Richard Wilbur

With a distinguished career spanning more than sixty years, Richard Wilbur stands as one of America's preeminent men of letters. Collected Poems 1943-2004 is the comprehensive collection of Wilbur's astonishing, timeless work. It will serve as the most referenced trove of this beloved poet's best verses for many years to come. In Trackless WoodsIn trackless woods, it puzzled me to findFour great rock maples seemingly aligned, As if they had been set out in a rowBefore some house a century ago, To edge the property and lend some shade.I looked to see if ancient wheels had madeOld ruts to which the trees ran parallel, But there were none, so far as I could tell-There'd been no roadway. Nor could I find the squareDepression of a cellar anywhere, And so I tramped on further, to surveyAmazing patterns in a hornbeam sprayOr spirals in a pine cone, under treesNot subject to our stiff geometries.