As noted previously, Levertov's attempt in Life in the Forest was to write in the objective, thirdperson style of Cesare Pavese, omitting sentimentality, emotionalism, and autobiography. Not all the poems in this collection reflect any success with her ambition, but "The Blue Rim of Memory" does. It is considered a lyric poem because it is still personal without being obviously autobiographical, and it still offers a heartfelt contemplation of its subject without lapsing into pathos. The poem is presented in third person, start to finish, and contains no rhyme nor contrived meter or rhythm. The language, however, is strongly poetic, not lending itself to being turned into prose by simply writing it in paragraph form. Many contemporary lyric po- ems can stand that test, reading like passages from a book as well as poems. But Levertov's later work maintained some of the earlier, more stylized poetry she...