As I began my literary review column for this semester, I couldn’t decide what book to use to kick it off. Fortunately, on Dec. 26 I ordered a plethora of books from Barnes & Noble’s discount sale, giving me an ample supply of unread material. My selection: Worldly Hopes by A.R. Ammons.

Ammons, a North Carolina native, passed away in 2001. Worldly Hopes was originally published in 1982, but later republished as a memorial at the time of his death. The collection of poems is representative of Ammons’ shorter lyric work.

Throughout Worldly Hopes I noted how Ammons’ manipulation of language and syntax really served to demonstrate his thorough understanding of the power of language. Initially intrigued by the strength of Ammons’ writing, I dug further and began to explore the book.

I found that the title of the book alluded to a major theme in the work of secularism operating in a religious manner in the natural world. Ammons uses a combination of secular and religious undertones as a tool to illustrate how the natural world around us can often times have a surreal, unnatural nature. Nature operates as a motif in nearly all of the poems.

One such example I found is “Snow Roost” where Ammons writes “Last Night the / fluffiest inhabitant / filled the / cedars deep, but this clear / morning windy, / flurries blizzard-thick / explode flight / into local buildings.” The strength of Ammons’ language provides a new, nearly religious way to view the natural world around us.

The title also demonstrates the often angry and sarcastic undertones of Ammons’ work. “The Role of Society in the Artist,” which I found to be the standout poem of the book, is full of this sarcasm and anger. In this poem, society initially rejects an artist and cordially invites him to go to hell. After the artist develops an illustrious verse, society lifts him out of hell and places him on a pedestal. The artist is grateful to society for their acceptance on the outside but as Ammons writes, the artist “every night went out / into the forest to spew fire / that blazoned tree trunks and set / stumps afire.”

The intermittent bursts of anger from the artist in “The Role of Society in the Artist” truly demonstrate the power and worth of this book. Ammons embodied his fictional artist when he wrote Worldly Hopes by offering mild and humorous poetics riddled with undertones of angry bitterness. I recommend this book.