SOURCE: Lask, Thomas. “Where No Prospect Pleases.” New York Times (30 March 1968): 31.

In the following excerpted review, Lask asserts that Nemerov's The Blue Swallows exhibits a despairing attitude.

In Howard Nemerov's most recent volume [The Blue Swallows], the poet's earlier irony, hard-hitting satire and wit have been changed into feelings of loathing and contempt for man and his works. His primary target is the Great Society, but his bitterness infects all he sees.

Mr. Nemerov is quoted as having said, “It is the poet's job to look deep down things for that dearest freshness, life's essential oil and incarnate sweetness.” The essential oil in this book has become rancid and the incarnate sweetness has turned sour and tasteless. In his poetry “the shriek has learned to answer to the claw.” Sunday is a day in which “greyish air is left over from last night” and a time to read...