Poetry

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31802, 5 October 1968, Page 4

Poetry

In, On Or About The Premise*. By Paul Blackburn. Cape Goliard Pub; Ucations. Kitchen Poems. By J. H. Prynne. Cape Goliard. , Selected Poems. By Paavo Haavikko. Cape Goliard. In the case of at least two of these books there is much more artistry in the book than the poems it contains. Cape Goliard publications, appearing under the imprint of Jonathan Cape, have treated their new poets to

some fine examples of book ►production. Every aspect of these books, paper, printing, layout cover design, binding is freshly imagined and finely executed and the whole effect is harmonious and appropriate to the context The poems themselves are mostly disappointing. J. H. Prynne’s poems are both incomprehensible and stylistically inert Reading them is like reading a jar-gon-ridden article in an academic journal in a field of which one is totally ignorant. Paul Blackburn's poems are at least comprehensible and occasionally successful. Mr Blackburn is an American and most of his poems have New York settings. The poems are enjoyable proportionately to the extent that they least resemble the style of the poet’s mentor, William Carlos Williams. Paavo Haavikko is a Finish poet of real stature. Here his poems are translated by Unselm Hillo, who also provides a useful introduction. The best of his poems are long personal meditative works such as “The Winter Palace,” which has been described as one of the great poems of the century.