King Solomon's Garden: Poems and Art Inspired by the Old Testament

In this pleasantly distracting, illustrated anthology, Wieder (Chapters into Verse: Poetry in English Inspired by the Bible) collects poems new (John Ashbery) and old (William Blake) related in one way or another to the Old Testament, and pairs them with paintings by Romare Bearden, Piranesi, Hieronymus Bosch and many others. For example, one comes to Emily Dickinson's ``I Took My Power in My Hand,'' with its references to the David and Goliath story, and then finds Andrea del Castagno's ``The Youthful David'' opposite the poem. One painter's style or approach to a theme may not have much to do with a poet's, yet the juxtaposition almost invariably provides food for thought and for the eye. The book's breadth will detain readers for hours, and should also seize their attention in bookstores during and after the holidays. Some paintings appear in full color, others in black-and-white reproduction. BOMC dividend selection. (Dec.)