For best results, give yourself enough time to read this cycle of poems in one sitting. Written entirely in blank verse couplets, the book is separated into two halves -- each containing a sequence of poems with identical titles. The prevailing structure is that of a fugue, with images, persons, objects, places, dream-states, and dialog fragments performing the function of melodic units; recurring, intact or subtly modulated, overlapping, interlinking, and ultimately building into a dramatic unity. Very fine work. For my taste, the conclusion seems a bit too emphatic, perhaps even abrupt. But this is an extremely minor reservation and likely will evaporate upon re-readings. ( )