Next to Last Words Poems Author:Daniel Hoffman For sixty years Daniel Hoffman has drawn on a lifetime of experiences to engage readers with his powerful imagination. The poems in Next to Last Words illuminated by the poet s unique vision and leavened by touches of humor continue this tradition. Equally skilled in formal and free verse, Hoffman explores our place in the cosmos, our kinship wi... more »th nature, the violent world in which we must live, and the intense love and grief common to everyone s life.
Praise for Former Poet Laureate Daniel Hoffman
It s one thing to know of a poet and know that he s good, another to see the fruits of five and a half decades gathered, culled, and thoughtfully arranged to see that he s been this good for this long. Eric McHenry, New York Times
There is certainly no quenching Hoffman s gift for insights, nor any lack of admiration for the lovely vessels in which he delivers them. Susan Balée, Philadelphia Inquirer
Erudite and neighborly, formally adroit even in the occasional free-verse poem, Hoffman is an indispensable American poet. Ray Olson, Booklist (starred review)
I am delighted and suddenly shocked by the skill, beauty, and authenticity of these poems. Hoffman is nothing less than a master. Gerald Stern
Daniel Hoffman takes his place in the line of Yeats, Graves, and Muir, poets who plumb the depths of myth beneath the contingencies of history. . . . He has become one of our most jubilant makers. Edward Hirsch
Daniel Hoffman is an exemplar of our poetic generation. There is a lifetime of wisdom and sensibility in these lines, a generosity of spirit that shines through and illuminates his lovely new book. Carolyn Kizer" , reviewing a previous edition or volume« less