Passing Through
The Later Poems, New and Selected
14 February 2001
Description
"Winner of the 1995 National Book Award, Passing Through confirms that the venerable doyen of American poetry is still a poet in his prime."—Atlantic Monthly
Stanley Kunitz, one of the masters of contemporary poetry, presents his ninth collection, gathering a rich selection of his work, including new poems that remind us of his prefatory statement: "Art is the chalice into which we pour the wine of transcendence." Nearly all the poems of Kunitz's later years, beginning with The Testing-Tree (1971), are included, and most of the poems in Passing Through are unavailable in any other edition.
In "Touch Me," the last poem in the collection, Kunitz propounds a question, "What makes the engine go?" and gives us his answer: "Desire, desire, desire." These poems fairly hum with the energy, the excitement, the ardor, that make Kunitz one of our most enduring and highly honored poets. In the words of Carolyn Forché, "he is a living treasure."
In "Touch Me," the last poem in the collection, Kunitz propounds a question, "What makes the engine go?" and gives us his answer: "Desire, desire, desire." These poems fairly hum with the energy, the excitement, the ardor, that make Kunitz one of our most enduring and highly honored poets. In the words of Carolyn Forché, "he is a living treasure."
Awards
Winner — National Book Award, 1995
Also By: Stanley Kunitz 
The Wild Braid: A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden
Paperback, 2007
"A graceful and moving glimpse into a rare and giving artist's refined poetics, garden aesthetics, and spirituality."—Booklist
The Collected Poems
Paperback, 2003
"This volume may be the best that America has to offer today. Buy this book, read it, treasure it."—Philadelphia Inquirer
Inventions of Farewell: A Collection of Elegies
Hardback, 2001