If one were to choose a term to describe P. J. Kavanagh, it might be "doubting optimist." The persona that emerges from Kavanagh's poetry has experienced suffering and loss, but he neither understands nor feels capable of understanding either. Yet this persona wants to, indeed must, believe in the possibility of happiness and joy, not only in this life but also in a vaguely perceived life after death. The complexities inherent in such a vision have developed over the years into dominant themes in Kavanagh's work. His poems explore the meaning and effects of death, the vicissitudes of time, the respective value of certainty and uncertainty, faith and doubt. The tension between these opposites produces some of Kavanagh's best poetry. While his work has occasionally led to accusations of what one critic calls his "breezy" acceptance, the poetry written over a period of twenty years reveals that this...