Poet's choice

"Poet's Choice," a nationally syndicated column appearing in twenty-five papers, including the Washington Post Book World, the San Francisco Examiner, the Miami Herald, the Atlanta Journal, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Detroit News, and the Seattle Times, has introduced a poem a week to readers across the country. This collection gathers the full two years worth of Hass's choices, including recently published poems as well as older classics. The selections reflect the events of the day, whether it be an elder poet receiving a major prize (Stanley Kunitz winning the National Book Award in his ninetieth year), a younger poet publishing a first book, the death of a great writer (May Sarton, James Merrill, Joseph Brodsky), or the changing seasons and holidays. They also reflect Hass's personal taste. Here is "one of the most gorgeous poems in the English language" ("To Autumn" by John Keats); a harrowing Holocaust poem ("Deathfugue" by Paul Celan); and "my favorite American poem of spring" ("Spring and All" by William Carlos Williams). Includes a brief introduction to each poet and poem, a note on the selection, and insights on how the poem works.