Love - that complicated, delicious, pleasurable, necessary feeling ties us to another human, to a mother, father, son, daughter, sibling, lover or friend. Love can also tie us to a place, an experience, an object. We love and we are loved; unexpectedly, gloriously, painfully, deeply. The majority of the 150 New Zealand love poems selected by anthologist Paula Green for this gorgeous collection reveal adult love - from the sparks of youth to the changing nature of love in old age - but she has also included examples of the love of offspring (Janet Charman's warm loaf), of particular places (Brian Turner and the Maniototo Plains) and of beloved objects (James Brown's bicycle). As she says 'I have arranged the poems as though I were composing a symphony rather than sticking to a chronological rule, because I wanted poetic music along with poetic heart. Now it is over to the reader to explore the different echoes, the unexpected juxtapositions, the contours of tone, the historical links and disconnections, the contemporary exposures. This outstanding anthology, beautifully packaged and including illustrations by leading New Zealand artists, does just that.
It also serves as a delightful gift book and as an introduction to the work of this country's finest modern poets.