Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Phyllis Rose loves Richard Wilbur’s poetry, she knows why she loves it, and she conveys that enthusiasm and knowledge with admirable directness [“Citizen Poet,” September 2005]. In her appreciation, however, she asserts that, unlike other poets who “force us to observe their ambition” or “attend to their careers,” Wilbur merely devotes himself to gift-giving. But any poet who publishes three editions of collected poems is appealing to readers to attend to his career—that’s precisely what collected editions do. There’s no shame in it for a poet such as Wilbur, who has never mistaken his career for his work, but even Allen Ginsberg only published one edition of collected poems.