Poets often write dramas and novelists often write poetry at some time during their careers, but not always with such results as Murder in the Cathedral and Chamber Music. Yet these plays and poems hold considerable significance for a deeper understanding of the artist's entire production and offer specific insights into his private world. This is the case with José Donoso's poems. The eminent Chilean novelist … is fond of autobiographical communication, as witnessed by his articles, a previous book and lectures on the Donoso subject. The present collection of thirty poems [Poems de un novelista] is enriched by a twelve-page introduction by the author aimed at explaining why he felt compelled to write such a book and what personal circumstances inspired the verse….

Nearly all of this poetic material illuminates Donoso's intimacy with and vision of life in Spain and elsewhere. His desolate, keen and ascetic point of...