Observations

Observations by Marianne Moore, 94 pages

Observations was the first book of Moore's poetry published with her permission - an earlier collection had been issued behind her back by admirers who sought to force her into the public eye.  Moore's reclusive temperament is reflected in the precise, impersonal quality of much of her poetry.  Simultaneously, her writing is intensely allusive, often incorporating quotations, whether of great writers or personal friends, directly within the text of her poems.  This is not to say that her poetry is purely intellectual - in "Reinforcements" she communicates the impression of mass mobilization seen close-up better than hundreds of pages of history books, while "Roses Only" is a wonderful celebration of a rose's thorns.  Overall, she achieves her aim of joining the "literalists of the imagination" whose poetry is "prose with a sort of heightened consciousness", "lit with piercing glances into the life of things".