Sunlight on the River

The world's great poets interpret the world's great art in this exquisite book that investigates the connection between art and words, deepening our understanding of both. The poet and the artist share a special kind of vision--an ability to see and penetrate the very essence of their subjects. This volume features poems by writers who turned to paintings for their inspiration, as well as paintings by artists who based their works on poems. Stretching across centuries and styles,

this collection includes Rossetti's haunting sonnet based on

Botticelli's Primavera; Wallace Stevens's "The Man with the Blue

Guitar," a masterful meditation on an iconic painting by Picasso;

William Carlos Williams's joyous interpretations of scenes by

Breughel; and Adrienne Rich lending a compassionate voice

to the subject of Edwin Romanzo Elmer's The Mourning Chair.

These and other pairings appear as elegant texts facing full

page, glowing illustrations of the paintings. An introduction

to some of the greatest poets and painters in history, this

remarkable book makes a perfect gift, offering compelling

insights into the worlds of art and literature, and the relationship

between the two.