A Draft of Shadows and Other Poems

Octavio Paz, A Draft of Shadows (New Directions, 1979)I am kicking myself for having had this book in my collection for long enough that I don?t remember buying it and not getting around to it until now. Paz is the most exciting poet I?ve run across since discovering the work of Ira Sadoff five years ago. His work, more than capably translated here by Eliot Weinberger (with a few translations from others thrown in for good measure), is a perfect blend of the art and craft of poetry. It is also the finest overtly political work I have read since Aime Cesaire last put pen to paper. Paz understands that if the poetry is good enough, the message of the poetry will come out on its own, something nine hundred ninety-nine out of every thousand political poets never grasp. Those who would dispute it need only read the title poem here and hold it up against the best works by inferior political poets. The difference is stunning, and obvious. When Paz won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1990, the committee stated that his writing was characterized by ?sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity.? Indeed. This is poetry the way it?s meant to be. **** 1/2