First of all, I like the longer pieces (>20 lines or so) better than the shorter ones in this book. The short ones tend to be lovely little postcard sketches, but I don't feel they really stick to the ribs. However, when read along with the other poems in that section, they do lend a richness to the topics she is discussing; therefore, I strongly recommend reading this book by sections (instead of by hopping around, or doing one poem a day, or anything like that). Levertov writes a lot about nature, and she is sensitive to the nuances of things, so she has really precise imagery.

I personally liked sections V and VI, Representations and Raga, best, but there is some excellent work in here. These two sections use imagery related to music, but Levertov also writes about age, time and memory. She also is quite capable of using sound to her advantage, although she doesn't often foreground it. "Hymns to Darkness" (pp. 102-103) is an example worth examining wrt sound. She also writes some about writing; "For Those Whom the Gods Love Less" (p. 96) is relevant as well as "Writer and Reader" (p. 99).

Highly recommended. ( )