THE MOMENT IS ALL: SELECTED POEMS, 1944-83 Ralph Gustafson. Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, c1983. (The Modern Canadian Poets). 191pp, paper, $12.95. ISBN 0-7710-3714-7. Grades 12 and up. Reviewed by Pat Bolger. Volume 12 Number 1 1984 January This selection provides an occasion to savour—and celebrate—Gustafson's achievements in almost forty years as a poet. Most frequently, the poems are very short, often only twenty or so lines, although the section, "Rocky Mountain Poems," has examples that extend to several pages. In the short lyrics, Gustafson's concern is "The moment/The way it was/The moment" and his reader comes to know him, sharing his delight in music, in love, and in the small miracles of everyday life. This sharing of experience is not, however, easily arrived at; Gustafson's work is rigorous and demands much of readers, who must keep a dictionary at hand to deal with such rarities as "acronychal," "periplum," and "enthy-nieme." Although most younger readers would respond to poems like "On the Top of Milan Cathedral," with its red Coke cooler among the saints or "The Newspaper" and its picture of a little Jewish boy under the gun of a Nazi, the book will appeal largely to the mature teenage or adult reader. An outstanding title in the high quality Modern Canadian Poets series and a necessary addition to the Canadian poetry section in high school libraries. Pat Bolger, Renfrew C. I., Renfrew, ON.