In the following essay, Bradish and Sutro discuss the "haunting and surreal" tones of Strand's poetry, noting that his The Continuous Life is a collection "depopulated and prone to extinctions, untellings, and an ongoingness rooted in vacancy."

Mark Strand is one of the finest, most controlled of lyric poets, his poems written with an impeccable and seemingly effortless technique. They are fascinating not only as superbly finished poetry but also for the artistic strategies they employ and, despite his own completely distinct voice, for the other writers and artists they do not echo but evoke. The quintessential Strand can be found in the concluding part of "Seven Poems," from Darker.

I have a key
so I open the door and walk in.
It is dark and I walk in.
It is darker and I walk in.

Spare and windblown, these lines are stripped of everything nonessential. The...