. It wagers everything on the poetic energy remaining in the old troubadour image of the spring, the Biblical lilies of the field, natural resurrection." Many traditional cultures throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East have made notable and extensive use of floriography, the language of flowers. Lunch Poems (City Lights Pocket Poets Series). All her books are good, but "Wild Iris" (because of our associations to the iris of the eye) might be for the World her legacy. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. In this poem, the voice is that of an Iris. Glück’s Pulitzer prize-winning collection presents a solid demonstration of what has been noted as her visionary poetics. Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. This shopping feature will continue to load items when the Enter key is pressed. Metaphysical, condensed yet transparent - a classic. Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2019, Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2017, Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2017. Considered by many to be one of America’s most talented contemporary poets, Glück is known for her poetry’s technical precision, sensitivity, and insight into loneliness, family relationships, divorce, and death. A pleasing collection, though some poems unnecessarily obscure. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. This is the first book of poem I've read by the poet, and honestly, I would not recommend it to a friend because there are few poems that I … At the end of my sufferingthere was a door.. Her visionary poetics are on sharp display. The weak sun flickered over the dry surface. Page Also the use of the canonical expression "Matins" did not work as well with its poems as "Vespers" did with its poems. Glück is often described as an autobiographical poet; her work is known for its emotional intensity and for frequently d… There's a problem loading this menu right now. Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2016, The canon of Louise Glück is symphonic and deep. The language of flowers animates this work, giving a terse credibility to flowers as the structure that provides shape for this work.