Jack Gilbert

Jack Gilbert has published a new collection of poems, his fifth over a span of 47 years. His first book (Views of Jeopardy) appeared in the Yale Series of Younger Poets. 20 years later, Monolithos appeared. In 1996, The Great Fires (a Pulitzer Prize finalist). Refusing Heaven came out in 2007. He's 84 now, and The Dance Most of All is brilliant. Here's one very short example:
------------------
WINTER IN THE NIGHT FIELDS

I was getting water tonight
off guard when I saw the moon
in my bucket and was tempted
by those Chinese poets
and their immaculate pain.
------------------
Not surprisingly, I suppose, death--or, at least, the end of life--is a frequent visitor.

If you have not made his acquaintance, and if you love poetry, I urge you to spend some time with his words.