Green Man

Hugh Oliver is the former editor-in-chief of the OISE (Ontario Institute
for Studies in Education) Press. He is the author of Hoblyn: A Novel in
Three Parts and Voices from the Cradle, Echoes from the Grave: A Volume
of Verse.

As the title of his latest book suggests, Donlan is a poet in harmony
with nature. In his poetry he conveys, through precise description of
natural phenomena (clouds, trees, birds), feelings that unite the human
imagination with the natural world: “Winds that blow through us, that
blow around the world, stir us deep, to our cracked hearts—storms of
emotion.”

Much of Donlan’s imagery derives from anthropomorphic projection:
“What a / fine day, I / murmur to the / daffodils, they / nod under- /
standingly.” Elsewhere a spring moth spreads its wings and looks down
“as if pleased with itself.”

The book is divided by date of composition into two sections. The
subject matter in the first section tends to be quite general; that in
the second section relates to East Vancouver.