The poems [in Blomskryf: Uit die gedigte van Breyten Breytenbach en Jan Blom] are arranged in two sections: the "how" of poetry—its nature, its necessity, its ultimate uselessness—and the "so," consisting of poems addressed to his wife.

Breytenbach is a truly creative poet, who at will plays with language, turns words upside down or mimics other poets or the Bible, whether seriously or at times in a playful e. e. cummings vein, as in "Something to Nibble on in My Igloo." Here he exploits the Afrikaans predilection for diminutives: "My winterwife is a small small bird—/ ie ie ie / who conjures with dreams / In autumn I caught it / in the dead wood / nervous / because of the way it hanged white delights / in the empty tree." His poetry has an urgent intensity, a resonance. It makes an immediate impact, which partly explains why he is one of...