Clinton F. Larson is one of the most challenging poets of the Intermountain West and probably of all of Western America. The reader who casually approaches Larson's poetry is doomed from the start to miss most of the linguistic innuendos, subtlety of emotion, and depth of ideas that characterize his best works and stand out in his more incidental writings. His verse is thus especially rewarding to readers who put forth the required mental, emotional, and spiritual effort.

Through his writings Larson always sought a careful balance between religious insight and scientific descriptions of pragmatic experience. At the same time, considered by many readers as the premier "Mormon" poet, Larson experimented significantly by combining the religious elements in his work with the precise language of science. Many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints find Larson's work a poetic inspiration to their faith, and for...