The Darkness Around Us Is Deep: Selected Poems of William Stafford

I love William Stafford. "Traveling Through the Dark" is the poem that made me realize I could like poetry at all, and is also what got me started writing poetry. And I really enjoy this collection. But there are poems in it that aren't nearly as strong as others of his. There are poems here, in fact, that make me wonder what they were thinking when they put it together.

Still, it's a great introduction to Stafford if you're not familiar, and a nice collection even if you are familiar—something to keep in the bedside table or whatever, so that you can always reach over and pull one of Stafford's "golden threads."

I think we should read these poems to children from birth. If I had to introduce someone to poetry, I'd start here. Straightforward and wise, Easily understood and yet profound enough to warrant numerous rereadings. I can't count the times I've read A Ritual To Read To Each Other. American children should specifically memorize that poem.

A wonderful collection of Stafford's pieces. While some are a bit cliche and a very few others are a bit pedantic, for the most part Stafford allows the reader to draw his own conclusions. in particular, his recasting of inaction as a powerful statement (likely drawn from his conscientious objector status) makes recurrent appearances in this collection. Worth reading for any poet enthusiast - not at all highbrow or difficult to understand.

Disregard the exuberant and immoderate introduction by Robert Bly; some of the poems suffer from the pompous cliches of a hyperbolic era, but many are sharp.

A 2.5, really. And I really didn't care for Bly's introduction. I'll have to try some of Stafford's that are his own collection.

A collection of William Stafford's poems broken up into Family and Children, Traveling through the Dark, Speaking the Native American Part in Him, Mother's Voice and Father's Voice, Rescuing Some Years in Kansas, and The Refusal to Serve War. These are truly some of his best.