These examples prove that Mercer is able to create impressive effects out of simple objects of nature. The poet never fails to detect lurking affinities of nature with other things. She has a rare gift of creating imaginative phrases: the will of the day , Land of the shimmering lover , lover of eternal moon , Mystic moon , Bathed in wind and tears , Pink gold glowing , The rock of time , The pearly peaks of passion . Such expressions suggest that one is not made but born a poet. Besides poems of nature, Mercer has handled other subjects with throbbing fullness. The poems in Legacy posses a great variety unfolding the whole gamut of human experience, from the glorious story of Barbaro the Horse, from the Art Exhibition at Toranto, from watching spring from her rooftop cell , and the rich experience of her Vienna Affair, up to the terrible tragedy of the Twin Towers turning to rubble on 9/11, the intensity of poetic process creating a compelling song , the Poet as Warrior, Lover and Predator overwhelming and mesmerizing the readers with the wordplay , pity for the poor souls neglected , the alchemist selecting carefully Philosophic mercury, the Engineer giving shape to a Canadian diamond. In the variety and greatness of themes, Mercer s place as a poet is unsurpassable. She is an extraordinary poet of her time. Wordsworth observed, The clear spring of poetry must flow freely and spontaneously-it cannot be made to flow through artificially laid pipes. Poetry is born, not in the mind, but in the heart overflowing with feeling. This is evident in Mercer s finest poetic work Legacy. |
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