MARIANNE MOORE: THE CAGE AND THE ANIMAL. by Hall, Donald

Pegasus, New York, 1970. 199 pp, 8vo (8 1/4" H), hard cover in dust jacket. "(This) is a study of the life, character, and art of one of America's finest poets....(It) accounts for every phase of Miss Moore's life, the early sources of her unusual character, the quick reco gnition and encouragement of her work by Ezra Pound, her years as a young poet in Greenwich Village where her contemporaries included Alfred Kreymborg, William Carlos Williams, H.D., and Wallace Stevens, her distinguished and controversial e d i t o r s h i p of the 'Dial', the most prestigious literary magazine of its day, her 'retirement' to Brooklyn where she continued for decades consistently to produce some of the best poems written in our time. The major part of the book, howev er , is d ev ot ed t o Miss Moore's poetry - from her first book, 'Poems', arranged for and published in 1921 by friends without her knowledge, to the 'Complete Poems' in 1967. Mr. Hall sees danger and protection as recurring preoccupations in Mi ss Mo ore 's wor k, and sh ow s how, in poem after poem, she has explored these themes, calling to her defense a wonderful array of self-sufficient animals and objects, and conjuring such bright shields as independence, courage, love, and imaginati on. T hrou gh minu te atte ntio n t o the language of the poems, he reveals Miss Moore as a poet of fantasy, distortion, and deep feeling....(This book) offers valuable new perspectives on one of the most intriguing figures in twentieth-century le tter s an d mak es acces sib le on e of the richest and most rewarding achievements of modern poetry." Minor edge wear. Dust jacket has very light edge wear/wrinkling, light rubbing. Very Good+/Very Good.