Gathering Fragments

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of English at the University of Prince
Edward Island.

The short poems that make up this collection were all previously
published as far back as 1965. Saaritsa is well known in his native
Finland, with 15 books of poetry to his credit.

These poems are translated into English by Seija Paddon, who also
contributes a brief preface, in which he states that the intent of the
poems is “to provide a thresh-hold [sic] for philosophic
journeying.” Twenty-one poems have specific titles that help focus
meaning at once (“Death of a Soldier” is a splendid example). The
remaining poems are untitled, interspersed through the book as
“fragments.” All Saaritsa’s poems have a laconic, gnomic quality.
Haikulike in style, they reflect his own intensely personal views on
life and living. Paddon’s terse endnotes might well be expanded to
acquaint the reader more fully with several East European writers to
whom Saaritsa alludes.