Many critics consider Gunnar Ekelöf to be the greatest living Swedish poet. He reached out early in his career to two sources outside the Scandinavian tradition: to the mystical poetry of Persia in particular, and the Orient in general, and to French poetry, especially the surrealist poetry of the late 'twenties. His poetry has deep roots also in Fröding, Almqvist, and the Swedish fairy tales.

In Swedish literature there is a much firmer division between the 'country' and the 'city' writing than there is in America or England. There has been a succession of great writers in Sweden each of whom has taken his place naturally in one of these two groups. Gunnar Ekelöf very clearly belongs to the second group, the writers that are Europeanized, ascetic, intellectual; and he is a supreme example of the greatness possible in that tradition.

Some of Gunnar Ekel...