"A hardcover edition of this book was published in 1997 by HarperCollins Publishers"--T.p. verso.

One of America's best-known & most respected poets offers a collection of nine essays that, taken together, constitute an intriguing primer on reading poetry. Just as a gate enables passage from outside to inside, so poetry forges a connection between our outer and inner lives. One who enters completely into the experience of a poem is initiated into a deeper intimacy with life. In this brilliant and lucid series of nine essays, award-winning poet Jane Hirshfield teaches us to open our own gates of perception to recognize and appreciate the poetry in our lives.