ORPHIC CANTOS

Book excerpt: Poetry. Latino/Latina Studies. "Ivan Arguelles is a poet who does not mine the general American vein of didactic or 'therapeutic' poetry that is supposed to be of use in some way. What he creates is an expansive romantic/surrealist summoning of multiple, swarming worlds and histories. This makes him one of the most authentic poets working in English today, and one of the most beautiful in his use of language. His voice is unique, but each of his books has its own timbre, point of view; its own movement and thematic centers. In ORPHIC CANTOS, those centers revolve around the paradoxes of language and consciousness, which are understood to be at the very marrow of the human. The nature of his engagement over the past 40 years has been far more than a desire to write 'poetry'; rather, poetry is the embodiment of a complex psychic need, the air he needs to be in the life form and time he occupies. When you read Arguelles' work, you are immersed in the basic human experience. His work is a great treasure." John M. Bennett"