Since the publication of her first book of poems in 1951, Rich has been a dominating presence in American literary circles. She is one of the most popular and influential poets of the early-twentyfirst century, publishing widely and prolifically and traveling to give talks and read from her work. Each new collection she publishes is thus a literary event, and this was certainly the case with her volume Midnight Salvage, in which "Rusted Legacy" appeared in 1999. Although the poem had been published two years earlier in the journal Sulfur, it was not reviewed individually after its appearance there. Even in the voluminous reviews of Midnight Salvage, the poem has not received any individual critical attention. Other poems in the collection, such as "The Art of Translation" and "Midnight Salvage," have been singled out by critics as being particularly noteworthy for their daring imagery and nuanced language, but...