A Possible Landscape

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

Tennyson’s aged Ulysses, in looking back, exclaims “I am a part of
all that I have met.” By contrast, in this book, a younger Maureen
Harris looks forward, imaginatively exploring “the flavour of
possibility.” Her wish “to be told into the story” is manifest
throughout but is most evident in the earlier part of the book. Here her
transmutation of self through fresh re-enactment of familiar stories is
brilliantly conceived and expressed. She is at once a sensitive and
sensuous poet. Images of color, sound, scent, taste, and, most of all,
touch all contribute to a “felt in the blood” sensation of desire
and longing.