Collectibles

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CONVERSATION PIECES: Poems That Talk to Other PoemsSelected by Kurt Brown and Harold Schechter Everyman's Library. 256 pp. $12.50

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Former poet laureate Billy Collins, in his foreword to this sweet little anthology of "poems that respond to earlier poems -- that argue with, elaborate on, recast, poke fun at, or pay tribute to their inspirations," asserts (in his usual lovely language) that "the past always plays a vital role in the poetry of the present."

The poems collected here consciously speak to their forebears. Remind yourself of Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" and then read Anthony Hecht's "The Dover Bitch: A Criticism of Life" for quite a contrasting picture of the girl Arnold may have had in mind.

Conversation Pieces brings you the delight of reading old and new poems, of making connections, and of listening in on conversations through poetry, for, as Collins writes: "Even though these poets may be talking to other poets, they want as many of us as possible to eavesdrop on what they have to say."

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DARK HORSES: Poets on Overlooked PoemsEdited by Joy Katz and Kevin Prufer Illinois. 216 pp. Paperback $19.95

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In a culture that frequently overlooks poetry, this collection fights valiantly against the dying of the light. It started in "a dim Italian restaurant" when five writers began recalling great poems that never seemed to get any attention. Convinced that others had their own private favorites, they sent letters to 100 poets "asking each for an unknown or underappreciated poem written by anyone, in any language, from any era." The resulting responses are "a kind of orchestrated clamor" of "near-extinct birds." Each poem comes with a brief note from its contributor, making up "a motley mix of screeds, personal stories, and more scholarly investigations."

Some hardly qualify as "overlooked" (Emily Dickinson's "This World is not Conclusion"), but others are great rediscoveries. Billy Collins submits a witty poem by Tom Clark called "Whatever Happened to Don Ho." R.P. Blackmur's "Mirage" is a little marvel. A poem by Paul Goodman called "Birthday Cake" is one you'll want to read, ruefully, every year.

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DANCING WITH JOY: 99 PoemsEdited by Roger Housden Harmony. 190 pp. $20

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Dancing With Joy is a powerful anti-depressant. A collection of 99 poems by poets from around the world and through the ages, this exuberant anthology highlights what editor Roger Housden calls "forms of joy on the wing" and he "offers them as a mirror for our own moments of quiet or ecstatic abandon, . . . as solace and inspiration for our own dark days, which, as we know, will always come." Indeed.

Leafing through these pages is certainly one way to jump for joy, and to see how others have experienced it. Jane Kenyon's "Happiness," Hayden Carruth's "Ecstasy," Pablo Neruda's "Your Laughter," Mary Oliver's "The Summer Day," Wordsworth's "Magnificent the Morning Was" are easy on the mind and create their own sense of well-being. Here you can read of Wendell Berry's dream "of a quiet man/ who explains nothing and defends/ nothing, but only knows/ where the rarest wildflowers/ are blooming, and who goes,/ and finds that he is smiling/ not by his own will." Or Raymond Carver's notes on happiness: "It comes on/ unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,/ any early morning talk about it." This is the book for you if, like Mark Strand, you can say: "There is no happiness like mine./ I have been eating poetry."

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