SOURCE: "Renewal of Intimacy: Lucien Stryk's Metaphor of Comprehension," Chicago Review, Vol. 32, No. 2, Autumn, 1980, pp. 30-40.

In the following essay, Paul provides a thematic and stylistic analysis of Stryk's poetry.

In one of his most moving poems Lucien Stryk addresses a letter to a friend he has not seen in years. The man, Jean-Paul Baudot, fought the Nazis and, when trapped in a cave, was forced to feed on dead comrades. Upon his rescue, Baudot devoured snow to cleanse himself. As a student in Paris following World War II, Stryk was sitting in a cafe with Baudot, discussing a lecture, when his friend hastily departed. Some time later, Stryk discovered that Baudot could not help retching at the sight of the first snow of the year. Writing as he watches the first snow, Stryk asserts that, even though they have been out of contact, he can empathize with...