SOURCE: "Levertov," in Critical Essays on Denise Levertov, edited by Linda Wagner-Martin, G. K. Hall & Co., 1990, pp. 30-5.

Carruth is an American poet, critic, and editor, whose books include the poetry collections Contra Mortem (1967) and The Bloomingdale Papers (1975), and the collected criticism volume Working Papers (1982). In the following review of The Poet in the World, originally published in the Hudson Review in 1974, Carruth analyzes Levertov's poetry as it relates to the poetic theories she espouses in her essays. He praises Levertov's "personal and practical" vision of her work and endorses, in particular, her accomplishments in the poem "Staying Alive."

What struck me first on reading The Poet in the World, which is a collection of Denise Levertov's prose writings about art, politics, and life in general—what struck me first, and what still strikes me in my reconsideration of the book as I prepare to write this review...