R. S. Gwynn is one of the best writers of his generation. Yet, until 2001, when No Word of Farewell: Poems 1970-2000 came out, his poetry was little known; before that year he had published only one full-length collection, The Drive-In (1986). In the fifteen years between these two books, Gwynn published chapbooks, edited critical volumes, and was a prolific reviewer of poetry. But to some readers the sheer bulk and excellence of his verse seemed a well-guarded secret, even though his work had appeared in periodicals such as Poetry, The Hudson Review, The Sewanee Review, and New York Quarterly. Among poets associated with New Formalism, Gwynn--whose next book was continually and eagerly awaited--became something of a cult figure.

What distinguished Gwynn's work almost from the start was not only a pitch-perfect command of meter and rhyme but also a broad intellectual and emotional range. While his best-known poems were...