Tonight No Poetry Will Serve is a collection of poetry by Adrienne Rich in six parts with eight poems in the first part, five poems in the fourth, nine in the fifth and two in the sixty. Parts two and three have one poem each. The poems are written in free verse, through a web of varied voices, and dialogue.

Unlike the full sentence in the title of the book, Adrienne Rich mostly thinks and feels in phrases, as in The Emergency Clinic, “Iodine—dark // poem walking to and fro all night // un—gainly // unreconciled // unto and contra.” The sound and the connection of the words and phrases are there to impress the reader, ensuing conflicting points.

The varied voices in the poems present an individuality while searching for something common yet ethical. The poem that lends its title to the book is personal and at the same time refers to war, possibly the Vietnam war, which had left an impression on the poet. In a good number of the poems, a reference to illness or hospitalization exists since this book was published two years before Adrienne Rich passed away, while in her eighties.

In the section Axel Avakar, there’s a situation where two figures who were once close friends and read together are now separated. There is a feeling of betrayal by both, as they address each other through recorded message, missed dialogue, and lost opportunity.

Some poems in the book are overtly political as in Domain “the congressman’s wife who wears nothing but green // tramples through unraked oak leaves yelling // to her strayed dogs Hey Rex! Hey Roy! // Husband in Washington: 1944”

Others are more subtle as in Waiting for Rain, for Music. “…a notebook scribbled in // contraband calligraphy against the war // poetry wages against itself.”

Fifth section’s Ballade of the Poverties is a list poem, listing poverties such as sickness, clinics, deathbeds, war, violence, etc. As such, in Circum/stances “All violence is not equal // I write this // with a clawed hand” and then, in Quarto, “No one writes lyric on a battlefield // On a map stuck with arrows // But I think I can do it if I just lurk…”

All in all, these poems reflect, at times, an imaginative spirit who studies the world metaphorically[ and at times with a personal grief.

appreciating poetry.

Adrienne Rich, the winner of a National Book Award, a Book Critics Circle Award, and the Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award.

Everyone needs poetry in their lives.

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