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To the River

by Tim Lilburn

Saskatoon poet Tim Lilburn’s work has always been so focused and passionate that reviewing it seems almost like an interruption of someone at prayer. To the River, his fifth collection, and the first since his much-praised Moosewood Sandhills (1994), maintains the high level of intensity as it furthers the poet’s exploration of spiritual life in the context of the natural world.

The book is set along the banks of the south Saskatchewan River, a landscape the poet clearly loves, respects, and knows in all his senses. Despite being broken into 14 separate poems, To the River is essentially one long, connected celebration of physical detail, seasonal change, and the ways in which the Earth can lead us deeper and deeper into a fuller appreciation of our lives. Using a rhapsodic and lush language, Lilburn envelops the reader in vivid images of river ice, chokecherries, deer, moonlight, wheat, and grass. He is like an advance scout who has come back to report to us in minute detail every wonder of the world we might otherwise be too preoccupied to notice. In this way, he forces us to slow down, to witness, and ultimately to question our relationship to each form of life on the planet.

To the River is not an easy read. This is deeply meditative and serious poetry, but serious in the most mature sense, meaning that it shies away from neither sadness nor joy. Lilburn is a seeker after serenity, and in these poems, he makes the repeated claim that nature is a profound gift. His lovingly cadenced speaking voice quavers with multiple qualities of light, and seems to flow outward into the very world it approaches, as though it too becomes a kind of river, fast, slow, ever-changing. Basically, Lilburn puts some of the honour and power back into the term “confessional poet,” for he is not afraid to confess to his own poverty, weakness, and joy in the contemplation of greater truths.

A work of impressive humility and craftsmanship, To the River can only enhance Tim Lilburn’s reputation as one of our more thoughtful and inventive poets.

 

Reviewer: Tim Bowling

Publisher: McClelland & Stewart

DETAILS

Price: $14.99

Page Count: 88 pp

Format: Paper

ISBN: 0-7710-5323-1

Released: Apr.

Issue Date: 1999-4

Categories: Poetry