SOURCE: "The Woe That Is in Marriage," in The New Yorker, May 13, 1996, pp. 93-4.

In this review of Meadowlands, Seshadri suggests that Glück's considerable lyric expertise and meticulous craft have been tempered by an earthiness and humor.

Even before Louise Glück's new volume, Meadowlands was published, admirers could be heard describing it, somewhat incongruously, as a "funny" book, with the implication that this represented a significant aesthetic departure. There was something faintly comic in itself about this advance word, which had to do with the inexpert way that people try to generate excitement about a book of poetry. It's a fact that our most accomplished poets can be at least as entertaining as a good "Seinfeld" episode, yet when poetry lovers say as much their claims are often greeted with skepticism. And for readers who are addicted to Glück's ironic inflections, her stern disenchantments, and...