Donald Hall is a well-established figure on the contemporary American scene. [Kicking the Leaves] serves notice, however, that he is still willing to take a few risks. Kicking the Leaves is a strangely vulnerable work. It asks to be accepted on its own terms, as guileless, brooding and sentimental. Most of the poems were occasioned by Hall's taking possession of the farm in New Hampshire where his grandfather and great-grandfather had lived. Centered as it is around this experience, the book assumes a certain personal tenor. Its motive and concerns are very much Hall's own, and the reader who is unwilling or unable to interest himself in them will be disappointed.
Every poem in this collection deals overtly with the theme of death. There is not so much the evocation of anxiety, evanescence or nostalgia as there is the bold statement of their presence. The poet simply insists on it in every instance…. At its best, death is presented through amiable, though grotesque, conceits, as in the poet's identification with his slow-roasting dinner in "Eating the Pig," or in the homage to the Arctic survival yarn, "Wolf Knife." At its worst, Hall's preoccupation can come as close to banality as anything a poet of his calibre has written in recent memory…. (pp. 26-7)
This is a free excerpt of 212 words. There are 627 words (approx.
2 pages at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Hall, Donald 1928–: Critical Essay by Richard Nalley Access Pass.
