Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best and Most Neglected Poets of Our Time, February 10, 2000
Extending the range and depth of his two previous collections of poetry (available from the University of Arkansas Press as a single volume, SAPPHICS AND UNCERTAINTIES), THE COLOR WHEEL confidently establishes Steele not only as the premiere metrical poet of his generation, but also as one of the very best poets writing in English today.THE COLOR WHEEL takes its title from one of the volume's central poems, "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Child," a witty and wise meditation that begins with a description of a small child coloring with crayons and segues smoothly into the poet's memory of first seeing a color wheel, a spectrum of choices not only for the budding artist, but also, on a metaphorical level, for the poet and reader. The poem ends with one of the most beautiful passages I've seen in recent poetry: "You're off and traveling through the wheel/Of contrasts and of complements,/Where every shade divides and blends,/Where you find those that you prefer,/Where being is not linear,/But bright and deep, and never ends." This enticing invitation to choose freely from the world's variety extends to Steele's entire collection, which ranges from a mock-Stevensian anecdote about a sugar bowl to a sobering recollection of doomed Holsteins in "Georgics." The Horatian alcaics of "Luck," in which the poet confronts the good fortunes of others,complements the mildly brooding blank verse of "Pacific Rim," in which the poet hints at the luckless victims of 20th century brutality. Yet the tenor of the collection is decidedly hopeful, and perhaps no title (or poem) in the book better exemplifies this than the charming "Beatitudes, While Setting Out the Trash." Steele's art, which frequently explores the interrelationships between nature and human nature, regards human consciousness as fragile and in need of preservation. His superb meditation on "The Library" draws upon and condenses some of the material to be found in his magisterial prose critique of the free verse movement, MISSING MEASURES, and yet the emphasis in this poem is on the wit of foraging squirrels as well as the cleverness of archiving humans. The volume contains a number of exquisite lyrics, including the opening "Aurora" with its subtle echoes of Valery, and the delicate homage to Thom Gunn, "Vermont Spring." Readers who admire the poetry of Edwin Arlington Robinson will certainly enjoy "Cory in April," a poem about a drunken homeless man who was once a boxer, and admirers of Frost will be tickled by the humorous and moving "Fae," one of the most memorable poems in Steele's outstanding ouevre. With his flawless ear, deft rhymes, and penetrating intelligence,Steele is already a poet for the ages. Read THE COLOR WHEEL and SAPPHICS AND UNCERTAINTIES to discover why.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best and Most Neglected Poets of Our Time, February 6, 2000
Extending the range and depth of his two previous collections of poetry (available from the University of Arkansas Press as a single volume, SAPPHICS AND UNCERTAINTIES), THE COLOR WHEEL confidently establishes Steele not only as the premiere metrical poet of his generation, but also as one of the very best poets writing in English today.THE COLOR WHEEL takes its title from one of the volume's central poems, "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Child," a witty and wise meditation that begins with a description of a small child coloring with crayons and segues smoothly into the poet's memory of first seeing a color wheel, a spectrum of choices not only for the budding artist, but also, on a metaphorical level, for the poet and reader. The poem ends with one of the most beautiful passages I've seen in recent poetry: "You're off and traveling through the wheel/Of contrasts and of complements,/Where every shade divides and blends,/Where you find those that you prefer,/Where being is not linear,/But bright and deep, and never ends." This enticing invitation to choose freely from the world's variety extends to Steele's entire collection, which ranges from a mock-Stevensian anecdote about a sugar bowl to a sobering recollection of doomed Holsteins in "Georgics." The Horatian alcaics of "Luck," in which the poet confronts the good fortunes of others, complements the mildly brooding blank verse of "Pacific Rim," in which the poet hints at the luckless victims of 20th century brutality. Yet the tenor of the collection is decidedly hopeful, and perhaps no title (or poem) in the book better exemplifies this than the charming "Beatitudes, While Setting Out the Trash." Steele's art, which frequently explores the interrelationships between nature and human nature, regards human consciousness as fragile and in need of preservation. His superb meditation on "The Library" draws upon and condenses some of the material to be found in his magisterial prose critique of the free verse movement, MISSING MEASURES, and yet the emphasis in this poem is on the wit of foraging squirrels as well as the cleverness of archiving humans. The volume contains a number of exquisite lyrics, including the opening "Aurora" with its subtle echoes of Valery, and the delicate homage to Thom Gunn, "Vermont Spring." Readers who admire the poetry of Edwin Arlington Robinson will certainly enjoy "Cory in April," a poem about a drunken homeless man who was once a boxer, and admirers of Frost will be tickled by the humorous and moving "Fae," one of the most memorable poems in Steele's outstanding ouevre. With his flawless ear, deft rhymes, and penetrating intelligence, Steele is already a poet for the ages. Read THE COLOR WHEEL and SAPPHICS AND UNCERTAINTIES to discover why.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best and Most Neglected Poets of Our Time, February 6, 2000
Extending the range and depth of his two previous collections of poetry (available from the University of Arkansas Press as a single volume, SAPPHICS AND UNCERTAINTIES), THE COLOR WHEEL confidently establishes Steele not only as the premiere metrical poet of his generation, but also as one of the very best poets writing in English today.THE COLOR WHEEL takes its title from one of the volume's central poems, "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Child," a witty and wise meditation that begins with a description of a small child coloring with crayons and segues smoothly into the poet's memory of first seeing a color wheel, a spectrum of choices not only for the budding artist, but also, on a metaphorical level, for the poet and reader. The poem ends with one of the most beautiful passages I've seen in recent poetry: "You're off and traveling through the wheel/Of contrasts and of complements,/Where every shade divides and blends,/Where you find those that you prefer,/Where being is not linear,/But bright and deep, and never ends." This enticing invitation to choose freely from the world's variety extends to Steele's entire collection, which ranges from a mock-Stevensian anecdote about a sugar bowl to a sobering recollection of doomed Holsteins in "Georgics." The Horatian alcaics of "Luck," in which the poet confronts the good fortunes of others, complements the mildly brooding blank verse of "Pacific Rim," in which the poet hints at the luckless victims of 20th century brutality. Yet the tenor of the collection is decidedly hopeful, and perhaps no title (or poem) in the book better exemplifies this than the charming "Beatitudes, While Setting Out the Trash." Steele's art, which frequently explores the interrelationships between nature and human nature, regards human consciousness as fragile and in need of preservation. His superb meditation on "The Library" draws upon and condenses some of the material to be found in his magisterial prose critique of the free verse movement, MISSING MEASURES, and yet the emphasis in this poem is on the wit of foraging squirrels as well as the cleverness of archiving humans. The volume contains a number of exquisite lyrics, including the opening "Aurora" with its subtle echoes of Valery, and the delicate homage to Thom Gunn, "Vermont Spring." Readers who admire the poetry of Edwin Arlington Robinson will certainly enjoy "Cory in April," a poem about a drunken homeless man who was once a boxer, and admirers of Frost will be tickled by the humorous and moving "Fae," one of the most memorable poems in Steele's outstanding ouevre. With his flawless ear, deft rhymes, and penetrating intelligence, Steele is already a poet for the ages. Read THE COLOR WHEEL and SAPPHICS AND UNCERTAINTIES to discover why.
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