Collected from his published and heretofore unpublished work, the love poems of John Ciardi inPoems of Love and Marriageare a rich display of gentle wit, emotion, and craft. Not merely lyrics of youthful romance, these span the course of a love affair, of a life shared from first blush to old age.
These poems never disturb the sanctity of the private moment, but transcend the specific situation and bloom into universal recognition. And in his usual way of basking in those qualities which transform the ordinary into the unique, John Ciardi finds poignancy and truth in those elements of love and living together that so often go unnoticed.
Sensitive and intelligent, the poems in this book are a fitting testament to an accomplished man of letters and a fine poet. Atlanta Constitution
John Ciardi was born in Boston and educated at Bates College and Tufts University. he was for years director of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and poetry editor of the Saturday Review. He has been honored for his critically acclaimed and widely read translation of Dante’s
Divine Comedyand for his work as a joyous irreverent lexicographer in
A Browser’s Dictionary, as well as for his poetry. John Ciardi died on Easter Sunday in 1986.
![Poems of Love and Marriage [Hardcover]](/itemImage/2/3/4/0/2_5217940.jpg "Poems of Love and Marriage [Hardcover]")