Harold Norse, the love poems, 1940-1985.

``Friends,'' Norse counsels in one of his finest lyrics, ``if you wish to survive / I would not recommend / Love.'' Ah, but he cannot resist love, either, and is happily one whose life and work revolve around the pursuit of the beloved and the enjoyment of lovemaking. This collection of more than 40 years work, while it reprises much that was in Carnivorous Saint (Gay Sunshine, 1977), offers it in strict chronological order of composition, constituting an erotic autobiography more personally honest than might be gleaned from Whitman's corpus, more romantic than Allen Ginsberg (see above) could compile. Starting out in Brooklyn, Norse has lived in Europe and North Africa, settling in California in time for the emergence of gay liberation in the early 1970s. Nearly all homoerotic the single charming, slightly raunchy exception being ``The Ex-Nun and the Gay Poet'' his poems are loose-lined and mostly sunny, in spite of the world's and lovers' cruelties. A major work of gay literature. RO. 811'.54 Homosexuality, Male Poetry / Love poetry, American [CIP] 86-16785

Norse maintains a sure footing between the direct, conversational snapshot-taking and the transcendental philosophizing that have distinguished America's contributions to poetry in mid-century. Such sureness is secured by a dedication to serve Eros before mere glibness: ``I'm here to tell you of a finer fate/ to explore trees/ listen to colors/ pick the golden flower/ feel under someone's duffel coat/ for the clear light/ of the void.'' As for other gay writers of his age, repression has perforce made many of his love poems ``aching scenes/ of need.'' But Norse has stayed in step with the Eighties even as he writes familiar eulogies to Goodman and O'Hara, and he has weathered enough decades to emerge as an elder statesman of homoerotic verse, making this volume an important addition to poetry collections. Rob Schmieder, Boston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.