Paul Nelson is so good at some things like the precise details of woods and water and rural life and old houses that one can almost forget the wide range of his work. This collection presents a sense of the amplitude of his mind, which is formed by the historical, classical and biblical worlds. Adam and Odysseus are at home in his mind as well as the intimate landscape of rural Maine and of Hawaii. This is a book that rewards repeated reading as the scope and depth of its concerns and its large contexts inform the individual poems. - Barry Goldensohn, author of The Hundred Yard Dash Man.