Kissing the Bread: New and Selected Poems, 1969-1999

Though Gilbert (Emily's Bread, etc.) has attracted attention for her verse, she's better-known for her massive books of feminist literary history, penned in collaboration with Susan Gubar (among them The Madwoman in the Attic). The seriously intended, sometimes-accomplished new verses that make up the first half or so of this hefty book continue a career's-worth of autobiographically based verse, which the second half (drawn from five previous books) documents amply. Some new work describes Gilbert's travels in Scandinavia, Italy, Provence; other poems mourn her late husband, and others still remember the idiosyncrasies and sad fates that befell members of Gilbert's family. Titles like ""Going to Connecticut,"" ""Seizure,"" ""Ending the Book,"" ""October 31, 1995: A Ghost in Goldwin Smith,"" even ""Journal Entry, 1984"" confirm the narrow focus of the work, which neither expands nor revivifies its confessional idiom. What is new in Kissing the Bread is the poet's romance with mathematical metaphors, as found in the section of poems titled ""When She Was Kissed by the Mathematician,"" where Gilbert aims for ""the smaller infinity, the kind you can count/ and maybe comprehend."" The small-scale ambition, familiarity of subject matter and repetitive registers in play might frustrate those picking up Gilbert for the first time, but those looking for some honest looks into a poetic life that continues to be lived with integrity will find them here. (Aug.)