SOURCE: "Nemerov: The Middle of the Journey," in Poetry (Chicago), Vol. XCIII, No. 3, December, 1958, pp. 178-81.

In the generally positive review of Mirrors and Windows below, Kizer praises the intelligence, daring, and maturity of Nemerov's poetry, but states that some of the poems in the volume are too long.

With this book [Mirrors and Windows: Poems], his fourth, Howard Nemerov now belongs to that group of poets who are most difficult to review. To express joy in the accomplished poems, yet receive them ungraciously! For, alas, the homage a serious reviewer pays to a serious poet is a vigorous appraisal. Still, the poems must be handled with care, care in many of its meanings: mental effort, a sense of responsibility, solicitude, affection, and concern. Nemerov's own criticism has been distinguished by these qualities, so there is the added obligation of trying to serve him as well as he...