Averno consists of seventeen poems in two parts, seven pieces in the first part and ten in the second. The book takes its name from a volcanic crater lake in Naples. In Greco-Roman Myth, this is the entrance to Hades, the underworld. As such, most of the poems in this book are totally about or somewhat referring, to the mythology, especially circling around Persephone, the goddess Demeter, and the god Hades.

The poem Persephone the Wanderer in the first part assumes and imagines what Persephone went through after she was abducted by Hades. There is another poem in the second part of the book, also carrying the title of Persephone the Wanderer. In this poem, Persephone is dead, and the impression of the poet on what-might-have-been differs from the first Persephone the Wanderer.

It is an aged method of poetry to concentrate on myth, and my opinion is this has taken away from the lyrical side of Glück’s poetry. Still, I found especially the first poem The Night Migrations to be rich with introspection, grace, and emotion. Most of the poems are open-ended, questioning, and sincere in tone. Although dealing in myth, they are not repetitive or obscure like the most myth-related poetry. They all exhibit clarity, subtlety, and disciplined emotion. Their focus is mostly philosophical, on the soul and the mind, and the relationship of the two, regarding the self, which examines its own existence. The images are intricate but related to one another. The point of view of the poems wavers between first and third persons with the third person POV getting the upper hand most of the time.

I especially liked it when the poet referred to herself directly as in Thrush, “But for me—the guilt I feel must mean // I haven’t lived very well.” Her feelings are not only personal but also universally human. I found the same the perspective in Blue Rotunda, “I want she said // a theory that explains // everything” and later, “the truth she said // I thought it would be like // a target, you would see // the center.”

When Glück describes a scenery as in Landscape or The Evening Star, there is that illumination of place which awakens the soul but also allows for disillusion “Listen, at the path’s end the man is calling out. // His voice has become very strange now, // the voice of a person calling to what he can’t see…”

Lake motif repeats a few times throughout the book as well as the girl, mother, man, and lover. Other references to mythology like Orpheus and Eurydice in Fugue add to the overall mythical yet philosophical and introspective aura of the poetry in this book.

enjoying Louise Glück's poetry.

is Louise Glück, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.

the poetry in it is very good.

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Created Jan 22, 2018 at 3:14pm • Submit your own review...