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Tonight No Poetry Will Serve

Poems 2007–2010
by Adrienne Rich
Tonight No Poetry Will Serve: Poems 2007–2010. Norton. Jan. 2011. c.80p. ISBN 9780393079678. $24.95. POETRY
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Thankfully, the more strident feminist tone that can mar some of Rich's poetry is muted in her latest collection. Her lesbianism isn't so much stated as implied, which gives several of the strongest poems a subtle eroticism. It also allows Rich's mastery of the evocative metaphor to shine through her poetry. Take the title poem, a warm though understated love poem, which works by innuendo to a shocking ending and is as compelling as any in Rich's oeuvre. Only a few of the poems, like the antiwar "Reading the Iliad…," become shrill. Winner of numerous awards, including the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, Rich uses these latest poems to look back on past events and relationships—both actual and imagined.
VERDICT One can sense Rich's nostalgia for her youth and apprehension at the frailty of old age. But there's no whining here. Mostly, these are poems of an aging poet (Rich was born in 1929) who is still gifted with sight, insight, and the poetic gifts necessary to express both.
Reviewed by Diane Scharper, Towson Univ., MD , Oct 15, 2010
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