BOOKS
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nized by Zeus, Sheck turns to Eurydice, whose escape from the under–
world back to the world "with its power to maim" is foiled by Orpheus's
inability to heed Hades's command. And so Eurydice, through no fault of
her own, spends eternity remembering the moment she almost achieved:
not paradise, but the earth, which, though "flawed," as Sheck tells us in
"The Resurrection of the Body," is "more beautiful than anything/ and
we have it for so brief a time."
Sheck, though primarily a narrative poet, can reach moments of lyri–
cal
intensity that remind us of Sylvia Plath. Here is such a moment from
"The Madwoman in the Attic": "Here is my wedding gown, preserved
like a mummy, all wrapped up for eternity.! What a fool I was then,
standing like an igloo at the altar,! and my hands two fish just plucked
from their poles, ice-cold." And not since Plath has anyone used myth in
such a potent way. At times one feels Sheck's reliance on myth is too au–
tomatic and reflexive, but even these moments she redeems, for always
we hear behind the mask or persona of myth an individual, human voice,
trying to make sense of her life which, at times, is overwhelmed by feel–
ings of exile or abandonment. Sheck's
10
at Night
is a strong and com–
pelling collection that has yet to receive the attention and recognition it
deserves.
MICHAEL COLLIER
