Wounded Geese by Marine Robert Warden (review)

276 Western American Literature Warden, Marine Robert. Wounded Geese. (P.O. Box 249 / Big Timber, Mon­ tana 59011: Seven Buffaloes Press, 1987. 67 pages, $6.75.) In his most recent collection of poetry, Marine Robert Warden presents us with his further attempts at writing simple verse, but he also includes past successes (“Rio Grande 1933” and “North of Grants Pass”). The collection is unified through the recurrent natural images, such as water and geese. The Native American reappears in poems like “Shoshone” and “Zuni 1539,” but there’s an unnaturalness to the verse; the images are too expected, stilted. Unfortunately, the new poems Warden offers edge on the contrived; the poet tries too hard in his imagery, especially those poems dealing with the Impres­ sionist painters: Van Gogh, Monet and Cezanne. ANNE MAXHAM-KASTRINOS Trenton, N.J. Cooper, James Fenimore. The Pilot; A Tale of the Sea. (Albany: University of New York Press, 1986. 479 pages, $44.50.) Complete with a historical introduction and explanatory notes, this new edition of Cooper’s novel will prove invaluable to the student of James Feni­ more Cooper. Approved by the Modern Language Association, the text is further analyzed in extensive textual commentary and notes. Editor Kay Seymour House has contributed a detailed textual analysis of this 19th cen­ tury novel. CHARLOTTE M. WRIGHT Utah State University ...