''"This poet hymns unlikely things, finding beauty and grace where they were overlooked, so that a frightful contraption like an iron lung can become a miraculous vehicle for '(out-of-the-body travel )', the major metaphor as well as the tile ot Plumly's finest collection (1977). In the same way, (wildflowers ) we may have scarely noticed, like meadow-rue and peppergrass, are shown to have the same kind of unlikely and stirring beauty. Stirring, perhaps, because unlikely, rescued from a modest oblivion to enhance our sense of life.''

''Stanley Plumly grew up in Ohio and Virginia and was educated at Wilmington College in Ohio and at Ohio University. He taught for a number of years at Ohio University, where he helped found the Ohio Review, and he has been a visiting writer at a number of other institutions, including Iowa, Princeton, Columbia, and the University of Washington. At present, he teaches in the writing program at the University of Maryland."''