"A. R. Ammons's poem with the unforgettable title is a defense of
meaning--'this, ' the poet says, 'are awash in ideality.' Garbage is
an epic of ideas: all life--not that of human beings alone, but every
species--is shown to be part of an ultimate reality. Eternity is here
and now. The argument ranges widely with a wealth of images taken from
science, and the world around us, the writing by turns impassioned and
witty. For power of the thought and language, the poem takes its place
alongside Whitman's Song of Myself--an American classic."--Citation
for the 1993 National Book Award for Poetry