Tomas Tranströmer (1931-2015), winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature,
is Sweden's most acclaimed poet. Known for sharp imagery, startling
metaphors and deceptively simple diction, his luminous poems offer
mysterious glimpses into the deepest facets of humanity, often through
the lens of the natural world. These new translations by Patty Crane,
presented side by side with the original Swedish, are tautly rendered
and elegantly cadenced. They are also deeply informed by Crane's
personal relationship with the poet and his wife during the years she
lived in Sweden, where she was afforded greater insight into the nuances
of his poetics and the man himself.