The History of the Night Summary

"Alexandria, A.D. 641" is about the library of the ancient Egyptian city, whose volumes outnumber the stars or grains of sand, and are the great memory of the centuries. If all the books were to burn, man would beget them again, each page, says Omar the Muslim conqueror, who orders his soldiers to burn the library in the name of God and Muhammad. "Alhambra" lists such pleasing things as the water's voice, the cupped hand, the column's marble curve, and the sorrowing king's foreshadowing knowledge that the afternoon he witnesses will be his last. In "Music Box," the poet feels he is in the music, and wants to be. "I Am Not Even Dust" is about a man who wants to be a hero and who asks his father, Cervantes, his God and his dreamer...