Poems of Sac Prairie, Volume 3

In his poetry volumes Rind of Earth (1942) and The Edge of Night (1945), August Derleth returns to the themes that had dominated his earlier poetic work: the wonders of the natural world and the eternal rhythms of the seasons; the intersection of the human spirit with the landscape; and the distinctive personalities that inhabit Derleth's fictitious city of Sac Prairie, a close parallel to the actual city of Sauk City, Wisconsin. A cycle of poems in Rind of Earth focus on "Maris," toward whom the author was romantically inclined, while a lengthy section of "Sac Prairie People" fills the latter portion of The Edge of Night. That volume also takes note of the progress of World War II, with its hideous devastation of European cities and countryside. In contrast to this grim subject, other poems speak poignantly of the joys of boyhood. August Derleth's poems, mostly written in free verse, add a unique dimension to his body of literary work while underscoring the same themes he etched in his novels and tales.