Cosmic Canticle

Cosmic Canticle reaches for the stars in its poetic vision. It is huge, warm, shattering, healing, encyclopedic, a chronicle of exploitation and a hymn to the Divine. Somehow Cardenal weaves these together into a vast cosmic tapestry. It is no accident that it is written by a poet Priest who also has a sense of the shaman in him.The vision that it offers is rare and magnificent. Overall it is a stunning success with a few minor imperfections sprinkled in. His vision and voice are unique and this is his masterpiece.I have returned to this book again and again to experience its fierce sense of wonder.

In 474 pages, Ernesto Cardenal weaves a stunning, interconnected parallel between the politics of Latin America, "astrophysics and love" (125). His voice and style at times reminds me of Pound in _The Cantos_, "(Everything I write is fragmentary/ a collection of quanta)" (Cardenal, 64), but Cardenal is more rooted and accessible. If you enjoy cosomology, quantum physics, love, and/or Latin American politcs, this book will please.